“Only plants have consciousness. Animals got it from them. ” — Dale Pendell
Canada and the USA is nearing its end of another prohibition era. The mass public in recent years, has shifted its perception of Cannabis (mainly known as Marijuana prior to 2010, but as the stigma around Cannabis vapourizes – pun fully intended – the name ‘Marijuana’ had to go through a bit of a rebranding with its more scientifically acceptable, Latin name, Cannabis, the heroic neo super-herb), partly because the West’s established shamanic authority – the westernized medical doctor – has now deemed it worthy – when the old world’s doctor – the original shamans, have all along considered Cannabis sativa, indica, and ruderalis, along with other plants, to be great teachers.
And this is where I would like to point out something: Ginseng, Astralagus, Gingko, Reishi, Lions Mane, and so many other healing plants and mushrooms have been exploited and marketed with exaggeration to heal virtually every illness of the human body. Are we any healthier today as we were when certain aspects of Traditional Chinese herbalism made its entry into the West? If we were to fast forward a decade, where will Cannabis leave us? (Hint – if the plant and her medicine story is appropriated and taken out of context, I am skeptical that resolution can take place).
I ask this because I don’t think the role of plants have ever been to allow us humans to exploit them. I believe in relationship. The plants support us, and we support them: As we experience the benefits of what plants offer, we support their proliferation, and so forth. However, are the plants here to be objectified, in other words, to “serve” us one-dimensionally? And more specifically, only the active compounds are valued (since that is how the medical community measures validity), and as if the support of our physiology is the only thing that is noteworthy. In other words, are we sick today because illness resides exclusively in our physical minds and bodies? Or even if we are not sick, are the plants here merely to support functioning so we can work longer hours? (Think about caffeine and sugar’s roles in keeping the human worker working). Why are plants that can numb pain, decrease anxiety, and give us energy the only forms of socially acceptable medicine? And why are most modern humans resistant to becoming truly intimate with the whole plant – and can value the plant beyond its individual active compounds, or even beyond the mere synergy of compounds?
It is with hopeful optimism, that the future (and the now) of plants are in the examination and integration of their consciousness into human healing. This is why before, when a stoner who claimed their minds are opened is now seen with more of an intellectual appreciation: via euphoria, people objectively see patterns (verbal, behaviour, symbols, etc) drifting into new ones, and increase their creative resilience for problem solving so they can engage in new processes of clarification. In other words, plants can now be valued for their prevention of neurological, emotional, and spiritual atrophy. Though it’s paramount to mention the other side of the coin, there are the seekers who are always seeking – the ones who are seeking constant peak experiences that they are reluctant to walk down the proverbial mountain to return to baseline. Even in spiritual communities, there is a hunger that longs for more and more sensationalism. (This is why teachers in exotic places are always seen as “more spiritual” than the ones in your backyard or dramatic experiences are viewed as “more light-filled” than everyday cultivated habits of connection to oneself…) This is the danger of spiritual caffeine – of becoming lost in the powers of a plant’s glory.
I ask these questions as I am in the process of writing an experiential curriculum titled, WOMEN, WEED, & WISDOM: Exploring Cannabis in Ritual and Shamanic Spirituality. Where is this ‘right relationship’ along the spectrum? How can we honour the plant and allow Cannabis to assist us in the areas of consciousness, wisdom, and integration? How does one create ritual and ceremony around consumption? What other wisdom-keeping plants work well with Cannabis, or possibly even can substitute her? And from a shamanic perspective, how do we communicate with and use Cannabis to undress, reveal, and divinate?
If you’re in the Vancouver area on Wednesday, July 18 evening I would love to hang with you at outdoors – in ritual, in compassion and support, in plant wisdom. Click HERE for more info.
Big love,
Mimi Young
founder + plant spirit medicine practitioner / teacher
