On one hand there's a consequential and reductionist worldview. An ascension from this to there. Through an aspect of the denial of man's nature and a disassociation to worldly senses & experiences, we climb the ladder up to the divine. God is above us. The sacred is external to us. Something we earn our right to. Health has an air of entitlement. Success is something we work for. We approach, we will be judged, the righteous are chosen. Sexuality is avoided where necessary. Intoxicants are poisons for the demon's path. Untamed is risky & offensive to the purity of God. Power in the denial of pleasure. How disciplined am I!? Heaven is beyond earth. A focus on practices that transcend earth & instinct; more the manly. The more-than-humanly, the more sacred. If there were a symbol to represent it it would be an angular cross pointing upwards, skywards. As Utopia is after, beyond & above. The sacred comes after the struggle, as a consequence. We rise up to reach God. Masculinity, rationality and the mind. A + B + C = D ~ Can we assure ourselves we will reach D by following the incremental steps of logic? Rationale to reach experiential. Mind into body.
On the other hand there's shamanism. Pagan earthers who see the sacred as all around us, and most especially under & of us. We are not separate from God, just as we are not separate from nature. And nature is medicine. Not even just that we a part of nature, we are nature. We are God. We ground the mystical through deep embodiment, opening up to, learning to become with the wyld and not tame but learn to ride & possess life as a trance. The earth is heaven, below foot, and thus the forces of nature are worshipped as God in the manifestation of motion. The most sacred experience is to allow life to have its way with you; what a treat. To let God enter you, and merge in ecstasy. Power in the ability to integrate pleasure. Grounding & embodying life. Sexuality is encouraged, the more feeling, the more earthen-heavenly capability. Bringing down the ethereal & anchoring it through the human form unto Earth. The image is of a rounded cross grounding with open arms. Femininity, emotion and energy. ABC = A + B + C ~ If ABC already exists, we merely ground it into embodiment; rationale after experiential. Body into mind.
By learning from and adapting our own bad-ass style of shamanistic inspired perspective, we can explore a different aspect of herbal medicine, arguably a deeper and more mystical aspect. Most definitely an empowered one. An aspect that isn't even actually about plants or shamans at all. It's about respect & connection to not only the lungs of the earth, but to the breathers. Us. There is a perfection and intelligence to nature beyond our mind’s comprehension. This we look to. Our folklore roots are embedded in this. A listening to plants. A responding to the life force. Tuning our heart beats to the heartbeat of mother nature. This is the path of plant medicine. This is the herbal medicine road. A shifting to the left of our right hemispheres. Where we are not the result of evolution we are the totality of it. We are not a drop in the ocean we are the whole ocean in a drop. The plant medicine path isn't even about plants it's about reclaiming our birth rite to occupy space on earth and our own bodies. We are born of the dirt and to it we will return. We all have a home; it's in our bodies. Making home in our true but temporary home, our bodies. This the doorway to all healing. This is natural medicine. As above so below. As within, so without. The manifestation of dis-ease in our external world is mirrored in our bodies. Entering into conscious relation with plant allies can support us to harmonise with nature itself. We are wild. We are unknown. We are perfectly in tune and highly receptive to our Selves. Herbalism is a deep honouring to our existence and homeland. It is belonging itself. Call it plant medicine, herbal medicine or nature medicine; this is what it is to be healthy bodied on planet earth.
Disconnection is at the heart of dis-ease and through recognising the divine in life, the God in plant-ation, so full of lessons and teachings, we experience true namaste. I see the God in you. I see the God in me. Plant medicine isn't a treatment strategy it's a revitalisation strategy. Tap back into the forest knowledge.
One thought to leave on. We can become fixated on the actions of our plants & fungi friends. What secrets do they hold? What medicine do they offer? We are inherently ego-centric as human beings. Even when we aren't, we are. Selfish genes & tricky egos, often spiritually bypassing ourselves & still feeding self. To flip the perspective. What role do we play to a plant or mushroom? What does it get out of its interaction with us? What lessons do we teach a plant? If the maker lives through us, what can we teach it in this moment? What are we bringing to the table? We feel what it's like to experience the consciousness of a particular plant, but what does that plant think of human consciousness. I want to know what you are giving to the world, not taking. May we become more ego-inclusive with all vegetal allies, and be natural medicine to one another.
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