Cannabis Shamanism: Reconnecting with Sacred Teacher Plant Medicine
Being part of the world consciousness that has returned to listening to plant wisdom
Written by Victoria Carella, Master Shaman, Mystic, Visionary Leader, Author
Ever since humans have become human, there have been Shamans who are the healers, the guides, the keepers of knowledge and wisdom, and the go between for the community and the spirit world. Shamans use sacred psychoactive Teacher Medicine Plants to guide people to profound visionary, spiritual, mystical, healing, and transformative experiences. It has been said that psychotropic Teacher Medicine Plants are what made us human, opened humans to altered states and higher states of consciousness. Today many indigenous peoples throughout the world continue to embrace Medicine plants as an integral part of their spiritual practices.
A Medicine Shaman works with Medicine Spirits. Anything that a person sees as separate from themselves is a spirit with its own energy structure and vibration. A spirit can only be what it is and function accordingly. It cannot be forced to do other than what its function is. Because there are so many spirits, a Shaman works with Head Medicine Spirits. The Head Medicine Spirits direct other spirits to assist in carrying out the work with a Shaman. I refer specifically to Medicine Shamans and Medicine Spirits because there are other types of shamans that work with the dark arts. I recommend avoiding the later.
Master Shamans are able to navigate through energetic spaces and move through worlds and dimensions directly and easily with their knowledge and connection to Spirit as their guide. Master Shamans hold safe and sacred ceremonial spaces. With the use of the Teacher Medicine Plant Cannabis, people are guided into shamanic states of consciousness so they can release blocks that are no longer serving their highest selves. The Shaman keeps others moving through the transformative process – out of stagnation and into motion. The Shaman opens gateways to divine knowledge and divine wisdom.
When a person participates in ceremony, they receive the gift of Medicine as they are guided to connect to their true selves, their Origin Consciousness. Participants travel on the journey of healing and transformation. When a person partakes of Cannabis in a guided ceremony, they go on a journey of pure consciousness, entering levels not accessible elsewhere. Since it is used recreationally, people do not realize that in a shamanic ceremonial context as it has been used for millennia and given the proper respect it is due, Cannabis is an extremely powerful transformational Medicine Plant. Cannabis is a holistic Medicine plant. It treats the body, emotions, imagination, mind, soul, spirit, and consciousness.
I speak of the Medicine often throughout this article. The Medicine is the energy patterns that bring about healing and transformation. It is synonymous with love, the Unending Beauty. I do not mean romantic love but love in the aspect of the Source, Oneness, and totality.
When a person connects with the Medicine in a Cannabis ceremony, they experience a totally transformative loving Medicine. Once they are connected with the Plant and the Medicine Spirits, the person enters an altered state of consciousness and they are able to go through healing and transformative changes very fast. One is able to move, release, and raise in consciousness at quantum speed. It is quantum level Medicine.
The Head Medicine Spirit of Cannabis is Reina Maria. Here she is depicted in one of my Medicine Spirit drawings.
There is a difference between someone going on their own and using the plant and going through a Medicine Shaman that is holding ceremony. This is because the Shaman works directly with the Medicine Spirits and the Head Medicine Spirits. The Shaman holds and shapes the geometry of the space. In ceremony, the Shaman opens gateways not otherwise accessible.
The Shaman and the Medicine Spirits communicate through icaros. Icaros are sacred Medicine chants that are gifted to the Shaman by the Spirits. Icaros bring on the ecstatic state in ceremony. Through the icaros the Shaman continually shapes the geometry of the ceremonial space and guides the journey of the participants. Icaros are the sounds, vibrations, and frequencies of infinite creation, infinite becoming. The Medicine Shaman and the Medicine Spirits are linked in the infinite dance of creation and transformation through the icaros.
The point of ceremonial work is to get away from the delusion of dualism and to connect to the One, to move from belief to knowledge, and to turn from suffering to endless beauty. Participants should release all expectations and preconceived ideas and just be open to receive. The Cannabis ceremony is intense but it is a very gentle method of releasing those spirits and those things that no longer serve your highest self. You get back in touch with your true self – a spiritual being of infinite light. The movement in ceremony is towards sabiduria, divine wisdom.
Once the ceremony ends, integration is critical to the process. Participants will want to take the time to allow the Medicine to soak into every aspect of their being. There the Medicine continues to work. Open up to Spirit and connect to your true self. The process is beautiful.
A trained Medicine Shaman can guide people to the profound visionary, spiritual, and healing properties of Cannabis. The Teacher Plant can be used to generate an authentic spiritual and mystical experience. Ceremony participants can experience transcendental states of consciousness that will lead to increased effectiveness in every aspect of their lives. The use of Cannabis in guided shamanic ceremonies can: raise consciousness; provide a deeper meaning to life; help uncover life purpose; generate heightened mental clarity; open the gateway to the mystical universe and universal knowledge and wisdom; and provide a platform for personal spiritual transformation.
This is not about getting high. Cannabis ceremonies are doorways to authentic spiritual and mystical experiences. There is immense shamanic power held in Cannabis that can only be accessed through ceremonies in which participants are safely guided through elevated states of consciousness and a tremendous transformational experience. The ceremonial use of shamanic Cannabis guides us to direct spiritual connection and communion.
Artwork by Victoria Carella (copyright) | “JOURNEYS An Exploration of Being”.
Thank you Victoria. A great reminder to approach sacred plant teachers with humility and reverence.