ANCIENT MYTH & REMINDERS OF HOLY PLANT MEDICINES
Plants are a rich metaphor and embodiment of spirit. They arise from death, from the decayed minerals composted by the fungi kingdom that help break down ancestral plants, giving nourishment to the seed that regenerates and gives rise to another generation of upright manifestation that reaches towards the light, toward the heavens.
In every ancient culture there is a sacred entheogenic plant that has been used by religious, spiritual circles, shamans, siddhas, priests, priestesses and the akin, which has been written in ancient myth, sacred texts to be a gift from creator to infuse one into mystical, divine communication and connection with the truth of our nature: stimulating the faculties known as “Spirit Walking” which provide one’s innate power of clairvoyance, astral travel, self-development and meditation.
ANCIENT MYTH
As I began to sacred homeschool my daughters last year, we slowly discovered with each new ancient culture we studied that throughout world myth, stories repeat in similar ways over and over again. One such theme is that humans have been provided certain sacred plants as a way of helping humanity heal and realize their divinity.
In Ancient Mesopotamia, Gilgamesh sought out to find the plant of immortality, but once he dove to the bottom of the ocean finding what he was looking for, a snake came and ate the plant which caused his old skin to dry, become loose and shed, leaving a nice new youthful skin. Hence, one of the beautiful teachings of the snake is the power of releasing the old and that which does not serve you, so you can birth into newness.
In Ancient Persia, there is a myth of a holy plant that grew on the tree of life, and it was so blessed and pure that no reptile could come near it. This venerable plant known as Haoma was made into a drink, per the sacred text of Avesta, and given to the parents of the avatar Zoroaster by Magi whose virgin mother conceived him in an act of parthenogenesis during the ceremony.
The consecrated medicine of Ancient Egypt was the Blue Lotus, a symbol of creation and birth that has been drawn in art depictions throughout time. Their myth, similar to most myths around the world was that the universe was once covered in water and darkness. The blue lotus grew from the dark waters giving light to the world of creation, and from the core of the auspicious plant was the solar diety Atum, “the one who made himself into millions” and Ra, the sun god. Which is very similar to the creation myth of ancient vedas where a lotus springs from the naval of a coiled snake, Ananta, where Lord Vishnu (god of preservation) rests upon the vast ocean of nothingness, and gives rise to Brahma (Creator god) who creates the universe, and splitting himself into male and female.
In India, the ancient Rigveda mentions a mysterious plant over a 100 times, known as Soma which produces immortality (Amrita, Rigveda 8.48.3), and goes about telling a story of Indra who drank large amounts while fighting a demon named Vritra. It goes on to say about Soma, “He covers the naked and heals all who are sick. The blind man sees; the lame man steps forth....Let those who seek find what they seek: let them receive the treasure....Let him find what was lost before; let him push forward the man of truth....". There is also a story where archer Kṛśānu held the sacred being of Soma captive in the high heavens. A falcon stole Soma and gave to Manu, the first man and progenitor of humanity, such as Adam in the Bible). Additionally, Soma is associated with the moon in the late Rigveda and Middle Vedic period, and Sūryā, the daughter of the Sun, is sometimes stated to be the wife of Soma.
Greek legend speaks to the healing temples located near sacred healing waters, where the sick would go through healing purification rites, and then placed in a dream incubation where sacred plants were given, and they would receive information about the root causes of their illness with directives as how to heal themselves, sometimes receiving direct healing in their dreamtime.
Mesoamerica also has a rich background of myth and story around psychoactive gifts from the creator serpent god Quetzalcoatl. A Catholic clergyman and scholar explained that the Aztecs’ had a relationship with a psychoactive mushroom in which they would pick small mushrooms and eat them with honey or chocolate. He wrote “when they were eaten they would make one see many things which would or would not make them much afraid, or even laugh. Some would dance or weep, others would merely sit and dream. Some had visions of death, or of falling in battle. Some believed that they were being eaten by a wild animal and others believed that they would become very wealthy. All forms of good or evil could become a reality under the influence of the fungus, which the natives referred to as teonanàcatl, teo implies divine, and nanàcatl means meat or mushroom, hence the term ‘flesh of the gods’.”
Common CEREMONIAL MEDICINES USED TODAY
Sacred plants and mushrooms have been held in devotion by medicine men and women of even the oldest tribes on Earth. Harmel is a psychoactive plant commonly used for eons by the Israelites, as well as within the Jewish tradition that is found in Sinai dessert and all over the Middle east that has been known for its curative powers and ability to connect one with the ground of all Being, the power of Mother and Father God. Many rabbis and scholars have thought that Moses received the ten commandments after taking this divine medicine upon Mount Sinai.
Wachuma, a cacti from the High Andean Mountains: also found in desert regions of Western North America has been used by Native Americans tribes in sacred ceremony for thousands of years. Wachuma became known as San Pedro, the name given by Catholic priests after Saint Peter. A substance known to open the gates of Heaven to anyone who partook.
One of the most commonly known medicines that has many from all around the globe traveling into the Amazon, or seeking a surge of “Churches” popping up around the world holding sacred medicine circles, is the leafy vine Ayahuasca used by over 80 different Indigenous tribes that has been used as an instrument of religious initiation and healing for thousands of years in the Amazon. These Amazonian native shamans say that Ayahuasca is the plant spirit with higher status than the Archangels, who serve God directly. It used to be that only tribal shamans would take Ayahuasca combined with Chacruna (which gives psychoactive properties from the spirit molecule DMT) allowing the medicine womb/man to peer into the spirit and energetic body to find the root cause of illness. For these sacred medicines were once only reserved for the healer or spiritual elite circles, however in recent decade there has been a massive growing movement providing common folk the ability to tap deeply into one’s inner world of the soul, receiving sight to the root of one’s suffering that provides healing. If you have done your shadow work, then you will be led into a deep sense of the sacred connection in all, and receive mystical insights to the universe and insights that pertain to your present soul work at hand.
BUT BEWARE, there is a dark side to this medicine practice by Shamans who have disconnected from their integrity and been taken in by a desire of greed and an attempt to master the energy of others. It is highly advised that before you sit in ceremony with anyone that you…
Know how to journey within your inner realms and have had significant time to navigate these realms on your own.
You know how to interpret the symbolic meaning of your dreams.
You have a solid meditation practice.
You have worked with Shamanic Practitioners before and understand the depth and breathe of what is actually happening. There are deep and necessary teachings to be had.
You have a clean diet and are ready to make significant changes in your daily life.
I have worked with many who had a really difficult time decompressing from their Medicine Journeys because they had jumped into this sacred work without knowing anything about their inner worlds, and we entered into these spaces in a very safe and embodied manner to help reorganize their subtle and mental bodies in a way that they could digest their experience and in some cases heal from their medicine journey.
Signing up for a Medicine Retreat is an experience to take very seriously and mindfully.
Depth Hypnosis is a wonderful way to learn how to navigate and interpret your inner realms.
So before you jump into a Medicine Circle, consider the deep teachings of your soul awaiting you through the powerful practice of Depth Hypnosis.
Here to support you.
TRUTH+LOVE+MAGIC,
Kari Rivers
Spiritual Counselor, Depth Hypnosis & Shamanic Practitioner, Sound and Voice Therapist. Rite of Passage Guide in Asheville, NC and worldwide on Zoom.
