Teachings From the Plant People

There is a spiritual awakening taking place. People from all walks of life are scratching their heads wondering if there is something wrong with them, because they do not understand what is happening in their lives. One of the reasons is because society and the media have influenced us on what spirituality is supposed to be or how a spiritual person should behave or look like.

Our paths are unique because there are different levels of consciousness.

Although we are called for the same purpose "to receive,  to learn, and to share," many will get stuck in the early stages of their path for lack of discipline or understanding. In this article, I will discuss the use and abuse of hallucinogenic plants or synthetic drugs as a method of "gaining" spirituality. The media and false teachers have influenced society to believe that you can simply use drugs to become spiritual.

When I was a kid my grandfather warned me about work with the "plant people" (the plants themselves) for my own recreation or experiments. In some cases, the plant people help us break through to our minds because our minds have been so corrupted to the point that we have forgotten about our own intuitive feelings. We are a generation of rational thinkers. In order for us to believe something, we want tangible, measured proof just like a scientist would. My grandfather once said, "You don't need to have faith in order for you to take hallucinogenic plants because it was made for skeptical minds." Peyote, mushrooms, Ayahuasca, Marijuana are not for amusement or entertainment purposes. Those plants are strictly for astral traveling and holistic ceremonies, they are not meant to be party drugs. The experience gained from a ceremony with these kinds of plants, is the wisdom learned though plants and is not for everyone, because you can create a psychological shock, leave a trauma, or even worse, become addicted.

Many people build up expectations because they feed on other people's experiences. Some get too curious and go deeper to see what comes up, not realizing that if you don't have a spiritual guide or a Shaman leading the ceremony it can become fatal. The wisdom of learning through plants is a cultural tradition that goes back to the days of our grandfathers.
 
One does not wake up one day and say, "I want to explore the spirit world, let me get high." Our bodies and minds are constantly crying out for help, and this is one of the ways Spirit has taught us how to heal our psychological problems. Hallucinogenic plants are for self discovery and connection to the spiritual world. 

In our tribes you were allowed to take it under the strict supervision of the elders and only if it was necessary or there was a need to explore ones path or find a deeper meaning of life and the unknown to refine your life.
Each plant has a personality, as each human does. Plants are very sensitive and intuitive. So be humble and remember that you don't know much when you are going to use their medicine. I also would like to remind all the indigenous people and spiritual leaders of today that our job is to be the guardians of the medicine plants and to teach people to respect them and honor the old ways. Remember just because you have the knowledge about the medicine plants it does not mean you have the wisdom to use them.

We are all in search of answers because deep inside we are all spiritual beings. The medicine plants give us a different perspective on our existence in this world and remind you of who you truly are, where we came from, and where we are going after we depart from this realm.

~Juan Errante 

www.giannicrow.com