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Celestial wisdom for the soul's ascent: astrology, alchemy, magic & gnosis
Herbal Alchemy, Plant Magic & Astrological Medicine
All of nature mirrors a higher order, reflecting archetypes throughout creation. Every aspect we perceive in the physical world is governed by a planetary archetype. Take the Sun, for instance—it, along with other celestial bodies in our solar system, imparts specific resonant frequencies and energies that influence both the Earth and all its inhabitants. Understanding the interplay of planetary forces and their influence on all beings including plants, allows for their intentional utilization.
Psychedelic Plant Medicines & Entheogens
An entheogen ("to create god within," en εν- "in, within," theo θεος- "god, divine," -gen γενος "creates, generates"), in the strict sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a spiritual, shamanic or religious context. Historically, entheogens were mostly derived from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts. More broadly, the term entheogen is used to refer to any psychoactive substances when used for their religious or spiritual effects, whether or not in a formal religious or traditional structure. This terminology is often chosen to contrast with recreational use of the same substances.
Examples of traditional entheogens include sacraments found in the indigenous and Native American traditions such as Peyote [North America], San Pedro or Huachuma [South America] as well as Ayahuasca or Yage. Other common entheogens include cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms. Entheogens have been used all throughout the world in all ages and times.
In Ancient Egypt, the Egyptian Blue Lotus and the Acacia were used as entheogens and psychedelic sacraments. Yet these were ritually prepared and consecrated in ceremonial ways at special times and combined in a very specific mixture that gave them their real entheogenic power, so just merely ingesting them on their own will not have much of a psychedelic effect. It is important to know the rites of the ancient mystery traditions and have a thorough understanding of magical ritual and correspondence before attempting to use some of these substances in order to draw out their full power.
In Ancient Greece the kykeon was revered, which was an entheogenic brew that proceeded initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries, as well as ambrosia; African entheogens include the powerful Iboga and the African Dream Root of the Xhosa; Vedic sacraments were the sacred Amrita and the Soma, described often in the Vedas and ritually prepared and drunk by the priests and initiates of the Brahmanic mysteries; The Persian equivalent was the Haoma, described in sacred rites of the Zend Avesta and initiates of Zoroastrianism. Entheogens may be compounded through the work of a shaman or apothecary in a tea, admixture, or potion like Ayahuasca/Yage, Bhang, snuff, or in an anointing oil.
Not all plant medicines are meant to be ingested. There are many entheogens that are meant to be used in different ways, especially if they are extremely poisonous, such as Datura and other Brugmansia species known as Angel's Trumpet, La Reina de la Noche and Toé in South American shamanic traditions. There are various ways to use these plants ritually for their psychedelic effects without ingesting them directly which typically is highly dangerous especially for the non-initiated. Other hallucinogenic toxic plants that belong to the nighshade family, as well as Belladona, Mandrake Root, and Henbane, all belong to the poison path of shamanism. These types of plants traditionally were used as "flying ointments" to aid in psychedelic experiences and astral travel. Traditionally they were either infused in an oil base, strained, or added to lard. These were ritually prepared as special salves and mixtures then these ointments were applied on specific areas of the body.
Entheogens have been used in a ritualized context for thousands of years; their religious significance is well established in anthropological and modern evidence. They have been used extensively in various initiatory rites in the mystery traditions and in shamanic and spiritual ceremonies since the dawn of civilization.
Entheogens can be used alone as the main sacrament in initiatory rites and for spiritual explorations and revelations, or can also be tools to supplement various spiritual practices and esoteric traditions for healing and transcendence. Many of these entheogens and sacred plant medicines have extensive benefits that not only include spiritual breakthroughs, insights into the mysteries of the universe, exploration of the hidden dimensions of consciousness and journeys into inner realms, but also offer full physical, emotional, mental, and psychological healing, with even miraculous and complete recovery of many irreversible chronic illnesses and diseases.
With the introduction, rapid progression and popularization of entheogens such as ayahuasca and other sacred plant medicines in the West, many have been exploiting and even abusing these ancient sacraments and corrupting these indigenous wisdom traditions that go back ages. With the increase in new age belief systems, neo-shamanism, fake medicine men, plastic shamanism, and ayahuasca tourism, there are now really serious dangers present when working with these ancient sacraments.
I’ve worked with many plant medicines such as ayahuasca, huachuma and peyote for many years now. Each one is a beautiful and powerful medicine that helps in many ways, not just with healing but also to give a common person or a “non-initiate” an experience of profound gnosis that can potentially set them on a path of deeper spiritual awakening. Yet a major issue is that because these plant medicines are becoming more and more popular, there are a lot of people and groups that aren’t properly initiated and don’t have authentic altars that are serving these medicines, and they are hurting a lot of people. One reason why most people have had really terrifying experiences through ceremony or "bad trips" is actually because of this.
On one level it’s great that these medicines have come out to the public since they have a powerful potential to do a lot of good and bring healing, yet because there are malevolent influences and archonic forces that corrupt anything that does have a powerful potential to elevate consciousness, bring gnosis and do a lot of good, these things have infiltrated many of the people that are serving the medicines and the ceremonies themselves. Many people who haven’t gone through any proper purification or spiritual discipline come to the medicine with their egos and unconscious shadow motivations, get hijacked by these forces and even get initiated with these darker malevolent influences to become “medicine people” who end up being used as vessels for these forces. Many do sorcery in the ceremonies. You can usually tell who these types are as they are in it for the money or power.
It’s VERY important that people know who they are sitting with, what kind of altar the medicine person is working with and what kinds of forces and spirits they are in invoking in the ceremonies. Even with indigenous medicine people that do have an authentic altar, there are a lot of different things that go on behind the scenes like sorcery and summoning specific spirits or forces that siphon off the energies of the participants in the ceremony. This type of sorcery is more common with ayahuasca or yagé since it’s a lunar sacrament and works more in the shadow. It still can happen with the solar sacraments such as peyote too, but these medicines are different and even the ceremonies work differently on many levels.
It’s important to know how to overcome these archonic forces within oneself, how to recognize and overcome various malevolent spirits and know how to rise above any potential sorcery that could occur especially for anyone who plans to participate in ceremonies on a regular basis.
On a personal level, I find that as an initiate especially with previous experience with spiritual practice, purification, discipline, etc. that when you do use one of these sacraments it can really take you to deeper levels of initiation and profound experiences with higher forces and aspects of the divine that can really elevate your consciousness and help you along the path as an initiate. Some of my most powerful initiatory experiences happened through very intense ayahuasca ceremonies. And as an initiate, even when you do encounter some of these darker forces or malevolent influences, it’s meant to test you and challenge you, so that you learn how to overcome them. So I wouldn’t suggest anyone ever approach these sacraments or go into a ceremony from a place of fear.
These sacraments are not meant to be taken all the time, misused or abused, and if you are an initiate, it is expected that eventually you learn how to attain these higher states of consciousness naturally and organically on your own. Relying on externals is not going to make someone an adept.
The Importance of Integration
Integration is extremely important with plant medicine and entheogen work, yet often overlooked. It is commonly said that the real ceremony starts after the actual experience of the plant medicine. This is because many times the insights are mere glimpses that are meant to be integrated into oneself after the ceremony. Everything that a psychedelic experience brings up, whether it's physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, is communicating something deeper to you and is telling a story. Even specific events in the ceremony and occurrences around you or happening in the environment is communicating something deeper to you and is part of the overall message. For most people who don't have a full understanding of the various types of symbolism or know its associations with various aspects of the physical body and emotional or spiritual correspondences, much of this communication is lost. It is important to work with a qualified guide that understands not just how these plant medicines work and has personal experience with them, but who can also interpret the various layers of symbolism of the experience, whether in visions or through the unfolding of the events, as well as the symbolism of the body, its esoteric anatomy associations, psychological correspondence, and inner alchemy, so that one can start to understand the deeper messages and fully integrate the entirety of the experience.
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