A Word About Cannabis
Restoring right relationship with a master teacher/healer plant
Other than tobacco there is no other master teacher/healer plant that has been more abused and misunderstood than cannabis. Cannabis is now the most cultivated and readily available psychotropic plant throughout the modern world. Used for millennia in the east for textiles, food, medicine and religious sacrament, western scientists and the populace at large are coming to see cannabis as a safe and effective alternative to many pharmaceuticals.
The first records of cannabis cultivation and use are from China, where the species most likely originated. From there it spread to India and the mideast, and was widely used throughout Europe by the 16th century.
Cannabis is thought to have first been grown by European settlers in the New World in Chile in 1545, and was later brought to New England by the Puritans in 1645 as a fiber source for household spinning and weaving. Cultivation subsequently spread to Virginia and Kentucky, where it grew so well that a robust hemp industry developed.
The law in the United States makes a distinction between hemp and marijuana. Though they are both simply different strands of cannabis sativa, industrial hemp is lower in Delta-9 THC than its intoxicating cousin marijuana.
Thanks to our puritanical roots American lawmakers have always been suspicious of the intoxicating effects of marijuana. This fear led to both industrial hemp and marijuana being categorized as a Schedule I substance in 1970 with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act. Which killed the industrial hemp industry and made cultivation, possession, and consumption of cannabis sativa a crime.
In my opinion the government never has the right to outlaw a plant. But it did, for complex mostly racist and imperialistic reasons. The result has been a “War on Drugs” that has caused the United States to hold the dubious distinction of being the world’s number one jailer of its own population. Despite only having 5% of the world’s population the United States is responsible for 25% of the prison population. Most of those behind bars are there for drug related crimes and are disproportionately people of color.
The fog of the Drug War is beginning to lift, and laws around the cultivation and use of cannabis have begun to ease. Though cannabis remains a Schedule I Controlled Substance (for now) at the federal level, 38 states have passed laws creating medical marijuana programs and 24 states now permit recreational use. Moreover, industrial hemp is making a comeback because of its diverse comparatively environmentally friendly uses.
This is all well and good, and I’m grateful we are making progress in correcting a wrong that never should have been done. But I want to take the conversation beyond prohibition and legalization to a larger discussion about what right relationship with this plant might look like.
Right relationship begins with where and how the plant is grown. Because of decades of prohibition and criminalization marijuana is primarily grown in warehouses under grow lights in industrial conditions. In a word it is enslaved, and removed from the natural environment to maximize potency and productivity.
Cannabis deserves to have its roots in the ground and its leaves in the sunshine. Abuse of the plant has changed her character, and is responsible for most of the addictive ungrounding effects we see with cannabis use.
A plant grown in right relationship is medicine. A plant grown in an enslaved disrespectful condition becomes poison. We see this throughout our modern agriculture system as industrial farming and monocropping has come to dominate our food chain.
Wheat use to be the bread of life, now thanks to Monsanto and extractive farming practices it has become poison for many. Corn has been a sacred source of life and health for indigenous peoples in the Americas for millennia. In the hands of colonial farming practices it lost its spirit and life, and has become a source of obesity, cancer, and diabetes in the form of corn syrup.
Cannabis is no different.
In ancient China medicine men and women were frequently buried with the plant to signify their hope of continuing their healing profession in the afterlife. In India devotees of Shiva have used cannabis in their rites for millennia, referring to its sacramental use as Shiva’s Prasad, or a gift of god.
Cannabis is most widely known as a somatic psychotropic. She will sooth your pain, reduce your inflammation, and provide comfort. But these are the most superficial of her gifts.
Cannabis like all other plants is responsive to our prayers and intentions. If you come to her praying for comfort she will give you comfort. If you pray for healing she will give you healing, which might get uncomfortable.
She can be as fierce and confrontational as Ayahuasca. But she requires more permission. She is more accommodating of your desires. Ayahuasca gives you what you need, Cannabis is more inclined to give you what you ask for.
In that sense Cannabis is a plant that grants boons and gifts, and can facilitate spiritual empowerment. Shaivite sadhus use the sacrament to attain spiritual powers and expand their meditative capacity. I suspect she is the source of much yogic philosophy and wisdom.
Once she has healed you she will begin to teach you, like any other master teacher/healer plant. She will teach you mantras, mudras, and entire systems of yogic wisdom. She will purify you in mind, body, and spirit as you stare into a consecrated fire with a prayer for liberation from suffering. She will also show you anything you wish to see in visuals more acute than what can be seen only with your eyes.
This is cannabis at her finest most sacramental use.
When we fall out of right relationship with her things become less beautiful. Some call her a jealous lover, she tells me she is simply a good lover that you can’t stay away from. Both may be true.
I tend to think most of the negative side effects of Cannabis stem from the abusive ways in which she is grown. But they are real and worth mentioning.
Her comfort can become a crutch that leads to addiction and makes us ineffectual in our lives. Her visions can become enchanting, and we can lose interest in the physical world. Excessive use stretches out the mind and places us in a fog of thoughts that struggle to connect or find coherence. We become ineffectual, disoriented, and disconnected from the world.
If you choose to work with this plant I suggest you try to find someone growing her who is doing so in a good way. That is hard in most places if not impossible, but finding the best source you can is important. When you ingest be mindful of your intention and prayer. Sometimes we need comfort and she is good at that. But know that isn’t all she is good for and that prayers for healing should be more frequent than your requests for comfort. Try to keep it sacramental and make a ceremony of it, she will show you a beautiful way to work with her if you are willing to listen. Finally, remember there is a downside and keep yourself in right relationship with her.
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this post are personal opinion and not legal or medical advice. One should be familiar with the laws of their state or jurisdiction before ingesting psychotropic substances. Nothing in this article is intended to condone or encourage the use of psychotropics. The use of psychotropic is a highly personal decision that each individual must make as a matter of conscience, with an informed understanding of the risks and benefits unique to them and their life situation.
RAMAKA KRIYA
At the behest of my lineage I have started teaching yoga through the vehicle of Ramaka Kriya, which literally translates to "Rama's Spirit in Action." Ramaka Kriya is a path of self and god realization dedicated to restoring Dharma through the use of effective spiritual practices and the righteous use of energy.
It is universalist in the sense that it honors the perennial wisdom tradition and seeks ever greater integrity with truth. While truth is an endless exploration, the key pillars of the tradition are based in mystical Christianity, Hinduism, and indigenous Earth based spirituality.
SATSANGS
I have begun traveling and teaching Ramaka Kriya to raise funds for Ramaka Temple. If you would like to sponsor an event please reach out.
MEDICINE COUNSEL
I offer mediation services and consultations on entheogenic law and integration coaching through Medicine Counsel.