If it had become a trend, a hip thing to do nowadays, a happy-hour, a “trip” which sometimes includes mixes of substances and add-ons that do not cease to amaze me, there is no denial of a deep need that is challenging our state of sanity to push through and change the way we are living on this earth.
A need to feel whole, accepted and belong to a clan or a tribe, a yearning for a passage through unfathomable difficulties, wanting to be and sometimes to run away from being, to meet God, to mourn loss and reconcile with death and dying… Many reasons are putting more attention on healing through expanded states of consciousness to live in a true sense of wholeness again.
Breathwork, deep states of meditation, silent retreats, vision quest, fasting, somatic bodywork and movement, sound, light and elementals, entheogenic substances and master plant and mycelial teachers are being sought and experienced as medicine by many to somehow remember and re-member…
“People say that what we are seeking is the meaning of life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive”. A deeply insightful and so relatable by Joseph Campbell.
One of the many approaches to invoke and evoke this connection and gradually tap into it as an anchor in everyday life is through Ceremony. This can include the ingestion of plant medicine or not and it is held in a sacred space with a well-experienced guide meeting with a common intention; Serving and supporting the healing and growth of another human being.
The Maestro I used to work with always said: “Medicine is for Everyone” and these few words keep echoing in my journey and reminding me of this truth.
When we hear this call, we feel a pull from a place which encompasses our whole being. An original sound echoing within and resonating with the innate sound of creation. A sound that our soul knows and we recon that “It is time for me to take this step”.
We start to tune in and listen, slowing down enough to review our intention, investigate and approach this kind of experience with honesty and respect to our body, the wellbeing of our psyche, the functionality of expressing our emotions in a safe container, the reverence to the medicine itself and the elders and guides.
Once that call happens and one is truly listening, it is important not to rush through any plant medicine experience just for the sake of doing it and ticking that box.
There are many levels to that response and preparing for the journey in a conscious way is crucial for the psyche, the body and the environment that will be explored differently upon return.
Preparation itself plays a big role in the whole journey including the integration process. This can comprise starting to explore expanded states of consciousness in different ways (as mentioned above) and tapping into the effect of those approaches on you, your life, your energy and frequency. How you feel about it and how is it landing in your being is what essentially matters.
Sometimes, too much can be overwhelming and can take longer time to decipher and understand in order to feel the change and stand again in new way. And yes, for some people, this is what is needed and for others, it is not.
This is probably why, among many people out there, I feel like talking and writing more about this subject and shedding light on how can we do things differently and with integrity. This is a core part of our own healing and doing what light beings, medicine guides, elders and wisdom keepers are sharing with us all.
We are One and what we think and do affects the whole web of life. Here and now, we always have a choice.
In Love and Medicine.
Maya Abou Chedid
