Take plant medicine in sacrament for your spiritual path to connect with the Divine, deepen your personal practice, and receive gifts of grace and healing.
A sacrament is a ceremony with a spiritual significance; it conveys the outward expression of the faith you hold within. When you take plant medicine in a spiritual sacrament, you intend to receive a healing, an initiation, and transformation facilitated by the effects of the plant; this type of ceremony is to be approached with preparation and humility.
Plant medicine is a term synonymously used with psychedelics such as ayahuasca, mushroom, peyote, and iboga to name a few. The naturally occurring psychoactive properties of these plants offer a type of medicine to its users that may provide emotional, mental, and spiritual healing. Most describe a change in their self-perception after working with plant medicine; many who partake in a sacred ceremony with plant medicine experience a spiritual awakening and transformation.
The consumption of these psychoactive plants can facilitate a meeting with the Divine. Whether a person is religious, spiritual, or an atheist, the chance of having an experience with the Divine is available to everyone. The likelihood of such an encounter is greatly increased when the person has done some spiritual work prior to attending the ceremony.
If a person already has faith in God or a higher power, then they can choose to approach taking plant medicine as a sacrament.
When we come to a ceremony with the intention that this is a sacrament where we will receive healing, an initiation, and transformation, the experience becomes an expression of our spirituality. The intention establishes the guidelines for the ceremonial event; the clearer our intention, the more in line our experience is to that idea.
Just as people prepare their mind and body to receive a religious sacrament, going into a sacred ceremony with plant medicine also requires preparation; part of this is called “set and setting.”
The set is your current mind state and the setting is your environment: where you are, the Shaman you’re working with, the people around you, and the dose you take. Your intention anchors your mindset and with the thought that you are taking plant medicine in a sacrament, you prime yourself to have a spiritual experience. Thus, if you have the intention to receive a spiritual healing, initiation, and transformation — you will. With that said, the experience may not look and feel like what you expect.
The other part of preparing ourselves to take plant medicine in a sacrament is the spiritual work; this constitutes raising our awareness, recognizing our fears and issues, and practicing meditation and/or prayer. These elements help us arrive at a state of being that is more ready to receive the spiritual healing, initiation, and transformation that awaits us, compared to if we were to enter the process blind and cold; also, this self-knowledge furthers our ability to create a clear and focused intention.
Our intention in taking plant medicine as a sacrament is a desire to commune with the Divine; how that manifests is uncertain.
From experience, I can relate that the imagery you work with prior to the ceremony, as well as the type of images that resonate with your life, in general, can play a part in your experience, but not always. Still, I recommend surrounding yourself with pictures and objects that make you feel connected with your faith, are related to the experience you wish to have, and where the items make you feel safe and guided. All of this adds to your mindset and supports your wish for a spiritual experience.
To view plant medicine as a sacrament is to give it spiritual meaning and thus becomes part of our spiritual practice. One can include such a practice in any religious faith or way of life as the experience is meant to support the person’s existing beliefs. It will be up to your faith and the mindful work you do before and after the ceremony to connect and understand the spiritual significance of your experience and transformation. Additionally, working with plant medicine in this context, where it is perceived as a holy experience, will prevent the misuse of the plants.
Respect for the plants is paramount when using them as a sacrament.
The reverence we give the plant medicines is directly related to the connection we feel toward our faith. When we ingest these plants, we are taking in their grace; we are committing ourselves to the journey they offer. In working with plant medicine, we surrender control of the process and open ourselves to their ability to heal us.
With the inclusion of plant medicine in our spiritual practice, we do not have to rely on faith alone to fulfill our spiritual yearnings of connection and curiosity. When we approach plant medicine in a sacrament, we commit to knowing and embodying the Divine — God — in a way that is real and meaningful.
With love,
Sureya-Jeanne
If you enjoyed this article, you may want to read the book I wrote called, Unification: Bridging Your Ego and Divine Self Consciousness. In it, I describe a way of life shown to me by the Light bodies — angelic beings whom I encountered during meditation with plant medicine. For over a year, I worked with the Light bodies through channeling, meditation, and plant medicine, to give rise to the spiritual path called Unification.
Disclaimer:
This article does not promote or recommend the use of illegal drugs. Many of the substances referenced above are illegal in many countries including the United States. This article does not constitute medical advice. As always, please consult your doctor before taking any medicine.
First published on Samadhi.today for Medium