Introduction to Spirit Plant Medicine

The plant kingdom has much to offer to us in terms of healing and spiritual growth. From the humblest weed, to well-known herbs, flowers, trees, deadly poisonous plants, to sacred plants and master teacher plants — every plant on this planet has something to benefit mankind — yes, even the poisonous ones! The shamanic practice of working with plant spirits and power plants in healing and for spiritual development is one of the most rewarding and beautiful aspects of shamanism. Yet it is also the most prone to pollution and abuse! It is my endeavour to bring back the sacredness of working with plants in a shamanic way and to show the dangers of pseudo-shamans undertaking this kind of work purely for financial benefits or to gain power over others. Please also read on the Medicine Ceremonies page about how to work with sacred plants. The Medicine Ceremonies page deals more in depth with the correct ways of handling sacred plants and will, hopefully, enable you to separate the wheat from the chaff, to clearly see whether a shaman is truly qualified to work with plants and has integrity in his work. Below is information which will get you started in working with power plants on your own if you do not have a suitable teacher near you. I will clearly outline which methods are safe and which are best not undertaken by a beginner. Working with power plants is a very ancient way of connecting with the spirit of plants. Sometimes called “plant medicine” or “plant spirit medicine”, this type of work has been known to shamans for ages immemorial. It is also very sacred work. As a relationship between the shaman and the power plant develops energy gets exchanged and both parties learn and grow in the process. And here is where the danger lies as well: because in recent times some of the sacred shamanic plants have been polluted by pseudo-shamans using them in a non-sacred way! One example of this, but by no means the only one, is the magnificent healer plant Ayahuasca, on which I will write later in another article, as it is a topic dear to my heart! My intention in writing this article is to bring back the respect and love for working with plant spirits and medicine plants in a sacred way. Because sadly, sacred plants can become polluted, and this is happening to many sacred plants now, when ignorant people and New Age shaman wanna-bees dabble with them. More on this on the Sacred Plants page. The information presented here is to serve all those who love shamanism and are interested in working with plant spirits in a sacred way.

Let me be clear that the following is not meant as a do-it-yourself course in advanced shamanism, and it is certainly not meant as an instruction for those poor deluded souls who are looking for a legal high. Please be aware that some of the most powerful magical and shamanic plants are poisonous, in some cases so poisonous that even touching parts of the plant can kill a person. Warning: do not let ego delude you that imbibing poisonous power plants will make you into a great shaman — it will most likely make you into a dead man / woman. I know one person who did this and ended up quite ill. His soul was unable to return to his body and had he not been in the presence of two competent shamans, he might have ended up dead! Important: I cannot be held responsible for your silly choices! Let’s assume for instance, that you and I were walking through the forest and we saw a toadstool and I told you casually, “ancient Siberian shamans used to eat toadstools to get visions!” So the next day you go back and eat that mushroom and get very ill. Who would be to blame? It would be purely your own stupid decision. Likewise, I am giving information here on ancient shamanic techniques of working with plant spirits and power plants. You can safely do all the meditations and journeying with plants on your own, even without a teacher, but do not take anything internally, eat it, smoke it, brew it or drink it. If you choose to do that it will be entirely your risk and responsibility. Having said that, let’s get on with the interesting part. The work with plant spirits is much more advanced than the work with power animals. Part of the reason is that the consciousness of the vegetable kingdom is much further removed from human consciousness than animal consciousness is — though it is a sad fact that the consciousness of the average man who has never developed himself spiritually is barely higher than animal consciousness. One example of people having no sensitivity and understanding of plant consciousness is that many would unthinkingly cut down a tree, considering it inanimate and devoid of a soul just because it cannot scream and run away. Lack of movement and vocal expression doesn’t mean that there is no spirit. Everything in nature has spirit, and a true shaman knows this, knows the Oneness behind all life, animal or plant, or even crystals and rock (mineral kingdom).

One of the easiest and yet profoundest ways of working with plants is to meditate on them. During deep meditation the meditator and the object meditated upon become one. When this happens you get a direct experience of the plant and therefore direct and complete knowledge of it and all its powers. Of course this is easier said than done! Because to reach such a deep state of meditation, the mind has to be sufficiently prepared through years of dietary purification and by the regular practice of concentration and meditation. Occasionally however, such a state can be achieved spontaneously, as I personally experienced many years ago when I lived in Hong Kong. Tired and stressed out from life in the concrete jungle I needed a break. My partner had taken me to a nice place in semi-nature where there were some trees. It was night-time which has always been the most magical time for me. In the pale moonlight I placed my palms against a tree, simply because I hadn’t seen one for a long time and wanted to feel its energy and the life force in it. I had never tried this before consciously. Almost instantly I became one with the tree. It was amazing! I could feel the sap rising up the trunk and the life force or prana circulating in the tree. A strong current passed from the tree into my palms and up my arms and then down to my feet and into the ground. At the same time I could feel some of my energy passing into the tree. I felt all the stress and tension in my body leaving me and entering the tree, which didn’t find this energy repulsive at all but seemed to thrive on it! Throughout the experience somehow I was myself and the tree at the same time. I could feel that the tree also found the experience very interesting and stimulating. It was mildly curious and very compassionate. The energy flow between me and the tree lasted for maybe five minutes continuously. It was so strong that it felt like a mild electric stroke. I was very energised and amazed after the experience. For months afterwards I tried this on every tree I saw, but I could never quite repeat this depth of experience again. But what I kept with me always afterwards was the memory of how it felt to be a tree. If you have never meditated before, then it is high time to start the practice now! Meditation will benefit you in many ways and is a must for any serious shaman, magician or Yogi / Yogini. But do not think you need to be an expert meditator first before you can meditate with plants. Anybody can do it. And much can be learned even without achieving complete oneness during meditation. The setting for one’s plant meditation makes a difference too: it is much easier to achieve a still state of mind when in a serene place in nature. So take a walk in nature and find a plant that you would like to work with or one that calls you. Then sit before the plant and gaze at it and allow your mind to become still. Begin by visual examination of the plant. Your mind is likely to make associations, and that is good. Because both ancient and modern shamans believe that the very shape and form of the plant can tell us much about its powers, its magick and itshealing properties. Take for example the bleeding heart flower. The pink blossoms are heart-shaped and there is a small white petal hanging down that looks like a tear, hence the name bleeding heart. The flower can be used in love spells and herbal pouches to mend a broken heart. If a shaman wanted to heal a particular organ or part of the body, he would then look for a plant shaped similar to that organ or body part. The colour of the plant too can have associations. Bright red may symbolise passion or blood, white for purity, black for absorption of negativity or death, etc. Once you have finished the visual examination of the plant and no further associations come to mind, connect to the plant more deeply. Begin to speak to it in your mind and introduce yourself and tell it your purpose. Then be silent and receptive and wait for the plant to speak to you. It takes some practice until one can hear the subtle language of plants. The communication between plants and humans is not always through telepathically transmitted words but can also be through images and emotions. As you are going deeper in your meditation you will gain more and more knowledge of the plant, of how it can be used in healing, its special powers and applications. The plant may even communicate ancient forgotten lore to you. When you are done with your meditation thank the plant and leave without harming or disturbing it. Unless, as it sometimes happens, the plant offers a part of itself to you, either as a talisman or as connection to its spirit. If this is the case then respectfully remove the exact part the plant has allowed you to take and thank it. It is customary in such cases to leave a gift for the plant. This can be just a bit of your saliva on the cut-off branch (if it was a tree) or some cornmeal or tobacco or other suitable offering that you leave on the ground by the plant. After the meditation you should write down all the insights you have gained from working with this plant while the memory is still fresh. You can keep a special notebook or journal for all your plant meditations. Any plant parts harvested should be preserved carefully, possibly placed in a little pouch or medicine bag or used in other appropriate ways, such as making a wand or a tree bead necklace from branches, etc. You can learn more about working with trees on the with Tree Spirits page!

The basics of acquiring a plant helper are not that different from acquiring a power animal. As with power animals, you will have to journey into the Underworld to find your plant helper. However, here is the difference: before you do this you must already have made a connection with the spirit of that plant. This can be done in various ways, such as by eating a part of the plant or drinking a brew concocted from it, smoking it, or just holding a part of the plant in your hand when journeying. (Please heed above warning about poisonous plants!) Let’s say you have decided that you want to work in a more powerful way with mugwort. Mugwort is a very good astral projection and psychic ability plant. To make it into your helper you would first brew yourself a cup of mugwort tea, drink it, and afterwards journey to your personal Underworld and look for the spirit of mugwort there. Alternatively you could burn mugwort on a charcoal disc, inhale it and then journey. The point is it has to get into your body somehow, so it can become one with you. The spirit of mugwort will look different from the actual plant in this reality, so you will need shamanic tracking abilities and excellent psychic sight and intuition to spot it. The spirit of plants often do not even look like plants in the Underworld, they commonly appear as animals or insects. (One fake shaman I know of says that the spirits of plants usually look human. Note: this is not true and most likely a ploy to make you retrieve something dangerous that he has planted into your Underworld. More about this below). When you have found the spirit of the plant, you can communicate with it and if it is friendly and willing to come with you and be your helper, you may take it back to your Sanctuary as you would with a power animal. However, make sure you are not taking something else that camouflages itself as a mugwort. On my Power Animals Page I have given an example of what can happen when an inexperienced shaman who is lacking in psychic sight and intuition retrieves a negative force instead of a benevolent spirit being. Under no circumstances would you want to take entities or demonic forces into your Sanctuary! From then on you can journey with the spirit of mugwort as your companion! Unlike with power animals, the spirits of plants will have different areas of expertise and ways of being used. For example there are some plants which are useful for taking power back. Which means if you are going on an Underworldjourney to take power back from people who have stolen it from you, it would be very beneficial to take such a plant with you. Other plants are useful for destroying elemental forces in your Underworld. Some plants open you up more to the astral or release limitations in the mind. But for doing this work one really needs to be a lot more knowledgeable than for a simple power animal retrieval.

Another, much more powerful way of acquiring a plant helper is to “diet” the plant. This is a technique that is much used in the Amazon, but also known to shamans to other traditions. Generally for this to work one should be in a natural environment, if at all possible. However, I have done it successfully in the mundane world as well. A plant “dieta”, as this shamanic practice is called, involves eating nothing but one particular plant for a period of time. The minimum is 10 days, in some cases this may take several weeks or even months). For breakfast one may have some very bland but nourishing foods such as white rice, then for the rest of the day nothing but the plant. The purpose behind the sensory deprivation is to ensure that one may taste nothing but the flavour of the dieted plant all day long. The spirit of a plant expresses itself, among other things, in the flavour of the plant. Therefore, if you take a herbal remedy in capsules which you can swallow without ever tasting the plant, then you are not connecting with the spirit of the plant at all, and therefore, from a shamanic point of view, the efficacy of such treatments will be reduced if not void! For an interaction between the spirit of the plant and a human being to occur, the plant should not just be imbibed but tasted — and the taste enjoyed, even if it is bitter! For the taste of the plant is a direct expression of its spirit. The two are one, and to reject one is to reject the other as well! When the plant is dieted like this, exclusive to all other flavours and foodstuffs, it will eventually teach the shaman its song. Of course, to receive the song one needs to have one’s mind in a clear and meditative state. If one is caught up in too many worldly activities which make the mind restless, nervous or scattered, then it is unlikely to work. Being in ego is another obstacle to receiving the song. While the loud voice of ego keeps blabbering you will be oblivious to the gentle voice of the plant. It helps to not just diet the plant but to sit and meditate with it as well, either in its natural environment, or at least in a quiet place while holding the plant in your hand or in your mouth. When the song comes through one has to relax and let it come out without judging it. Some people have an affinity for getting songs while others find it very hard or near impossible. Every capable shaman has several unique power songs. Some of those may be from plants, and others taught by the spirits or the gods. When a plant is dieted long enough it will teach its power song to the shaman. The song will help the shaman employ the power of the plant in healing and ceremonies, even when the plant is not physically present. Once the plant song has been learned, the plant automatically becomes a power plant for the shaman. However, the song will not work so well for other people. One’s own songs are always the most powerful. A true shaman doesn’t need to copy other shamans’ power songs, but has his or her own! Here is the story of how I got my first plant power song:

During my training as an Ayahuascera (female Ayahuasca shaman) we were staying in nature for one month, which was the perfect environment for doing plant dietas. Several people wanted to do plant dietas as well. It was determined — by magickal means — which plant we should be dieting. My plant turned out to be borage. I was not very enthusiastic about this plant at first, because I thought it was a “boring” plant (yep, ego told me I needed a more “powerful” plant!). Fortunately I didn’t listen to ego but decided to give it a try. On the first morning I went to a nearby gigantic borage plant to harvest leaves and blossoms for my breakfast. The borage tasted surprisingly good. I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast while others were sullenly munching their prescribed herbs. At lunchtime, when I went to the plant again and started to harvest some more leaves for my lunch I began to hum a tune. At first I wasn’t even aware I was humming. When I became aware of it I thought I was just in a good mood. The next morning, back by the plant, I started humming the tune again. I didn’t give it much attention as I often sing or hum when I do work. It was only on the third day that I realised that the same tune started each time I was near the borage plant, and only then! Surely this couldn’t be the power song, so fast, and no words to go with it? To make sure I told my teacher and hummed the song for him. He nodded and said it was a power song indeed and that it was good. I had somehow assumed that a power song must have words, and not just be a hummed melody, but my teacher pointed out to me that some power songs are just whistles or hums and others have words. I still dieted the plant to the completion of 10 days so it could heal my heart. During the time of the borage dieta I was going through great emotional pain and some very cathartic emotional releases as well. The borage plant is well known for lifting heaviness from the heart and for banishing all gloom and depression. Well, it had to do some heavy lifting for me! There were times when the emotions I was struggling through were so extremely painful that I didn’t know how to go on another day. Often it seemed I was drowning in an ocean of pain. My teacher, in his compassion, then laid the beautiful star-shaped blue blossoms on my heart chakra and I felt an immediate easing of my pain and distress. During this time my friends and I were taking Ayahuasca every night. I often kept a few borage blossoms in my clothes just over on my heart chakra. The spirit of borage accompanied me to all my ceremonies. All of us who had received plant songs used to sing them at the beginning of each ceremony. When I compared my song with the songs of the others (hint: it is never wise to compare!) I felt that it was a bit plain, and wondered whether it was really powerful. I was to find out soon. One night, during an Ayahuasca ceremony, one of the male participants became very agitated and began to cry uncontrollably. I could feel his extreme emotional pain as he was crying as if his heart had been irreparably broken. This was going on for quite a long time. His pain affected me deeply. I can never bear to see others suffering. Besides him all were silent in the room. I never like to break the silence but I felt guided to hum my borage song. As I hummed I had a very clear vision of several beautiful star-shaped blueborage flowers flying past me and towards the crying man. They were shining with an unearthly blue light and the size of saucers! I knew exactly when they found him because within seconds the crying abated and he called out in wonder to the shaman, “what is this? What is this beautiful blue light?” And then he began to laugh! First he giggled and then he laughed and finally he roared with laughter. His laughter was so contagious that most of the others joined in. He had gone from the depths of pain straight to ecstasy! And I believe it was the spirit of borage that did it!

You should be aware that some of the traditional power plants used by ancient shamans are poisonous. There is greater power in poisonous plants — power which can be accessed by true shamans and used for good, but which would kill a meddler. Sometimes these plants were used for visions when there was an urgent need, when the tribe was in danger, etc. At other times the shaman may have wanted to access the Oneness or empower himself, or seek a personal vision. With proper preparation and with the right training, when one has power even highly poisonous plants can be taken. Once the shaman has imbibed the poisonous power plant he / she journeys with it to the Underworld. There the shaman makes friends with the spirit of the plant and transmutes the poison. The plant then imparts its wisdom and power to the shaman and will become his / her power plant. From then on the plant is no longer poisonous to the shaman, just the opposite, it will give the shaman strength! Only a shaman who has faced death can take these plants, those that are afraid of death are likely to die! Basically taking a poisonous power plant is a form of initiation. I too have done this and acquired two helpers that way. However, I wish to make it very clear that I am writing about poisonous power plants purely from an information point of view. I am not telling you to try this, in fact, I am warning people not to attempt this. Because if it goes wrong, if you don’t pass the initiation, you will be dead! In the ancient shamanic cultures the initiations were always very hard, few people nowadays would want to undergo those gruelling initiations. For power to come in it is necessary to break down the old persona completely, and this generally needs a near death experience or something extreme for a person to go beyond their small self. Due to the harshness of the initiations only those who were really called by the gods to serve as shamans, survived. There were no fake shamans around in the old times, because the ancients had a fool-proof system to weed out hypocrites: they just wouldn’t survive the initiations of poisonous plants! That sorted out false shamans quite quickly and permanently! So please don’t dabble with poisonous plants! And remember, some are even poisonous to the touch! Below are some examples of poisonous power plants: Fly Agaric, a pretty mushroom found in the Northern hemisphere (depicted above), also known as toadstools is a poisonous power plant. Yet it was widely used by Siberian shamans. Our modern story of Santa Claus goes back to Siberian shamans flying and entering through the chimney (through spirit flight or astral projection, of course). Fly Agaric is also reputed to be the soma (divine elixir of the gods) mentioned in the Vedas. This grows in the woods in the Northern hemisphere. I have seen them sometimes on my forest excursions. They are pretty to look at and quite magickal but their bright red colour should already tell one to beware. Though Fly Agarics are not extremely toxic they can in some cases kill. The spirit of this plant is said to be not very friendly or benign. It is definitely not one of the great benign teacher plants, though it has its merit, like all power plants. (You can read about teacher plants on the (Medicine Ceremonies page.) Thornapple is another poisonous power plant, much more deadly than Fly Agaric. Carlos Castaneda describes in one of his books his experience with a datura (thornapple) medicine ceremony. Thornapple, though very poisonous, was taken by native shamans as an empowerment. Thornapple is also sacred to Lord Shiva. Thornapples are offered to Shiva in Hindu worship. True devotees of Lord Shiva (known as Shaivites) sometimes take it in. Though Yogis may smoke it safely, meddlers have been known to either die from it or go insane! Thornapple takes away limitations of the mind (but if you do it wrong it may just take away your whole mind!). It is also useful for astral projection.

One of the most powerful ways of working with sacred plants is through medicine ceremonies. A medicine ceremony is a spiritual ceremony during which a power plant or healer plant is being imbibed or smoked. The participants will pray for healing or spiritual growth, then sit quietly and meditate. The ultimate purpose of the medicine ceremony is to go back to Oneness. Healing obtained in medicine ceremonies happens through restoration of our connection to God/Goddess/All-that is, through removal of blocks to Oneness, and of entities and limiting beliefs. In the end all our problems originate from a separation from Oneness. By healing the separation and restoring Oneness everything can be healed. To read more about medicine ceremonies please visit the Medicine Ceremonies page.

I hope you enjoyed this excursion in the realm of power plants. Please stay safe, do not attempt foolish things with poisonous power plants or any sacred plant, whether poisonous or not. These powerful plants need to be respected and honoured and they tend to punish abusers! If they are handled with the slightest disrespect or if the apprentice shaman cannot embrace their lessons it can lead to serious problems, even to death. My advice, whenever you work with poisonous or toxic plants or with plants you don’t know, is to strictly stick to plant meditation and journeying with the plant! Meditating with a plant is always safe and much can be learned from it! Once you get the hang of it, you may find it is not only safe but very interesting and enjoyable! If you are interested in working with plants, you may also find the Tree Spirits page useful.