This post is an attempt to capture some of the events that occured during a recent shamanic plant diet with White Sage and a variety of Tobacco that comes from the Amazon known as Mapacho. Typically one might only work with one plant at a time, however if there is a strong reason/intention for incorporating a second plant and they are complementary, then it certainly is possible to do so. The idea to do this diet felt like a co-created plan between my higher self and the plants as I had already done separate dietas with each of them respectively. I will go into the reason that I felt called to bring these two together later in the post, but first I will briefly talk about the shamanic practice of "dieta/sama" and its origins.
One of the native tribes of the Amazon known as the Shipibo-Conibo use the term "sama," to encompass a traditional body of practices used for communing, healing and learning with specific plant spirits. It loosely translates into "fasting," as fasting on many levels is a primary component of this work. For those who feel called to this particular medicine path, this would be the next step in order to deepen one's relationship to the plants and spiritual realms. Ceremonies with Ayahuasca are an integral part of plant diets, as one typically opens and closes a diet with a ceremony, but the bulk of the work is simply being with oneself in isolation. One may do ceremonies with Ayahuasca sporadically during the diet in order to gain even deeper insights and the frequency of the ceremonies often depends on the shaman you are working with.
Ayahuasca (often considered The Mother of all plants), along with the shaman that is holding the container of the diet for you, both act as intermediaries between you and the plant spirits. I believe it is important for the shaman who is holding your diet to already have a deep personal relationship with the chosen plant in order to receive the most out of the experience. The shaman has the responsibility of establishing and bridging the sacred bond, helping you to navigate the mysteries and understand the teachings. She or he will also create a container of multi-level protection for you so that you remain safe throughout the process.
When undertaking a traditional dieta in the jungle, one would remain in solitude in a tiny hut called a tambo and abstain from all contact with the outside world. This includes any type of stimulation including touching other humans, social media, internet and certain foods including salt/sugar/spices etc. There is also a modified version of this process called a 'dieta suave' or 'social diet' which is a bit more lenient and allows for much more interaction with the world. You can carry on about your life for the most part, but still honor certain guidelines around food and contact with others. Both require a solid commitment and discipline on the part of the dietero, as there are energetic consequences that can happen when one does not adhere to the guidelines.
For a long time, I have been working on redefining, healing and embodying the Divine Feminine and my work with Sage has been an integral part of that process. She has taught me much about the fierce feminine and how to embody fierce love, compassion and boundaries. It's an ongoing learning process of course, as life always seems to lovingly present me with tests and curveballs to keep things interesting! Then there has been my work with Tobacco, which is considered one of the most powerful and revered plant spirits within many tribes and traditions. He has the power to heal and protect, but if you do not respect this spirit, it can also kill. I will refer to Tobacco as a 'he' as it seems to embody a more masculine energy and is often referred to as Grandfather. I realize that within the modern framework of gender re-structuring and deconstruction, these are very loosely held concepts as everything has aspects of the masculine and feminine held in their own unique balance and we get to actively choose how we identify ourselves.
The intention behind dieting Sage and Tobacco together was to experience the sacred union of the divine feminine and masculine within my own heart, soul, body and mind. I've come to have a better understanding of the role of the masculine in terms of being the protector, warrior, guardian and action-oriented force that builds the container that the feminine can feel truly safe in in order to express her own power and gifts. Again, this is not in any way about men and women, but rather it is about the complementary traits of the yin and yang which both genders have and express.
Personally, I have come to realize that I have been deficient in yang energies which has largely contributed to me playing small for most of my life. I view the yang aspect similar to having a healthy ego and historically, I have held back from that and suffered from an extremely deflated ego. This would show up as feeling as though I wasn't worthy enough to take up space or be heard or seen in a strong way and it just felt safer to hide. I would listen and pay heed to what everyone else had to say or contribute, but what I had to share just never seemed interesting or important enough so I chose to remain invisible. I now see what an injustice that was to my soul and have actively reclaimed my innate divine dignity by asserting myself more and living and speaking my authentic truth. This is where the masculine force comes in and balances out the feminine, which guides me to trust and act on my instincts and intuition. As an extension of the Divine Mother, I, like her, see the innate capacity in me to hold others in their darkness and their light and love them unconditionally. All the while, asserting healthy boundaries since being a compassionate mother (according to Sage) doesn't mean I have to neglect my own needs and feelings. In order to be able to hold and contain other energies, I must be able to hold and contain myself effectively.
Often every little thing that happens during a dieta is highly significant so this is a time to really pay attention, reflect and listen. The voice and energies of the plants are subtle, but sometimes they speak to us through other people, events and synchronicities that are an undeniable message from the beyond. One such example of this is how I encountered two owls within the span of two weeks during this particular diet. Owl medicine has many meanings, but these were very much about not only trusting my own instincts/intuition, but also acting on them as soon as I get the hit. I don't need to wait for things to play out in order to validate my intuition because by then I am most likely caught in a situation that could've been prevented. Act. Pray with your feet moving. It was also a reminder to listen to the messages from Spirit and my ancestors and really take stock in them as well. This particular message had to do with a warning about deception in the air, which I had already sensed, but ignored (in light of giving the benefit of the doubt to someone and ultimately entertaining their ego agenda). So I ended up having to learn my lessons the hard way, but after this experience I vowed to fully integrate this wisdom within my being and truly bring this lesson home.
Another beautiful marker of this diet was the closing ceremony. Many things unfolded during that journey, including extraterrestrials performing psychic surgery and swimming inside of spiraling sacred codes of creation, but the perhaps most prominent experience was feeling the expansion of my light/energy body. This was a highly visceral and somatic experience that felt like surges, waves and ripples of energy quaking through my body; subtle bones cracking and nerves firing off through flashes in the dark. I found myself curled up into fetal position and suddenly had a flashback to when I was a fetus in the womb about to make my entry into the world as a newborn. Our bodies produce high amounts of DMT at birth and death and I believe this is similar to what this surge of energy felt like as my whole system roared with this pure life force energy.
My eyes were tightly shut throughout this whole process until the energies eventually settled and things got very still and quiet. I tried to feel my body, but it was difficult to sense anything so I decided to open and close my hands which helped me to land back in. Then I very consciously peeled my eyes open, feeling very much like a newborn peering out into the world for the first time. My eyes even felt a bit sticky as the sensation of seeing felt new and unfamiliar. After a few more moments of settling into this new awareness, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of being held in the arms of the Cosmic Mother. I wept in joy and gratitude - for this beautiful life and being rebirthed into this new existence gifted by the plants.
This experience was very timely given the homework question I was given in an Animist Psychology course I am currently taking which had to do with examining the "right fit" between our soul/spirit capacity and the current container of our identity. We were guided to ask ourselves whether there are times when we feel like we have outgrown our conditions and needed to seek out a larger container. Perhaps also there are times when we felt really humbled by a new container that we felt we needed to grow into. How much of a fit do we feel in our life today? I know that I will need time to grow into this new container, but that it was a necessary and timely upgrade given the levels of light currently needed to face the darkness coming to the surface in our world.
The magic and miracles of the plants and their ability to take us to new and ever-increasingly powerful realms never ceases to amaze me. It is an incredible blessing to be able to explore these extra-ordinary realties existing beyond the veil through the portals of consciousness. I express my infinite gratitude to Sage and Tobacco whom I consider my teachers, guides and soul allies. I rest in peace right now in this moment, knowing that they will be with me throughout this journey through time and space, conferring their power and protection upon me as I walk my path in service to our Earth Mother. I am humbled time and again and pray that I may walk my path in a good way that truly honors these highly sacred medicines of the North and South.
Aho Mitakuye Oyasin
You are all my relations, my relatives, with whom I would not live. We are in the circle of life together, co-existing, co-dependent, co-creating our destiny. One, not more important than the other. One nation evolving from the other and yet each dependent upon the one above and the one below. All of us are part of the Great Mystery.
Thank you for this Life.