"Right Relationship" with Plants

Plant medicines/teachers are very much alive, and each has their own personality, way of teaching, and unique wisdom to share. They are sacred beings who likely existed before humanity, and thus have witnessed the formation and evolution of human beings since the first human walked the earth.

When plants are treated with upmost respect and reverence, I feel any plant carries the potential to assist with literally any problem that exists in one's healing journey, whether physical/health related, emotional, or mental.

Right relationship is a phrase that is common in these circles, and has a different meaning and interpretation depending on who you talk to. As this theme of right relationship has been central to all of my plant medicine work, I felt to share how I have come to understand it in my journey, both as one seeking healing and as a facilitator, as a reflection for those of you walking this path on some level.

Right relationship is something that is personally ever evolving and shifting for me, both as a seeker and facilitator, and I would love to hear from others involved in plant medicine work on any level what right relationship means to you, as well as how you interpret this sharing.

I will be the first to admit, that in my role as a seeker in this path, there have been many stages of my personal process where I have found myself over-using or becoming highly dependent on plant medicines to create a certain shift in my mental, emotional, or energetic state of being that I believed at the time I was incapable of making on my own...as well as many Ayahuasca ceremonies where I found myself "chasing" a previous experience that caused me to miss out on the teachings in the present moment of the ceremony.

I have found that in the times of feeling disconnected from a plant when I have a ceremony, or seemingly "nothing happening" in the space, when I take a break and commit to implementing the lessons I have already been given, acting on the guidance I have already received in regards to personal shifts I need to make in my lifestyle and patterns of thinking, I meet the plant halfway, and create the space to once again receive.

In my experience, plant medicines share everything I need to know, understand, or do to actualize my prayer and intention, and part of proper integration has been empowering myself to do the work needed to maintain the shifts that occur during a ceremony, instead of having another.

One really beautiful experience in my exploration of right relationship was coming to the realization that with every cacao bean I peel by hand, every rose I pluck from the rose bush, every strip of Ayahuasca vine that I peel and pound, and every Chacruna leaf I wash, on some level, exists for the purpose of me consuming it or sharing it with a client. That specific part of the plant will only ever exist once for the purpose of that ceremony, and never again, and this really taught me to deeply honor the space that I enter in communion with it.

As a facilitator, I have found that connecting with the most natural, untouched form of a plant possible and preparing it by hand from this raw state has been an important part of right relationship, as well as deepening my connection. I make an effort to order freshly harvested, fully intact Ayahuasca vine and Chacruna leaves straight from the jungle, fresh master plants that I freeze for plant baths, raw Cacao beans from an indigenous land (expensive  but worth it), and roses picked fresh from a nearby wild rose bush. Every step of the process of preparing the final medicine that someone will consume is done with focused intention, prayer, and gratitude to the spirit of the plant. I have actually had deep ceremonial experiences simply from the process of preparing a medicine and connecting in this way without even ingesting it!

Of all plants, Santa Maria has been one of the biggest teachers for me of what honoring a ceremonial space looks like. Like many people, my introduction to this plant spirit was largely unconscious and recreational in nature in my college years. I stayed away from her for well over a decade, and when I reconnected some years into medicine work, I realized she can be an immensely powerful teacher and healer when given this respect and reverence, in ways that are just out of reach when approached recreationally.

When I commune with Cacao or Santa Maria in my own life, I only do so when I have a very clear intention or prayer of what I wish to dive into or receive from this communion, and at a time when I can fully dedicate a few hours of my day to be fully present in this space. If I become distracted by something such as my phone and come out of this presence, my connection on an energetic level becomes severed and I am taken out of the flow of teaching and guidance that often matches the depth of an Ayahuasca ceremony, and reminded by them to truly respect the space if I wish to receive.

When it comes to Ayahuasca specifically, the exploration and honoring of the indigenous tribes and their traditions as an inherent part of their culture and DNA has been a very important part in developing right relationship. It is a gift to the world that these tribes initially decided to share their medicine and knowledge with those outside of their culture, and they hold a depth of wisdom that is truly inaccessible to someone who does not have it in their DNA.

I make it a point to continually diet with indigenous maestros I have developed a relationship with to open myself to receive the wisdom they share through their words and connections to the plants they are serving me. I felt a huge shift in my personal feeling of integrity when I eventually received a direct blessing from my maestro to share this work.

The last aspect of right relationship I feel to share when it comes to facilitating has been learning to unravel the parts of my ego that are attached to recognition and praise, and to really come to a place of humble surrender that allows me to be a pure channel.

This process has been most difficult in the face of a miraculous healing that occurs in a ceremony or Dieta space, to remember that I am only a human being acting as a vessel to ground the consciousness of these medicines into physical reality, to "translate" their energy and teachings in a way that can be received on a human level--to not "take credit" for what is done through this process, and come into deep gratitude for the healing that the plants bring and the unique relationship I share with each of them.

This has come with a simultaneous process of developing a healthy level of confidence in the strength and purity of myself as a vessel, and finding the delicate balance between trust and confidence in myself and the plants, and pure humility.

There is a part 2 of this sharing, as I feel the subject of money is an important thing to consider in right relationship, and deserves its own writing: https://www.theheartofrose.com/post/money-and-healing-work-right-relationship-part-2

 Onward and upward! Sending so much love to all of you walking with me on this enormously challenging and beautiful path!!!

***photo credit to Tali Tsour, chosen because I feel the energy of this smile accurately conveys the trust and love I have cultivated in my relationship with the 2 plants pictured....