plantrelationships

One aspect of decolonization is returning integrity to our relationships with the Plant People (I’m including Fungi in this group).  Especially with medicinal and entheogenic plants, we have grown spiritually lazy with recreational relationships that give little reverence to the living being ingested.  Fooling ourselves, we claim “ceremonial” or “sacred” use of certain plants completely outside of the plant’s original instructions, in ignorance  or co-option of Indigenous practices that are millennia in creation, and with little care for lifelong consequences that may result from our experimentation. We conveniently forget – a plant may give, and a plant may take.

Indigenous peoples share the understanding that their health is based on the respectful honor and appropriate use of foods and medicines within their territory. This is one reason why the western diet is so harmful and potentially lethal, because it undermines and replaces these relationships and traditional dietary practices.  When you consider that humans and plants may literally have thousands of years of co-existence, then one can understand that we are genetically tied to our ancient practices around food, medicines, and ethneogens.

We now consume many medicinal and food plants foreign to our physiology but made available by industrialized production and globalized trade.  In some cases, allergies and sickness have followed.

So there are two inter-connected areas regarding our relationships with plants that we benefit by considering here:

  1.  The restoration of ancient food and medicine practices for overall wellness.
  2.  The respectful use of plant medicines and ethneogens for sacred purposes.

The questions in the poster above are starting points to inquiry, reflection, and conversation about these relationships and the way we interact with Plant People.  These living relationships are real.  Do we have the integrity to transform these relationships and make them healthy once again?

Get the latest updates and resources...