Sacred Cactus & Healing as a Modern Human — The Medicine of the Mountain
I’ve been hiking all day, yet my legs still have limitless energy. Standing at the vista, I am higher than the vultures, hawks, falcons, and eagles – seeing things from a high perspective, I remember what it means to be alive. The light of the sun shines through holes in the clouds like heavenly rays, descending from the heavens to shine light on the moment.
We used to experience this every day before the modern world.
In an age where we were connected – to the land, to our brothers and sisters, to ourselves, to the Creator – this was an everyday occurrence. Our ancestors had an evolved understanding of the interconnectedness of all things, of the sacred nature of all life, and of the significance our lives carry in each precious moment we are here.
On the medicine, I remember who I am and why I’m here.
I can see that the animism of indigenous cultures has a self-evident truth to it: the rocks and boulders seem to breath with life; the fungi growing in the brush and on the sides of mountains call out to me, beckoning me to explore; and my own inner world is illumined with the spirit of love.
Everything is alive, pulsing with intelligence.
Huachuma (or to us Northerners, San Pedro), the sacred medicine of the Andes, has taught me so much about what it means to be alive. Before I even knew that this was something cultures in the south have been taking medicinally and traditionally in sacred ceremonies for centuries, a love and fascination blossomed in me when I purchased my first cactus.
With it’s luscious green skin, it’s intimidating spines, and it’s obvious strength in the light of the sun – the plant captivated me and I began collecting cacti. Around the same time, I was introduced to Ayahuasca and the psychedelic underground of plant medicine healing in America.
By now, everyone and their mother has been invited to or at the very least, been told stories of the magical brew that transports you to other realms, shows you entities and angels, and makes you vomit to purge your darkest demons – all in the spirit of healing and self-exploration. The Grandmother vine is a wise and intelligent teacher, and is not to be taken lightly. I honor and appreciate her medicine, her wisdom, and the way in which she brings me back to myself.
On top of “Apu Uma”, Lyons CO
Huachuma, or the Grandfather, teaches in a different way. Rather than taking you inward into the depths and darkness of your being, or teaching you through visions, discomfort, purging, and cleansing, the cactus is a teacher who’s resounding message is this:
“Be right here, right now.”
Containing Mescaline, a psychedelic chemical made popular in the 60’s and spoken about in depth by Aldous Huxley in his book The Doors of Perception, it does have the potential to produce visionary effects (usually you have to take an extract or a quite heavy dose of cactus for this). Most people who are interested in entheogens are quite underwhelmed when they first consume Huachuma, because they anticipate the otherworldly effects of something like Ayahuasca, mushrooms, or LSD.
Being in nature with cactus medicine shows you that there is in fact magic happening all around you, all the time. There are little stories playing out: in the bugs and insects; in the plant and fungus life; in the birds, soaring high above or singing their songs from nearby trees; in the animals who grace us with their loving presence; or in the medicine songs, unique lives, challenges, struggles, triumphs, and lessons brought about in communion with our human siblings.
I remember the first time I took the medicine. I kept drinking more, and more, and more, anticipating a powerfully visionary effect. What I didn’t realize, is that it can take up to 3 hours to take full effect (!!!), and that what I was seeking, was a hinderance to what the plant actually wanted to teach me.
Quite stimulating, extraordinarily dreamy, lucid, and heart-opening, Huachuma took me for a ride on the waves of my elevated nervous system, landing me in a state of tremors, tearful release, and full-on-in-the-moment dreamscape. Once I knew the medicine, my point of view had changed.
After dozens of experiences, I realize now that through his gentle, no-rules nature, he teaches us that the beauty and magic we seek in psychedelic experiences is here all the time, and we can tune into it if we have the capacity and patience to slow down, to meditate with reverence, and to have the eyes to LOOK DEEPLY into our day-to-day, moment-to-moment existence.
My dear brother, flying with the birds.
He is flexible in his workings – able to be experienced in both sitting ceremonial setting and in explorative nature communion safely and effectively. The life of the family, the community, and the world at large are only as strong as the individuals participating in it.
In this sense, Huachuma is the developer of the individual as an obligation. “Be yourself, as truly, completely, and lovingly as you possibly can. Sing your song. Dance your dance. Walk your walk. Do this with love, and your life will blossom in ways you could never imagine.”
A dear brother and elder Master of this plant from Machu Picchu once told me, “Huachu is the column of the cactus. Strong, straight, protective of itself yet open to the world. Uma is the white flower that blossoms at the crown. Open, receptive, connected to the web of life. When you drink Huachuma, you become like the cactus.”
They often grow in clusters and communities, which infers that it is a communal medicine whose aim is to bring us all together in true and authentic loving relation.
When I drink the cactus, I am effortlessly and easily brought right into the present moment. What a beautiful gift – as I, just like most of us, are so often and easily consumed by our modern way of life, with all of it’s responsibilities, complexities, nuances, laws, trends, heresies, and political agendas.
Living in the modern world, I believe the cactus medicine is re-emerging as one of the most important medicines of our time. We are so constantly bombarded with distractions, advertisements, and increasingly aware technologies that it can be so easy to live with a baseline anxiety about life. We are pulled in many directions at an ever-increasing rate of speed.
Our notions of and the religious baggage associated with the term “God” tend to repel us to the exploration of what it means to be spiritually connected. The cactus shows us that God is within us, all around us, before us and after us, and intimately connected with WHO WE ARE as individuals, community members, and spiritual beings here on earth with something to learn while we’re here.
God is here, in you and I, in every plant, animal, microbe, molecule, and cell. God is behind and underlying all things. Most importantly, God is pure unconditional love, and when we align ourselves to this creative spirit of loving unconditionally, we align ourselves with the Divine Essence that makes all of this possible.
Huachuma allows us to soften into the possibility that here and now is all there is, that our lives are a grand and beautiful mystery, and that the miracle of now is indeed that: a miracle.
I always say when on this medicine that the work is on the way up – time spent in prayer, song, communion, and helping our fellow brother or sister up the treacherous path. An offering is made at the pinnacle of the experience -- and its party time on the way down. Because Grandfather is the most light-hearted, humorous, easy going of the plant teachers that I have ever experienced, he works well with playfulness. We play, we laugh, we reminisce, we acquiesce, we feast.
When (and if) you do fall asleep afterward, the dreams that ensue, and the integration of the experience are where the real journey begins. The medicine is indeed intelligent, and it is always open (Jallalla!), waiting for you to open too.
What do we need to do in order to embrace, realize, and live the mystery that is our lives? Who do we need to become to live out our legacy, our fate, our reason for being here?
How do we need to change, to grow, to listen so that we can experience each moment as a vista of possibilities?
The answer, dear friends and readers, is as illusive as it is simple:
All we need to do is LOVE. <3
