Including…..Plant medicine, workshops and chasing enlightenment.

Balance is a quality that many strive for but find it somewhat elusive especially when, chaos, drama, confusion and overwhelm takes center stage. Being out of balance can show itself via depression, anxiety, dizziness, immune deficiencies, chronic pain, mood swings, abuse, ground-hog day etc.

Part of the attraction to non-ordinary reality is to escape the ordinary mundane world.But be warned there is a danger in seeking that other dimension a little too much. This can be seen in the abuse of ethno botanicals (plant medicine).

Plant medicine is a rite of passage that many are interested in and it can be a wonderful and often challenging profound experience. However if they medicine is not grounded and integrated into ordinary reality then its purpose is wasted and the   mother disrespected.

Shamans did/do not use medicine to party and escape dealing with earths version of reality, they partook so they could bring the wisdom that they learnt back ‘to be of service’ to the earth community. That why they are/were refered to as ‘The Walkers Between The Worlds’

Travelling to other dimensions whether by plant, drum or conscious awareness can be incredibly beneficial but it’s just an escape hatch unless you are going to ground what has been experienced.  You need to be able to walk your talk. There are plenty of great talkers and visionaries but the proof is in the pudding as they say.

Many do not realize that when they cross over with plant medicine their aura expands to a massive degree, so that which was out of balance before is now pushed to the edge of the aura and it picks up any debris flying past. That could be an old wounded fragment or fear of theirs or another’s close by. Deep in the unconscious lies much that we are unable to see. These can take the form of astral entities/negative thought forms.

When one has returned to the body from the experience the aura and physical being need a few days to adjust and to be nurtured and fed. This can be a very delicate time and if the person is not fully conscious they may well be leaving all sorts of debris in their wake.

You may have seen people when they were in bliss and then a day or so later they look rather weary and shattered.  Integration is vital in working with the other worlds. You can have a brilliant vision but one must put the vision or realization into day-to-day practice.

One foot in non-ordinary reality and the other foot in ordinary reality, that is the ultimate balance. Then you get the benefits from both worlds without going off kilter.

Workshops are another area where imbalance can occur. You have heard of the ‘workshop junkie’ I am sure. The workshop junkie is much like an addict who gets a hit off the workshop itself but the buzz doesn’t last long enough so they get excited for the next hit. This pattern of addiction can lead to being unable to fully integrate anything that was learnt. The person may be able to talk about many modalities but they are still in the same ground-hog issue with no change or growth to be shown.

It’s important to take space between workshops and assimilate the information and the processes taken. It’s wonderful to be inspired and be in a group process, just make sure your not chasing them like an addict as this can lead one to being too open and spreading oneself too thin to the point of not knowing how to ground your inner and outer worlds at all. This is a vulnerable place to be and many have fallen into strong brain washing cult programs and groups in search for belonging.

So beware of workshop overkill.

Not unlike the addiction to the workshop model and the misuse of the plant medicine there is also underlying both of these the proverbial chase for the quick fix.

A couple goes to a workshop about how to improve relationships. They do really well whilst in the workshop but when they get home after a few days they both fall back into old patterns and accuse the other of not living up the what they promised in the workshop. They let the integration of what they learnt fall to the wayside and just hoped it would fix things.

Or the same can be said for a plant experience.  You can meld with the cosmos, connect to the earth, the fractals, the stars and your authentic self and then come home and just assume your uploaded with grace and even if your closest kin has got issues with your behavior of not stepping up, you brush it off and assume it’s not your problem or anything to do with you because you think you are above all that because you have contact with the divine.

You can tell a great deal about someone not so much by what they say but what they actually ‘do’ with the insights that they receive.

Both these examples show a predisposition to chasing enlightenment without the tools, work and the patience it takes to be in full awareness of self, that’s what enlightenment is, total self-realization.

Wise elders will tell you, that this can take lifetimes, so integrate what you learn and make it a part of your everyday life. Bring the benefits of the insights and teachings into the life you are living now.

If you go on an inner journey of any kind. Bring the insights back with you, integrate the information learnt and put it into practice.

Then the medicine will serve you well in the long-term.

Blessings

Odette