Plant Medicines: Cannabis & The Icaros.
"I can't believe we just bout pot legally!"
This was my boyfriend to me. We were in Denver for a weekend retreat with some shamans from the ayahuasca retreat we both go to in the Amazon.
It was a cannabis retreat that he had surprised me with an invitation too way back in January, before we were officially dating. And he was surprised by how easy it was to buy something that was illegal in most states.
I was surprised by how there was no security guard with a gun. And I mentioned it to the woman who was walking us through what we could buy, being from out of state.
"But this is a cash-only business. And you don't have a guy with a gun in the front securing the place?"
She seemed confused. And looked a little worried as to why I was asking. It apparently wasn't a problem. My immediate thought was...
"YOU MEAN THE LEGALIZATION OF CANNABIS - THE WELL-KNOWN 'GATEWAY DRUG' - IN COLORADO HASN'T DRIVEN THE STATE INTO A CRIME-RIDDEN PLACE WHERE EVERYONE WALKS AOUND STONED COMMITTING CRIMES?"
But I kept that to myself.
We bought some edibles, and then headed up to Evergreen, Colorado, a town in the mountains where elk roam freely.
We met my friend R., who was also invited to this private retreat. It was just going to be the three of us, and the two three people we knew from the Amazon. So very small and private. It would be three evening of chatting while eating food (and a few edibles - about 30 to 50 milligrams), followed by about three hours of sitting and meditating in a dark room with lights blinking while a mixture of recorded and live icaros played.
Per my usual behavior when taking plant medicines, I sat down and proceeded to be quiet and not move much for the three hours. Ayahuasca. San Pedro. And now cannabis. It doesn't matter what the medicine... I am able to sit down and journey in my space undistracted.
Letting thoughts float through my mind, connecting moments together, seeing how interconnected everything is... I attribute all of that to the icaros - the medicine songs.
The primary goal of the weekend retreat, for me, was exploring options for myself around freedom. I spent much of that time working my way through why I am lack a feeling of security and confidence in doing what I really want to do with my time. But I experienced some release around that fear... And my instinct is that a huge chunk of it will be release as a result of the upcoming Sanango tour in June.
So it was a relaxing weekend. If I had to rank my plant medicine with icaros experiences, it would go (in order of most powerful):
- Ayahuasca
- Cannabis
- San Pedro
The cannabis plant is a playful and fun plant in spirit. Ayahuasca is encouraging and very strong in giving you a "talking-to." San Pedro is a gentle and lucid dreamlike experience. Cannabis is relaxing but logical.
I know that by comparison Sanango will be much sterner than these. By far.
It's "fun times" now... Come June it's going to start to get a little crazy.
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