Why Plant Medicines Can Help Us When Nothing Else Has Worked

One of the reasons why psychoactive plant medicines like Ayahuasca and Wachuma are becoming so popular is because they often facilitate healing and recovery when nothing else has worked. Many people choose to participate in plant medicine ceremonies after trying several other therapies and techniques and either find that the plant medicines bring them the results that they didn't find elsewhere, or that they are able to access a deeper level of healing with the plant medicines. We all have medicines, therapies and techniques that we connect with more than others, and at different times for different things, but here are some other reasons that the plant spirits can sometimes help us when it seems like nothing else has worked.

Benefits of the Altered State

Some people argue that we don't really need psychoactive medicines, that whatever healing and insight we need can be accessed without them, and I compltely disagree. This can absolutely be true for some people, and many people will never feel the call or the need to use these medicines, but for others it can facilitate access to places they may never be able to get to without them. It can be incredibly difficult to see outside of our deep set wounds, patterns and sense of self, especially when there has been a lifetime (or even longer) of seeing the world through a lens that has been deeply inflenced by trauma. We have all experienced how stubbon the Human mind can be at times, and how difficult it can be to open ourselves up to something new and adjust to change and, for some of us, it would be virtually impossible to see beyond the deep set beliefs we hold around ourselves and the story of our lives without the assistance of the altered state that the plant medicines can offer us.

I do think that it can be very useful to work with other therapies, systems or techniques before coming to the plant medicines. Using talk therapy, meditation, hypnotherapy or other practices first and receiving the benefits of those can mean that, if and when you arrive at the medicines, you are ready to access the deeper places that require your ordinary sense of self to be more deeply challenged. Having a few years of experience with other therapies or systems and integrating their results also means that you will feel much more ready and able to go deeper with the stronger and more challenging medicines.

Removal of the Middle Person

Most therapies and spiritual practices involve the inclusion of a practitioner or guide who passes wisdom and teachings to you. This means that the information you receive has been influenced by their interpretation, by their personality and by their worldviews. There are many great teachers and practicioners who have a lot of wisdom to share, but the information has still passed through their minds and understanding to get to you. In a plant medicine ceremony, there is no one standing between you and the teachings of the plant spirits - you have a very clear and personal communication with the plant and its messages and can receive new persepctives in a completely different way than could be given to you by a Human. That's not to say that there is no place for the Curandero or ceremony leader - they're very important in many ways, but the unique thing about working with the plant spirits is that you do not need someone else's interpretation or explanation to communicate with the plants and listen to their teachings - you can have a very pure relationship with the medicine that is completely between you and the plant. You can be shown you how to heal yourself, reminded of your own power, priorities and values, and ultimately shown that there is nothing standing in between you and the Divine, all in a unique and relatable way for you.

Addressing Generational and Spiritual Illnesses

Modern Western medicine mostly considers the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of a person when considering diagnosis and treatment. There are some modern spiritual practitioners who may address illnesses of a spiritual origin, and some who acknolwedge and address generational traumas and illnesses, but for the most part, if you go to the Doctor, you will usually be given treatmen for your body and mind. An alternative practitioner will be likely to take more consideration of emotional factors but many practicioners may not even be aware of the potential for illness to have its roots in trauma from previous generations or spiritual/magical origins.

These are really some of Ayahuasca's biggest super powers. She's incredibly good at healing the illnesses, traumas and patterns that we ihereted from previous generations and showing us who we are without those stories. And, especially because of the widespread use of occult practices and Witchcraft in the Amazon, she is great at clearing away and healing the effects of spiritual illnesses. So often Ayahuaca, and Wachuma too, can bring incredible results when these are at the root of a problem, because they're just so good at working on those levels that many other systems of healing don't acknowledge.

A Truly Holistic Approach to Healing

I don't know any therapy, approach or philosophy that addresses personal healing as fully holistically as working with the plant spirits can. The holistic practices commonly found in the West will usually work with the connection between mind, body, emotions and sometimes spirit. The plant spirits not only acknowledge the connection between all of these but can also show us the significance of our relationship with the Earth, with our community and with the Divine as important elements of our wellbeing. Not only does this wider acknowledgement of interconnectedness mean that we can discover roots to our problems in places that we may not have otherwise considered or even known about, it also means that the plant spirits can reflect to us a much greater level of self-understanding and allow us to truly explore our place within the world and our experience of wholeness.

The intelligence of the medicines means that we are met at the level that we need at the time. A ceremony can be very physical, working mostly on the body, or can be deeply spiritual, addressing our relationship with the Divine and our understanding of what it means to be Human. Or it can be anywhere in between. The depth of healing offered by the plant spirits means that we are not just able to experience physical and mental benefits from working with them but can experience a complete transformation of our self-understanding and perceptions of our lives and the world, which many other therapies and systems do not facilitate so completely.

The Intelligence of the Medicine and the Ceremony

The plant spirits are incredibly intelligent entities and traditional ceremonies usually follow a fairly specific structure that helps to contain and transmit the wisdom and teachings of the medicines. This is sometimes through the presence of the icaros, the channelled songs which guide an Ayahuasca ceremony, or through the different sections of a Wachuma ceremony that can help to guide the participants through the various parts of their journeys. The tools, plants and other sacred objects used can all enhance the participants' experince, and the structure of the ceremony, songs and other elements also serve to make the ceremonies incredibly beautiful and a joy to sit in. Working with the plant spirits isn't simply a case of drinking the medicine to acheive a result but is an intricate celebration and reflection of life which can remind us of the magic of being Human.

Working with the plant spirits is also usually very interesting, unpredictable and quite often incredibly fun. Ceremonies are diverse and there seems to be an infinite range of possibilities that can be presented to us. They can be healing, challenging, insightful and sometimes completely crazy. We can be shown beautiful things, things we could never have conceptualised, and we can learn to enjoy the process of healing - many people look back on challenging ceremonies and realise that, as tough as it seemed at the time, there was a part of them that was still enjoying the experience. The plant spirits can teach us how to enjoy and be grateful for life despite the external circumstances, that healing doesn't have to be painful and boring, and that there's no need to take life so seriously.

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Where the plant medicines can sometimes deliver miracles when it's seemed like all else has failed, I also believe that the deepest and most powerful experiences often happen following some work with other methods, therapies or systems. The plant spirits can help us to access deep and hidden places, but there is also a lot that we can do without them, and having a foundation in a non-psychoative system or practice can allow us to go deeper with the medicines and to also ground our expereinces into our lives more effectively. In my observations, the best results with the plant medicines have been where work in ceremony has been complimented with a non-psycoactie practice or series of treatments. The medicines can help us to access places we may not be able to reach with our everyday minds, but there is a lot of benefit to what we can access from our ordinary state too.