I have mentioned over the years that I have not had need of hallucinogenic medicine plants because, frankly, I can trip out instantly at will. My mind is open beyond belief when it comes to psychic visions and shamanic journeys and such. That does not in any way mean to say that I do not value or respect medicine plants. In fact, I feel that I respect and value them more than most who use them, especially when they use them as a recreational pharmaceutical instead of using them as they are actually meant to be used. Having said that, it has also been my experience with, for example, pot, which I have tried on occasion, that I cannot get a hit off of it, no matter how good the blend. I seem to be pot resistant. That is, when smoking it or when getting second hand smoke from it. Then I tried something different one evening. I rolled the herb into a ball and put it to my third eye. WHAM! Loopy for about an hour or so. Okay, so THAT is how I need to ingest it if I want to get a hit. Good to know.
I know that some will think that this is far fetched. But I do have witnesses. And, believe me, I was NOT expecting it to do anything for or to me because historically it has not. So it was as much a surprise to me as anyone else.
Other than pot, I really had not tried any other medicine plant that has hallucinogenic qualities because 1. They usually do not work for me anyway and 2. I was instructed by a medicine man that I don’t need it because I am so open in the first place and that they will potentially fry my brain. So I have avoided that scene like the plague.
My partner and our friend decided one weekend that they were going to do a mushroom ceremony downstairs in his healing room. I was going to stick around in case they needed me for anything and to keep the 3 dogs we have reasonably quiet during their ceremony. So I was visiting with our friend as my partner was preparing the tea made from the mushrooms. All he did was pour the hot water over the mushrooms and WHAM! I was suddenly stoned from the steam. The STEAM! I did not even have to drink the stuff! I told him that he had to take that downstairs NOW because I was stoned. He rushed it down, but it was too late. I was tripping balls for the rest of the day. Okay, so if I ever want to do mushrooms, this is how I do it. Good to know.
Since then, however, I have had many journeys to the mushroom kingdom…without ingesting any part of the mushrooms at all. It is evident that the one trip was all I needed to attune me to the medicine of the mushrooms. These journeys have become quite the regular event. So, in order to honor that, I decided to change up one of my altars in my healing room to represent the mushroom kingdom. It is quite beautiful and fabulous and, frankly, all I have to do is sit down with it and I am off on my journey. In fact, all I really have to do now is THINK about the kingdom and I am THERE RIGHT NOW. I am challenging myself to function while journeying at the same time, like I do with other journeys. I am almost there. But I won’t be driving a vehicle while doing it until I completely get the hang of it.
So far, the mushroom kingdom has shown me many things:
1. The entire planet is a network of these fungal friends, all of whom communicate with each other over vast distances.
2. They are very connected to the trees, to whom I have always had an affinity, because they grow from their root systems. I have communicated with trees all my life, so this was very comforting.
3. They always show us what we most need to know. We may think that we need to work on one thing, but they will show us if this is an accurate assessment. If it is not, they will show us what we ACTUALLY need to work on within ourselves.
4. If we enter into the exchange in a way that is disrespectful we will definitely have a “bad trip,” not because they are punishing us, but because they blow through the disrespect and slap us in the face with TRUTH.
5. We will encounter other beings while exploring the mushroom kingdom. These beings are guides and healers and if we listen to them and learn from them they will help us exponentially. They may not always look comforting or inviting, but they are always helpful, even if they appear scary initially.
6. The mushroom kingdom also opens us to communication on deep levels with other plants and with animals, birds, and insects, all of whom will share their wisdoms as well.
7. Many of the Mushroom Kingdom are able to help us with healing on the physical level. Research is on this is new, but always evolving.
*If you wish to learn more about the Mushroom Kingdom, go to Netflix and watch Fantastic Fungi before July 27th, which is the last day you will be able to access it.