Cactus of Mystery

by Ross Heaven

  Findings like this can be reassuring to the Western mind, offering scientific support for the idea that such things are possible. But to Peruvian shamans such studies and their results are at best blindingly obvious and therefore unnecessary or, more likely, so limited in their discoveries that they are mostly irrelevant.

  Plant shamans were, after all, the first technologists and scientists of plant consciousness; they have learned across millennia through their experience, experiments, trial and error, by testing hypotheses and taking note of healing results, that plants are conscious and willing to help us. They have moved on from self-evident truth and are now examining the specific ways in which particular plants are able to assist. Modern science, by contrast, since it is only a few hundred years old, is playing catchup and has a long way to go. It has become the predominant worldview of our age and everything we do or “know” must now be “proven” in its terms, but it is at best reinventing the wheel when it comes to plant knowledge, because this wisdom already exists in our shamans.

  The real point of difference for science and shamanism is that, for the shaman, making contact with his allies—whether they are plants or artes or some other spirit such as Saint Cyprian who can guide him in his work—connection is first an act of creativity and an application of the creative imagination.

  The first step in his process is to clear the mind and enter a state of dreaming. The diet is one way to facilitate this. By depriving ourselves of food and breaking the routines and habits of our normal lives we are catapulted (gently or not so gently) into an Otherwordly state where our focus is on the spirit we are attempting to meet and we are open to suggestions from it. Simonato’s idea of journeying to the spirit of the artes is the same approach. In both cases intention is key. A commitment is made and an act of faith put into practice that the spirits will communicate with us and we will learn from this contact.

  The question arises of course (especially for Westerners): But is it real—are the spirits really talking to us?—or is it just our imagination?

  For the shaman there is no difference. Since we are all aspects of God and God is the Creator—the great creative pool of awareness that suffuses the entire universe (including us since we are part of that universe too)—all acts of creation stem from one source. We are That and the inner and outer worlds are, therefore, the same. There is no distinction between them.

  Furthermore, there is never any “just” when it comes to the imagination. Everything that has ever been created in this world relies on it. No great building was ever made, no social policy introduced, no love affair started or ended without someone first having an idea that it should be so and the conviction to follow through and make it real. As Einstein remarked, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” For “knowledge” is received wisdom, often bogged down in dogma and, almost by definition, outdated since the world is in motion and things are always in the process of change. “Knowledge” keeps us chained to the past whereas imagination is fresh, new, vibrant, revolutionary, and evolutionary.

  The shaman operates in the field of imagination and this is at the core of his creativity. In ceremony, this becomes a unique response moment by moment to the needs of his patient; a ritual, a drama, a “play.” His songs are a part of that too, summoning energies that have a beneficial impact on the patient. But it is the engagement, the act of faith on the part of both patient and shaman that these songs will work that creates the change. Through this the shaman awakens the patient’s own creative imagination and, as we know from studies that have been conducted into visualization, the effect of prayer and intention, and even the “placebo effect,” that such an awakening is the most powerful healing possible.6

  San Pedro ceremonies are a creative flow of energy between the universe, the mind of God, the spirits, the shaman, and the patient, all with the intention of healing and captured most effectively in the songs of the shaman.

  CONCLUSIONS

  The Gifts of San Pedro

  Ross Heaven

  The creative process is often compared to a state of Grace.

  RICK STRASSMAN

  What are the gifts of San Pedro? In this book we have heard from people who have drunk it and found healing for a number of conditions—emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual—and who now have a new direction in life. Others have been inspired to create art, song, and music from their work with the plant. And it is also possible that San Pedro may offer us access to the entire vast hidden potential of the mind, giving us the powers of wisdom, knowledge, insight, and precognition. Is there one word that summarizes these qualities? Perhaps there is. Perhaps that word is Grace.

  Grace (grās)1 n.

  Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion

  A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement

  A sense of fitness or propriety

  a. A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill

  b. Mercy; clemency

  A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence

  A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve

  Graces, Greek and Roman mythology: Three sister goddesses, known in Greek mythology as Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who dispense charm and beauty

  a. Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people

  b. The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God

  c. An excellence or power granted by God

  tr. v. graced, grac·ing, grac·es

  To honor or favor

  To give beauty, elegance, or charm to

  It is Grace, however, in which we are not absolved from our responsibilities; an “adult” Grace that holds us accountable for the decisions we have made and the consequences of our actions. San Pedro offers us the opportunity to learn from these choices by revisiting them and correcting them where they have not served us or our fellow beings, its intention being to drive the evolution of the planet—through us and our spiritual journey—toward the “Godhead”: that place where we finally return to the infinite and become part of the mind and love of God.2

  If we can learn from our mistakes or let go of and forgive the mistakes of others then we can indeed experience Grace: a restoration of balance to the soul, a clean slate from which to start again, the “peace which passes all understanding.”

  I’d like to explore this concept of Grace in the following new accounts from San Pedro drinkers. In them we hear of healings received, new strengths found, and new powers given, all of them gifts—graces—that San Pedro has freely bestowed.

  The first of these comes from La Gringa herself and describes one of her early experiences with the plant. It hints at precognition (an awareness of things yet to come), connection with all-that-is, and, finally, peace: an understanding that infuses and informs the soul in a kind and gentle way.

  “To see the light and the life in all”

  Felicia and I went cactus cutting in the mountains of Vilcabamba. We got back to her house and spent three days preparing it with ceremony, incense, and prayers. Once it was ready we hiked up into the mountains near a river and a cave and drank the San Pedro. It’s a very bitter medicine to swallow.

  I vomited a lot and the visions came on very powerfully as soon as I vomited. I started by sitting on rocks by the river watching the light and color in the water and the colors in the stones; it was as if I could see gold threads running through them. I then went into the cave, I spread my arms across one of the walls, and suddenly I could feel the rock breathing. It was breathing so hard I could feel my body sway with it. At one point I panicked and thought that the cave was going to collapse on me. I calmed myself and told myself to trust. It is the most incredible feeling, to actually feel, hear, and see the Earth breathe, to see the light and the life in all.

  After drinking this medicine your whole outlook on life changes. Never again will you think that only certain things are alive. Everything is alive, breathing. I eventually went ou
tside the cave and Mother Earth, Pacha Mama, started to speak to me. She told me, “I want you to experience every bit of love that you have ever had in your life.” Immediately I saw faces of people flash in front of me from the time I was born, faces that I never knew, faces that I had long forgotten, and in that instant I experienced the most intense love that one could imagine, like God was there as well, and I knew that they and me and God were all one. I cried profusely. To have all that love in one instant was totally overwhelming. I saw and felt every bit of love that anyone has every given me in my life, every kindness, every look, every feeling.

  Then she said that I had to experience every bit of pain that I ever had in my life. In an instant I saw people, also forgotten or thought never seen before and, of course, many remembered, that had ever been nasty to me or caused me pain. The pain was enormous. I saw, felt, every bad thought, intention, and action that was aimed at me since my birth up until that day and beyond.

  Then she showed me a cord, an umbilical cord, between my navel and my husband’s and suddenly it was cut. My whole body went through excruciating pain. I was crying with the pain. I wondered what this meant. Did it mean that I was going to die—or my husband? Without knowing it then, I went through the future pain of my divorce, which when it happened was “relatively” pain free. (When I got back from Peru upon arrival at the airport with one look at my husband I knew that our marriage had ended).

  Mother Earth then told me that I had to bleed for her. I never thought this was possible as my period was over two weeks ago, but in that instant I did bleed. Pacha Mama explained to me that men are young and women are ancient, it was time now for men to mature and the time was coming soon when the young man whose name is Luz, which means light, is going to inseminate the old woman and she would give birth to a brand new world that is only light. All things that women experience so does Pacha Mama experience because women are a part of Pacha Mama, so every time that a woman feels pain the Earth feels that pain, and every time that women feel love Pacha Mama feels that too. If men understood the emotions of women they would understand how the Earth feels and then they would treat the Earth with love and respect. Maybe this is how we heal ourselves, heal the Earth, and reach enlightenment.

  By the time we left to go back to Felicia’s house it was dark, 9:30 p.m. We had no torches or candles and the sky was full of clouds and dark. I panicked a bit and said, “Hey, Felicia what are we going to do, there is no light, no moon?” Felicia just said, “Let’s go.”

  As we started walking we noticed that all of the plants alongside us lit up very brightly as if there were electric lights under them, and all we needed to do was keep walking between the path lit by the plants and we would be safe. We crossed rivers, cliffs, over mountains, and we did not stumble. Earlier in the day we stumbled often going there. The plants led us home.

  I looked at Felicia in front of me and saw a huge light at the back of her head and called to tell her. She looked back at me and said, “My God, you are covered with hundreds of little lights.” And I looked around me and I was, there were hundreds of these tiny little lights around me, it was beautiful, I felt like a fairy with glowing dust.

  Seeing the light in plants, it is there all the time for all of us to see but because of the veils and the way we hide ourselves we don’t see properly. If we allowed ourselves to be the light that we are then we would see the lights in all. And we are meant to see.

  Grace: “The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God. . . . Divine love and protection bestowed freely.”

  “Freeing my soul at last”

  The following is from Samantha and illustrates some of the same themes and qualities.

  My soul is pissed off with my current path, my inner self was really angry and sad. Tears came, message came, why are you doing this job? It is causing you so much pain and is making you have illness.

  I have taken months to unstick myself from my job but now have done it as I quit at Easter. I have been a primary teacher for eleven years. . . . Full on. . . . Missed out on my daughter’s years of being ten upward because my energies were being plowed into this crazy job of endless tasks and ongoing multitasking to make you spin. . . . I have had to work a three-month notice as that is how it is in teaching but ever since . . . I have felt ill and wonderful. . . . Noticing how ill this makes me has made me feel wonderful as I know I am now on the right path. . . . Freeing my soul at last. (My first thought when I got my first teaching position wasn’t happiness but that I had sold my soul. Now I am being given the chance to reclaim it!)

  My own insecurities were mentioned: loss of Paul, him running off with someone. Saw in him a need to play, asked why he felt he needed to look after me, he said it was his job.

  An event occurred, leading my belief that perhaps Paul needs to learn to receive love. . . . I get the rejected feeling from him but I needed to realize this comes from ME! San Pedro was telling me to keep communicating, listening attentively, learn from each misunderstanding and not go round in circles again and again. . . . Change something, realize the truth not what you perceive it to be.

  Said to Paul that I felt like I had transcended . . . seeing connections between trees, connecting with each other, saw our breath and how our breath affects everything around it, moves the air around which journeys away affecting everything. I saw everything as energy. And how everything affects everything with its energy. Drums, fire, from a distance . . . it all dances to the music. I saw how everything is the same thing.

  I also saw fairies and tree folk this night. . . . Some of the fairies were shy to come out with Paul and only wanted feminine energy. . . . We watched the stars dance in the sky, felt close to everything.

  Messages, which came a few days/weeks later, were . . .

  Fill up the self with love so you can share your best energies with others, the most important things in life.

  Do not give your energies to things that simply don’t matter, don’t mean anything.

  Since now quitting and much talking to Paul (we have shared so much more) I am following this path with no resistance from the universe. . . . It is just flowing beautifully. I have also apologized and acknowledged to Nicole (my twenty-one-year-old daughter) how much sorrow I have and regret for putting my energies into our financial security and not her emotional well-being of that time. . . . But not with a guilty load, she understood, we both let it go.

  I feel so brilliant about the huge life change, my huge change in how I am able to give love, knowing how full of love I am and knowing I am going to channel it to the things and ones that really matter.

  Of course this is only since amazing transformations happened in Peru with my first ceremonies where I grew a new core to my very being when San Pedro made me let go of a lot of shit! Wow! How wonderful that people all over the world can share healing with this wonderful medicine. . . . I send much love to you and although I have tried I cannot express with words . . . But you will see it in my eyes when I see you again.

  Grace: “Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement.”

  “This healing started from that journey”

  For others, such as Helen, the healing is direct, straightforward, and simple.

  Just wanted to let you know that after that session where I struggled so much to get rid of that energy around my midriff and I threw up so much, I went for a checkup and x-rays of my pelvis, hips, and lumbar spine because I had lots of osteoarthritis damage and scoliosis, only to find out that I now have the perfect bones of a twenty-year-old. I know this healing started from that journey.

  Grace: “Mercy; clemency . . . immunity or exemption; a reprieve.”

  “I see myself totally differently”

  Others, like Kay, have found new freedoms, powers, and skills from drinking San Pedro. They may be small things in themselves but their impact has been huge, in this case life changing.

  My first experience with San Pedro was June 5, 2010. The spirit of the plant h
ad been calling me for six months prior to this. I began to dream about San Pedro in January of 2010 and really wanted to experience this medicine. The opportunity arrived when a friend invited me to a San Pedro ceremony at her home.

  The first piece of healing I received on this journey had to do with a lifelong fear of water. Ever since I was a little girl, I had been afraid of water. It was such a problem that I would lose my breath whenever water hit my face, including in the shower, and reverted to washing my hair in a sink to avoid showers.

  San Pedro helped me to see the event that created the fear. I was four years old and my stepfather had thrown me into the ocean when we were on vacation. I saw myself kicking and screaming as he picked me up and threw me in. I also saw that his intentions were not ill as he was trying to get me over my fear but it instead served to deepen it.

  Ironically, the home in which I was doing San Pedro had a pool for which my friend reminded me (often) to bring my bathing suit, much to my distress. After I saw the event that made me fear the water I decided to get into the pool. This was SO healing for me! I must have spent hours in this pool and had many insights about how I view myself.

  One major insight while in the water was in relation to a poor self-image. Once again, I was taken back to my childhood where I observed myself sitting at the dinner table with my family. My stepfather was making fun of how I looked. I did remember this event once the vision was given to me, but what I hadn’t known before was how that little girl felt when this happened. I actually was able to “feel” how I felt when he said these things to me. There were several times in which my appearance was made fun of by my “parents,” and I then was able to see how hurt the child in me was and how I formed a negative self-concept at that time that carried me forward into adulthood.

  Since this piece of healing, I see myself totally differently. I am able to practice self-love and hold a view of myself very different than I used to, and as a result the world around me is holding me in a different way. This has had a far-reaching impact on several areas of my life, and is even shifting the way my daughters are holding their own self-image. Truly amazing impacts are being delivered with this shift in myself that San Pedro gifted me.