Plant Spirit Medicine

We all yearn to be connected to our spirit, a community, and the natural world, yet how often do we give ourselves the time to nurture that pure, heartfelt desire? Our modern lives have become so busy and stressful. We know the pace takes a painful toll, which we try to remedy with healthy food, therapy, a yoga class here and there, or morning meditation. All of these approaches help, yet we still wonder, is there more?

Sometimes an illness, a bad break-up, or the death of a loved one will activate our core of inner wisdom, shaking us up enough to open our hearts and commit to deeper healing.

Could the potency and mystery of ancient-wisdom traditions provide a medicine for the spectrum of illnesses and the alienation of modern culture?

Communities once worked and played together around the fire. People felt connected to each other and to the natural world around them. Healers helped with individual maladies and also maintained the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the entire village. The medicine of the old cultures was deep and effective. It was more holistic than anything we dream of today. Despite all that modernity has undone, the Huichol people of central Mexico have kept alive their humor, their communities, and their profound medicine.

Eliot Cowan is the author of Plant Spirit Medicine, and a fully initiated Tsaurirrikame (shaman) in the Huichol Indian tradition. He began the study and practice of herbalism in the 1960’s and completed a Master of Acupuncture degree with J.R. Worsley in England in the 1970’s. Eliot subsequently apprenticed with Don Guadalupe Gonzalez Rios, an eminent Huichol Indian Shaman. On the occasion of Don Guadalupe’s retirement in 2000, he ritually recognized Eliot as a guide to shamanic apprentices in the Huichol tradition.

Eliot has shared his gift with many all over the world. In 1989, Eliot was my teacher. My year long apprenticeship program was based at Dry Creek Herb Farm north of Auburn CA. It was a wondrous year, opening me up to many life changing opportunities. The journey has continued to amaze and confirm my belief in this profound medicine.

It is only with the heart that you can see, what is essential is invisible to the eye. ~ Unknown