Guidance

“Westerners have forgotten what indigenous people understand to be cardinal: that this world owes its life to the unseen. Every hunt and every harvest, every death and every birth is distinguished by beauty-making and ceremony for that which we cannot see, feeding back that which feeds us. I believe our alienation is the felt negligence of that reciprocity.”  -Toko-Pa Turner When we arrive on a new piece of land, we seek shelter, work, food, medical care. Ideally, we arrive with an attitude of curiosity and respect for what is already there, for the people who live there, their customs and...

Dear Radiant One, Today, we’re being a voice and advocate for another lesser-known genius plant—sassafras—a botanical treasure that has been celebrated, restricted, and nearly forgotten. Its aromatic bark and roots once infused traditional medicine, early root beer, and ceremonial practices. But behind its warm, spicy scent lies a deeper story—one of suppression, regulation, and revival. For centuries, Indigenous healers, from the Cherokee to the Choctaw to the Ayurvedic medicine people of India, and early western physicians revered sassafras for its ability to:🌿 Cleanse and purify the body, supporting digestion, circulation, and detoxification.🌿 Enhance sensory awareness and mental clarity, making it a quiet yet powerful ally for altered...

People and plants have co-evolved together. Wherever humans have settled, all over the earth, plants growing nearby have proven to have healing properties to support common human ailments- from digestive issues to muscular pain. They also evolved to provide mental, emotional and spiritual support. Nature makes medicine, as well as food.   To state the obvious, cultures have long employed sacred herbs and ritualistic practices for overall wellbeing—from burning sage or resins for purification, to brewing medicinal teas, to making tinctures and extracts. We know how many cultures invoked psychoactive plants to cultivate connection, insight, and communal harmony. We have even...

How Have People Worked with Plants in Ceremony Spaces?  Ingestible sacraments have been a consistent presence in religious and spiritual ceremonies worldwide since the beginning of recorded history. Various plant sacraments are used 1) to honor deities symbolically, 2) to aid intermediaries such as medicine women, priests, or shamans in entering a state of communion, or 3) to summon direct transcendent experiences in congregants themselves.   One example, from Bronze Age India and Iran, is the sacrament of Soma, or Haoma in Persian.  Donald Teeter writes in The Sacred Secret,"Haoma acquired a place of sacramental significance in the worship of Mithra (an...