The Allies
Spiritual allies are all around us even if we cannot see them. These allies encompass many beings from the plant and animal world to ancestors and Gods. Every culture has Spirits. They are our teachers, our medicines, our guides, our foes. The plant world is particularly neglected in our modern navigations. That ugly weed in the field could be edible or that beautiful glistening berry in the manicured garden deadly. Our ancestors were plant navigators, carriers, planters, cultivators. Some plants follow us and we follow some plants. Diversity is key as we wander the green world and work to become great navigators amongst its’ ranks. I believe that every plant is an ally in some way to us, even if they are poisonous. In fact some plants straddle the knife edge to be both poison and medicine. Set, setting, dose and knowledge all play their part. The experimenter must be cautious as the poison road is quite dangerous and some plant teachers quite treacherous, but it is a road worth the travel and a road which informs my art.
“The Spirit of Tobacco” - 2021 Maya Grey
Tobacco
Nicotiana tabacum - Family: Solanaceae
If ever there was a true poison it is tobacco. It is the oldest cultivated shamanic plant in the Americas and its’ origin has been traced to the Andes in South America and was probably cultivated from wild plants in antiquity. It is a stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, hallucinogen and killer. It is smoked, snorted, chewed, sucked, drank and taken as an enema in both ritual and recreational settings. According to the WHO there is an estimated 1.1 billion tobacco smokers in the world today. It is one of the most prolific killers and in the US in the year 2020 500k people died from tobacco related diseases. It killed both of my grandparents who were encouraged to smoke from doctors and while in the Army. However, like tales of witches of old it is a breath stealer. It takes your breath slowly year after year as it feeds on your life force and you die suffocating and gasping for the air that surrounds you.
Tobacco is highly addictive. Most can not quit. It is ruled by Saturn. It is a true spirit plant, a food of the Gods. It has been ritually utilized in almost all indigenous North American spiritualities both old and new from the various tribes too numerous to name, the Lakota Peace Pipe ceremony comes to mind, and to the many fusion religions of the Caribbean and South America such as Voudou, Palo, Santeria, Candomble and Quimbanda. All these traditions use tobacco ritually to purify space, feed their spirits and to enter into trance like states. The first English settlers were introduced tobacco from the Powhatan, clearly showing the vast trade routes of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and its wide cultivation.
Tobacco is food for the Gods. Tobacco is about a transference of energy. We take it in to feed them. Oddly it grows like food in gardens and makes you feel full even when your stomach is empty. But it is not our food— it is theirs. Food of the Gods, the Spirits, the Dead. Perfect for necromancy and divination. Perfect offering to the Mighty Dead. It’s stimulant qualities can be useful and we often see it preferred by poets, writers and thespians. One pinch of wet tobacco on a bee or wasp sting immediately removes the venom and pain.
Be careful of this ally. Know who you are dealing with and keep healthy boundaries with it.
“Datura Dreams” - 2021 Maya Grey
Datura
Datura stramonium - Family: Solanaceae
With vernacular names like Thorn Apple, Devil’s Weed, Devil’s Apple, and Jimson Weed we can see the road that this ally wants to take us on. It is dangerous medicine. Datura is a bringer of dreams and delirium and walks that fine line of poison and medicine, life and death. It contains tropane alkaloids mainly scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine which can cause vomiting, headaches, convulsions, coma and death. It blossoms in the raging heat of the desert like fire white against rock and sand. She is beautiful to behold.
Another ally in the solanaceae family, which is the house of the nightshades, the realm of the witch. This is why this plant is important to us and why we are interested in it. It is found in all the old flying ointment recipes and was used in various sleeping potions. It was a favorite poison of the Indian Thuggee cult of assassins who used it on their victims. Every year in the desert some kids who are looking to get high inevitably eat it and die. I was warned as a kid growing up in New Mexico to never eat it and stay away from stupid pendejos who do.
But that is not what the Chumash tribe of central California say. They have been using it ritually in their puberty rights for generations. It is considered a “dream helper” and is drunk in a decoction. Datura is a bridge to the dream world, to the Sabbat and to realms the magician or witch might be interested in smuggling information out of. It is a time thief. A time stealer. How long were you walking in the woods? Do you remember where you were or who you are? What did you bring back? Dreams, visions, whispers.
Datura hides in plain sight. You have to know what you are looking at. You know those flames surrounding the dancing Shiva statues you see in yoga studios? Well they are not flames, they are Datura. Same with the Navajo squash blossom necklaces found in trading posts in the Southwest. Not squash…shhh…don’t tell the tourists.
Set and setting, again back to that. Sacred space. What dosage? I couldn’t say. I wouldn’t recommend. However, a few flowers placed in a bowl of water by your bedside to see what dreams might come? That I can say brings interesting results to the dreamer who can remember.