Reflections and Conversations with Santa Maria : Collection of Essays and
References
Here is a curated collection of essays, role models and pioneers in walking consciously with C4nn4bis. We at Motherose honour the healing potential of all plants, who honour the plants in their wholeness. Relating to them as intelligent Devic beings, friends, healers and mentors. If you are cultivating your own path of plant-spirit connection, of walking mindfully with this Power Plant, we hope these pages inspire and strengthen that walk. The dominant culture around c4nn4bis is multifaceted, with an underbelly of addiction and self-justified self-destruction.
While it is true we live in challenging times, and 'cruche's', alleys, can be the difference of standing or falling - Its up to each of us as individuals to cultivate a balanced relationship with any plant or poison of power.
We each have our path to walk in regards to coping mechanisms, healing, and addiction. That path is unique and deeply personal to you. Your balance, is for you to discover and explore. Your Inner authority is your friend, and connected to your Inner Power. Overtime when we lean on copping-mechanisms to much, we give over our power (this is applicable to any form of addiction). We live in a age where the godtrix of forces controlling the dominant culture feed off us. A world where the major industry's of society are dependant on us as individuals giving our power away. In truth, we don’t need anything, when our connection to source is clear, we have all that we need.
There is a wonderful movement of awareness around dopamine, the brain & brain training blossoming. Empathetic scientist, psychologists and medicine people working together to remind us of what it means to be healthy and balanced. Shame, denial and guilt often keep our struggles with balance in the dark. I love seeing this shift of awareness, of a new culture that values balance and connection to source/self sourcing.
We know from Dopamine researchers that saying 'No' is good for us, good our brain health. We also know from neuroscientists that excessive cannabis consumption over an extended period of time leads to memory loss, to brain damage. This is fully repairable with a detox plan and healthy life choices.
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Elder in Aotearoa: Mother Suzanne Aubert
The story of this pioneering women, responsible for bringing C4nn4bis S4tiva to Aotearoa is incrediable. Courageously experimenting and sharing this plant medicine with people and a large scale during the early years of this coutrys formation. During a time when women had very little rights and respect, Mother Aubert holds Saint status to many with her radicle approach to spiritual herbalism.
Here at Motherose, Mother Aubert is a powerful Spiritual Guides & Teacher. We deeply honour her work, her path and her legacy here in Aotearoa. You can visit her portrait at St Benedict's Church, St Benedict's St, Auckland.
This mini-documentary is well worth a watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qckWbE9eCuU&list=PLWTGiYQzs6dJaqiZFjjHlBvgO2EMFUwTQ&index=1&t=516s
https://northandsouth.co.nz/2022/03/04/suzanne-aubert-sainthood-canonisation-sisters-of-compassion/
*if you have any references, places of honor or story's about Mother Aubert, please send them through.*
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Sacred C4nn4bis - By Ash, with additions by Katie Milne in Italics
"Bob Marley said “When you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself”
According to the Rastafarian religion, ganja (Cannabis) is celebrated as a sacred plant medicine that “reveals us to ourselves.” The youthful Rastas are the ones who integrate cannabis, because they’re getting to know themselves, whereas the elders are already self-aware. To them, using Cannabis to get high is condemned, because it is called the holy herb or the wisdom weed.
C4nn4bis is treated as a sacred plant medicine in another worldwide religion called Santo Daime, which is one of the Amazon Rainforest’s ayahuasca religions, incorporating elements of Christianity along with other spiritual traditions.
They refer to it as Santa Maria. Santa Maria is the Portuguese and Spanish term for Saint Mary, who is also understood as Mother Earth, or Pachamama.
When a shamanic leader named Padrinho Sebastião was first introduced to cannabis, he understood how to consecrate this herb, meeting “her” with firmness in the mind, relaxing into her peaceful and loving medicine. In doing this, Padrinho essentially lit a torch of inspiration that continues to pass forward as more people begin a relationship with this ancient spiritual ally.
We can all learn something from this. Like anything in life, there’s an art to it. There’s a refined way of doing it. There’s a way of respecting it, growing it cleanly, consuming it consciously, experiencing it tastefully, and sharing it lovingly. We are all aware of the gifts marijuana gives to us, from the ease we feel mentally to the uplift we feel emotionally, and I trust we can all imagine the blessing we can feel spiritually.
Santa Maria can help us all to see the world like children again, with tremendous curiosity and fascination.
Santa Maria can also help us to express ourselves artistically, like Bob Marley, Snoop Dogg and Pablo Picasso.
Santa Maria can help us to be more consciously aware, which makes us better able to serve others and stand for what we believe."
~ This statement is key, Santa Maria opens our consciousness and invites us to lovingly question our belief systems, fears and thought processes. She is a plant of rebellion, a plant of freedom; of freedom of the mind and bounds of society. When I first came to smoke ganja in my youth I experienced such an expanse of knowledge and perspectives. My horizons opened spiritually and culturally as I creatively explored the meaning of life. She is a plant of philosophy, sparking curiosity and carrying us out of the stagnation of opinions and set knowing. To question is healthy for the mind & healthy for our species. Power often becomes fixed, hoarded and sour. We must question the structures of our world. Ganja invites rebellion in a peaceful, creative and non-violent way. Have you ever seen fighting & aggression at a reggae event? She is a plant of peace and spiritual revolution. This alone is healing for our species as we walk with the trauma of colonisation, religion, the burning of peoples and the planet. It takes courage to open our eyes and be with it all, to find our place with in the story. Ganja helps us do this with note of creative discovery & enquiry. Interesting to note the shadow side of c4nn4bis use which is often escapism and numbing. How vital it is that we work with this plant consciously, inviting the full depth of her medicine, wisdom and teachings into our practice. Intention is powerful and the key to relating to this plant in a way that serves growth, bringing you more fully into your power and walk with in this world. ~
"I envision a future world where our gardens flourish with all the herbs God gave us. I see myself, my family and my friends consecrating Santa Maria (Sacred C4nn4bis) for our health and wellbeing in body, heart, mind, soul, and Spirit."
~ "All the herbs"…. : I have observed in c4nn4bis culture an obsession with ganja, and it seems ganja alone. This is fundamentally out of balance. It overshadows the power and offering of every other healing plant or herb that exists. Our herbal smoking range was originally formulated to invite people into a more diverse and balanced way of working with Santa Maria.
In Plant Medicine studies, working with a 'single' is one way of getting to know a plant and its healing potential. However many lineages of herbal medicine have discovered the power of combining, grouping and harmonizing a range herbs with diverse & complementary actions. A majority of C4nn4bis products in the industry don't invite this deeper potential for medicine, as they focus solely on C4nn4bis and Terpene's (to my understanding aromatic extracts from c4nn4bis). This imbalance reminds me of religion; it’s a pyramid structure of power and devotion.
We at Motherose walk with the wisdom of the wise-women way; of the scared hoop, the spiralic path and the balance of the whole.
We have discovered profound healing in working with Santa Maria alongside other herbs. Whether that be in extractions or smoke. Often times peoples relationship to ganja becomes out of balance. My belief is that we seek ritual. That ritual nourishes the spirit and our connection to ourselves and source. Smoking is a ritual, however ritual can become stagnant if not tended to. Healthy ritual serves our intention, it is alive, just as we are. It is dynamic. Working with the herbal smoking blends is way to 'tune' your smoking ritual to your needs. Inviting the medicine of other herbs into your smoke, herbs that relax, sooth, ground, clarify, cool, warm etc. is a way to curate your ritual to your intention. It invites more presence into ritual and the question of 'why am I smoking?' ' what does my body/spirit need in this moment?'. This kind of conscious, aware way of relating to the self can cultivate depth, balance and nourishment. When our rituals become addictions they are depleting rather nourishing. Self acceptance, self-honesty and self-love are key pillars of walking ourselves in wholeness. The plants are here to help us. They give us air to breath, food to eat and medicine for our entire being! Lets open to the full kaleidoscope of their healing powers. ~
"We pray with this medicine, and we receive its gifts with gratitude. We smile together, we laugh together, we sing together, we dance together, and we grow together, in harmony.
And we do this responsibly and safely."
https://zazenfitness.com/the-truth-about-santa-maria-sacred-cannabis/
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Ryan Spragues : Role modelling Concious C4nn4bis use.
I love Ryan Spragues whakaro, he affirms much of what I have come to believe about working with this Plant Medicine. He is a C4nn4bis educator, coach, teacher and cultivator - promoting holistic, conscious & balanced relating to c4nn4bis.
Check him out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ6spIwgwac&list=PLWTGiYQzs6dJaqiZFjjHlBvgO2EMFUwTQ&index=2&t=1583s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qckWbE9eCuU&list=PLWTGiYQzs6dJaqiZFjjHlBvgO2EMFUwTQ&index=1&t=516s
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Educational Resource from Azalla trust
The Meaning Of Azalla
"AZALLA” was the first written word for medical c4nn4bis in ancient Mesopotamia. It was written in cuneiform on clay tablets back in 3000 BC. “Azalla” gives us a reference for how long humans have known about the therapeutic use of the plant C4nn4bis sativa. It is likely that early humans were using this plant far before cuneiform writing was developed. From this perspective, the modern atrocity of cannabis prohibition is a short (albeit destructive) period of time.
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Ray Thorpe's on Happy Highs
Ray Thorpes is the founder of the Happy Herb company, I love his wisdom about plant medicine and the joy of getting high. His work greatly influenced the birth of Motherose Herbals in the early days. From a diverse range of herbs that are safe to smoke to creative legal herbal high extractions. Rays book 'Happy High Herbs' is a wonder! An encylopedia of herbal high from across the globe, their powers, there shadows, how to work with them safely - you name it! It’s a holistic download of all the taboo plants you want to know about. For just $5aud you can purchase a digital copy of this book. There is a particularly informative section C4nn4bis. Website link below.
Website:
Digital Book:
https://happyherb.co/products/book-happy-high-herbs-digital-download
Physical Book:
https://happyherb.co/products/book-happy-high-herbs-9th-ed
" The foundation of all drug prevention is knowledge. This is a must read for everyone interested in herbal health and happiness. Filled with valuable wisdom and herbal lore describing natural highs, addiction solutions and medicinal benefits.
Essential information on natural alternatives for smokers, coffee drinkers, substance users, psychonauts, drug takers, health freaks, joy seekers, entheogenists, experimenting teenagers and loving parents."
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Why "Santa Maria"?... A HerStory …
https://www.cannabisandspirituality.com/call-santa-maria/
A spiritual leader and plant medicine master—I’ll call him a shaman for this story—of great wisdom and vision was at the time of this seminal event living deep in the forest with his community. This was a man with a reputation for having an open communication channel with the Great Spirit, or Great Spirits. He was well known in his community and beyond for being a master journeyer with powerful “generating-the divine-within” medicine plants, in particular, with a legendary visionary brew of the region.
Word of this remarkable community began to spread and one day a young visitor showed up at the shaman’s forest encampment and offered him some c4nn4bis, a plant he had not previously known. The shaman accepted the offering and told the young man he would like to discover its characteristics privately.
The Keeper of the Garden
After spending some time alone with her, the shaman reported to his people that he had had a vision of a woman tending a garden. She showed him a c4nn4bis plant growing in her garden and said it was her plant. She told him that few people understood the plant and many were misusing it. She asked him to help correct that misunderstanding and let people know that when met with humility, respect, and a clear and simple presence of mind, her plant has remarkable gifts of healing and awakening for us humans wandering confused in the struggle-inducing illusions of our thought-generated virtual realities.
So then, why the name Santa Maria? Since the European people first invaded their ancestral lands and aggressively forced their Christian religious beliefs down the throats of the locals, native people all over the world have attempted to keep the essence of their traditional spiritual practices alive by incorporating elements of Christianity. That often meant using the language and the icons of Christianity.
The shaman of this story and his sylvan spiritual community were among those “syncretic religions.” He interpreted—or as the story suggests, actually experienced—the keeper of the garden as Saint Mary, or Santa Maria in the Portuguese and Spanish of the area. He also understood her as Mother Earth, or Pachamama.
That way of viewing and meeting Santa Maria has since been passed down to people like the group I know. A number of the core members of this group understand how to meet her with a relaxed discipline that opens the doorway to her peaceful and loving medicine. In doing that, they light a lamp of inspiration as we enter a period of renewal in our relationship with this ancient spiritual ally.
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There is so much more I have to share about this wonderful Plant; her medicine and her shadow. All plants have a healing potential and a shadow medicine. We must be honest about this in order to be with the balance of life. As above, so below.