Healing with Grandfather Cactus

My first journey with the Sacred Cactus took place almost 10 years ago amidst the beautifully mesmerizing Andean mountains of Ecuador.  We journeyed all through the night, in the open air, around the fire and each participant eagerly awaited their turn to "ride the jaguar."  During that special moment, the journeyer was invited to sit on a jaguar skin that was placed in front of the fire and receive a unique blessing from the shaman.  For me, that encounter had profoundly lasting healing effects, as I would say it was the first time in my life that I actually felt truly seen on a soul level.

The medicine was passed around all night, along with shots of a local rum mixed with snake venom and interludes of a liquid tobacco that is snorted up the nose (yes, it was as intense as it sounds!) I will never forget the moment when we had moved through the darkness of the night and the sun started to come up over the horizon. The cacti medicines are very energizing so even though I had been up all night, my mind was fully alert and I felt very present.  

As I watched the sun rise, I heard an enchanting bird singing off in the distance and it immediately captured my heart... then another and another joined in until it felt like an entire world symphony of birds was filling up my entire being up with their love songs.  Every cell was vibrating with these powerful frequencies and I wept with marvel, joy, and gratitude at this immeasurable expression of beauty.  Just thinking about it now still makes my eyes well up.  I'll also never forget how I had also heard the shaman whisper, "Here come the ancestors..." as the chorus got louder and how I understood in that moment that the winged ones are a bridge to the ancestral realms.  To this day, I carry those frequencies with me and know that they have healed and recalibrated the inner workings of my soul in a deeply impactful way. 

I have since journeyed many times with Grandfather medicine - on solo spirit walks in the desert and other times in traditional ceremonies with the Navajos on the reservation or with the Anahuac tribe in the Mayan jungles of Mexico. What I have come to learn is that the Grandfather medicine carries unique codes of healing connected to the Light, Fire, and Sun.  Engaging with these forces of nature is an essential part of working with these medicines, which is why traditional ceremonies are held outdoors during the day, often while hiking through the mountains and nighttime ceremonies are always by the fire.  The power of the Light/Fire/Sun is what feeds our life force energy and gives us the strength to show up in the world as our true selves with courage and confidence.  This medicine is a portal that helps us to feel a direct connection to the Divine; it blesses us with clarity and guidance and teaches us to live in peace and harmony with everything around us.

In my experience, the cacti have a very loving divine masculine energy which is beautifully nurturing, soft and gentle (characteristics that we might attribute more to the feminine, but through my work I have come to see that the True Divine Masculine is not the more aggressive, overpowering and dominating force that modern masculinity has come to be associated with).  In this way, I feel there is much we can learn from Grandfather about healing our masculine side/Father Wound and bringing it back into balance. In a similar fashion, Grandmother medicine has taught me much about the fierce warrior feminine who does not back down and shows up with courage and conviction when strength and protection are needed (a far cry from the also distorted misconceptions of the feminine as being weaker, more passive and submissive).

The Sacred Cactus is a grand Master Teacher, Healer and Ally who has much wisdom to share with those who are ready and open to receive. He is a worldbridger that lovingly connects us to both the Spirit of the Earth and the Mysteries of the Cosmos. Working with him is wonderfully complementary to working with Grandmother and can be very helpful in integrating our journeys with the Sacred Vine.  While Grandmother is the expert in guiding us through the darkness, shadows and subconscious, Grandfather brings us full circle back into the Light where we can once again move from inner to the outer and take our place in the world.  He empowers and motivates us to become the game changers that will transform the wounded systems in our world and supports us in actualizing our greatest potential.

Of course, no description can ever truly capture the magic, mysteries and miracles of these spirits or the journeys they take us on and everyone's experience will be unique. But if the cactus calls, perhaps it's because you are ready to reset the upper limit settings you may have on how much love, joy, beauty and abundance you have (subconsciously) allowed yourself to experience thus far. If you're reading this, maybe it's time to re-imagine the possibilities ;)