Mama Cannabis and the Embodied Feminine: an Ancient Psychedelic for Modern Times

Abstract

This chapter describes the traditions, training, alterations of consciousness, healing ritual, and ethnomedical ideologies of Cannabis sativa, which is the oldest, most widely used, yet least considered plant teacher of the psychedelic renaissance. After briefly summarizing the recent literature about the deeply intertwined histories of Cannabis sativa and its intimate relationship with human spiritual development (and some of the reasons for the loss of our knowledge about these relationships), we explore ways in which this plant teacher is now being recognized as a powerful ally in the work of personal and planetary transformation. The chapter takes an explicitly feminine and embodied approach as we discuss the unique gifts of Cannabis sativa as a psychedelic medicine that has transformational potential, both for the individuals engaging in Cannabis-assisted therapy and for the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Specifically, our approach takes issue with the tendency to objectify and “medicalize” psychedelics by some researchers, addressing an urgently identified need to re-sacralize entheogenic healing. Intentionally autoethnographic, we illustrate this approach through rich descriptions and through inclusion of art and poetic-narrative that highlight ways this plant-spirit-medicine continues to transform our lives and our work.