Ugster
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2007
- Messages
- 369
I haven't posted on Bluelight in aeons, but I felt inspired to share a recent experience I had with Peyote in conjunction with the Lakota Native American Church.
I used to use many substances recreationaly, however after an intense experience with psychedelic medicines and plant medicines I underwent an extreme spiritual awakening which inspired me to give away everything I owned and embark on an adventure in the search of Spirit, and a more harmonious way of living with our mother earth. I have been traveling for the past 2 years, working with plant medicines, deepening my connection to the earth and the cosmos, and studying shamanic and indigenous techniques while helping as many people as I can along the way.
I normally do not share my experiences, they are very private and personal, but I felt inspired to share this particular experience to give a window to the sacramental and ceremonial use of plant medicines for healing and prayer. I feel like this aspect of medicine use has been lost in the eyes of mainstream culture, and many people have forgotten these sacred ways of living and being.
I was planning a medicine journey when the exciting news came - I had been invited to participate in an authentic Native American Prayer Ceremony with some of the locals. I was told that a full blood Lakota medicine man would be leading the ceremony.
While I have been using plant medicines for several years ceremonially by myself or with very close friends, I had never had an opportunity to participate in an authentic indigenous ceremony. I felt extremely honored and blessed to have been granted the opportunity to pray with these sacred medicines in such an ancient way with others who are on the medicine path.
I arrived at the land where the ceremony was to be held about an hour before sun down. I had been to this land once before to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony. I had met some of the people before, but for the most part I was a stranger. The people were still preparing for the ceremony when I arrived, and they were extremely warm towards me. I felt very welcome. I offered to help with any preparations, yet they assured me it was not needed.
The land itself was beautiful, it was located in the mountains and there many beautiful trees all around us. Many different mountain peaks towered above us and you could see for miles to the valley below. There was a giant Ti pi on the land where I was informed the ceremony was going to be held. I went ahead and set my stuff inside the Tipi and spent time introducing myself to the other attendees.
There were perhaps 35 people in attendance. Some of them were natives, but many came from other traditions as well. There were people who stayed at a Hindu Ashram near by, travelers, families with children, and other locals. There were babies and people as old as 70 who were participating in the ceremony.
I had been advised to bring an offering for the medicine man conducting the ceremony, especially since the ceremony was being conducted free of charge. All of the medicine was free, though donations were requested. I saw him making some final preparations and handed him a tanned fox head I had acquired in my travels, thanking him for holding the space and allowing this ceremony to be possible. He accepted it and threw an offer of cedar into the fire, and cleansed the fox with the smoke.
As the sun sank behind the mountains, people began to crowd into the Ti Pi. The Ti Pi could barely hold all of us, and we were all scrunched up next to each other. We were not allowed to drink water until midnight. There was a large fire blazing in the middle of the Ti Pi, and the medicine man told us to direct our prayers and intentions into the fire. He told us this is where we would see our most profound visions, is in the Spirit of the fire.
To begin, tobacco and corn husks were passed around and we were instructed to use the corn husks to roll a tobacco cigarette, which we would smoke as a form of prayer. The medicine man told us to inhale the tobacco with a specific prayer and intention, and to release our prayers into the fire with each exhale of smoke.
I rolled my cigarette and immersed myself in deep meditation as I infused my intention and my prayers into the tobacco. I had many relatives who were suffering, and I prayed for them. I prayed to receive what I needed so that I could better serve the earth all life on this planet, I prayed for my own healing, as well as the healing of the spirit of humanity, and the earth itself. I surrendered myself to Spirit as I released my prayers into the fire. I normally do not smoke tobacco however I allowed myself to participate in this process. I found the smoke to be extremely relaxing and the plant amplified my prayers immensely. I was grateful for this opportunity.
After everyone had finished most of their cigarettes, the butts were collected and placed on an altar near the fire. The medicine man then passed around the Peyote Medicine. A container with concentrated peyote "Mush" was passed around, as well as a jug full of tea. We were instructed to take four spoonfulls which equated to perhaps a hand-full of mush, and to gulp it down with the tea. The medicine was extremely bitter, however I did not have a hard time swallowing it.
I could feel the medicine in my stomach immediately. It felt very heavy, and I knew that I may get sick, despite the numerous efforts I had made to purify my body in the past year. The medicine man told us it was expected to get sick, however they called it "getting well". Anyone who threw up, or "Got well" was handed a bucket and blessed with cedar smoke. The medicine man explained that this was how the peyote medicine purified our body and soul, and that "getting well" was a good thing.
After the peyote was passed, the prayer songs began. The medicine man had a sacred staff and a sacred rattle, and there was a man whose job it was to drum. The staff was passed around and each person would sing a few sacred prayer songs to the fire and shake the rattle while the drummer kept the tempo. When they were finished they would pass the staff to the next person, and it would continue in this way for the entire night. There was hardly any interruption in the singing, and it was explained that it was the prayer songs were what kept people grounded and kept people from becoming overwhelmed by the peyote. It was explained that when someone was singing, they were communing directly with the Great Spirit, through the fire. The songs were directed towards the spirit of all things.
I was passed the staff many times and I sung what few prayer songs I knew. You could sing any song as long as it was a prayer song. Some sang christian hymns, some sang lakota songs, some sang Hindu devotional songs, while others sang Buddhist mantras or old folk songs.
During this time I would either sing along or lose myself the magnificent beauty of the fire. After perhaps 30 minutes i began to feel the effects of the medicine. I became very introspective as I observed my current position on my journey, I saw recent circumstances, I saw some blockages in my energy body that I had been aware of that I was working on healing. The effects at this point were very mild, and I was somewhat disappointed.
"Perhaps peyote is not my medicine" I thought to myself. What I did not know was that the medicine was going to be passed around several more times during the night. After 90 minutes the medicine was passed around once more, though the medicine man said it was optional. I chose to partake in another full dose.
At this point I asked the Spirit of the Peyote Medicine to show me it's power. "Show me what you can do" I said silently to myself. The medicine was heavy in my stomach and I was battling with myself to keep from throwing up. Many people had already "gotten well" around me. As I stared into the fire I witnessed a demonic entity emerge from it. It had many different eyes and was almost as large as the Ti Pi itself, it had an ethereal presence. It stared directly at me and said " I am you." I stared at it and I accepted my circumstances. "Perhaps you are me, perhaps we are both reflections of one anothers dream." I said to it. It disappeared but I could still feel it inside of me. I was very distracted at this point by this entity. When the staff was passed to me I chose not to sing.
At this point it was midnight and water was passed around, followed by a subsequent bathroom break, I went outside to pee and the trees were absolutely beautiful under the twilight of the moon. I went up to a tree and began to have enormous visuals of blossoming energetic patterns. I talked to the tree, and it told me I needed to stay outside with it. This created a conflict for me, I knew it was rude to stay outside of the ceremony. I decided to go back inside the Ti Pi but I told the tree I would return later to spend time with it.
Back in the Ti Pi I could not forget the tree. I felt very disconnected from the ceremony and I wanted to be outside in nature. After some time I decided that I was going to leave the ceremony, the whole thing seemed silly anyway, and I just wasn't feeling the vibe - I wanted to be free, outside, able to explore... not trapped in a stuffy Ti Pi with a bunch of people singing songs.
I tried to wait for a good time to excuse myself but I realized that my leave would be noticed regardless. Eventually I just got up and left and stepped outside. The medicine man came out to speak to me. I told him I needed to be outside and he told me it was ok, but he said that I was not to leave the property since he would be legally liable for my intoxication. I agreed to this. I went back to the tree and meditated with it. I was able to go much deeper into my internal world without the distractions of the ceremony. Many things were revealed to me that I can not speak of here.
Eventually I decided to return to the Ti Pi. they welcomed me back and threw some cedar into the fire to bless me with. I resumed my seat and right as I sat down I realized it was my turn to use the staff. I sung a song I had been taught for releasing negative energies, and I felt a power inside of me. All of the negativity and resistance I had previously been experiencing vanished and I felt greatly empowered. I had an extreme state of clarity and many of the questions I had came to the ceremony with were instantly answered.
More medicine was passed around, and despite the fact that I still felt like I was about to throw up I decided to take another full dose. At this point my visuals went to a new level. I realized that I was telepathically communicating with a few of the other participants. One of the woman was singing absolutely beautiful hindu devotional songs, I did not know any of them but I was able to sing along as if I had known them my entire life just by picking up on her vibrations. In that moment, as I sung with her, I felt closer to spirit than I had been in a very long time."You must be humbler than a blade of grass to know the names of the lord" she sang. The light completely permeated my being and I felt pure. I was empty, I was nothing, I was pure light. It was an extremely blissful and humbling experience.
I began having visions of many different deities, Jesus, Krishna, Buddhas, and my heart was overflowing with love. I was so grateful to have this opportunity to participate in this ceremony with such a powerful and diverse community of individuals. I continued to pray for the well being of all life on this planet, that we might all remember our true nature once more in harmony with the Spirit of all things.
I saw many spirits in the room, ancestors, and deities alike. Some spirits came to me and asked me to help the return to the Spirit World, I used a previous technique I had learned to allow spirits to transition to their appropriate place within the spirit realm.
During this time I also had a telepathic communication with the Lakota medicine man. He telepathically invited me to come learn from him and to study with him. I contemplated this, I was not sure I wanted to, as it would require me to surrender much freedom.
As I contemplated these things, the ceremony continued, more medicine was passed around and i continued to partake, I had perhaps 5 rounds of medicine altogether, and much of the physical discomfort had subsided. My visuals increased in intensity as I took more medicine and I became more aware of my surroundings.
I saw the astral body of the medicine man and I realized he was doing much unseen work on the ethereal planes to help regulate the ceremony. While his physical body sat near the altar calmly, his spirit body was extremely busy aiding different people and overseeing the ceremony as it was conducted.
I had visions of gigantic snakes in the fire, and I also saw the same snakes inside of my body running through my veins. I could move the snakes inside my body by manipulating my energy field and the snakes in the fire would move accordingly. I lost myself in a trance of this vision.
Eventually the sun began to rise. Everyone was tired and worn out, we were happy to see the sun rise. We continued the ceremony for another hour until perhaps 6:30 AM (the entire ceremony lasted 12 hours), and then food was brought into the Ti Pi, a meal of buffalo, berries, and corn. Many prayers were said for the food and we were all allowed to partake. When I left the Ti Pi my visuals entered a whole new level. I was so entranced at the beauty of the mountains and the clouds.
Most other participants were socializing but I got lost and wandered around on the land, I saw nymphs and other spirits flying out of the trees and wrapping themselves around me, I saw many spirits flying in the sky. I was immersed in beauty like I had never been before, I could not remember a moment as a beautiful as this one. I stood for perhaps an hour watching the trees and the mountains, hardly blinking at all.
There was going to be a sweat lodge later in the evening, yet I found myself extremely tired and wanting to go home. The medicines man face appeared in my head and he was enticing me to stay, I told him i needed to go but I promised to come back.
I finally managed to get home and I got a few hours of sleep. I came back later that day to participate in a sweat lodge. I was told there would be sweat lodges for the next 4 days, and I participated in all of them. I ended up helping prepare many of the ceremonies and aiding the medicine man with some other work he needed done, so I was not surprised when he invited me to stay on his land and learn about Lakota traditions and ceremonies with him. This affirmed my previous telepathic experience during the Lakota ceremony.
I am doing some more traveling at the moment but I have agreed to return to study with him in a few weeks. I am looking forward to the experience.
Much Love and Many Blessings to all sentient beings
In Lak'Ech, I am another yourself.
I used to use many substances recreationaly, however after an intense experience with psychedelic medicines and plant medicines I underwent an extreme spiritual awakening which inspired me to give away everything I owned and embark on an adventure in the search of Spirit, and a more harmonious way of living with our mother earth. I have been traveling for the past 2 years, working with plant medicines, deepening my connection to the earth and the cosmos, and studying shamanic and indigenous techniques while helping as many people as I can along the way.
I normally do not share my experiences, they are very private and personal, but I felt inspired to share this particular experience to give a window to the sacramental and ceremonial use of plant medicines for healing and prayer. I feel like this aspect of medicine use has been lost in the eyes of mainstream culture, and many people have forgotten these sacred ways of living and being.
I was planning a medicine journey when the exciting news came - I had been invited to participate in an authentic Native American Prayer Ceremony with some of the locals. I was told that a full blood Lakota medicine man would be leading the ceremony.
While I have been using plant medicines for several years ceremonially by myself or with very close friends, I had never had an opportunity to participate in an authentic indigenous ceremony. I felt extremely honored and blessed to have been granted the opportunity to pray with these sacred medicines in such an ancient way with others who are on the medicine path.
I arrived at the land where the ceremony was to be held about an hour before sun down. I had been to this land once before to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony. I had met some of the people before, but for the most part I was a stranger. The people were still preparing for the ceremony when I arrived, and they were extremely warm towards me. I felt very welcome. I offered to help with any preparations, yet they assured me it was not needed.
The land itself was beautiful, it was located in the mountains and there many beautiful trees all around us. Many different mountain peaks towered above us and you could see for miles to the valley below. There was a giant Ti pi on the land where I was informed the ceremony was going to be held. I went ahead and set my stuff inside the Tipi and spent time introducing myself to the other attendees.
There were perhaps 35 people in attendance. Some of them were natives, but many came from other traditions as well. There were people who stayed at a Hindu Ashram near by, travelers, families with children, and other locals. There were babies and people as old as 70 who were participating in the ceremony.
I had been advised to bring an offering for the medicine man conducting the ceremony, especially since the ceremony was being conducted free of charge. All of the medicine was free, though donations were requested. I saw him making some final preparations and handed him a tanned fox head I had acquired in my travels, thanking him for holding the space and allowing this ceremony to be possible. He accepted it and threw an offer of cedar into the fire, and cleansed the fox with the smoke.
As the sun sank behind the mountains, people began to crowd into the Ti Pi. The Ti Pi could barely hold all of us, and we were all scrunched up next to each other. We were not allowed to drink water until midnight. There was a large fire blazing in the middle of the Ti Pi, and the medicine man told us to direct our prayers and intentions into the fire. He told us this is where we would see our most profound visions, is in the Spirit of the fire.
To begin, tobacco and corn husks were passed around and we were instructed to use the corn husks to roll a tobacco cigarette, which we would smoke as a form of prayer. The medicine man told us to inhale the tobacco with a specific prayer and intention, and to release our prayers into the fire with each exhale of smoke.
I rolled my cigarette and immersed myself in deep meditation as I infused my intention and my prayers into the tobacco. I had many relatives who were suffering, and I prayed for them. I prayed to receive what I needed so that I could better serve the earth all life on this planet, I prayed for my own healing, as well as the healing of the spirit of humanity, and the earth itself. I surrendered myself to Spirit as I released my prayers into the fire. I normally do not smoke tobacco however I allowed myself to participate in this process. I found the smoke to be extremely relaxing and the plant amplified my prayers immensely. I was grateful for this opportunity.
After everyone had finished most of their cigarettes, the butts were collected and placed on an altar near the fire. The medicine man then passed around the Peyote Medicine. A container with concentrated peyote "Mush" was passed around, as well as a jug full of tea. We were instructed to take four spoonfulls which equated to perhaps a hand-full of mush, and to gulp it down with the tea. The medicine was extremely bitter, however I did not have a hard time swallowing it.
I could feel the medicine in my stomach immediately. It felt very heavy, and I knew that I may get sick, despite the numerous efforts I had made to purify my body in the past year. The medicine man told us it was expected to get sick, however they called it "getting well". Anyone who threw up, or "Got well" was handed a bucket and blessed with cedar smoke. The medicine man explained that this was how the peyote medicine purified our body and soul, and that "getting well" was a good thing.
After the peyote was passed, the prayer songs began. The medicine man had a sacred staff and a sacred rattle, and there was a man whose job it was to drum. The staff was passed around and each person would sing a few sacred prayer songs to the fire and shake the rattle while the drummer kept the tempo. When they were finished they would pass the staff to the next person, and it would continue in this way for the entire night. There was hardly any interruption in the singing, and it was explained that it was the prayer songs were what kept people grounded and kept people from becoming overwhelmed by the peyote. It was explained that when someone was singing, they were communing directly with the Great Spirit, through the fire. The songs were directed towards the spirit of all things.
I was passed the staff many times and I sung what few prayer songs I knew. You could sing any song as long as it was a prayer song. Some sang christian hymns, some sang lakota songs, some sang Hindu devotional songs, while others sang Buddhist mantras or old folk songs.
During this time I would either sing along or lose myself the magnificent beauty of the fire. After perhaps 30 minutes i began to feel the effects of the medicine. I became very introspective as I observed my current position on my journey, I saw recent circumstances, I saw some blockages in my energy body that I had been aware of that I was working on healing. The effects at this point were very mild, and I was somewhat disappointed.
"Perhaps peyote is not my medicine" I thought to myself. What I did not know was that the medicine was going to be passed around several more times during the night. After 90 minutes the medicine was passed around once more, though the medicine man said it was optional. I chose to partake in another full dose.
At this point I asked the Spirit of the Peyote Medicine to show me it's power. "Show me what you can do" I said silently to myself. The medicine was heavy in my stomach and I was battling with myself to keep from throwing up. Many people had already "gotten well" around me. As I stared into the fire I witnessed a demonic entity emerge from it. It had many different eyes and was almost as large as the Ti Pi itself, it had an ethereal presence. It stared directly at me and said " I am you." I stared at it and I accepted my circumstances. "Perhaps you are me, perhaps we are both reflections of one anothers dream." I said to it. It disappeared but I could still feel it inside of me. I was very distracted at this point by this entity. When the staff was passed to me I chose not to sing.
At this point it was midnight and water was passed around, followed by a subsequent bathroom break, I went outside to pee and the trees were absolutely beautiful under the twilight of the moon. I went up to a tree and began to have enormous visuals of blossoming energetic patterns. I talked to the tree, and it told me I needed to stay outside with it. This created a conflict for me, I knew it was rude to stay outside of the ceremony. I decided to go back inside the Ti Pi but I told the tree I would return later to spend time with it.
Back in the Ti Pi I could not forget the tree. I felt very disconnected from the ceremony and I wanted to be outside in nature. After some time I decided that I was going to leave the ceremony, the whole thing seemed silly anyway, and I just wasn't feeling the vibe - I wanted to be free, outside, able to explore... not trapped in a stuffy Ti Pi with a bunch of people singing songs.
I tried to wait for a good time to excuse myself but I realized that my leave would be noticed regardless. Eventually I just got up and left and stepped outside. The medicine man came out to speak to me. I told him I needed to be outside and he told me it was ok, but he said that I was not to leave the property since he would be legally liable for my intoxication. I agreed to this. I went back to the tree and meditated with it. I was able to go much deeper into my internal world without the distractions of the ceremony. Many things were revealed to me that I can not speak of here.
Eventually I decided to return to the Ti Pi. they welcomed me back and threw some cedar into the fire to bless me with. I resumed my seat and right as I sat down I realized it was my turn to use the staff. I sung a song I had been taught for releasing negative energies, and I felt a power inside of me. All of the negativity and resistance I had previously been experiencing vanished and I felt greatly empowered. I had an extreme state of clarity and many of the questions I had came to the ceremony with were instantly answered.
More medicine was passed around, and despite the fact that I still felt like I was about to throw up I decided to take another full dose. At this point my visuals went to a new level. I realized that I was telepathically communicating with a few of the other participants. One of the woman was singing absolutely beautiful hindu devotional songs, I did not know any of them but I was able to sing along as if I had known them my entire life just by picking up on her vibrations. In that moment, as I sung with her, I felt closer to spirit than I had been in a very long time."You must be humbler than a blade of grass to know the names of the lord" she sang. The light completely permeated my being and I felt pure. I was empty, I was nothing, I was pure light. It was an extremely blissful and humbling experience.
I began having visions of many different deities, Jesus, Krishna, Buddhas, and my heart was overflowing with love. I was so grateful to have this opportunity to participate in this ceremony with such a powerful and diverse community of individuals. I continued to pray for the well being of all life on this planet, that we might all remember our true nature once more in harmony with the Spirit of all things.
I saw many spirits in the room, ancestors, and deities alike. Some spirits came to me and asked me to help the return to the Spirit World, I used a previous technique I had learned to allow spirits to transition to their appropriate place within the spirit realm.
During this time I also had a telepathic communication with the Lakota medicine man. He telepathically invited me to come learn from him and to study with him. I contemplated this, I was not sure I wanted to, as it would require me to surrender much freedom.
As I contemplated these things, the ceremony continued, more medicine was passed around and i continued to partake, I had perhaps 5 rounds of medicine altogether, and much of the physical discomfort had subsided. My visuals increased in intensity as I took more medicine and I became more aware of my surroundings.
I saw the astral body of the medicine man and I realized he was doing much unseen work on the ethereal planes to help regulate the ceremony. While his physical body sat near the altar calmly, his spirit body was extremely busy aiding different people and overseeing the ceremony as it was conducted.
I had visions of gigantic snakes in the fire, and I also saw the same snakes inside of my body running through my veins. I could move the snakes inside my body by manipulating my energy field and the snakes in the fire would move accordingly. I lost myself in a trance of this vision.
Eventually the sun began to rise. Everyone was tired and worn out, we were happy to see the sun rise. We continued the ceremony for another hour until perhaps 6:30 AM (the entire ceremony lasted 12 hours), and then food was brought into the Ti Pi, a meal of buffalo, berries, and corn. Many prayers were said for the food and we were all allowed to partake. When I left the Ti Pi my visuals entered a whole new level. I was so entranced at the beauty of the mountains and the clouds.
Most other participants were socializing but I got lost and wandered around on the land, I saw nymphs and other spirits flying out of the trees and wrapping themselves around me, I saw many spirits flying in the sky. I was immersed in beauty like I had never been before, I could not remember a moment as a beautiful as this one. I stood for perhaps an hour watching the trees and the mountains, hardly blinking at all.
There was going to be a sweat lodge later in the evening, yet I found myself extremely tired and wanting to go home. The medicines man face appeared in my head and he was enticing me to stay, I told him i needed to go but I promised to come back.
I finally managed to get home and I got a few hours of sleep. I came back later that day to participate in a sweat lodge. I was told there would be sweat lodges for the next 4 days, and I participated in all of them. I ended up helping prepare many of the ceremonies and aiding the medicine man with some other work he needed done, so I was not surprised when he invited me to stay on his land and learn about Lakota traditions and ceremonies with him. This affirmed my previous telepathic experience during the Lakota ceremony.
I am doing some more traveling at the moment but I have agreed to return to study with him in a few weeks. I am looking forward to the experience.
Much Love and Many Blessings to all sentient beings
In Lak'Ech, I am another yourself.
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