A Plant Journey with Ayahuasca Ceremonial Plant Essence

Plants vibrate at a higher frequency than we humans. They have a magical way of energetically raising our consciousness up to their level. Simply gazing at a wildflower meadow or walking through a beautiful garden can leave us feeling more balanced, with a greater sense of well-being. Plant essences can have this same transformative effect.

What Are Plant Essences?

For those who are not familiar with this form of energy medicine, plant essences are quite different from liquid herbal extracts or concentrated essential oils. Instead, they are highly diluted substances taken from the plant by a process where the leaves, stems or flowering parts are placed in water and left in a sunny location for several hours.

The sun power extracts the vibrational signature of the plant into the water while the solid plant matter is eventually separated and used for compost. The energetically charged water is often diluted further and if not used immediately, is preserved for future use with some form of alcohol or apple cider vinegar. It is administered as drops, and the body recognizes this gentle healing medicine. Depending on the healer and the issue at hand, dosage suggestions vary, but the norm is four drops repeated throughout the day or as needed.

Keeping the energetic nature of this method in mind, the “essence” form of the Ayahuasca plant would most likely have a noticeably less intense effect than the stronger, traditional drink prepared and consumed by shamans to assist with crossing into the spirit world to do their healing work.

Journeying Into the Lower World

I’ve been a plant lover since childhood, and I have recently begun working with plant spirits who, as anyone trained in shamanic practices has been taught, function as guides, healers and allies to those who learn the ways to connect with them. So, it’s no surprise that I was excited and intrigued to see that Solar Flora offers the essences of four sacred ceremonial plants: Ayahuasca, Peyote, Psilocybin and San Pedro. I’m anxious to experiment with the essences of these sacred plants as part of my plant spirit healing meditations, so I made a special journey to the spirit of Mother Ayahuasca herself to gain whatever insights she was willing to share.

Before beginning my journey to seek the wisdom of Mother Ayahuasca, I held the essence bottle to my heart and felt guided to take four drops under my tongue while putting a drop on my left wrist to rub lightly into the right one. For those who wish to avoid internally consuming even the slightest trace of alcohol, absorbing plant essences through the skin can be an equally effective way of working with them. Using the method I learned from my teachers and with my eyes covered, I then laid down and settled into a deep meditative state in a quiet, darkened room with only the rhythmic drumming of a recording from the work of anthropologist and shaman Michael Harner in the background.

As I moved into a light trance, I found myself walking ceremoniously on my usual path to the giant sequoia tree where I customarily begin my entrance into the spirit world. I saw myself moving slowly with measured steps while reading a book. I was told that I needn’t pay attention to where I was walking since I would be guided along the way.

I approached this enormous tree and was allowed immediate passage into the interior. This is the place where I always meet the spirit guide who comes along with me to assist me on the journey and communicate with the plant spirits. I looked around for her, and she eventually appeared, telling me that we would be going more deeply into the lower world than in our past journeys together. This made me feel a bit uneasy, so she led me by the hand and we began a swift but steady flight through the same dark, narrow tunnel that I have found myself traveling through before.

We also moved in and out of pools of water until finally surfacing into a place that was both bright and dimly lit. As we entered, I immediately heard the calls of three animals--two that I recognized as my power animals and one that I wasn’t aware of until that moment. This was unexpected and startled me, but it also gave me a boost of courage. In fact, we found ourselves in a world of dualities. The atmosphere was light and dark as well as inviting and foreboding at the same time!

Meeting the Plant Spirit

As we moved forward, I could eventually see the spirit of Mother Ayahuasca as she wished to appear to me. She showed herself as an imposing, but approachable female face with eyes closed, as if she was either sleeping or just resting. My guide requested and was given permission for us to approach her, and she slowly opened her eyes. Since I was still acting a little hesitant, my guide again took me by the hand, and we circled around this powerful spirit. As we did this, the eyes of Mother Ayahuasca followed us with curious, but guarded interest.

At this point, I thought my guide would begin a dialogue with her while I stood quietly in the background, but instead she gently pushed me forward saying that this was up to me since I was the one who came with a specific purpose. As I got closer, I sensed more duality as this feminine spirit felt both welcoming and intimidating. I mustered up the courage to ask her if there was any message she had for me as well as for others who might be willing to listen.

She quickly responded that people must learn to seek guidance in places where they would not normally expect to find it. I must have looked a little puzzled since she continued by saying that for me, it was in the plant world, but others might find it elsewhere--by looking into the eyes of a loved one or some other place that they might not usually search--like within themselves. I was then told that I relied too much on books and that I needed to look for wisdom from internal rather than external sources. She also said she was pleased that there was this way of introducing her energy in the form of plant essences since people would find it to be a gentle way of becoming acquainted with the sacred plants. I got the impression that she was speaking for the other ceremonial plants as well as herself.

As with most of my other plant spirit journeys, the spirits have a way of letting me know that they have shared all they wished to at that particular time, and I felt I was given my cue to leave. My guide and I thanked Mother Ayahuasca for her wisdom and messages. As we retraced our steps, I felt a little shaky, but oddly empowered too. We entered back into the interior of the tree, did a little farewell dance together, and she returned to her place in the spirit world and I to the reality of my healing room.

After opening my eyes and coming back into my body, I felt some physical tension that I needed to release while pondering this remarkable experience. As I recorded the details in my journal, I remembered that I began the journey by walking the path to the tree with my nose in a book and was eventually told by the spirit of Mother Ayahuasca not to rely so much on this form of seeking answers.

Final Thoughts

There was an obvious connection between how the journey began and the insight I gained from the plant spirit. I’m left with much to consider and wise advice to follow. I can only speak for myself here, but I invite others to honor the message from the spirit of this sacred and revered ceremonial plant in whatever way they might wish to. I hope that the spirit of Mother Ayahuasca is willing to let me rely on her assistance and guidance during future journeys.