Happy Beltane Season Everyone!

Beltane is a blissful spring holiday celebrated by people in Europe as a time of blossoming and sensuality! The foods, drinks, and flowers for beltane all celebrate the spring, the blossoming happening around you, and the pleasure of being alive. While the spring equinox is celebrated by many traditions, Beltane (May 1st) is unique in that it really marks the time of blooming fruit trees and the return of the sun's warmth now felt! I think of it as more than just one day, but a few weeks of heavenly blooms. Celebrate beltane with sweets, fires, feasting, and play!

For me this time of year is so joyful and beautiful. The flowers are in bloom around me after a long winter. It's a time of planting the gardens and basking in the warmth of the sun. I lay out naked in the flowers, enjoying the pleasure of my skin feeling the sun again. Celebrating joyfully with the blossoming earth!

My favorite things to do on Beltane (May Day) are really anything pleasureful outside... Relaxing, eating, making earth offerings, baking, planting seeds, gardening, pampering myself with some body care, getting creative, and enjoying all things spring. It's a time to get naked, be free and playful in nature! Celebrate the earth bursting with fertility and green!

Gateways to the Sacred

I’m overjoyed to introduce you to some of the most fun and blissful plants this month! We will explore the very mysterious and dreamy, consciousness shifting herbs. I like to introduce these plants in the beginning of the course because I want to support you in opening the gateways of perception in your own mind in order to communicate with the plants more easily. These dreaming plants help to give us greater access to the spirit realms, activate the third eye, and enhance your senses. They are gentle in comparison to the very strong shaman’s plants like peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis, and others… but they can be equally transforming. These 3rd eye activating plants are powerful as well as gentle, and will help you enter the mysteries if you let them.

NOTE ON DOSING ~ With these plants, start with only 1 tsp. dried herb steeped in 1 quart of hot water. You can go up to 2 tsp or more after you’ve found the right concentration for you. With new plants for the rest of the course, always go slow and start with a lower concentration (more water), then work your way up if you want it stronger.

Why would we want to shift consciousness? I always ask students this question, and there is always such great discussion. I recommend taking out your journal and writing down your personal answer. What do altered states of consciousness bring you? For me over the years, expanding and shifting my consciousness brings a deeper connection to my soul, greater presence in my body, more sensory pleasure, intimacy with nature, a deeper connection to the spirits, an open receptive heart, shifting from left brain to right, increased creativity, inspiration and ideas… Access to greater inner wisdom, ease of emotional and physical pain, retreat and relaxation of my survival mind, and calm through my nerves and body… just to name a few benefits! I have spent years since I was young learning to shift consciousness without substances. So when I began working with these plants, a whole world opened up with their guidance…

*** If you have a history of addiction to substances, you might be worried about working with consciousness shifting plants. I actually use these gentle plants for folks in recovery, as they are strengthening to the nervous system and can help rewire patterns of addiction. I’m happy to talk with you about working with them if you have hesitation.

Humans have been ingesting plants for thousands of years to alter their consciousness. It is one of the oldest practices of humanity, illustrated in cannabis being the oldest known medicinal plant found in human use according to archaeological records. These plants have helped us through time to access heightened states of awareness and open to communication from the spirit realms. Many plants have evolved with us over tens of thousands of years to produce compounds that will cause animals to experience reality in ways their very limited senses prevent. Over years of meditation practice I’ve practiced many different ways to shift consciousness, with and without substances. These ancient shamanic practices include drumming, dancing, chanting, meditation, prayer, ceremony, art, sex, music, time in nature, relaxation techniques, and more… There are many tools and practices we have to peel back the veil, increase our perception, and enter the realms of magick. Most importantly perhaps, they can help you to feel more deeply connected to nature, the plant spirits, and your own soul.

Video ~ Expanding Awareness

We shift consciousness naturally throughout our day, from more active thinking states to dreamy trance like states. When we exercise, watch tv, when we sleep, when we receive information, when we rest… when we make art, when we make love. When we are with our pets, or outside in nature. I recommend establishing a regular practice of meditation/consciousness shifting to receive all that comes through from your dreaming mind. You could do this 5 minutes a day, through movement such as dance or yoga, breathing, resting, napping, walking in nature, sky gazing, singing, listening to music or washing the dishes.

Journal prompt - What helps you to shift consciousness? What activities do you notice cause you to naturally alter consciousness? Animals spend most of their days in what we would think of as altered states of consciousness. Meditative, open, quiet mind… present in the moment and with our surroundings. Not looking forward or back. What helps you come into deep presence and connection?

The Allies ~
Gateways to the Sacred

Consciousness shifting herbs are used to help us listen within, and to the spirits of nature that surround us. These allies are the plants that activate our third eye (the eye beyond the eyes), and allow us to hear and see more clearly. They stimulate the dreaming mind, allowing for visions to come more easily, and right brain activity to dominate. When the spirits speak to us they often speak through feelings, visuals, sensations in our body, and simple clear thoughts passing through our mind. When we work with the consciousness shifting herbs, much more is able to get through.

Within our consciousness we are connected to all things on a quantum reality. Through the boundaries of time and space. We are able to travel wherever we want to go… Often to where our soul is most nourished. With the plants this month we open the gateways within our consciousness and move more easily through the realms of spirit. We have greater access to all that surrounds us… all that we can gather from the collective.

I have found that the consciousness shifting plants we work with in class are often just as strong for visioning as plants like peyote, cannabis, or mushrooms. They are much less poisonous, but with focused meditation and journeying they can help us to access the spirit realms just as powerfully. These gentle plants help us to have one foot in the spirit realms and one foot in the earthly human realms more continually. I find this allows me to stay in continual communication with the spirits as I move through my days. You might currently have a practice with cannabis, mushrooms, tobacco, coffee, or other plants that shift your consciousness and open your mind… We can also do this on our own, without any substance and assistance, which is a foundational practice to learn. When I was a teenager I refused to take any drug substances in the thought that it would effect my own training in shifting consciousness, journeying, and meditation. When you learn how to open the gates within your mind without substance, to enter the realms of spirit in your own consciousness, the substances such as consciousness shifting plants, became welcome helpers… but we know they are not needed.

These consciousness shifting plants help us to stay connected to our dreaming mind, and to the spirit realm daily. You can get to know them one at a time, or choose a couple to dive more deeply with and explore them as a gentle gateway into the realms of the spirit… Enjoy exploring these sacred plants beloveds!

Consciousness Shifting Herbs ~

Mugwort, Lavender, Jasmine, Blue vervain, Passionflower, Egyptian Blue Lotus, Damiana, Kava kava, Wild lettuce, Elder flower, Holy basil, Willow, Skullcap, Tilo, Valerian, Calamus, Mullein, Sage, Cacao, Blessing herbs

Mugwort

Artemisia vulgaris

Beloved by so many of us… Mugwort is the wise elder we go to for strength and guidance. Mugwort meets us in their hut, excited we have returned, ready to give us needed council. Mugwort is one of our most beloved dreaming plants, activating our third eye, and helping us to hear what is coming through from the spirits. I grew up in the city where mugwort covered the streets… They always seemed to be calling me home. The plant is native to Europe and Asia, and named after the Greek moon goddess Artemis, likely due to the dream enhancing effects of the artemisias. Mugwort is a very common plant growing in weedy and uncultivated areas such as roadsides. When you find mugwort, run your hands along the leaves and take a deep breath in… you will likely feel waves of relaxation spread through your body. Mugwort has naturalized in Canada and the United States having escaped from cultivation and spreads everywhere. Be careful if you get it in your gardens, it will be very hard to remove spreading underground roots everywhere you dig.

The name mugwort may be derived from the word 'mug,' referring to the drinking vessel and mugwort’s use as a flavoring in beers during the middle ages. Mugwort beer is quite amazing if you get the chance to brew some. (Check out Stephen Buhner’s guide to herbal beers). Mugwort was considered the “mother of herbs” in Europe, Asia, and China. Qing hao (mugwort) was first mentioned in a Chinese text of 168 BCE. Anglo-Saxon tribes believed mugwort was one of the nine sacred herbs given to the world by the god Woden. It has been used to induce prophetic and vivid dreams for thousands of years when consumed, placed near the bed, or under the sleeper's pillow. I love to hang mugwort to dry by where I sleep. This aromatic ally is a gentle opener of the third eye and the dreaming mind, stimulating theta brain waves. A bringer of dreams, increasing the amount and intensity of visions. Mugwort can help us communicate with the spirit realm both in waking and dreaming states. It aids in communication with spirits of the earth, and is one of my favorite plants to drink before going out into the garden to connect to plant spirits.

Mugwort is a wonderful relaxing nervine, good for those who have trouble sleeping or suffer from nervousness. You can make a lovely dream pillow filled with mugwort. It will pull you into dream land, guiding your spirit with an elder’s touch. Mugwort is a sweet reproductive ally, wonderful for the crone (post menopausal) elder period of life. This ally eases difficult menopausal symptoms, soothes cramps, and reduces labor pain. Mugwort has a long history of folk tradition and magickal use. In medieval Europe mugwort was closely associated with witchcraft and was used for protection in the middle ages. It was believed that if the herb was hung above a door on Midsummer day it would protect the house. Call in mugwort as you would a wise elder, and opening you to the fields of dreams…

Preparation and Dose – Steep 1-2 tsp. dried leaf in 1 quart of hot water for about 15-30 minutes. Drink 1-2 cups as desired, and dilute as needed. Tincture: 2-3 droppers-full in water. Herbal Actions – Mild narcotic, nervine, emmenagogue, diuretic, sedative, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, diaphoretic, antiseptic, gastrointestinal tonic, laxative, bitter.

*** Should not be taken during pregnancy, strong emmenagogue (induces menstrual bleeding). Safe in low doses while breastfeeding.

“Like Inanna, a Goddess of many names… Mugwort, Cronewort, Moonwort, Black Sage… They are the shapeshifter, the birther, the sorceress, the omnipotent Midwife. Artemisia Vulgaris… shines a Moony underside like Sheela Na Gig, shameless, striking, healing. Weaves roots like fierce threads of a timeless quilt that holds the stories and memories of women and mothers and midwives since the very beginning. Mugwort is the keeper of the womb. Guardian of any element. Bringer of vision. Weaver of magic…” - Ananda Lakshmi Wilson

Video ~ Mugwort

Blue Vervain

Verbena hastata, V. officinalis, and Stachytarpheta jamaicensis

Blue vervain is my absolute favorite plant to calm and soothe the nervous system next to skullcap. It has brought me such relief over so many years, and even spending time with the live plants is always a religious experience for me. The tall beautiful stalks of purple flowers grow by the water and speak of entering the river of dreams… Blue vervain is one elder I consider to be the most magickal and sacred of all plants.

The Celts and druids of Europe used vervain in their magical rites, as well as in medicine. Native American tribes worked with the native blue vervain (V. hastata) to soothe the spirit… The genus name Verbena is a Roman classical name for “altar-plants”, and includes various species with similar properties. Blue vervain is a gentle consciousness shifting herb for deepening your meditation and dream work. It is wonderful during a healing or emotional crisis… often deeply soothing to the mind and spirit. Blue vervain is very calming to the nerves, quieting to the mind, and soften tension throughout the body. Vervain can relax tight or cramping muscles, relieve anxiety, and ease worry. It’s one of the best plants to use for any stress related issues, including headaches, insomnia, and nervous exhaustion. Blue vervain can be used for any kind of depression and grief, soothing sorrow of the soul. This powerful ally sings a lullaby to our bodies, hearts, and minds…. rocking us like we’re in a cradle. Those of us that need to be mothered, comforted, and held, should work with this ally!

Journey with vervain to aid in your meditation and dream work. Vervain is one of the sweetest consciousness shifting herbs to work with! It is very bitter, but that only aids the digestive system and strengthens the liver. It’s a good bitter if you don’t make it too strong. Blue vervain is also a wonderful women’s reproductive tonic, easing emotional swings, and soothing imbalances of the sacral chakra. It can bring on menstruation and soothe intense cramps. A wonderful ally during labor by enhancing contractions, supporting a smooth labor, and increasing breast milk production. This plant’s loving energy is wonderfully calming during times of transformation and change. I love mixing blue vervain with motherwort, and mugwort… 3 mothers.

Preparation and Dose – Steep 1 tsp. of dried plant in a quart of hot water for about 15-30 minutes. Drink as desired, make sure the tea is not too strong, will give a headache in larger doses. Dilute if needed with water until it’s easy to drink. Glycerite or tincture: 2-3 droppersful in water.

not safe during pregnancy.

Lavender

Lavendula officinalis

Lavender is indigenous to the mountainous regions of the Mediterranean and cultivated all over the world. This beloved plant has been used for thousands of years around the old world in healing, magical, and ritual practice. Many people all over the world have fallen in love with the scent, though I know many folks are not a fan. Drinking lavender tea is quite incredible, and its medicinal uses have been mostly forgotten in favor of the scent. Lavender is a soother of the 3rd eye, nervous system, and over active thinking mind. It can gently release all tension in the head and slow our thoughts. Drinking the tea deeply relaxes the mind and body, opening us up to dreaming and deeper intuitive perception.

Lavender can bring harmony and balance to the emotions and deeper feelings of peace, ease depression and grief, and lift the spirits. It’s is a wonderful tonic for the nervous system, both as a tea and an essential oil. As a mild sedative and consciousness shifter, we use Lavender to relax our thinking mind in order to open to other ways of receiving information and knowledge. It is a powerful ally for those with nervous exhaustion, stress, fatigue, insomnia, and anxiety. Lavender can restore strength to those whose nervous systems have been weakened due to emotional, physical, or spiritual stress.

Preparation and Dose – Steep 1-2 teaspoons in 1 quart of hot water for about 15-30 minutes. Drink as desired, make sure the tea is not too strong, essential oils will give a headache in larger doses. Dilute if needed with water. Glycerite: 1-2 droppersful in water *** Wonderful used as essential oil or massage oil.

*** Not used during pregnancy and too strong while breastfeeding to take internally.

Egyptian Blue Lotus

Nymphaea caerulea

Blue lotus is a sacred water lily that grows all over the tropics, from Northern Africa, to Southeast Asia, and Central America. This gorgeous flower is a pleasure filled plant of the gods many students always fall in love with! It is a powerful plant for opening the third eye and activating the dreaming mind. Blue lotus often creates a feeling of well being, euphoria and ecstasy… shifting our consciousness into meditative trance states for journeying and ritual practice.

Blue lotus contains nuciferine, a hypnotic compound known to relax smooth muscle tissue and calm the nervous system. If you drink it strong, or smoke a little too much it can make you feel very high (so be careful!). I personally love to mix it with damiana, cannabis, or mugwort, as they seem to enhance each other for meditation.

Egyptian blue lotus enhances the senses, and helps us to journey through spirit realms. The flowers are also a potent aphrodisiac, enhancing sensuality, libido and general energy. I love the dried flowers infused in wine or smoked to stimulate circulation and pleasure through the body. Aphrodisiacs are not just for sexual exploration, they help us to access every kind of pleasure! Blue lotus also opens the flood gate of creative energy, so it’s a favorite for me before I create. Blue lotus is an amazing ally to heal the sacral chakra, solar plexus, and third eye. It can help us connect to our own inner magick, power, and connection to Spirit. Blue lotus can support in healing feelings around intimacy, soothing grief and bringing greater emotional strength.

“Dated fossil remains of the Blue Lotus, Nymphea caerulea, tell us that it has undergone little change in 160 million years. At the first rays of morning sun it opens revealing intricate lancet- shaped petals then, at noon, it closes to a bud and sinks into the water not to reappear until the following day. Its beauty and medicinal properties have been immortalized in art and myth for millennia. Egyptian hieroglyph depicting rebirth of the spirit from the center of a blue lotus the drink; bouquets are offered to pharaohs just as pharaohs offer them to other gods, reverently and with the certain knowledge that these flowers, rather than jewels, are fit offerings to divinity; a newborn Sun god emerges from a huge blue lotus which floats on the surface of the Nun, the pre-primordial Waters of infinite space and infinite time from which the Universe was born.” - Chuan Zhi

Preparation and Dose – Add 1-2 tsp. to a quart of water, and steep covered for 15-30 minutes. Do not let the dried plant simmer in boiling water, or the tea becomes too tannic and strong. Dilute with water until it tastes mild. Tincture dose is 2-3 droppers full. Can be smoked to induce trance states and journeying as well as aphrodisiac effects.

*** Safety unknown during pregnancy, but safe while breastfeeding in low doses.

Kava Kava

Piper methysticum

Kava is a deeply sacred plant in Polynesia, thought of as a sacrament and offering to the spirits. It is such an ancient beloved plant of the Polynesians, that it has stopped flowering and reproducing itself. Kava has been so deeply connected to humans that it now completely relies on human propagation to reproduce and can no longer grow wild or reproduce on their own. The use of kava in the South Pacific predates written language, and in Hawaii families have been growing their specific strain of kava plants for generations. There are over a hundred varieties of Kava used in the South Pacific with many different local names, all unique in their energy and effects on the heart, mind, and body. The root of kava (called ‘awa in Hawaii) was and is still used in religious and ceremonial gatherings and rituals as well as social and political gatherings. Traditionally kava ceremonies were often given when one chief was meeting another for negotiations and talks. Imagine if our leaders began their meetings with prayer, ritual, and a relaxing drink meant to open the heart.

The latin name means “intoxicating pepper”, and when taken at high doses causes a seriously altered state similar to alcohol. It is unique as a nervine because it relaxes the body and muscles, while stimulating the mind. This is especially helpful when you want to relax stress around work or projects, while staying focused. I often think of kava as the plant that helps me to clean, or finish a project I started. Kava has been used for a long time to help people to loosen up in social situation, encouraging a lighthearted and joyful feeling around others. It is great for any tension or conflict that might exist between people who have been fighting.

Kava is an emotional healer, opening the heart and helping ease places of trauma. I think that kava is one of the best plants for reducing pain physically and emotionally… especially grief held in the lung, heart, and solar plexus. It can ease worry in the mind, activate the right brain/dreaming mind, and help us to move through places we have been stuck. Kava has a hot warming nature, as well as a rooting earthiness that can feel both grounding and stimulating.

It is a mild aphrodisiac that can free inhibitions, and help us to go with the flow. It is an amazing tonic for anxiety and a nervous mind. Kava helps improve memory, mental performance, attention, concentration, and focus. Many find it to be a wonderful antidepressant, very helpful for both physical and emotional pain. Western Classifications – Mild psychoactive, antispasmodic, mild sedative, mental stimulant, diuretic, antifungal, analgesic, muscle relaxant, anesthetic, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, urinary antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic (eases menstrual cramps).

Preparation and Dose – Best prepared as a cold infusion in water. Let 1-2 tsp of Kava root powder soak in one quart of cold water for 1-4 hours. Can use a mix of water and coconut milk instead (any amount) as was traditionally made. Drink 1-2 cups as desired. Tincture: 2-3 droppersfull in water To make tincture, fill a jar 1/3 full of kava powder. Cover in 100 proof vodka an inch from the rim. Steep 4-8 weeks, strain and bottle.

*** Those with liver sensitivities should take mild doses (less concentrated). Not recommended while breastfeeding or during pregnancy.

Passionflower

Passiflora incarnata

Passionflower is one of the most psychedelic looking plants I’ve ever seen… and certainly seems like it would alter one’s consciousness. There are hundreds of species of passionflower, spread across the Americas, the Pacific, Asia, as well as other tropical ecosystems all over the world. Passionflower is a wonderful dreaming plant, stimulating to the senses, and very calming to the nerves. The leaf and flower are mildly sedative, useful for those who struggle to sleep, and relaxing to body tension (great muscle relaxant). When we can’t get out of fight, flight, or freeze patterns, and the tension has gotten locked into our bodies, passionflower gently helps us to release it. I find that it can be wonderful when there has been a lot of emotional pain that has turned physical. It helps to strengthen our nervous system, support folks struggling with addictions, and calm those with high anxiety. It has a mild tranquilizing effect, helpful for panic attacks, epilepsy, seizures, and cramps.

Passionflower helps open the third eye and crown chakras, removing obstacles in our mind. I often work with passionflower when I want to access the heavenly “above” realms, since as a vine it likes to climb. It is a great plant for reaching out to what you are seeking, both here on earth and in spirit. Passionflower is a really nice plant to explore for gentle, safe, consciousness shifting. In one of the spirit houses I journey to regularly up in the sky, the open walls are covered in passionflower vines. It is a plant that always makes me think of reaching beyond what I can see or understand, and entering the mystery. I also love passionflower for activating creative energies in our sacral chakra and open the third eye, helping us to let go and let it flow…

Passionflower is soothing and strengthening to the heart, and brings a sense of inner peace. It contains naturally occurring serotonin, and can be useful in easing depression and grief. It has some aphrodisiac effects and has been known to increase testosterone in the blood. I find passionflower brings a lot of joy, playfulness, inspiration, and active visioning. Quieting to a worried or overactive mind, soothing to headaches and pressure in the head from too much thinking. Calming for folks who feel overstimulated, overworked, overstressed, and hypersensitive.

Preparations - Steep 1-2 tsp. dried leaf in 1 quart hot water for 15-30 minutes. Or 1/2 a fresh leaf ripped up, and simmered in 2 quarts of water 15 min. on low.

Fresh juice - 1/2 leaf in 2 quarts water, blended on high until all liquid. Strain and drink, diluting with water as needed. Leftover plant material can be used to make hot tea.

Tincture of leaves and flowers - 2-4 droppers full in water. To make tincture, fill a jar full of fresh leaves (add a little passionfruit if desired) chopped up, lightly packed. Cover in 100 proof vodka an inch from the rim. Steep 4-8 weeks, strain and bottle.

*** Passionflower has not been tested well for safety during pregnancy so it is often considered unsafe.

Damiana

Turnera difusa

Many years ago while teaching an evening workshop on plants for the sacral chakra, I offered a tea meditation with damiana. Afterwards one of the students had a shocked look on her face for the rest of the class. I went to check on her when we closed the circle, and she told me the damiana had turned her into a lion, and she hadn’t been able to return to her human form for the rest of the class. THAT. IS. DAMIANA.

Damiana is a delicious, strong, sensual, consciousness shifting herb. And like many of the others it is wonderful when smoked as well as made into a tea. It can enhance the senses and activate the third eye. Like all of these plants, they are powerful when drunk a couple hours before bed for active dreaming! My favorite is rolling it with blue lotus and taking a whole evening to myself… Yes. I don’t have kids. If you do, send them to a friend’s house. You’re welcome.

Damiana is a sacred plant to Central America and found all throughout Mexico. If you are from Mexico or have traveled there, I am sure you have found it sold as boxed tea just about everywhere, and if you are lucky you stumbled upon the infused liquor in a bottle the shape of a woman. Damiana, like dragon’s blood, is sexy, sexy, sexy. For many people this plant is an incredible healer for those who carry wounds or grief in the sacral chakra and solar plexus. It is a potent aphrodisiac and dreaming herb that can bring feeling of joy, euphoria, heightened sensory pleasure, and potent healing. Damiana is used as a tonic for the nervous system, as an antidepressant, and a soothing nervine.

Damiana can balance yin and yang energies within us, and bring a sense of inner strength. It feels like a warrior plant, guiding us towards what we need. I think of damiana as a loving protector, lighting a fire in my belly, moving the blood, and stimulating creative energies. I find that damiana brings increased energy and chi when I feel depleted. It is very activating and stimulating, as well as grounding and calming to the nerves. Have fun with this one. For some people, it is one of the best plants for journeying.

Preparations - Hot tea - Steep 1-2 tsp. dried leaf in 1 quart hot water for 15-30 minutes. Dilute with water as needed until it tastes mild. Glycerite or tincture - 2-4 droppers full in water. To make tincture or glycerite, fill a jar half full of dried leaves. Cover in 100 proof vodka an inch from the rim or for a glycerite a blend of 2/3 vegetable glycerine and 1/3 water. Steep 4-8 weeks, strain and bottle.

*** Damiana has not been tested well for safety during pregnancy, so it is often considered unsafe.

Wild Lettuce

Lactuca virosa & Lactuca biennis

Wild lettuce grows all over my land, and some get to over 9-10 feet tall! The plants are majestic and so beautiful. I leave them anywhere they spread, and feel such a fondness for them. Many of my students fall in love with this plant when they come here. It has been captivating and speaking to me for years. Wild Lettuce is activating to the dreaming mind, and very opening to the 3rd eye. It’s a wonderful consciousness shifting herb, and supports us in communicating with the guiding spirits that surround us. Lactuca is calming to the mind and stimulates deeper brain waves. I find it to be a wonderful nervine to smoke or drink in tea form… though the tincture is also lovely. I’ve also made some potent wild lettuce cordials that are quite yummy.

There are many wild lettuce species that grow all over the world, and we have 10 species here in America. They are closely related to dandelion, so you might confused them (wild lettuce sends up a big stalk, unlike dandelion). They are used medicinally mostly in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with a long history of magical use in the UK, across the Mediterranean, and Egypt. In Egypt wild lettuce was used extensively as an aphrodisiac, dreaming herb, and calming nervine. The Egyptain god of magical plants, Min, was shown with tall stalks of wild lettuce. These plants are the wild relative of the lettuce that we have hybridized to be more edible, Lactuca sativa (sativa means cultivated). The only reason you wouldn’t want to eat wild lettuce as a salad green is the medicinal white sap that comes from the leaves and stem contains potent alkaloids, which are poisonous in high quantities. (It can also cause allergic skin reactions when touched, though it hasn’t bothered me of students of mine). The latex sap tastes very bitter partly because of the high alkaloid content. The sap is used in Europe, Asia, and Africa as a non-addictive alternative to opium poppy sap! In some countries this plant has been sometimes called “the poor man’s opium” since the sap can be dried and smoked as opium, delivering mild euphoric sensations.

Wild lettuce is a powerful nervine, consciousness shifting plant, and nervous system restorative. It contains lactucin and lactucopicrin, two compounds that are calming to the central nervous system and can help relieve pain. You can drink wild lettuce to bring you deeper sleep, as well as potent dreams! It’s a wonderful dreamtime ally, and I often blend it with mugwort, passionflower, vervain, or Egyptain blue lotus for enhancing magickal dreams. It’s also just a nice sedative for insomnia, similar to skullcap or the others mentioned. It can help to ease stress, anxiety, and tension that is keeping you from relaxing and falling asleep.

Preparation and Dose for Wild lettuce ~ Steep 1-2 tsp. of dried leaf in a quart of hot water for 15-30 minutes. Dilute with water as needed if it’s too strong for you.

To make a Wild lettuce Tincture ~ Fill a jar full of chopped up fresh leaves and back into the jar (not to tightly so the liquid can penetrate easily still). Cover with 100 proof vodka. Dump out into a blender and blend until the consistency of a smoothie. (If using dried plant material only fill half the jar). Steep 2 months, shaking often and strain through a nut milk bag. Take 3-4 droppersful in water 2-3 times a day or as needed.

*** Wild lettuce has not been tested well for safety during pregnancy.

BRAIN WAVES AUDIO

BETA - Waking Consciousness

Stimulating tonics - Aiding focus, clarity, awakening, and mental alertness.

Cacao
Mint
Sage
Bee balm
Lemon balm
Holy basil
Rosemary
Pine
Evergreens
Schisandra
Citrus
Hibiscus
Orange peel
Lemon
Grapefruit
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Yerba Mate
Coffee
Rhodiola

Strengthening tonics -
Ginkgo
Schisandra
Maca
Ashwagandha
Siberian ginseng
Holy basil
Rhodiola

ALFA -
Relaxing Meditative State

Relaxing nervines - Calming and soothing the body & nerves, bringing relaxation.

Passionflower
Linden
Oatstraw
Lemon balm
Blue vervain
Kava kava
Skullcap
Mugwort
California poppy
St. John’s Wort
Yarrow
Peach
Lavender
Wild cherry
Valerian
Chamomile
Rose
Hawthorn
Willow
Lemongrass
Egyptian Blue lotus
Damiana
Jasmine
Ashwagandha
Sage
Wild lettuce
Blessings herbs - sweetgrass, sandalwood, palo santo, copal, dragon’s blood etc.

THETA -
Active Dreaming

Stimulating dreaming - Nervines & consciousness shifting plants that activate visual dreaming/journeying.

Mugwort
Egyptian Blue lotus
Damiana
Passionflower
Blue vervain
Kava kava
Cannabis
Jasmine
Lavender
Valerian
Wild lettuce
Calamus
Sassafras
Tilo (central america)
Copal
Dragon’s blood
Myrrh
Stronger / poisonous - Salvia divinorum, Tobacco, Peyote, Shaman’s mushrooms, San Pedro, Ayahuasca, Morning glory seeds, Datura

DELTA -
Restorative Rest

Sedative & Descending/rooting - Supporting the body in deep rest and renewal. No active dreaming.

Hops
Valerian
Reishi
Chaga
Nettles
Mugwort
Blue vervain
Skullcap
Passionflower
Cannabis
Sage
Wild cherry
Burdock
Nettles
Wild lettuce
Siberian ginseng
Ashwagandha
Oatstraw

Any plant that brings you deep rest and sleep.

Grounding to Earth

Make sure you are very grounded after journeying with the consciousness shifting plants. I will post an audio recording to listen to in order to ground back in your body, as well as some yoga poses that can help.

Lie down or sit on the ground, feeling your body make contact with the floor. Visualize roots extending from the bottom of your spine, and where your body meets the floor, descending all the way down into the earth to the meet the soil. Imagine these roots reaching down through the floor of the room you are in, reaching deep into the soil. Feel the energy of the earth receiving you, releasing any excess energy down into the earth. Any tension, stress, or emotional energy that needs to release flows from your body down into the roots and earth below you. Receive the calming, peaceful, healing energy of the earth back up through the roots and into your body.

Communicating with Live Plants

I love to work with consciousness shifting plants before going out into nature and communicating with plants outside. All of these plants of the dreamtime can open your third eye, enhance your senses, and help you to receive energy from the plants you connect to. In an altered state of mind the living plants and spirits are more able to speak through us, activating our imagination, and allowing more wisdom to arise from within us. Mugwort is often the plant I offer students before we go outside to practice plant communication, but any of the shifting herbs can be used.

Home practice ~ Spend 5-10 minutes or longer receiving one of the consciousness shifting herbs, asking for the plant to support you in opening to communicate with the plants and spirits. When you go outside pay attention to any plants that draw you to them, or that you feel pulled to. Practice exchanging energy with the plant and communicating to it in your mind and heart. Ask the spirit of the consciousness shifting herb to help you open more fully to receiving what the plant has to share with you. Enjoy it and be playful!

plant communication video

Home Practice

May ~ Daily Blessing Herbs

Daily Blessing Herbs & Simple Ritual ~ Choose one blessing herb or resin to work with daily for a week or two. Create a practice of daily ritual to welcome in your guides and allies. Get to know the energy and spirits of each of the blessing herbs one at a time. Spruce & Pine Resins, Mugwort, Juniper, Sage, Cedar, Sweetgrass, Frankincense, Copal, Dragon’s Blood, Myrrh and others.
Continue with your daily Nourishing Herbs ~ These will be your daily practice for the whole year! Think of them like food. If you don’t feel like drinking them daily, just listen to what your body wants… Nettles, oat straw, chickweed, red clover blossoms, burdock root, or dandelion root.
Plant Meditations with 1-3 Consciousness Shifting Herbs ~ Choose either Mugwort, Passionflower, Blue Lotus, Kava, Blue Vervain, Lavendar, or any others mentioned. Drink one cup a day of the plant you choose, and meditate with them once a week, or daily if you really want to go deep. Set up a space to enjoy the guided plant meditations. Light a candle, some blessings herbs to burn if you have them, and set up some comfortable cushions. Get your music ready (you can use the playlists I’ve give you for the meditations). Listen to the guided meditation, (or guide yourself) staying with your breath, inviting in the spirit and medicine of the plant as you drink the tea. Focus on developing your ability to listen to how your body responds to each of the plants. Feel the subtle energy of the plant, inviting the plant to communicate with you.
Journal your experiences journeying with the plants ~ After each plant meditation, spend some time writing about your experience. Record any images, feelings, physical sensations, or messages that came through while in meditation together. Write about what you notice after a few days of drinking your infusion.
Class Readings ~ Read the first few chapters in Braiding Sweetgrass and Sacred Plant Medicine by Stephen Buhner. Read some of the class handouts for this month, located HERE and HERE.
Record your dreams if you feel inspired! The consciousness shifting herbs will effect your dreamtime greatly… now is a wonderful time to dive into recording your dreams and seeing what is rising up for you to witness and welcome from your soul.