I recently re-subscribed to veg-raw. Those on this list from the "early
days" will hopefully remember me. I am still busy with important projects
(as well as writing for the SF-LiFE newsletter), and so have limited time
at present to spend on veg-raw related activities.  I hope to contribute
some to veg-raw, though the volume will be low. I have written a few things
during my absence from veg-raw, that I will eventually post and share with
you, and I have some low-priority on-going writing projects that will
eventually be released to veg-raw in one form or another.

Let me take this opportunity to thank the moderators for continuing the
veg-raw e-mail list, as it can be a valuable tool for dialogue - civil
dialogue, that is, among raw fooders of different styles and philosophies.

Anyway, I look forward to contributing in a positive way to veg-raw.

P.S.
I also have copies (on backup diskettes) of most of my old articles,
including things like: Fruitarianism Pro & Con; A Comparison - Fruits vs.
Sprouted Grains; Two Kinds of Fruitarianism; a long article on spices;
info on nuts; a primer on sprouting; milk substitutes made from sprouted
grains, etc. For old-timers this would be repeated info. Is the list
composition so much different now that it is worthwhile to repost some of
this archive material? For the benefit of old-timers who want to ignore
the reposts, articles will be prefaced with REPOST or ARCHIVE, as
appropriate (there are a few articles in the archives that were never
posted).  Note that reposted articles may be re-edited somewhat, but
will not be given major revisions or complete re-writes. Only articles
of possible general interest will be re-posted. If I do send out reposts,
will send out only 1-2 per week, will not send out a big batch and
overflow mail queues.

Tom Billings
[log in to unmask]

ATTACHMENT:
The following was written for the old veg-raw, but never posted.  It was
recently printed in the SF-LiFE newsletter, where it was well received.
I hope you find it of interest.


Plant Spirit Medicine - Workshop Notes

The following is not directly related to raw/living foods. However, it deals
with an interesting approach to our relationship with food, and will likely
be of interest to many raw/living fooders.

Eliot Cowan, a student of Native American Shamanism, gave a 2 hour workshop
titled "Plant Spirit Medicine", at the San Francisco Whole Life Expo,
Explorations in Natural Healing, on Sunday, 22 October, 1995. The workshop
is based on Cowan's recent book with the same title. Below are my notes from
the workshop.  Contact addresses and my comments are given after the notes.

Notes:

You are not just a body, mind, but also a spirit. For many, living in the
fullness of spirit is rare. This is a tragedy, as you should live in the
fullness always. Experiencing this fullness is what makes life worth living.

Because we don't live in the fullness, we experience pain and suffering.
Our physical and mental ills are shadows of the problems in our souls.
The younger generation is pampered, yet there is considerable suicide,
showing deprivation in spirit. The job of healing has little to do with
the body or mind, as the underlying problem is spiritual. Good news - the
spirit can be reached. We can bring medicine to the spirit. To do this we
must have intentions, as healers and patients, to reach the spirit.

You must know how to reach the spirit. Body to body is mechanical, mind
to mind is not possible physically. Spirit to spirit requires heart.
He then talked about 3 kinds of kissing (physical contact): one that is
brief/physical and changes nothing, one that is more intense and can
change your day (two minds meeting), and one so intense it can change
your life (two spirits meeting). In healing/medicine, the same holds true.

Plant spirit medicine is spirit medicine. Plants are more similar to people
than they are different. They have a physical body, a mind, and also a
spirit. They are our brothers and sisters. An important difference: wild
plants living in nature are living in the fullness of spirit. They are
wise, and can teach us, can give us (spiritual) medicine. They will give
us medicine for our spirit, if we only ask.

Plants are generous - all food comes from plants, and many other important
things. Our lives depend on plants. But we have been asking plants for
material things, not spiritual.

Eliot then told of an accupuncturist who told him that, "anything you can
do with needles, you can do with plants". Local plants are much more
powerful than non-local plants.

Eliot told of his first encounter with a plant spirit, who appeared in the
body of a young woman with large wings on her back. He asked for her help
with heart problems; she agreed and gave him a lecture on how to use the
plant. She also said her brother and sister plant spirits would help.
Eliot spent one growing season communing with the plant spirits, and
out of that developed an herbal medicine system.

Q: What is the process to communicate with plant spirits?
A: Two parts. First develop a relationship with a plant growing outdoors.
Visit the plant, look at it, touch it, taste it, smell it, contemplate
it. Second, meet the plant spirit and ask question: do you have medicine
to share with my brothers and sisters?  To communicate with the spirit, you
must change your level of consciousness. The physical body cannot talk to
spirits. We all regularly experience an altered state of consciousness -
dreaming - in which we can interact with spirits.


Spirits are real, just don't inhabit the same level of reality as we do.
In the dream state, we can access things we cannot access in the normal
waking state. You must enter the dream state, while still awake, to
purposefully contact the spirit. If you do it while asleep, you must dream
purposefully and remember it.

Q: Please comment on the spiritual consciousness of the food we eat.
A: Americans have lost emotional and spiritual contact with the food
we eat. Eating should be a spiritual process, as it feeds and nurtures
your mind and spirit. Because we have lost this contact, we grow food
in a way that undermines its/our spiritual strength.

Eliot is currently studying with a Native American shaman in a remote
area of Mexico. His teacher says that corn is God in the form of a plant.
Eating should be a mutual relationship with God. He tells the story of
his teacher finding that a scorpion sting was caused by failing to perform
the corn thanksgiving ceremony.

The plants that we eat have consciousness, and it affects us. Not having
a spiritual relationship (with the food we eat) causes illness.

Q: What is the difference between wild plants and domesticated plants?
A: We think healing comes from procedure, technique, etc. It doesn't, it
comes from a divine source - the same source that maintains the world.
The object of procedures, techniques, is to ask for a healing to occur.
To heal somebody is to bring them back to the magic of what they are.

The only plants that can bring you home to where you are, are local plants.
Plants from China or the Amazon don't live in your area. The users of
plant spirit medicine tell many amazing stories - vivid, magical dreams.
Wild plants can do this, introduce you to the local magic. Plants that
don't grow wild in your area are not in tune with the local area.

Q: What about artificial hybrids, and genetically engineered plants?
A: That weakens the spirit - not good for food, or medicine.

Q: Is it OK to use non-native, introduced wild plants (that grow in your
area) in plant spirit medicine?
A: Yes, if it thrives in your area. Plants love to travel.

Q: Do local, indigenous plants have more food value than introduced,
cultivated plants?
A: Yes - similar to medicines. The closer food is to a crop that will
thrive in the wild, the stronger the spirit.

Q: What about introduced, invasive plants?
A: They generally can't gain a toehold except in areas ravaged by humans.
Opportunistic plants thrive in disturbed areas. These plants are actually
trying to heal the environmental damage; they are really healers.

Q: Can you give an example of a message from a local plant?
A: From willow: "don't look down, look up". It is highly effective against
depression.

Plants can talk to you, but only in the dream state. Eliot will soon start
a year-long training program in plant spirit medicine, here in the
San Francisco area. There will also be a separate, intensive, residential
program in Mexico.

Q: What about the use of plant spirit medicine to change your consciousness,
specifically the use of psychoactive plants?
A: Shamans can access the dream state through one of three ways:
1) purposeful dreaming, or "lucid dreaming". This requires self discipline.
2) use of sound - drumming (Eliot uses this method in classes)
3) use of psychoactive plants to put you in this state.
All three work. The third method can be a valid shamanic path, but it is
misused in our culture, and it is easy to get lost and fall off the path.
The third method is a risky path in our society.

Q: What about plants in a polluted area? Also, please define local.
A: You don't have to use the plant's flesh, only its spirit, so pollution
is not an issue. Definition of local (rule of thumb): anywhere within two
day's walk

Contact address:   (plant spirit medicine training courses)

Eliot Cowan
775 E. Blithesdale, #203
Mill Valley, California  94941

Comments:

1. An excellent, very interesting talk!  Just wanted to mention some books
of possible relevance for this subject. The first is of course Eliot Cowan's
book, titled "Plant Spirit Medicine". Other books of possible relevance include
"Spirit Healing: Native American Magic and Medicine", by Mary Atwood, and, for
example, "Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light", by Namkhai Norbu. The
latter book discusses purposeful dreaming from a Tibetan Buddhist viewpoint.
There are a number of other books available on what is known as dreamwork or
purposeful/lucid dreaming, from a variety of spiritual/religious viewpoints.

2. Classical Ayurveda (Caraka Samhita) calls for certain rituals to follow
when gathering herbs for medicinal use. These are different from Cowan's
approach via plant spirits, but the underlying spiritual principle is
similar. To gather herbs for medicinal use, one should visit the plant
on day one, and perform archana - flower offering, thereby worshipping
the God within the plant. On day two, return and perform mangala charana:
you must tell the plant why you want it, how it will be used, and ask its
permission before harvesting. If the plant refuses, you cannot harvest it.
(How do your hear the plant's reply? With your intutition or higher self.)
Harvesting must be done in a ritual manner, with use of mantras/prayers.

Of course, very few people in modern Ayurveda do this. I happen to know
one person who sells herbal medicines collected in the classical manner.
The healing power of his herbs is truly astonishing. Unfortunately, so
are the high prices he charges for them.

Tom Billings
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