Dear Plant Medicine, I love you and I am so grateful to and for you for so many reasons. I am grateful especially because I get to witness so many others as if they are fireworks in human form, popping off and showing their multidimensional selves made of love, color, and light. I am grateful because I get to see what people need at the moment they need it. Maybe they didn’t have a mind-blowing healing experience but it was a matter of getting over the fear of sitting with the medicine, or the unknown. It’s all in what is needed at the moment and you have shown me that over and over again. I love you for showing me the love of a parent, friend, teacher, and showing me how to love myself. In working with others, I see that many are more afraid of being told how wonderful they are than that they are somehow not good. I am grateful that you taught me how to see myself as something worthy and wonderful. I now get to spread that message to others cause when I saw it in me, I learned how to tell others that is what I see in them. They don’t have to even take the medicine for that part of it, so your love and teachings are like a ripple effect and it’s so powerful. I love and am grateful to all of you plant medicines but today I want to thank Salvia divinorum for teaching me about surrendering and sacred reciprocity. I really only understood what you were teaching me in hindsight. How could I know at the moment what was going on? It was so intense and beautiful as well as scary and exciting. I had come back from my first shamanic healing journey to Peru and I was encouraged to sit with you. I wasn’t exactly ready but my then partner encouraged me. When I was ready, I did and I was not prepared for what I experienced and was a bit confused. I sensed beings and they said, “She is back.” I took that to mean the other side or that state of mind. Then I felt an energy coming from my Solar Plexus in a concentrated and intense flow, like a river of energy, going off to the left of me and into mother earth. It went on for quite some time. I then thought, this is great and I am happy to give but it seems like a bit much. Ha, then there was a return of like energy from mother earth going into the same spot, in the path of an infinity symbol, and it was heavenly. I felt as if my energy was going through a dialysis machine for cleansing. It was wild and wonderful. When I told my partner of the experience he said, that’s what I have trouble doing. I asked what he meant and he said “I have trouble surrendering”. What I experienced is what I believe to be an exchange of energy in a lesson of what is called Ayni in the Quechuan language. It’s better known as sacred reciprocity. We can give and receive it in balance. It’s sort of like Newton’s 3rd law or Karma. It’s been the most difficult lesson I have been able to learn and to have it shown through medicine that way and take about three years to really understand is mind-blowing. The lessons are multi-dimensional and multi-level. It feels like a time-released lesson. It brought me more into balance and although I am still learning and incorporating it into my being, you are there every step of the way. I will end this letter to all the plant medicine with the letter that I wrote to Papa Huachuma during my first meeting with him. I sat in a hammock all that day. I cried, laughed, and learned as I was loved and had lessons unfold in front of me in the most tender and glorious way. I realize the truths of these sentiments more and more every day. I think my favorite part of this letter was when my teacher, the Huachuma master I had just met then, said in surprise “You wrote a letter to Huachuma?” I did and it goes a little something like this: “Dear Huachuma, Thank you for giving me sight. I see that everything is perfect. I want water and chocolate. I am so happy I got to talk to Bonita. I got to tell her how perfect everything is. I kind of want to say how foolish I have felt but I don’t feel that either. Every twig, every branch is perfect. It is all in harmony – the timing is perfect, every rock. Just notice – I have no complaints – no list – no limits. Why didn’t I know this? Thank you, dear Huachuma, for teaching me this. Colors, it’s all about the colors. The colors of the heart, mind, and soul. It’s about seeing the imperfections just as they perfectly are. Let go of ‘supposed’. ” It’s very hard to put into words what you mean to me and have meant on my healing path. I love you and thank those that believe in you and taught me about you. I think this campaign of gratitude is wonderful and the energy it is exuding is more of your healing rippling out to the masses. You are amazing and beautiful and I will love and be grateful to you always. The irony of all of this is that you are deemed bad in most places and are what is called “illegal” because some are afraid of people getting addicted and confuse you with drugs and yet you free people. Another irony is that you plant medicine gave me the path to healing and then told me that I didn’t need you anymore and that I was not to sit/ingest you anymore. I miss the ceremonial part of it but your spirit, love, and guidance are forever within me. Love always and forever, Yours, Carla