Cannabis spp.
Energetics: Drying & Warming
Constituents: Terpenes & Volatile Oils (Terpinolene, Linalool, Myrcene, Pinene, Ceryophylene, Acids (CBDA, THCA), essential oils caryophyllene, humulene, lemonene), sugars, flavonoids, alkaloids (chlorophyll, choline)
Actions: Analgesic, Anti-Emetic, Appetite Stimulant, Protective to Chemo, Anti-Inflammatory, Sedative, Anti-Spasmodic, Anti-Convulsant, Neuroprotective, Anti-Carcinogenic, Anti-Psychotic, Anxiolytic, Antridepressant, Neuroprotective, Antioxidant, Aphrodisiac
Cannabis Indica as I imagine grows wild in the mountains of the Himalayas.
Mysteriously, Cannabis is hardly spoken about in Herbalism circles.
Even though the use of these plants goes back thousands of years and can be traced to nearly every culture, from India through to Japan and Germany through to Brazil. The Persian cultures used to call it Hashish, which literally means, ‘the herbs’ and fossilized remains have been found in the Altai Mountains of Russia, indicating an ancient use amongst primitive peoples.
It is a plant, many of us know. We may have smoked her secretly in late-night gatherings at deserted car parks, or in ceremony, in hushed tones, speaking mantras. At techno festivals, the music wringing out the insides of our bodies in dance. In ferocious, wicked, deliberate, smoke filled, dust filled, dance.
It is said that Shiva danced the universe into existence. Shiva danced as Shakti began glowing her primordial light. The dance of the Cosmos. Which is why he is called Nataraja, Lord of the Dance.
And Shiva’s sacred plant was Ganja. The Wild God in leapord skin skirt, pythons wrapped around his massive neck, dreadlocks pouring down his head, third eye wide open. Picture him with a chillum, smoking weed and dancing the dance of creation, to the dirtiest Acid out there.
Goddess Ganja is therefore the Queen of Consciousness. She opens the doors of your inner sanctum wide open and you see, you see the world for what it really is.
A gyrating, pulsating, throb of Life.
But, a word of caution. With great power, comes greater responsibility. Cannabis commands respect, she commands utter devotion. She is not to be misused or abused. With the same power that she builds, she can also destroy. Her use is not to be trifled with.
Botany & Phytochemistry
Cannabis spp. is a term used by herbalists and botanists to group all the varieties of the plant. Cannabis Indica, Cannabis Sativa and Cannabis Ruderalis. Having originated in India, the wild feral plant growing in the foothills of the Himalayas, spread their seeds across the regions of Afghanistan, Russia and China. Thanks to the wind and cultures coming together, they went further to Germany and Brazil. Now they are found across the whole globe and are bred to make new species.
All Cannabis plants are dioecious, which means that they produce both male and female plants. It is the female plant that produces the bud that contains the inflorescences that contain the highest concentration of Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Every part of the plant is used, the strong fibers can be weaved into clothes, or fashioned into ropes, the seeds are used to make nutritious oils. The plant captures and stores carbon and cleans toxic waste in soil. For over two decades, Cannabis has been cleaning and successfully removing nuclear contaminants, as observed in the aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster.
Apart from the well-known chemical constituents of THC and CBD, the plant contains hundreds of cannabinoids. Powerful terpenes give cannabis their characteristic aroma and contribute to their healing property. Essential oils such as selinene, limonene and caryophyllene, along with antioxidant flavonoids, alkaloids such as choline, piperidine and neurine present in abundance. A single glance reveals an entire pharmacy.
The Endocannabinoid (ECS) System
There exists within our own body, a system that plays host to the plant’s cannabinoids - the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Both the brain and the immune system contain endocannabinoid cells, that act as docking stations for the plant’s phytochemicals. Their molecules are recognized by our bodies and swiftly they begin their therapeutic effects.
The endocannabinoid system contains of both the CB1 and the CB2 receptors. The brain mainly contains the CB1 receptors that are more sensitive to THC and its psychoactive properties, whereas the CB2 receptors are mainly found in the immune system, playing a host to CBD, and does not rely on the psychoactive properties of the plant to heal the body. It has been proven time and time again, however, that taking the whole plant is so much more powerful than taking its individual constituents. Perhaps in this action conceals a lesson. That what we should always be after, is wholeness and not isolation.
The ECS helps regulate memories, emotional processing, sleep, temperature, pain control, inflammatory and immune responses, eating, and finally reproduction and sexuality.
The body produces its own cannabinoids that react with the ECS and one of the first ones ever discovered was called Anandamide, (Ananda meaning Bliss, in Sanskrit). In the body the release of oxytocin during childbirth, loving making and cuddling is said to activate the body’s endocannabinoid anandamide, therefore igniting an ancient bond with the ethereal.
The plants’ cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, Terpenes, Essential Oils and many others, sing together in a symphony. They ignite our sexual centres and burn our fires as an aphrodisiac, they calm our nerves by acting on the HPA (hippocampus, pituitary and adrenal) axis thereby soothing anxiety. They release the neurochemistry of safety and increase an abundance of neurogenesis - the birth of new neurons.
The Shiva Sutras
The Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction and the Tantric God of Consciousness, is said to have held Cannabis as the holiest of holy plants.
An old Tantric tale tells the story of Parvati, Shiva’s wife, who planted rows and rows of cannabis plants around their home, one day, in the hope of luring her husband into her garden. Upon the sweet aphrodisiac smell of charas, the thick resin dripping from the buds of this Tantrik plant, Shiva, irresistibly steps into his wife’s garden and is enthralled by the plant. His wife makes him a bong and presents the pipe to him. After raising the chillum to the heavens, Shiva begins to inhale deeply.
Shiva opens his third eye and gets lost in his Consciousness. He falls deep into his meditation and is said to have meditated for a thousand years.
"Smoking is an unbecoming, a dissolution, a process of death. In this small, spinning pyre, the husks of delusion that entwine us burn to ash. The rotting corpses of our transgressions, the cadavers of old karma roast therein and are transformed to snow-white ash…The bolt to the door of the “transcendent” is shattered"; the demonic horde of Shiva, the ethereal images of natural forces and the shapes of souls, dance before the eyes of the initiate. The dead appear and the gods! In an even deeper samādhi, all manifestations, all appearances cease, and it simply is. In total absorption, Shiva sits on Kailash, the holy mountain, the mountain of snow, the mountain of ash…After the chilam has been smoked all the way to the end and the meditation is over, the shaman takes the ashes and rubs onto his forehead or he places them on his tongue as prasad, for the sacred, white powder is regarded as the best medicine
- Wolf-Dieter Storl.
Woman & Cannabis
Cannabis is mentioned by the renown Herbalist Susun Weed, author of Childbearing Year, where she names Cannabis as a Fertility Herb. Cannabis brings about the menses and regulates muscles as the womb flexes from within to shed the blood, a process of rebirth. From a personal perspective, she is a herb that is too drying. Her energetics are Warming & Drying, and when you are trying to get pregnant, you want to include herbs that are moistening: Violet, Marshmallow, Chickweed, Comfrey, Cinnamon, Shatavari, Maca, limiting emmenagogues (bringers of the menses) like Cacao, Mugwort & Cannabis.
Shamanism & Cannabis
Christian Rätsch, tells us the story of Shamanism, which he says is not a religion, but a technique of Consciousness that is associated with people with extraordinary capacity for expansion. And although not a religion, shamanism that been part of polytheistic religions that venerate nature, such as Hinduism, Toaism, Shintoism, Animism and Buddhism.
In Shamanic lineages, it is the belief that all illness is brought upon as a result of the loss of the soul. The recipient is put in a deep trance through a psychedelic plant and the Shaman is said to travel to the underworld, often in the form of an animal, to retrieve the part of the soul that has been lost. As you can imagine what a dangerous journey this is. You have no ordinary material protection, this is a world of spirits. There are no walls to ward anything off, you must be awarded psychic protection. And here’s where ancient herbs came into place, to protect the soul of Shaman who goes on a quest.
“At this point, it should be noted that not everyone who smokes marijuana is a shaman, Only those who have the gift of and have been called to shamanism are able to smoke hemp and enter into a shamanic trance.”
- Christian Rätsch
Shamans of India offer bhang (intoxicating milk made with the seeds of cannabis) to Linghams and Yonis of the Tantrik world. A world within a world. An epic power center of a black stone exuding fire. A black mound being licked by Cobras. The epicenter of life, of creation, and of destruction.
The Medicine of Cannabis
Thousands of people make use of cannabis as medicine. There are indigenous communities that use this medicine for all sorts of healing. The Rastafarians smoke the plant as an expression of their religion. But most of us probably don’t even know how powerful these plants are and have never gotten a whiff of their healing properties. Some of us may have never meditated with the plant. Nor have we experienced psychonautic journeys with her.
Among the traditional uses of the plant, Cannabis has been used as an aphrodisiac, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory sedatives, anticarcinogen and neuroprotectant. They have been taken to calm seizures, anxiety, and panic attacks. They help with the dilation of blood vessels, enabling more blood to flow to damaged tissues.
It is recommended that you take cannabis with hepatoprotective herbs such as Milk Thistle. Hepatoprotective herbs protect and tone the liver, which in turn works more efficiently to break cannabis down, once the desired effect has been met. The liver is the main organ responsible for the downregulation of cannabis. It is recommended that you cleanse yourself from the use of cannabis by strengthening the liver to break it down, thereby keeping your body in a balanced state.
Cannabis for Meditation
When I was in my 20s, Charlie and I would meet secretly and smoke weed together as we walked around the canals Weybridge. And then when he visited me in Tooting, years later, we walked around smoking joints and chasing down London foxes. But then I used to only get ‘high’. I never appreciated her true qualities.
A few years later when I had my first experience with Psychedelics, I was initiated into the healing powers of the Cannabis plant.
During trips, Cannabis was a true ally to me as I embarked deep onto these soul journeys. Each time she brought me safely to a place within me, a place that needed healing. She helped me navigate the darkest parts of my psyche. She held me so strong and steadfast.
Now I most frequently use Cannabis for Presence. I allow myself to get fully lost in the moment as I deeply meditate in the state and presence that I find myself in. I stand in the light of the Sun and massage sweet-smelling oil over my face. I welcome the scalding water on this liquid body of mine as I savour every last singe on my skin. Smoking transforms lovemaking into a prayer. Yoga becomes a prayer.
Bibliography
Cannabis May Have Eased Breast Cancer Symptoms of Siberian Ice Princess https://www.iflscience.com/cannabis-may-have-eased-breast-cancer-symptoms-siberian-ice-princess-25992
A narrative review on environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42238-021-00090-0
Potential of Industrial Hemp for Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8912475/#:~:text=Since%201998%2C%20hemp%20has%20been,from%20the%20soil%20%5B57%5D.
See Inside the Himalayan Villages That Grow Cannabis https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/160201-indian-himalayan-cannabis-farm-photos
Marijuana Medicine: A World Tour of the Healing and Visionary Powers of Cannabis https://www.waterstones.com/book/marijuana-medicine/christian-ratsch/9780892819331
CANNA+HERBS COURSE by the herbal academy https://theherbalacademy.com/product/cannaherbs-course/
Cannabis, a complex plant: different compounds and different effects on individuals https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3736954/
Cannabis Synergy: The “Entourage Effect” of Cannabinoids https://grovebags.com/cannabis-synergy-entourage-effect/#:~:text=Cannabis%20Synergy%2C%20commonly%20referred%20to,the%20sum%20of%20its%20parts