Discovering the Heart of the Medicine
Sometimes clarity doesn't arrive all at once - but unfolds gently, through experience, presence, and the willingness to feel beyond the mind. In sacred lands like Peru, the invitation to understand through the heart can grow stronger, deeper, and more alive.
There are moments on this path where one believes they've completed a cycle - closed the chapter with a certain medicine, teacher, or practice. Perhaps the body remembers past discomfort, or the mind recalls challenging experiences and forms a quiet resistance. For some, it may be with San Pedro, or Wachuma—a plant spirit known for its power, but also for the intensity it can bring.
And yet… the path opens again.
What happens when an unexpected invitation arises? When, despite hesitation or even fear, there is a gentle calling to sit once more - with presence, not pressure? When the mind swirls in uncertainty, but something deeper whispers, You are safe… you may choose.
In ceremony, the support of other sacred allies - like the spirit of Mapacho - can create a container of safety. A soft space to exhale, to quiet the racing thoughts, to simply be. And in that space, the choice to engage becomes a doorway rather than an obligation.
This is how the experience with Wachuma shifted. The medicine - prepared with intention, care, and a new essence - felt different. No longer a battle, but an invitation. Sweetness instead of struggle. It became a mirror of possibility: that transformation need not be harsh to be real.
And perhaps this is part of the greater teaching.
Even within the spiritual path - where freedom and truth are often the pursuit - structure can become rigid. Systems can become rules. Teachings can turn into templates that don’t leave room for the heart. But true growth… true awakening… begins where the heart is allowed to lead.
Guidelines can be helpful, even sacred - but they are not the whole path. Discernment is what allows wisdom to land in the soul, not just in the mind. Learning to feel into the teachings, rather than simply accepting them, creates a bridge to one’s own truth.
And that truth may not always match what’s been passed down.
For instance, San Pedro is often called The Grandfather, a masculine energy. But there is also deep feminine presence within this plant - nurturing, loving, gentle. When teachings are held too tightly in a single form or label, the fullness of the spirit may be missed. And isn’t that what happens so often in life? Wholeness is overlooked when we only see through a limited lens.
Let the medicine teach - not just the plant, but the moment, the breath, the experience of being alive. Let the path be felt, not followed. The journey doesn't always have to be hard, gut-wrenching, or rigid. It can be loving, fluid, and uniquely yours.
May you find within your walk the space to question, to soften, to discover.
And may you feel the deep love that holds you - always - as you remember the wholeness that you are.
With love,
Susan