in plants we trust?

[t st tantra]

in plants we trust....

do we?i would assume the more 'scientific' minded among us do not?

what does it even mean?

i assume i am only partly living a life of trust in plants.

do you have to believe in plant spirits to trust in plants?

is this ronnies words or from somewhere else?what do you think about it ronnie?

t s t .

[paradox]

hmm, i don't think it's necessarily a spiritual thing..

we have to trust the plants.. we rely on them in all aspects of our lives & owe our very existence to them. we have no choice but to have trust in their healing abilities, their tastiness & the nourishment they give us & their solidity as a building materials etc. if we didn't trust something which is so fundamental to our lives we'd be seriously insecure.

[mr me]

I agree with Paradox we have to trust plants. There are different levels of trust, some plants we can eat while others we can make medicine out of but are poisonous. Also a plant can be trusted but what man does with that plants can't necessarily be trusted. Evo Morales had it right when he said "the coca leaf is not cocaine".

I don't believe plants have spirits. I'm not sure of any cultures that do believe plants have spirits.

[No_One]

Hey Dude, I found your musings interesting and it made me think so I thought I'd throw some of my thoughts out there.

I appreciate plants as a fellow life form.

To me they are uncorrupted by beliefs in fabrications of the creative mind which makes them more "beautiful" than most animal life forms in my book.

They are pretty reliable too, they don't change (dramatically) much and "stick to the program" so to speak.

Reliability increases the amount of trust I give to something so plants would be right up there, IME you know what you're getting (within reason) with plants.

Reliability and trust make for good relationships IMO so if you find a plant and conclude it can benefit you in some way and then go on to strike up a relationship with it knowing it's relaible and trustworthy can be pretty comforting.

With this comfort comes security i.e. the plant and your relationship with it is always there for you to retreat back to should shit go bad.

I think security is a sort of "spirit" - I see "spirit" sort of like a feeling or a state of being/sensation/experience, some other virtuous "spirits" for me would be things like contentedness, satisfaction, compassion, insightfulness, etc. If a relationship with a plant (or its essence/tincture/whatever) can help conjure these sort of desirable types of "spirits" and they benefit you in some way then I reckon if you can do it and still keep your wits about you then thats a good thing.

I think the addition of the plants "spirit" or vibration/resonance/make-up with your "spirit" or vibration/resonance/make-up is what makes the magic happen or the trouble start - like that saying that says somehting about drugs leading to illumination or destruction based on the mind of the person taking them. I guess it's sort of like chicks that go for guys that beat them, i.e. masochistic tastes etc.

Anyway, just some off the cuff thoughts, interesting thread.....

Peace.

[stiched up]

I agree with Paradox we have to trust plants. There are different levels of trust, some plants we can eat while others we can make medicine out of but are poisonous. Also a plant can be trusted but what man does with that plants can't necessarily be trusted. Evo Morales had it right when he said "the coca leaf is not cocaine".

I don't believe plants have spirits. I'm not sure of any cultures that do believe plants have spirits.

 

majority of cultures/tribes that discovered these plants beleived them to be gods/spirits

however the plant spirit is also our spirit so is it trust or just letting it happen??

[mr me]

majority of cultures/tribes that discovered these plants beleived them to be gods/spirits

Can you give an example of one?

however the plant spirit is also our spirit so is it trust or just letting it happen??

Not sure what you meant, sorry

[Quill]

Can you give an example of one?

 

Haven't you heard of Mescalito (not the board member) mr? quite a few american cultures believed that plants had spirits. You should check out "The teachings of Don Juan"

[mr me]

Thanks, might have a look. I am well aware of the whole animal-spirit concept, just never heard of plant has spirit connection.

[Chiral]

Isn't the whole in plants we trust just prolly Ronnie's clever take on the whole "in God we trust" taken from the US dollar...nothing more nothing less but a substitution of one word for another in a type of anti clever way...re Dead Kennedys used the actual original "in God we trust" but slandered it brutally through anarchy and music as opposed to twisting it back on it's self, then again some would say God is plants or plants are God so go figure.

[GingaNinja]

I'm not sure of any cultures that do believe plants have spirits.

 

Have you done much reading? Most indigenous cultures seem to view alot of psychoactive plants as containing spirits. Look at any ayahausca stuff or a more famous one of Maria Sabrina talking about the mushroom spirit

[holymountain]

i trust the plants. never had one lie to me. never had one steal from me. never had one not pay rent. never had one owe me any money.

all i've had from plants is their generosity, beauty and their sacrifice of self for my greater good. they charge nothing for their teachings and they only ask for a bit of space, some water and maybe some fertiliser in return. and most of them can handle that for themselves.

plants don't need us but holy shit do we need plants.

from what i've seen they have none of the despicable traits that i see in the human race (except those subs...they can be cheeky little buggers...downright aggressive sometimes...but i guess thats a fungus isn't it?)....and thats reason enough to trust them in my books.

who else can you trust if you can't trust plants?

and as for the idea of plants not containing spirits? bullshit! one only needs to saddle up with some cacti or do some spirit searching of some acacias to see that there are indeed many spirits inhabiting the plant world. western culture is one of the only cultures in the world to NOT believe in such things....and thats only because we burnt our shamens at the stake a few hundred years ago.

[Torsten]

Kinda funny that members on an ethnobotany forum are unaware of the prevalence of traditional people who believe that certain plants contain/have spirits. pretty much every hallucinogenic plant is viewed this way, including salvia, ayahuasca, mushrooms [not technically a plant, but anyway...], yopo, brugmansia, etc. it's probably more prevalent in south america than elsewhere, but certainly not exclusive.

In plants we trust? I agree with chiral that it is probably a take on the corporate greed embedded in the 'in god we trust' printed on american banknotes. But even if it isn't, it certainly makes sense. Plants provide us with most of our food, energy, building materials, medicines and pleasures, especially if you remove the petrochemical alternatives [which are unavailable to the vast majority of the world population anyway].

[mutant]

I trust the plants. I don't feel I have to, I am just glad I do and I realise what I realise.

do you have to believe in plant spirits to trust in plants?

Definately not. I don't believe in plant spirits, or any spirits/gods for that matter.

Still, f.e. seeing salvia space as feminine space make sense, feels right, and maybe helps you understand it better.

===In grind we crust===

Edited April 14, 2010 by mutant

[Quill]

bravo holymountain. you said it much better than I could have

[bℓσωηG]

The Radish spirit from the movie ''Spirited Away'' by Hayao Miyazaki SHINTO religion of Japan have many plant spirits...

Certain deeds can create impurity or “dirtiness” (kegare), such as killing, or partaking in the death of, a living being. This should only be done with reverence – even if you are just eating a take-away meal of meat or vegetables - in the knowledge that you are consuming a life to continue your own. Failure to show respect demonstrates a lack of concern for others and can create problems for everyone because animals or plants killed without gratitude for their sacrifice may hold a grudge (urami) and their kami will seek revenge (aragami) on the entire community. One purification ceremony to avoid this is to stand beneath a waterfall or cleanse yourself in the sea if you have not made your thanks before now to nature.

http://www.pspcan.com/category/self-improvement

[Mycot]

and as for the idea of plants not containing spirits? bullshit! one only needs to saddle up with some cacti or do some spirit searching of some acacias to see that there are indeed many spirits inhabiting the plant world. western culture is one of the only cultures in the world to NOT believe in such things....and thats only because we burnt our shamens at the stake a few hundred years ago.

 

Funny how modern western culture with its short history so readily dismisses a perspective that has been universally held by just about all cultures for all of humanities history. It's damn hubristic that it can do this without some second thoughts.

Plants have spirits. It's all a matter of perspective.

[Chiral]

In plants we trust....plants can kill and poison...yes..?

so where is the trust part coming from...?

I prefer the "in plants we learn " motto instead.

[holymountain]

In plants we trust....plants can kill and poison...yes..?

so where is the trust part coming from...?

I prefer the "in plants we learn " motto instead.

 

well you can trust them to kill and poison you that for sure.

[Mycot]

What's poison is entirely a matter of dosage. Anything can be poison if you take enough.

Poison plants taken at the right dosages have often been our most valued medicinals.

I think it was Paracelsus who said that the right amount of poison becomes medicine.

So that's another one on the side of the plants.

Edited April 15, 2010 by Mycot

[mescalito]

I guess I'm a bit of an Agent Mulder on the plant,mineral and animal spirit "worlds".

I do however believe in a multiverse,so these "spirits" to me are part of the unseen here on earth....the plants have an affinity to attract us and affect us,that's for sure! They are capable IMHO of altering the Human Vibrational Resonance to harmonise,synchronise,cause brainwaves to sympathise to certain waveforms depending on what is ingested.

I WANT TO BELIEVE !

Humito

Shiva

Where's my little fat green Avatar?!

[Mycot]

I have herbalist friends who believe that for every human disease/ailment there are herbs that will fix it.

Why should this be. I find it extraordinary, practically supernatural.

It's like the plant kingdom is in a symbiotic conspiratorial relationship with us.

And they gift us with highs and evolve human conciousness.

A symbiotic conspiracy.

[Mycot]

I WANT TO BELIEVE !

 

Temporarily putting aside disbelief can be just as effective.

[t st tantra]

I have herbalist friends who believe that for every human disease/ailment there are herbs that will fix it.

Why should this be. I find it extraordinary, practically supernatural.

It's like the plant kingdom is in a symbiotic conspiratorial relationship with us.

And they gift us with highs and evolve human conciousness.

A symbiotic conspiracy.

 

summed up nicely!

reminds ne of leary's starseed transmissions.

t s t .