Spiritual Smoke: Smoking Herbs and the Natural Communion of Energy
Spiritual Smoke: Smoking Herbs and the Natural Communion of Energy
Smoke is a part of you, as you are of it. When done with appreciation, smoking herbs should be a spiritual journey, a communion of continuity, where we become connected with the herbs, the Spirit, and the essence of Gaia from whom all herbs are a gift.
Herbal smoke dances, communes, passes through journeys of air on its way of becoming. It can be used to clear our space, cleanse our being, reconnect with our ancestors and the ancient ways of existence.
An herbal spliff can be like a smudge of sage, a way of cleansing the air and opening the Spirit, an intonation of spiritual expression. When you think about the smoke, consider the Spirit of the plants it carries as the essence of its being – blessing you, anointing you, becoming you.
At its essence, smoking herbs is truly a natural communion with energy, an opening into natural traditions in solace with the plants. You become one with the chlorophyll, awakening into natural tradition and becoming whole with the Earth.
What is Combustion? The Science Behind Smoke
Scientifically speaking, smoke is created by incomplete combustion, when there is not enough oxygen to burn the fuel completely.
In complete combustion, every part of the substance is burned, producing just water and carbon dioxide. But most fire is incomplete combustion, where not everything is burned. Smoke is the collection of tiny unburned particles. The amount of smoke created by a fire depends on how incomplete the combustion process is and how many unburned particles are released into the air as a result.
Let’s take a campfire. Firewood is made of water, volatile organic compounds, carbon, and minerals found in the tree’s cells such as calcium, potassium, magnesium that are nonburnable and become ash.
The smoke that results from the fire is the volatile organic compounds (hydrocarbons) evaporating from the wood. Compound evaporation begins at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If the fire is hot enough, those organic compounds burst into flames, turning into water and carbon dioxide. The hotter the fire, the less smoke there is.
When you light a cigarette, an herbal spliff, or a joint, the tobacco, herbs, or Ganja combusts, producing ash, heat, light (energy), and smoke. Once begun, the smoke becomes a self-sustaining process that will continue as long as there is fuel and oxygen available to engage the chemical process.
Ken Kesey Tie-Dies and the Cosmos of Smoke
Now, let’s remove our Bill Nye the Science Guy bow tie and put on that Ken Kesey tie-die. Scientifically speaking, the smoke may be the unburned particles of the plant, but Cosmically speaking, the smoke is the essence of the plant itself – the core remains once the plant has given itself to energy and become one with the spirit of the Sun.
The smoke is the sacrifice, the plant becoming Spirit, the soul particles on the altar of your breath, before the herbs unite with the energy and spirit of the air.
Woah. Martha Washington with a big fat bowl, waiting for you and George to stop slapping the shit out of Humphrey Bogart.
And when you breathe in the smoke in an herbal spliff, you are partaking of that sacrifice, honoring the plant just before it reunites with the energy of reborn sunlight.
If those herbs are Ganja, you get high. If it’s Tobacco, you get your nic fix Netflix. If it’s an herbal blend of Mugwort, Passion Flower, Rose Petals, and/or Yerbe Mate, you receive the herbal benefits associated with each plant. Whatever the concoction, the smoke is a gift of Spirit, a commune with the plant that gave its essence, an honor of each sacrifice to flame.
The Sacred Ancient Tradition of Smoking Herbs
Now is the perfect time to celebrate the sacredness of ancient tribal herbal traditions. Back in the day, our ancestors didn’t only smoke what we nowadays typically call Tobacco. They smoked a diverse cornucopia of smokable herbs – Mugwort, Mullein, Rose Petals, Hops – to become one with the essence of nature and partake in the medicinal benefits.
We invite you to open your mind and your palette to the wide array of diverse herbs nature has to offer. Many of these herbs can be deeply relaxing, ease anxiety, improve sleep, calm the mind, and rejuvenate the libido. They can help you access a lost, hidden aspect of yourself you’ve only forgotten – bring you close to nature, your soul, and the essence of life.
When it comes to improving sleep and easing anxiety, hop flowers are not just great for craft beer but can improve dreaming as well. Hops are loaded with a chill vibe chemical, methylbutanol, which is like nature’s lullaby. Valerian is also an herbal sleep guru, loaded with valeric acid, which tones down GABA in the brain and switches off the chatterbox of your mind. And then there’s passionflower – the Zen master of flowers packed with flavonoids that soothe your nerves and send stress packing.
Herbs can also inspire the loins and rev up your sex life. Ginko Bilboa is a sexually enhancing herb believed to enhance blood circulation and tingle the senses, inspiring a heightened state of arousal. Damiana is revered for its ability to kindle the flames of passion and intimacy. Rose petals are not merely decorative but are believed by some to possess sensual qualities.
We encourage you to celebrate wisely. Don’t take these herbs for granted but honor them as the sacred, medicinal, and soul-opening vehicles they can be. Reconnect with herbal traditions and the beautiful sacredness of life itself.
As Ani DiFranco sings down the young slender neck of an acoustic guitar, “Beneath the good and the kind and the stupid and the cruel, there’s a fire just waiting for fuel.”
A fire just waiting for fuel. No matter what fuels your rocket, be a star. Smoke is the recreation of the memory of that sacred eternal process.
Mathew Gallagher
Wordsmith Specialist
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