Psychoactivity As A Magic Healer

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Cannabis is euphorigenic.

The prefix eu in "euphoria" is the Greek word for "well" and,

euphoria is "a state of well-being." Cannabis helps us remember wellness a feeling that

guides us back to health.

 

Euphoria Heals

 

Well-being is one of most the characteristic experiences associated with being "high".

Feeling good feeling well facilitates healing and maintaining health making the

euphoria stimulated by

cannabis, a very safe, non-addictive healing opportunity unencumbered by the toxicity,

complications, and perils connected to the use of many other euphorigenic substances

used in medicine.

 

Enhanced Senses

 

One of the most celebrated aspect of the cannabis high is enhancement of the senses.

Every perceptual field becomes enriched. Colors, the contrasts and complementarities

between them, become more vivid. Sounds acquire greater depth, texture, and dimension,

and the spatial and harmonic relations between them become more pronounced, leading to

absorbed fascination. Sensory enhancement results in marked amplification of aesthetic

sensitivity, deepened enjoyment of natural beauty and works of art, and appreciation of

details in the immediate environment that might usually pass unnotice.

 

Intensified Physical Awareness

 

The psychoactivity of cannabis promotes a keener awareness of normally ignored bodily

states, physical sensations, and physiological processes. Heightened somatic

sensitivity increases the pleasure derived from stretching, exercise, or yoga, from the

relaxation and comfort felt in moments of repose, and can infuse with joy an act as

simple as breathing.

 

Detachment

 

Cannabis' psychoactivity engenders a detached, distanced point of view. While emotions

and bodily sensations are perceived with greater clarity and vividness, their grip on

one's state of mind is lessened. In this state of "letting go" it becomes easier to

disentangle oneself from the unrelenting obsession, compulsive cogitation, and

shortsighted viewpoint that characterize our daily lives that bears kinship with the

state of objective "witness consciousness" encouraged in many spiritual practices, such

as the meditative disciplines of Zen Buddhism and the release of karma in Hinduism.

 

Expanded Time

 

Cannabis brings about a distinct alteration in one's sense of time, which seems to

proceed more slowly. In a fascinating study, Stanford University social psychologist

Dr. Phil Zimbardo discovered that when hypnotized subjects were given suggestions that

time was expanded they became childlike, playful, and full of spontaneous laughter.

Expanded sense of time that cannabis promites enables us to lighten up, laugh, and feel

good.

 

Open Mindedness

 

Cannabis psychoactivity encourages one thought to lead to another and another in a

series of links that are more novel and unpredictable than in the usual course of

thought. In synergy with the detached perspective this increased fluidity of thought

enhances problem-solving capacities, leading to innovative solutions that may not have

otherwise occurred.

 

How Psychoactivity Promotes Healing

 

Cannabis promotes healing by engendering an optimistic outlook, aesthetic enhancement,

a sense of communion with others, body awareness, empowered imagination, increased

feelings of control over oneÕs state of mind and one's life in general, appreciation of

the moment, and inspiration of transcendental experience.

 

Optimistic Outlook

 

Fluidity of mental processes and optimistic viewpoint can help people form new

perspectives on their illness and overall situation, leading them to contemplate and

enact new strategies for dealing with problems, discomforts, and inconveniences. Their

minds may become open to new, different, and possibly more effective possibilities of

treatment. Additionally, optimism and belief in the possibility of a return to wellness

have been shown to support health and bolster chances of recovery from illness.

 

Aesthetic Enhancement

 

Enhanced sensory acuity can lead to immersion in appreciation of nature and works of

art. Such

moments of joy provide pleasant distraction from pain and discomfort, making the course

of an

uncomfortable disease process easier to endure. It is also likely that such states of

enchantment involve the release of endorphins and other neurochemicals that facilitate

immunity and physiological healing.

 

Communion and Community

 

People tend to use cannabis with friends, finding that sharing the state of being high

increases its pleasure and encourages sharing itself. Research has confirmed that

people who frequently engage in positive contact and communication with supportive

others tend to be healthier and stand a better chance of recovery from serious illness.

 

 

Laughter

 

The cannabis high is well-known for promoting the giggles. Sense of humor refreshes

perspective and keeps our viewpoint balanced. The biochemical and physiological

benefits of intense and sustained laughter such as that which often accompanies getting

highÑ exercise internal organs while releasing tension. Because illness often

challenges one's sense of humor, the capability of cannabis to make you laugh is an

especially important healing agent.

 

Body Awareness

 

Enhanced perception of bodily sensations and physiological processes, combined with the

sense of

detachment that can make pain or other unpleasant sensations easier to examine with

objectivity, can help a person to be more responsive to changes in physical condition,

positive or negative.

 

Empowered Imagination

 

Psychoactivity enhances one's capacity to visualize to remember being in the well

state. This vital quality can be harnessed to increase the intensity and impact of

visualization and relaxation techniques used to engage the powers of the mind in

healing.

Greater Sense of Control

 

Using cannabis to alter mood, outlook, and awareness, as well as to ease pain or other

symptoms, can give people a sense of greater control over their state of mind and

lives. Research has shown that people with a greater sense of control over their

treatment stand a better chance of recovery from illness.

Transcendental Experience

Cannabis has been used as a sacrament in many religious traditions. The high promotes

meditative stillness and contemplative awe. Studies have shown that a feeling of faith

is associated with being healthy and recovering from illness.

Appreciation of the Moment

The time-expanding quality of the cannabis high bestows a gift of extra time, filling

it with small beauties and delights, sprinkling the day with opportunities to "stop and

smell the flowers", encouraging us to live more fully in the here and now a tremendous

boon to the quality of life of those who are ill.

Smell The Flowers

The Seeker and the Shaman Woman were sitting in a garden on a beautiful day when the

Shaman Woman noticed that the Seeker was frowning and staring distractedly into the

distance.

"What is troubling you?" asked the Shaman Woman.

"How can I enjoy my life when I know that sooner or later I'm going to die?" the Seeker

lamented.

While listening, the Shaman Woman picked a nearby lilac sprig and passed it slowly by

the

Seeker's nose. "Ah," the Seeker sighed, his frown dissolving into a smile. "Uh humm,"

the Shaman nodded warmly, "always remember to stop and smell the flowers."

Getting High Is Learned

People using cannabis for the first time usually claim not to be high and must be

coached by old-timers because getting high has to be learned. Using cannabis over time,

a person learns experientially about the states of mind and changes in mood that it

facilitates and as these mental territories become familiar opening of internal doors

becomes second nature so that it takes smaller amounts of cannabisÑand often no

cannabis at all to pass through them.

 

Psychoactivity As A Magic Healer

http://www.roninpub.com/heamag_psyheals.html

 

Marijuana Booklist

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The Healing Magic of Cannabis

 

The Healing Magic of Cannabis describes how to use cannabis, including preparation and

hazards of smoking, along with recipes. Also covered are methods for making tinctures

and topical applicaitons, including the advantages and disadvantages of each.

 

The Healing Magic of Cannabis explains how cannabis alleviates pain, soothes

discomfort, and can interfere with the biological progression of certain diseases. It

provides clear, information on cannabis' use for fifteen medical conditions and common

aliments, from menstrual cramps, back pain, arthritis, and insomnia to epilepsy, AIDS,

and withdrawal from addictive drugs.

 

The Healing High:

 

Feels good, promoting wellness.

Relaxes you, restoring equilibrium.

Makes you laugh, refreshing perspective.

Stimulates appetite, encouraging eating.

Uplifts mood, encouraging optimism.

Inspires faith that will heal.

Healing as a Re-Creational Activity

The concept of healing is broad enough to encompass the notion of truly recreational

activity. The original meaning of the word "recreation" after all, refers to

transformation, or recreation, to "creating again". Truly recreational activity, then,

is regenerative, life giving, transformative-in other words, healing. So when cannabis

is used in a genuinely recreational capacity, such usage is a form of healing. And the

well-directed medicinal use of cannabis is also healing-in other words,

transformative, regenerative, or re-creative. The word "healing" thus points toward

what both medicinal and recreational use of cannabis can be, at their very best. By

focusing on the process of healing, then, this book bridges and unites the recreational

and medicinal approaches to the use of cannabis. The notion of healing, referring to

positive transformation on the level of spirit as well as body and mind, also

encompasses the entheogenic-spiritual or religious-approach to the use of cannabis.

 

The Healing Magic of Cannabis

Potter, Beverly and Joy, Dan

May 1998. 192p. index. Ronin, paper, $14.95

http://www.roninpub.com/heamag.html

Table of Contents

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