I just received my 165465th invite to a Cacao ceremony here in Berlin.
Utmost respect to Cacao and also those wanting to bring this potent transmission of love, heart-opening power to people…but it baffles me how often this plant is worked with in Berlin- how many gatherings/ceremonies are centred around this plant and how little our locally grown plants are even thought of in this context.
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To engage in this way with plants grown in *this* soil as guides already carries significant power.
And yet, somehow it’s strangely unusual in the current context of “plant *medicine* work.
When I tell people I work with plants they often say: “oh, like plant medicine?”
And then I usually say: “Yes, but probably not in the way that you mean….? My groups trip out hard on nettles, dandelion, and elderberries 
” and so the conversation goes.
” and so the conversation goes.*
I have been inadvertently doing this kind of work with plants since about 20 yrs – I used to work for Neals Yard Remedies and was often sent to very small branches with hardly any customers (best job ever, I now truly see the hand of the Goddess in this arrangement).
I would spend my days reading everything I could in the books and then trying out one tincture at a time to just kinda see what it would do.
I have always had a strong “F*** it, let’s give it a go” attitude about this kind of thing… bolstered by years in the London rave scene.
Little did I know I was in a devoted practice of exploring trance and consciousness shifting – I didn’t have words for this apart from ‘get high’ (solid). I was unknowingly entering into subtly altered states and getting to know the plants in a really intimate way.
Since 2020 I have been exploring this more with groups. Initially by luring my friends to my home to drink Rose elixir and listen to weird music and then eventually doing this more formally at retreats and such.
Most of the time I would choose plants that were in some way local and we had some mad experiences with Mugwort, Roses, Blue Lotus, Catnip, Burdock – shout out to Celeste González who invited me many times.
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A few years ago Anna Schäfermeier who had been at one of these early retreats invited me to create a brew for Festival der Weiblichkeiten where usually the last night would be a Cacao ceremony.
This time we drank Hawthorn, Rose hips and petals and Tulsi from the garden. Over 100 people. It was incredible.
The plants opened us up in a completely different way to the energies of place. The experience moved like waves… warm, pulsing, wild & heartful.
I remember watching as unmistakable shifts rippled through the crowd. I could sense a kind of joy of recognition – particularly from the Hawthorn, the White thorn – at being called on in this way.
There was a sense of rooted homecoming that I hadn’t usually experienced in these spaces. And it got pretty wild, let me tell you.
I’m not saying don’t drink Cacao. Cacao is a master plant with huge power and cultural significance that deserves Much respect. (Yo, internet please hear me on this one and don’t do that thing you usually do
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).I’m just saying… don’t forget the Spruce tree.
Don’t forget the Hawthorn, the Yarrow, the Chamomile, the Dandelion. The ones growing wild in the cracks of your city, on the edges of paths in disturbed ground, the ones who’ve been whispering your name since before you knew to listen.
I’m a strong believer in the reclamation of the wonder of the local. I have all sorts of ideas about why this is a really good thing. 
This land dreams too 