Plants as Allies, Meditation and Energy Cultivation (continued)

The beginning of my story comes from around 1500 AD when the Spaniards came, when the different civilization came with its new language, new religion of Christianity and foreign customs. Everything natural in the Yaqui world began to become distorted then. The Conquistadors were very aggressive and enslaved the Yaqui. We were then a very natural people without any defenses or protection.

So, because of this oppression, the Yaqui sacred knowledge was hidden carefully…this was true throughout Mexico…it continued only in secret oral and family traditions, within the seven sacred lineages in order to preserve it. Thus, this ancient wisdom only existed inwardly and secretly from the 1500s until today. Now that cycle of obscurity is ending and it is time again for this ancient sacred knowledge to emerge in order to help lead people back to the spiritual and natural way of life.

V: What is your life’s work?
C: I collect plants ad sometimes eat cactus or rattlesnake. I love nature and like to live in nature. Finding my center in nature has given me the gift to heal others and walk the path to the infinite.

V: How were you trained as a healer?
C: This is rooted in my past and from birth. It is the knowledge that is passed from father and mother to son. This is a very old science. These teachings are rooted within the special and rather hidden priest lineages that have been from ancient times, through this century, integral with Yaqui culture, spiritual life and knowledge. The oral tradition dates back to 2,000 BC.

V: Why are you interested in sharing your knowledge with people outside of Mexico?
C: Before there was no guidance. Now there is some guidance so I can share my knowledge of nature. I have found many people who are interested in my knowledge.

V: Do you believe that there is hope for this world as we continue to destroy indigenous plants and people around the world?
C: Yes, the bad conditions of the world can be changed radically if peoples’ attitude changes towards nature becomes respectful, with reverence for nature.

V: What are your thoughts on alternative healing?
C: The place that you start with is plants. There is a plant medicine for every possible imbalance – physical, emotional and mental. This is the heart of natural healing. If the imbalance is too great, then the western, surgical methods apply, which is the brother or sister of the plants.

V: You describe plants as allies, could you expound upon this a bit?
C: Plants give energy, they are living things full of energy of many kinds. They are filled with information and knowledge. It is possible to listen to a plant in such a way that this knowledge is imparted to one and assists one. Each plant has its spirit of energy for good health.

V: What about your healing people who are ill?
C: With the knowledge of my plants I am able to heal people. With my brothers, my land brothers, brothers of my race, I like to relate to the Yaqui community. I collect plants and sell them. I relate to the plants.

V: What role does spirit play in healing and health?
C: Spirituality is concentration. It is from this focus of the spirit that all health comes. There is only one great spirit. It is like the soul, the one who heals, the great spirit, the divine. It is Chamahua. I merge with Chamahua so he can help me to help the ill person and find and use the right plants.

V: How have you lived so long and so well?
C: The first day I was born an animal called Cachora came out of the tree and a soup was made out of it! I have eaten turtle soup and snake, sometimes raw, but, mostly I am a vegetarian. This is best. I eat roots of plants and I have no vices. I don’t smoke or drink alcohol. I like to go into the mud and I do exercises, everything that is natural.

V: In the Yaqui tradition what does the spiritual path and practice consist of?
C: The first aspect of the spiritual path is purification; mentally, emotionally and physically. There as a very ancient round building with a pyramidal top like the Hope Kiva called “Sozmee.” This was a place for this purification practice. Each soul who participates in this cleansing with Grandfather fire in the “Sozmee” will have an illumination of the Infinite and their life will change positively. The four winds will clean the soul of all sins. This soul has to be purified by fasting, and changing one’s living habits with a continual search for the light. With this, Mother Earth takes care of healing all that is bad or wasted and makes it disappear forever.

V: What is the meditation you practice?
C: It is on the image of the sacred triangle with the colors of the seven forces. Concentration on this triangle carries one through the point of assemblage (punto de encage) and through gradual effort of practice to an experience of the Infinite.

V: How is this done?
C: First one must focus with one’s eyes open and be able to hold this for more than an hour. It is not easy, but can be gradually done. This purifies one’s accumulation of obscured energy, both conscious and unconscious. This comes from my mother’s tradition.

V: Could you tell us something of your mother’s tradition?
C: My mother was born in Chiapas. Her lineage comes from Asia. I received from her the secrets of the lost Toltec temples. She told me of the source of the Father of Fire, the sacred fire, the sacred volcano hidden under the earth. I learned from her the secrets of her writings and the secret signs, the sacred “Sozmee.”

The sacred fire purifies the spirits of all ill people. The person who deals with sacred fire must also be one who knows the nature of the plants or he is not a true shaman or Nagual. He is not qualified to lead a ceremony around the sacred fire of the “Sozmee” or temescal (sweat lodge). He should have knowledge of medicinal plants and nature and should know how to prepare the essence of sacred incense and perfume. This is what has been passed down from my mother to my father.

V: How can the uniniated learn the ways of the Yaqui and open the path of purification?
C: Through fasting, the sweat lodge and concentration on the sacred triangle. Also, those interested must share some time with a man of knowledge. One must learn about the good plants and the bad plants. The purification is all of the spirit, it helps the person to follow the right way and gets rid of all things wrong with the body and soul. One must change one’s life so that it reflects and transmits the divine way to Chamahua.

V: Do you have any special words of wisdom for the world today?
C: Human beings have gone too far out of balance and forgotten their closest friends and allies, the plants. What are you breathing? Oxygen. Where does oxygen come from? The plants! It is through the plants and from nature that we are guided to the Infinite, to chamahua. Nature is the “good spirit” that guides us and shows us the harmony and balance to follow in order to enter the path of the Infinite. Follow this path and all life prospers, and you will attain the ultimate realization.

By Syndey Murray with Ken Small. Published in Vision Magazine, 1991.