Explore & Reframe the Ancient History of Cannabis to Better Understand How It Can Become a Spiritual Ally in Your Life

When you deeply understand cannabis and use it with intention and skill as part of your ongoing spiritual development, it essentially becomes a different plant entirely — with radically different effects and benefits when compared with recreational use.

As your journey begins, Stephen will provide essential context through a brief exploration of the ancient and widespread use of cannabis for spiritual benefit.

As Stephen will explain, we moderns who are now reclaiming and rehonoring cannabis as a spiritual medicine, are standing on broad shoulders — the spiritual use of cannabis is not a recent idea or a “new age” conceit, but has been part of our human experience in many regions of the planet going far back into history and pre-history.

You’ll be guided through a historical timeline and places where this ancient friend and ally has been used for these purposes — and also learn why cannabis is often vilified, misunderstood, and misused.

In this opening module, you’ll explore:

• A history of human cannabis use dating back at least 12,000 years
• How cannabis use spread from the Far East to the farthest reaches of the globe
• Current examples of ritual and religious use
• The “battle” between controllers and freedom-loving people
• A guided Shamatha meditation — a Buddhist practice focused on developing mental stability and focus through sustained attention on a chosen object

Use Cannabis as a Non-Specific Amplifier for Opening Your Heart & Deepening Your Sense of Inner Peace

Drawing on his extensive background as a student and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Stephen will review basic universal principles of spirituality and the path toward our true, unconditional nature. These include the illusion of the egoic separate self, and how cannabis can help dissolve those illusions and conditioned obstacles.

Stephen will examine in detail how cannabis can be a “reality medicine” when used with skill and intention. It’s a holistic energy medicine that works with mind and body simultaneously, functioning as a non-specific amplifier that can be channeled toward an opening of the heart and a deepening sense of inner peace.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• Spirituality, spiritual awakening, and the illusion of the separate ego
• Trusting in awakened nature and encouragement of inner silence as the gateway
• How cannabis can help in dissolving obstacles and egoic illusions
• How “she” (cannabis) is a non-specific amplifier and a truth serum when used with intention
• A guided body scan to blend with your Shamatha practice

Practical Guidance for Working With Cannabis as a Spiritual Guide

Building on the background and principles addressed in the first two modules, Stephen will provide practical, accessible, user-friendly guidance on how cannabis can be effectively incorporated into your ongoing spiritual development.

Drawing on his experience as a cannabis ceremony leader and educator, Stephen will offer thoroughly field-tested guidance on essential practical matters like optimal dosage; the importance of finding the right strain and combination of components; knowing the source of your plant material; misunderstandings and myths around the sativa vs. indica issue; the significant influence of some of the major terpenes in cannabis; and the various methods of intake such as smoking vs. vaporizing, oral ingestion, and sub-lingual administration.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• User-friendly guidance on how to skillfully incorporate cannabis into your ongoing spiritual development
• The importance of the correct dosage
• Various cannabis strains and how their effects can differ
• Dealing with unwanted effects and experiences
• The pros and cons of various methods of intake
• A guided White Light visualization to combine with your new body scan and Shamatha practices

Deepen Your Spiritual Experience by Incorporating Cannabis Into Your Existing Body & Mind Practices

Following the practical guidance provided in Module 3, Stephen will explore various kinds of practices that can work effectively when cannabis is incorporated, beginning with the simplest and purest, like a basic follow-the-breath practice.

These practices can include everything from yoga to chant, breathwork, and movement modalities such as Tai Chi Chuan — plus visualization, chakra tuning, shamanic drumming, dance, and even a meditative walk in the woods.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• The principle of relaxing out of the limiting head-sourced constraints of the confused ego-mind
• Optimal frequency of use when employing cannabis as a spiritual ally
• The necessity of integrating the amplification power of cannabis during mind-body practices for ensuring an optimal experience
• A guided sound journey with shamanic drumming or crystal bowls

Group Ceremonial Work for Cultivating Perseverance & Unforced Discipline

Stephen will discuss the power of a solid “container” and the intangible X factor that can manifest in situations of shared group energy.

He’ll explain how to cultivate a shared sense of commitment, and the resulting unforced discipline that arises naturally in group work settings.

Stephen will also share his field-tested, user-friendly, flexible template for group work developed during his 15 years of experience. You’ll learn about formats and practice variations for group work with the cannabis sacrament, then engage in a condensed experiential run-through of one of these ceremonies.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• The power of group energy in having engaging and transformative experiences
• The importance of a safe, reliable, and experience-based container for group ceremonies
• Variations of group ceremony formats and focus
• A 20-30 minute experiential dry run through Stephen’s ceremony format

Avoid Common Pitfalls So Cannabis Can Help You Manifest Your Creative Visions

The first part of this module will include a discussion of the nature of creativity and artistic endeavor from a spiritual perspective — and how the unique capabilities of cannabis can enhance and stimulate certain kinds of creative thinking and action.

Stephen will guide you to examine elements like intention, dosage, preferred strains, and how to bring ideas back down from “heaven” to the grounded realities of manifesting your visions. You’ll discuss which kinds and stages of creative work are most appropriate for inviting the contribution of this ancient plant ally — and which are best handled without it.

In the second part of this module, Stephen will examine obstacles and cautions that can crop up in working with cannabis — issues like overdosing, dependency, and addiction; cannabis and the adolescent brain; the paranoia phenomenon, and the story of The Three Tests.

In this module, you’ll explore:

• How cannabis can stimulate and clarify creative thinking and some stages of artistic creation
• Practical, real-world guidance for making your vision a reality
• Cautions, obstacles, undesirable outcomes, and counter-indications that come with cannabis use
• A guided creative visualization and thought experiment

Cannabis as a Tool for the Widespread Transformation of Consciousness and as a Sacrament of Peace for the Universal “Religion” of the Future

As this journey comes to a close, you’ll examine the current planetary situation of imbalance and the capability of cannabis to re-establish homeostatic balance in the individual and in society.

Stephen will share some of the ways cannabis can do this with a strong emphasis on right attitude, intention, and skill with a medicine sacrament whose power as an advanced spiritual ally has historically been poorly understood and badly underestimated.

You’ll examine how cannabis, when properly understood and worked with, can function as the sacrament of peace for what you might call an informal, non-hierarchical, non-dogmatic, inclusive universal “religion” of peace and connection.

In this closing module, you’ll explore:

• A brief examination of our current planetary situation and possible visions for our collective future
• The potential role of cannabis in individual and collective consciousness transformation and rebalancing
• The importance of staying behind the medicine with the right attitude, as you humbly let the medicine teach you

Marijuana & the Body-Mind
Chapter by Joan Bello From the Book Cannabis and Spirituality by Stephen Gray

Practical Guidelines for Effective Use of Cannabis as a Spiritual Ally
Digital Handbook From Stephen Gray

Timeless Plant Ally Meditations
Video Teaching From Stephen Gray