Microdosing with Cannabis
By Neil Kirwan
For centuries mankind has turned to cannabis as a pain reliever. Today, as legalization, decriminalization, and commercialization move strongly into the space, the plant is perhaps more widely used than ever. And in particular, it is more socially accepted across all walks of society following decades of demonization.
Many have turned to cannabis for medical purposes, with the reasons being wide and varied. The plant is considered safe to use for a number of ailments outside of being a painkiller. It is rumored to have been a staple in every physician's cupboard before it was slandered and pushed into criminalization.
With many turning to the plant for its healing qualities, microdosing has become a popular option. Working with a plant in this way can bring long-term support for an ailment that is going to take longer to heal. As is the way with most herbalism, time is a necessary part of the healing process. When we ally with a plant during our healing, it can greatly expedite and assist. In the case of cannabis, she can aid greatly when it comes to pain management.
Ganja’s Matronly Ways
I often refer to cannabis as a triage nurse, as she’s excellent at stabilizing pain in a way that allows a person to continue with their daily life. A big part of this pain management is helping people to sleep. This simplification risks undervaluing the full spectrum of what cannabis can help to heal. The list is extensive and exhaustive, from asthma to cancer and a myriad of conditions relating to the body and mind.
In my own experiences with cannabis, she hints with a wink at her work with a well-known healer, who was rumored to help the blind see again (glaucoma) and cure those possessed by evil spirits (epilepsy). I won’t mention any names.
Like with all triage nurses, though, eventually, you will need to see a doctor, surgeon, or specialist if you truly want to heal.
The Stick From Cannabis
This is where cannabis gets what people call ‘sticky,’ and what was once used becomes abuse or dependency. It’s not just the physical issues that cannabis helps people with. She makes the emotional ones, the trauma that people carry, more bearable to carry, too. This is essentially all any addict is doing… pain management for levels of pain that would otherwise be intolerable if it weren’t for the substance they are addicted to. Hence, we can get into very blurry territory.
In many cases, it is the only thing that brings a sense of peace. However, this can often be tangled up in escapism and avoidance, which are clever ways to avoid our pain, avoid facing it, and feel it. It’s a very grey area. Who’s to say when someone is ready for this, for some maybe never, however, in my experience it is the only way. Eventually, you must go to the places you fear the most if you truly seek liberation. Cannabis won’t push you to get there. She’ll hold your pain for as long as you need. And in that sense, she has an unfair reputation for being sticky. Of being clingy.
I think that’s rather a human projection. It 's us who cling to our pain, suffering, and trauma, and that’s okay. We can, however, release when the circumstances are right. We can slowly and safely heal in the right spaces.
Meditations and Mystical Experiences
Cannabis is not just a healer in that sense. Spiritually, universally, she can unlock secrets in a way that no other plant can. Just don’t expect your brain to be able to bring them back. When journeying with cannabis, it’s clear just how ingrained she is in human culture—and not just one culture but one that has been present worldwide throughout history.
Microdosing with cannabis for the purposes of journeying/meditating is a beautiful way to expand your consciousness. It can shed light on and piece together many valuable lessons, given in a way that only she can.
Some of my most mystical experiences have been with this plant, especially in containers like a cannabis master plant dietas. She can certainly take you deep into the fabric of reality, into human consciousness and how we relate to a pantheon of gods from cultures around the world, the energies they represent, and how we can interact with them for our highest good.
Put Your Best Foot Forward When Working with Cannabis
How we work with Indricana (what I call Cannabis) is perhaps the most important part of this process. I’m really not a fan of smoking for two reasons:
Rolling a joint becomes a ritual that fills a hole in a life that is sorely missing ritual. Much in the same way that racking lines of cocaine can become a ritual. Ritual is good, but in these instances, there is a subversion going on. The subversion comes when our rituals are about what serves us without the important part of how we can serve others. This imbalance is what leads to the rampant greed and egotism around these particular rituals. Not for everyone. I don’t want to disparage or disrespect Rastafarian culture and how they smoke ganja, for example. There are some exceptions.
You will not experience the plant in the same way when you smoke it as when you ingest an oil made from it. When we ingest Indricana, it’s processed in the liver, and we feel the full chemical and spiritual force of the plant. In much the same way, chewing coca leaves or drinking the tea is very different from snorting a line of cocaine, where only certain alkaloids are present.
Both situations can lead to a misaligned and imbalanced experience, which creates a misaligned and imbalanced relationship.
How we source the plant becomes of equal importance. Imagine spending your day in nature under the sun, barefoot on the earth. Now imagine spending your day sitting in a cubicle under artificial lights. This is how much of the cannabis we produce is grown. Under lights with artificial fertilizers and forced growth.
A special shout-out goes to the UK government, the largest producer and supplier of medical cannabis in the world, a country where cannabis is still illegal. Oh, the hypocrisy, the shadows.
The paranoia, the anxiety, and the psychosis that we label cannabis as inducing is an illumination of our own shadows, both personal and collective. When we work with Cannabis openly and are willing to discuss these shadows, magic will happen. When we remain hellbent on ignorance and a ‘take the pain away’ mentality of an infant, we’re not heading anywhere pretty. Especially as we are supposed to be grown-ups now, I’m told.
To put things simply, how we treat this plant during her growth and in the context of how we imbibe with her has a definitive sway on the kind of relationship and experience we’ll have. She does not treat everybody the same; she treats them accordingly.
Creating a Sacred Container
Once we have begun to treat this plant with respect and consider how she is grown and ingested, how do we bring about her highest potential? For the love of all things holy, please don’t call her weed, or we won’t be talking anymore. Come on, have some respect.
Be ceremonial, sing to her, pray to her, carry intentions. Set a time phase for how long you will work with her to stabilize your ailments or engage in a module of learning.
Have a care plan in place outside of cannabis if that’s possible. How are you going to face your rampant anxiety or IBS, what support do you need, and what tools can help you get to the root of your healing? This is super important; if we don’t have a plan, we’re in danger of leaning on cannabis forevermore. In some cases this is necessary, in others it’s escapism.
Open up to the reciprocity of healthy relationships, make it two way, not just all about you.
Give her time and space to work with you in the right context. Maybe don’t eat edibles on a plane, for example, which seems to be where all the best/worst stories are made. Would you drink Ayahuasca on a plane? I’ve never tried, but if you have, let me know.
And most of all, don’t give cannabis the wrong name because you chose the wrong way. We can do better, much better when we’re willing.
If you want to learn more about my relationship with Indricana, check out my blog, “ A Master Plant Dieta with Cannabis/Ganja.”
About the Author
Neil Kirwan has many years of experience behind and in front of the altar, apprenticing with Ayahuasca in the Shipibo-Conibo and Huni Kuin traditions. He has completed multiple Master Plant Dietas, including work with the potent, transformative Noya Rao tree. Neil is a trauma-informed, highly compassionate shamanic coach and guide, with an expertise in helping folks prepare for and integrate challenging Plant Medicine ceremonies, as well as leading Master Plant Dietas with dreamy, psychically connected Mugwort.
