The Path Envenomed, what we call metzineria or ponzoñería in our mother tongues is, as its own name states, a Path, and so it implies some degree of movement ‑may it be up or down, forwards or backwards. But, as many other paths, it must be must stride carefully.
Metzineria is not only about plants but about spirits that nurture and destroy us, their lives and death in ourselves. The centrality of plants, however, is due to the fact that each specimen ‑each living being- offers a power which can be encapsulated in the physical word, and so it makes it easier for us to interact with them.
The Human Body is to be seen as an Alembic, and the substances that come in will change our state, and their own state as well. We may warm up, cool down, excite, relax, enjoy, suffer, laugh, cry, or, why not, even die. The Alembic is commanded to acknowledge the substances and will eventually transform them into something totally new, a conjunction with the Poison we have chosen or we have been chosen by.
I pity those who mistake the Path of Poisons with a mindless psychoactive drug intake using the excuse of the plants natural origin, for they are not able to see that any herbal spirit, harmless as it may appear, is a potential Poison. For this path obeys the Paracelsus maximum, “All things are poison and nothing is without poison”.
We actually cannot escape the presence of poisons in this world, all beings are interpellate by Poisons in their daily existence. The difference is that when following this path, we do so gaining consciousness about our vulnerability and the alchemical process it entails.
One word of advice is that there are no lesser or greater Poisons, or, if you will, Poisons cannot be judged in terms of the strength of their effects, they are not predictable, for each of the spirits will have a different relationship with us. There are daily poisons that really affect us even if we haven grown accustomed to them (coffee, alcohol, sugar, tea, …), there are exotic poisons that may destroy us or do nothing to us (apparently). In metzineria no situation can be exactly repeated nor foreseen, for everything changes constantly. In this sense, we should not have EXPECTATIONS regarding Poison, since they give us the message they want to give us, no matter what we expect from them.
And yet, people often ask how to start treading this path. First, of course, the most advisable thing would be not following it, but isn’t that the key point that we just look for, i.e. the destruction of the taboo, delving into the forbidden?
If one wishes to really entail himself in metzineria, it would be advisable to start understanding the importance and different personalities we are dealing with, because, at the end of the day, all Poisons are Spirits hidden under leaves and branches. We all start knowing the plant, loving the plant, fearing the plant (with a sacred respectful fear), connecting with the Spirit that inhabits it, but eventually we will need to ingest, smoke, drink, inhale, anoint it. For real. Then is when the distillation starts.
Sometimes fear may paralyze us, but we should be wise enough to acknowledge this fact, you will have to understand what you are fearing, what are you lacking? What are you craving for? Then you will know what poisons are calling you, which of them frighten you, and will be able to give yourself to them, for the Poison is a teacher, about yourself, about the Path, about the Gods, about Death and Life.
Article written by Semproniana Tort — Júlia Carreras
Reflections on metzineria or the Path of Poisons (I) de Semproniana Tort — Júlia Carreras Tort està subjecta a una llicència de Reconeixement-NoComercial-SenseObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional de Creative Commons
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