How 12 Mystics Blend Cannabis + Spirituality
By Marie LodiModern witches and spiritual practitioners all over the world are using cannabis in myriad ways, and have created a whole new breed of mystical cannabis spirituality. They use weed to connect to spirit guides, or employ it as a tool for spellwork. And each one is unique—some use cannabis spirituality in all their rituals, while others prefer to keep weed separate for certain practices. And it’s used by both solitary witches and as a collective tool in a coven.
But using cannabis as a spiritual tool has a long history, transcending various groups across many different cultures. Whether it was used as a healing aid, an aphrodisiac, or assisted the work of ancient prophets, cannabis was always an important component in magick rituals and other sacred practices.
Whether it was used as a healing aid, an aphrodisiac, or assisted the work of ancient prophets, cannabis was always an important component in magick rituals and other sacred practices.
Some researchers believe that cannabis played a part in the divinations that occurred at a particularly famous ancient Greek temple. The Oracle of Delphi, who was the priestess of the Greek god Apollo, would sit above a hole in the ground through which vapors would emanate, allowing them to foretell the future in its cloudy haze. One theory suggests the oracle was accompanied by a priest who would burn hemp, among other plants, to create the psychic-inducing fumes.
In 1904, two Nordic women were found buried in a Viking ship from 850 BCE, one of which was believed to be a priestess of the Norse goddess Freya. A talismanic pouch found with them contained evidence of cannabis seed that may have been used in ritual. And in Liber 420: Cannabis, Magickal Herbs and the Occult, author Chris Bennett references ancient grimoires from the 16th century that depicted cannabis recipes used for mirror scrying.
Here, we talk to 12 mystics of varying paths to see how they use cannabis spirituality in their mystical work.
Bri Luna, Founder of The Hoodwitch
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I feel like I'm very sensitive energetically, I feel like it really heightens my senses. So I really use it in times when I'm going to do a personal reading, or before meditation practice. I don't use it generally with other people. I find that it's just a very, like a deeply personal experience for me. It helps me to get into a deeper state of meditation and really allows me to just let my intuition come through more clearly. If I don't want any psychoactive effects, I work with CBD oils, tinctures, candies. I love edibles as well.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I use it with meditation, and definitely when reading my tarot, or if I want to connect deeper. It really does depend on what the intention of the ritual is, and I find that when I'm in natural settings, like the beach, or if I'm going on a hike, if I'm in the forest, and if I know my ritual is going to be in an outdoor space, I really make it a point to work with cannabis, or CBD, prior.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
There's one brand that I particularly love, Flower Food. I use a CBD-infused suppository during my period, which is a time for me when my senses are really heightened, and I feel like they're one of the best products. I also love their CBD-infused honey.
Foria Relief Suppositories, $50
Valeria Ruelas, Intuitive Guide, Tarot Reader, and Bruja
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I really believe in the power of cannabis to heal. In my practice, cannabis can be used as an offering to Santa Muerte because it is one of her sacred plants and so I also use cannabis flowers in candle magick and as an offering to my patron saint.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I love to smoke a bit of cannabis before I do my journaling and meditation. Although I encourage people to learn how to meditate without the help of cannabis first, I do think when used in responsible dosages, cannabis can be a powerful meditation aid. I particularly enjoy the effects of calmness that come from smoking that allow me to zone in and concentrate on my visions. I also really appreciate how cannabis transforms experiences and particularly music into something spiritual for me.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
I encourage everyone to be mindful about where they source their cannabis and CBD! I also always urge people to be woke about the prison industrial complex and to talk about the justice system when it comes to cannabis and the populations of people of color, particularly black people and Latinos that have been impacted by the criminalization of cannabis. When I think of legalization, I urge people to also advocate for prison reform and the release of our black and brown kin from jail for small cannabis-related offenses. Use your voice! I believe in our power as a collective to change this. I have an amazing friend, Hanah, who is based out of San Diego and makes herbal joints with rose, lavender, and hemp to help you relax. These herbal joints are cannabis-free and won't get you high, so they are perfect for those living a sober lifestyle.
Miss Grass Hemp + Herb Mini Pre-Roll Trio, $63
Maggie Wilson, Reiki Master and Cannabis Sommelier
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I first worked with the plant at the age of 19 and shortly after discovered Reiki. I think the cannabis plant spirit led me to this universal energy that channels magick from source through each person. Cannabis has been a part of my rituals and treatment sessions for almost 11 years, and it truly brought about a higher level of frequency healing that I am constantly impressed with.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
Cannabis is incorporated as my companion spirit throughout my own rituals by smoking flower, concentrates, using CBD salves, tinctures, etc. and through my client sessions, by sharing in a communication with the plant spirit before Reiki—asking cannabis to be a guide throughout the session. This is not standard in the lineage of Usui Reiki and I seem to be the first to come out to the world with this as part of my empowering others with their "attunements" (the process to become a Reiki healer).
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users should start?
I recommend starting with researching trusting brands and companies that you can see hold a pure intention. Find out how the plant spirit works best with you and really listen to your intuition. The intention behind how the plant is grown and used is a huge energy that weaves through the spirit of the plant. If you are choosing to work with cannabis on a spiritual level I personally like to use the brand Fruit Slabs. They are a vegan, organic, and no sugar edible which is a great high vibrational, healthy way to work with the cannabis spirit if you don't want to smoke in your practice.
Prismatic Plants Good Day & Good Night CBD Duo, $135
Gabriela Herstik, Writer and Witch
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
It helps me connect to my practice with witchcraft in a deeper way. Cannabis allows me to go into a slightly altered state of consciousness, in my spiritual practice I use this to connect to my intuition, spirit guides, ancestors and to the Goddesses and Gods I work with. I use it as ritual and medicine, following its path with intention and reverence. Although I mostly work with THC, I also like using CBD products like bath salts.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I prefer to smoke and work with flower before I begin my ritual or meditation, seeing the smoke as a sacred offering. Cannabis is an ancient plant that can act as deep medicine, and I have some of my most profound experiences and downloads working with this plant. I’ll mix other herbs into my flower, and I’ll say a little prayer before I smoke to thank the universe and express my gratitude. I’ll also leave cannabis as an offering on my altar for certain rituals and holidays. I have also used products like the Awaken Lube by Foria during my practice with sex magick as a way to deepen sensation and pleasure.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
No matter how or why you consume your cannabis, take some time to be conscious of it. Set an intention for when you smoke. Thank the flower you’re smoking, the plant it came from, the universe, yourself. Use it intentionally, in ritual or before a bath or before masturbating, honoring the connection it helps you foster.
Miss Grass x Playboy Pleasure Kit, $75
Anna Joy, Tarot Reader, Astrologer, Reiki Master, and Podcast Host
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
Growing up in a time when cannabis was illegal (now it’s legal where I live in Massachusetts, yay!) I actually can connect my experience of having to hide and lie about my cannabis smoking, and feeling ashamed of it even as it brought me joy and pleasure, to my experience of doing the same with my identities as a witch and a queer. Reclaiming my love for cannabis and healing my shame around it is definitely part of my spiritual journey … Plants and their spirituality are part of our collective history of magick-making, and those plants should be honored with the utmost respect.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
When I am working through a particular synchronicity in my life and trying to understand its meaning, or when I am trying to put down words to explain my spiritual experience and going nowhere, I puff a bit on some cannabis and suddenly new connections appear before me, making it interesting and easy to express my unique perspective with others. In my client practice, I love to use cannabis for large reading events such as parties where I am reading for dozens of people in one night. I find that in those situations, cannabis helps me to overcome my ego in a special way, allowing me to merge more easily with the various energies of those around me. Of course, everyone’s experience with cannabis is different!
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
Treat the plant as its own living being, which it is. If you can, I highly recommend raising your own cannabis plants or going somewhere that you can interact with live cannabis specimens, before they are harvested. Communing with the living plant as it grows, you will come to understand more about its personality and what it has to offer you. Every varietal is, of course, a bit different and you will see that the more time you spend with cannabis treating it as a person rather than an object.
Edie Parker CBD Nectar Vape Pen, $40
Maja D’Aoust, Author and Scholar of Alchemy and Occult Lore
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
The first time I engaged with cannabis was as a teenager in the forest. I became hyper cognizant that the entire forest around me was alive and breathing. It was not until my 40s when Western Doctors had failed at treating my intestinal infection, but edible cannabis cleared the issue. As a byproduct of treating the illness, I had a perception leap due to the effects of the THC and experienced states of consciousness in other dimensions.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
Cannabis makes the critic voice very audible so you can hear what your complaints are in an undeniably recognizable fashion. Putting our displeasures to the surface is a remarkably valuable tool in processing and releasing them in order for growth and progress to ensue. Cannabis increases mind wandering and exaggerates it. It is not a coincidence that the holy people who use cannabis for spiritual purposes are the Sadus and the Shiva worshipers who engage in the practice of physically wandering from place to place, forever roaming through the mountains and living as vagabonds. These practices mirror the spirit of the cannabis, and they are physically living their lives in the same state as their minds.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
I do not recommend habituating to cannabis use, or anything for that matter. It should be used ritually and periodically. Just as cannabis encourages the wandering aspects of the human nature, habituation causes stagnation, and the plant itself is urging us against going in circles with the familiar, for this has an entity producing effect which makes black holes. We increase our arrogance by thinking we know things but this is only because we have actually limited our experiences to remain comfortable with expectations by doing the same thing over and over. Practice some growth by switching things up.
Barbari Herbal Blends, $23Melinda Lee Holm, Tarot Priestess
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I find that in certain situations, a little bit of mind altering can be a shortcut to a perspective it may otherwise take me much longer to reach. For example, if I am working on the concept for a spell or ritual, I might ingest or inhale a small amount of cannabis to let myself enter a more playful space and ask the Divine to lead to me to ideas and materials that will be most beneficial to those working the spell and to the world. From there I can just sort of wander intellectually and receive. Then later when I am back in a sober state, I take what I've gathered up and mold it into a cohesive form.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
When I get down to the nitty gritty of my practice, I generally refrain from using anything psychoactive. My meditations, spell work, and readings are all done sober. Occasionally, I will microdose an edible when working on writing projects to get to a place that feels more channeled if I feel I am forcing instead of facilitating the flow of words and ideas.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
Start simple! If you want to see if cannabis is right for you, especially in spiritual practice, taking it slow and steady in a controlled environment is key. Get the most mild products you can and build your dose slowly. I love Garden Society Fruit Gelées and Beboe Pastilles. Both are very mild. I am a super lightweight and have to be careful with edibles. Spiritual practice doesn't have to be complicated. Sitting quietly with your eyes closed and asking for guidance is a great way to start. You can hold a crystal in your non-dominant hand to amp up and direct the incoming energy. Be creative, experiment, find what works for you, and remember you are a human vessel of the Divine.
Lord Jones Old-Fashioned CBD Gumdrops, $45
Mey Rude, Witch, Writer, Consultant
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I worship Santa Muerte, a Mexican folk saint, who's sort of a combination of Mictēcacihuātl, the Aztec death Goddess, and some Mexican Catholic sensibilities. In my room, I have a small shrine dedicated to her. She's extremely powerful, and also completely judgement-free (unlike a lot of Catholic saints) and so a lot of her followers are queer, undocumented, homeless, sex workers or from other marginalized communities. For me cannabis is a way for me to connect with her and give her gifts. She protects me and watches over me and my loved ones, and I want to give her things that she likes. One of those things is cannabis.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I leave several kinds of gifts at my altar. I put a cup of clear water every day, and sometimes I'll put money or candy or fruit. She really likes alcohol, so when I used to drink, I'd pour out shots for her as well. Now that I don't drink anymore, I smoke with her instead. I only have a statue of her, so sometimes I'll keep a lit joint next to her for a bit or take a hit and blow the smoke onto her shrine as an offering or a thank you.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
Well, for people who want to set up a small shrine in their apartment, I'd recommend vape pens and cartridges. Those don't leave a smell the way a joint will, so you can take a few hits from your vape and exhale onto the statue without making the same smoke and smell that flower does.
Tonic Balancing CBD Vape Pen, $80
Michael Cardenas, Head Witch and Owner at Olde Ways
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
Cannabis has been an intense teacher in my life and I don’t approach it lightly. It always brings my awareness to what needs to be healed within me, what I’m needing emotionally, and I use it for the purpose of spiritual healing, meditation, sex magic, and sleep on occasion. It activates my empathic abilities to a whole other level so I don’t use it socially and like to be in a safe space when I use it.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I use non-psychoactive CBD more frequently in spiritual baths and teas as medicine to help with my generalized anxiety disorder. Before using it, I connect with the plant spirit and ask it to heal me. I also use cannabis when I know I need to go within and do some shadow work on myself. I’ll set up a sacred space and lay some crystals all over my body while communicating with my guides. It’s always a very healing experience.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
My advice is to use small doses and work your way up if you’re going to use it for spiritual purposes. The goal isn’t to get high, it’s to make a deeper connection. Before using either form set your intention with the plant and ask it to connect with you. Set up a sacred space by cleansing your space with something like Palo Santo and sprinkle some rosewater you have prayed over to shift your awareness towards the sacred before using either form. I don’t recommend using psychoactive cannabis for spellwork since you need complete and total grounded focus, and cannabis tends to take you out of body. I do recommend using it for meditation, personal healing work, ecstatic movement, sacred sex, and working in nature.
Playboy CBD Bath Bomb, $15Leah Guerrero, Creator of Brujita Skincare
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
Being introduced to cannabis at a young age led me to a lot of truths about the world and especially people. It helped me figure out what I wanted out of life and how to put my full intention into grounding myself … I matured at a young age but my calling was from The Light. The Light is my spirituality and everything that I do or touch is with Light always. While doing facials I started to realize that my Light energy would transfer into my clients thru massage. Now that I’m creating and making products, all my Light and intention is now transferred into them.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
Smoking cannabis allows me to be in tuned with all ingredients that I am utilizing, which are all from Earth. You can’t get more raw or organic than that. Smoking helps me dive in and meditate on the stories of all these ingredients and recognize each intention that they hold. The raw materials have a story with so much intention and so much force that it’s hard to overlook. Using cannabis as a medium to connect with this energy allows the realm to open up to me.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
Honestly I feel skin care is a great beginner’s outlet. We use skin care products everyday so using CBD skin care products is a fun and easy approach. Products with CBD are known for decreasing inflammation and preventing future breakouts. Lips balms are always my favorite to recommend to first time CBD users because they aren’t intimidating and lip balms are totally essential. Using CBD soaps are also an easy recommendation because it simple for mind and body to connect to.
Frigg Face Potion, $60Ashley Manta, Witch, Reiki practitioner, Sex Educator, Creator of Cannasexual
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
Cannabis is such a powerful master teacher for me. It is of the earth, and I resonate very strongly with earth energy and earth magic, and it is a feminine spirit in the plant. So, I see cannabis very much as like a mother and teacher. When I consume flower and other cannabis products, but flower especially, I will perform Reiki on them when I bring them into my space. I will give gratitude to the growers who took it from seed to flower, the people who have been impacted by the war on drugs. I try to make it a very holistic, thoughtful practice every time.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
When you smoke cannabis out of a bong you are actually uniting all of the elements, earth, air, fire, and water. So especially when I'm smoking flower out of a bong, I try to be very mindful of the fact that I'm doing spells every time I take a hit. I try to be present with what I'm doing and not be distracted, and not be just reaching for it out of habit. Last year for my birthday, I had a blunt rolled up in rose petals. I had my coven together, and we each took turns holding the rose blunt and setting an intention. I had each of them blow a blessing into it, and then I lit it, took the first hit, and then we passed it around, of course always to the left. It was a really cool ritual. And I've done a lot of rituals with cannabis and sex magic.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
I would first recommend reading, following folks who are doing cool work. I love Foria, just because they're a great company. They use other plant medicine and botanicals in their CBD lube, Awaken. It has cacao, cardamom, ginger, peppermint, cinnamon, and so they do kind of take a holistic approach, which I appreciate. Lizzy Jeff is a rap priestess, cannabis medicine woman. She has these events Zen & Kush. They're sensual and empowered, and super energetically aware and aligned, so I would highly recommend those.
Foria Awaken CBD Arousal Oil, $48
Natalia, Holistic Cannabis Practitioner, Shaman, Founder of Hiiighvibes
How does cannabis relate to your spirituality?
I had a spiritual awakening in my bathtub while I was having a cannabis bath. I had a vision that I was meant to help others elevate their well-being. This vision ended in an old, cataract eye of a man I have never met or seen before. He was searching for something...for me. It was in that moment that I knew I had to step out the cannabis closet and guide others to elevate their well-being to new heights. It was in that moment I was chosen to be a shaman, I always knew I was connected to something bigger than me; when I healed myself I watched how it helped others around me also heal.
How do you incorporate cannabis into your practices?
I use CBD everyday and some form of THC usually. It’s very important for me to be a high-functioning stoner. I believe there are many nuances to this highly spiritual plant: such as micro-dosing, and using rotating medicines to avoid drug resistance. Cannabis has both black and white energy. With intention, cannabis can elevate from a recreational activity to something with incredible energy. Cannabis is a female plant. We must honor her plant spirit. It’s time we start treating her with the respect she deserves.
Where should spiritually-curious cannabis users start?
I love how cannabis can instantly elevate or change your mood. Whenever I’m in a shitty mood I find a joint to be very effective. I enjoy taking the time to roll, I find rolling to be a very relaxing activity when I have the time. Be ever so present as you look and smell your buds before grinding them up. Enjoy crafting a filter and sprinkling your flower into the joint and rolling up. Before indulging, take a moment to give thanks. This meditative moment is crucial.
Fleur Du Mal Angel Sleeve Robe, $375