Sometimes I ask myself why my interest in peyote lives so strongly in my heart. It is not a conscious choice that I make. There is no decision upon awakening to greet the medicine outside my door. It’s more like instinct, like the love for a family member that only increases with time.
It’s as if I’ve discovered a miracle, or more like a miracle has discovered me. This beautifully humble plant growing on the earth has uncovered my own potential to accept love, songs, community, stories, and healing.
This last mentioned aspect, healing, can have many levels involving physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments. From easing the pain and inflammation of a scorpion sting to resolving deep emotional wounds of our past, nobody is exempt from the need for healing on some level in this life. And in this way, peyote seems to work like a master key of sorts, unlocking our personal healing needs which we might not even be aware of.
Aside from my own experiences, I am often impressed, and still surprised to some degree, when I hear other’s stories of personal encounters with the medicine working its own miraculous ways in their lives.
Such was the case when I recently read the account of Daniel Edmondson, a man who lost his legs, and nearly his life, in an accidental encounter with a freight train. I was so impressed with Daniel’s account of his journey to wholeness that I reached out to him in hopes of his being willing to share his story with listeners of The Peyote Lorax podcast.
It is with much gratitude to my new friend that I am glad to present an interview with Daniel. His recounting of his dealing with trauma of this nature and his phantom limb pain is inspiring to anybody, but particularly to those of us whose trauma is less physically obvious than someone who faces relearning how to walk in this world without the limbs that most of us take for granted on a daily basis.
I highly recommend that everyone, whether you have a relationship with peyote or not, listen to Daniel’s testimony as he shares his own transformation instigated by his first meeting with peyote in tipi ceremony. It’s hard to not be inspired by his faith and courage in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. Facing his own doubts, Daniel chooses and finds wholeness with the help of the medicine. This is a great example of the miraculous nature of the medicine combined with our own potential for personal wellbeing, regardless of our circumstances. Many thanks to Daniel for sharing such inspiration and insight with us.
Great Creator of all being, thank you for our lives. Give us this day, another opportunity to find our own wholeness and joy in being alive.
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