Aluna
The Kogi people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia speak of Aluna - the cosmic consciousness, the Great Mother, the mind inside nature.
To the Kogi, Aluna is the source of all life, the thought behind physical reality. Before anything can exist in the physical world, it must first exist in Aluna.
The Kogi call themselves the "Elder Brothers" and consider it their responsibility to maintain the balance of the world through their connection to Aluna. They believe that everything is connected - that actions in one place affect the whole.
The Teaching
What if we lived as though everything were alive and conscious?
What if we understood that our thoughts create reality, that the inner world shapes the outer?
What if we truly felt our connection to all beings, to the mountains, the rivers, the air we breathe?
The Kogi remind us that we have forgotten something essential. In our rush toward "progress," we have lost our connection to the source.
Returning
Perhaps herbalism, at its heart, is a path back to Aluna.
When we sit with plants, learning their language, we begin to hear the voice of the earth again. We remember that we are not separate from nature - we are nature, becoming aware of itself.
The plants are teachers, bridges between worlds. They carry the memory of Aluna, the wisdom of the Great Mother.
And when we work with them with reverence and gratitude, we participate in the dreaming of the world.