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The Erotic Intelligence of Plants: A Heuristic Inquiry of Women's Sexual/Spiritual Experiences with Sacred Amazonian Plant Teachers.


Web link: www.neip.info/upd_blob/...

Abstract

This dissertation investigated how sacred Amazonian plant teachers (that is to say, plants believed to possess spirits who communicate with humans) offered erotic experiences that transformed women’s sexual/spiritual lives. A qualitative research methodology following Moustakas’s (1990) heuristic approach was utilized. The data was collected through interviews with seven North American women who participated in ayahuasca ceremonies and plants diets within the Shipibo vegetalista tradition of Peru. The general research question that guided the study was as follows: How can Amazonian plant teachers offer women erotic experiences that transform the quality of their sexual/spiritual lives? Nine core themes were identified from the data analysis: purification and support for reproductive health; increased sensory awareness; healing sexual abuse trauma; transforming relationship with self; empowered decision making; enhanced intimacy with others; enhanced cognitive awareness; connecting with subtle energies; and connecting with God. The findings highlighted that women’s experience with plant teachers involved energetic purification and openings that inspired transformation on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. The women stated that they felt physically supported through reproductive phases such as menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, and menopause and that particular physical ailments were cured. Several of the women experienced healing of emotional and spiritual aspects that were intimately interwoven with past sexual abuse trauma. Along with physical and emotional purification there were cognitive and behavioral realignments that occurred. The women mentioned the importance of setting boundaries, protecting their energetic space, and exercising assertiveness and discernment in their relationships. They found that plant teachers offered a connection with other-than-human entities in the subtle realms as well as a pathway to God. They remembered that honoring their feminine identity and viewing their bodies as sacred temples were the foundation in becoming spiritually embodied. Although some authors have alluded to the intersection between vegetalismo and eroticism (Beyer, 2009; Campos, 2011; Cowen, 1995; Glass-Coffin, 1998; Metzner, 2006; Razam, 2010) there has been no rigorous research conducted on this phenomenon as well as a lack of female perspective in the literature, in particular about issues of sexual health, and it is hoped that this study is a contribution to the field of vegetalismo studies. The intention of the primary researcher was to dive into the depths of the mystery to affirm women’s embodied wisdom, the divine feminine, and the erotic impulse in life.