How Huachuma Heals Alcoholism, Depression, and Anxiety

There are no adequate words to describe what it feels like to be vibrating in the portal of a full-on dose of Grandfather Huachuma (also known as San Pedro). This divine cactus possesses the power to blast open our hearts, to heal profound trauma and pain, and to move us through the edges and shadows of our psyches, back into the place of safety and joy. While he is inner child medicine that invites the awestruck and curious kids inside us to play without apology, he also has the capacity to bring us through the darkest parts of our beingness. Always with love, but not always with gentleness. As my teacher, the late great Howard Lawler used to say, Huachuma is a feather, but sometimes he’s profoundly heavy one.

Huachuma moves us through the heaviness in our bodies and our lives not because he vibrates in that himself, but because he is medicine of integrity. He does not let us avoid the dualistic experiences that our souls came here to experience. But he does take us through these contractions and elements of suffering with an open heart; this increases our capacity to love the pain and the darkness, to learn to trust every aspect of our conscious lives, and to walk through hell with a smile on our faces.

There is nothing more empowering. And there is no heart medicine stronger than Huachuma, the Cactus King.

Huachuma and Alcoholism: The Ancient Remedy

Painting by Donatella Marraoni

One could easily argue that the incredible heart-spaced vibration of Huachuma is an ideal companion to folks recovering from any addiction, but he has a special potency of healing the wound of alcoholism. An addiction to alcohol is almost always born from two core wounds: One, a broken heart – from trauma, from disappointment in the reality of the world, from the profound intensity of our polarizing, conflict filled world – and two, the belief that it is not safe to feel our emotions.

Alcoholics tend to gravitate to libations because they calm the nervous system, and numb us into a false send of joy. I was once a functioning one myself, so I am intimately familiar with the appeal of a daily dose of escapism. What Huachuma helps us to realize, however, is that there is no escaping the reality of how sensitive we all are – we simply need to learn how to navigate our emotions in a safe and fulfilling way. I truly believe most alcoholics are in fact incredibly sensitive and feeling people; so much so that we reach for something to numb us because of overwhelm and an inability to function.

Huachuma helps to heal alcoholism by creating an unbreakable connection to our hearts. He emphatically teaches us that the only way to release an uncomfortable emotion is to actually feel it, and he doesn’t allow a back door, numbed-out avoidance. Rather, he gives us the experience of liberation by lovingly supporting us through the feeling process, and bringing us to the incredible freedom that awaits any brave soul who is willing to deal with what is.

Furthermore, working with Huachuma brings in a cellular awareness that feeling emotions is in fact safe. Most of us were taught at some point in our childhood that it wasn’t safe to be authentic and emotional, and so we began to negotiate, repress, and deny the complexities that flowed through us. Huachuma unravels that trauma and energetically holds our hands as we learn how safe it is to feel.

This is a game-changer for most alcoholics, because it’s really what we always wanted; to feel empowered and capable to handle our grief, our fear, our anger, and our sadness. Huachuma teaches through experience, not through words or lecturing, so this profound awareness can be anchored into the deepest part of us.

This wisdom is what helped me shift from “needing” alcohol – I learned beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am capable of feeling, and better yet, how rewarding and magical it is to be an emotional alchemist. Grandfather Cactus taught me the incredible gift of alchemizing fear into empowerment, and grief into joy. So instead of running from the challenging emotions that rise up in me, I now welcome the blessing of moving through intense states of being. He taught me to trust them. To lean in, like a buffalo runs into a storm. I always knew the only way out was through, but I didn’t believe I had the capacity to navigate my untamed spaces. Huachuma showed me my limited programming, reflected to me my divine power, and is a constant ally of support and unconditional love.

I no longer identify with being an alcoholic, even though I actually enjoy a couple of beers whenever I choose now. There is no need to escape any state of consciousness, and therefore addiction has been replaced by empowerment, celebration, and self-love.

How Huachuma Works His Magic on Depression and Anxiety

Painting by Niki Glen

In addition to helping us feel safe and supported in feeling the edgy emotions inside us, Huachuma has alkaloids that activate serotonin receptors, which is epic news to any of us that suffer from depression. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that regulates our moods, and is essential for regular sleep patterns too. Because Huachuma helps to activate and balance serotonin, he has a direct link to healing the brain and body. Depression isn’t just a spiritual crisis, but a physical and mental one too, and Grandfather Cactus can literally assist in all levels.

Even more magical, San Pedro also ignites and interfaces with dopamine. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that creates feelings of excitement, motivation, and pleasure. We also know that biochemically speaking, fear and excitement are the same reactions in the body. Huachuma therefore helps us alchemize fear into joy by showing us how to relate to it in a different way. Since he triggers a dopamine reaction, we can relate to the intensity of the energy as excitement, not fear. And because he is so magical in how he quiets our minds and opens our hearts, we can feel safe feeling our life force, and even excited about what we can manifest and co-create with that energy.

I had a conflict-filled relationship with fear before I met Huachuma. Through many incredible journeys with him, and one hell of powerful Master Plant Diet, I learned the intensity I felt on the regular is an honor and a blessing. It’s a superpower, in fact. And he continuously teaches me how to lean in to that energy, and how to work with it, rather than resist it. So he is an absolutely masterful ally for any of us that deal with anxiety. He doesn’t turn off the energy we experience, but rather shift our relationship to it. And that can literally be life-changing!

Huachuma Takes Us Home to Our Hearts

The core of San Pedro / Huachuma’s power lies in his ability to reconnect us to our hearts. This is where home is, the seat of intuition, and the place that is always safe, no matter the chaos of our circumstances in duality. When I’m deep in the portal with this sacred cactus, my mind is silent, my heart is blown open, and I know – unequivocally – that everything has always been and always will be ok. Magical, even. He lets me be in partnership with the perfection of consciousness.

For everything that ails us, the answers reside in the heart. Huachuma – this beloved grandfather spirit – he is the most amazing ally in rediscovering the wisdom that has always been inside us.

Go forth, love on yourself and the plants, and journey well. 

About the Author

Tina “Kat” Courtney, The AfterLife Coach, is a traditionally trained Ayahuasquera and Plant Medicine guide, as well as a vocal advocate for all sacred psychedelic spaces. She is the author of Plant Medicine Mystery School Vol 1: The Superhero Healing Powers of Psychotropic Plants, and she works as an Shamanic Coach, helping seekers prepare for and integrate these amazingly powerful medicines. Kat also works with people confronting issues around death and shadow, and anyone looking to be more deeply connected to their souls. Her calling is to be a light as we walk through our darkness, and to remind us that everything is always OK.