Is She Alright, Eric?
There is a plant whose spirit is so powerful that she has gone from her humble beginnings in the foot hills of the Andes, to go on to achieve complete and utter world domination. Originally held as sacred by the Incas, she now has devotees praying to her, down on their knees in virtually every pub toilet across the globe. She is worshiped across all social strata from the ghettos of Venezuela to the Houses of Parliament in London. She has ensorcelled mankind to such an extent, that many are willing to go to extraordinary lengths, including murder, to ensure her cultivation and dispersion. I am of course talking about Mama Coca, Erythroxylum coca or the cocaine plant.
You may well have never taken the extracted cocaine before but I’m pretty sure you would have encountered this plant in some form or other. Apart from being a staple in every dentist’s pharmacy, the coca plant has also made its way in to every shop, shack and supermarket in the world by way of the soft drink Coca-Cola. Originally ‘Coke’ actually contained the alkaloid cocaine but nowadays it has to rely on just the flavourings from the coca plant to achieve its popularity. But still, the spirit is there.
All drugs start off as a medicine and cocaine is no different. The natives of the Andes use coca leaf as a kind of mild stimulant. It gives you a bit more oomph when hiking through the mountains and alleviates altitude sickness. Even now if you arrive in Bolivia via La Paz airport, they give you a cup of coca leaf tea before you get off the plane to prepare you for life at 4000 meters.
From a Chinese medicine perspective the coca plant pertains to the Metal element and the Lungs and Large Intestine. Its energetic direction is to contract inwards, which accounts for the lung’s increased ability to absorb more oxygen from the air. This contraction can also be seen to manifest in the large intestine and highlights coca’s well known ability to stimulate the bowels.
However mankind is seemingly never content with a mild stimulant and will go to great lengths to extract and fortify a plant’s chemical constituents. This is how we end up with drug cocaine. The energetic effect of cocaine is also to contract but in a more concentrated and strengthened manner. If you have ever had a conversation with someone who was on it, then you may recognise this in the way that they often talk about themselves, or how cocaine users at a party may go off in to room on their own.
The main problem is that cocaine in its pure form can be highly addictive. This is due to the effect it has on the neuro-transmitters and the dopamine circuit. Basically every time the brain detects cocaine in the blood stream it gives a little rewarding feeling. This sensation is fleeting and leaves you quickly seeking for another reward. You may have personally experienced a similar sensation when scrolling through your smart phone, as the designers of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and the like, understand the dopamine response very well and use it effectively to get people hooked on to their devices. Keep searching for another quick video to watch, keep searching for another quick high.
Anything that is addictive, in Chinese medicine, will eventually deplete the Kidneys. This is because the aspect of our consciousness known as the Zhi resides here. This can be roughly translated as your will and it is eroded by habits and addictions. An understanding of these energetic effects means that Chinese medicine would be good basis for someone who wants to give up cocaine. For example with acupuncture we may decide to tonify the Kidneys, ensuring a stronger will power and we would work with the Lungs, whose function may have become impaired, due to them being overly reliant on the energetically contracting nature of the drug.
Having an all-encompassing theoretical frame work such as that held by Chinese medicine, means that when we look in to the spirit of something, be it a plant, a drug or even a feeling, we can understand its actions and effects in a much more holistic and comprehensive manner.