On Entheogens: Kava

On Entheogens: Kava
A close up of kava root

Piper methysticum, the miraculous root

Kava is embedded in the threads of Pacific Islander history going back a long, long time, in various capacities depending on which specific culture we're considering. It is used to create, strengthen, and lubricate social bonds; often being used to open certain social ceremonies or welcome newcomers. It is offered when entering a new people's land for the first time, and it is consumed recreationally in some contexts. It is also used in religious ceremonies. It does not have the same specific contextual embedding in its own culture as something like ayahuasca or peyote, but is perhaps more akin to marijuana, alcohol or hashish: used often in religious contexts but also in relatively casual ones.

Kava, also known as "kava kava" or scientifically as Piper methysticum, is a plant native to Vanuatu, a nation comprised of dozens of islands in the South Pacific. This plant has spread throughout Polynesia and to Hawaii where it has been used for millennia, and now of course it is a global export. As a legal entheogen here in the US, it's boomed in popularity, and like most of the substances we'll discuss in this series, it's story is a little tangled.

"Kava" refers to both the root that is consumed (most frequently) as well as the entire plant that the root is pulled from. It is only propagated with clones, though there are cultivars that introduce minor genetic variation, sometimes related to geography and other times due to selection by farmers. Most of the kava that is being exported today is still grown in Vanuatu. These plants take about four years before they can be harvested, and the longer they grow the higher their potency. This makes their cultivation somewhat unsustainable: perhaps not as unsustainable as agave for mescal, for instance, but with impact somewhat in that zone as far as I can tell. I don't have a lot of information related to the land use impact of medium to large-scale kava production.

Popularized in the United States first in the 1990's[1], Kava is purported to provide effects similar to alcohol: social lubrication, reduced anxiety, mild euphoria, somatic relaxation. However, its popularity is in part due to its lack of side effects[2] as well as its lack of the qualities that are typically seen in recreational drugs that make them "addictive" or "habit forming".

This all makes kava a difficult substance, when sussing out whether our not our use of it is justified or ethical. On the one hand, it's certainly not as cut and dry culturally as blue lotus, of which almost none of us are able to get our hands on the "real" culturally significant flower, and whose cultivation is quite simple and low-impact[3]. With blue lotus, the global demand is not creating undue strain or alteration of intact cultures for whom the plant has religious significance, where in the case of kava, it is. There is no doubt that the creation of "industry" centered on the production of an otherwise spiritually and socially significant plant, wherein many Vanuatu residents are now reliant on this industry for income, creates enormous shifts in the way that this culture relates to this plant. However, as tangled as this is, there now is an enormous incentive for many members of these cultures to advocate for responsible, intentional use of kava rather than the total abstinence from it, because their economy is relatively dependent on its export. Additionally, kava's relative "mildness" in terms of its lack of side effects and addictiveness make it a genuinely safe substance, in most cases.

From my understanding, the use of kava by outsiders is not as "damaging" to perception or context as, for example, the mass influx of white residents of the Global North into South America to enter into "ayahuasca retreats". Because kava is such a multi-contextual substance, there does not seem[4] to be such broad frustration about its use, nor does there seem to be the same concerns about the "taking" of the medicine from its Indigenous stewards.

With all of this being said, I think kava is one of the more relatively harmless substances one could utilize, if – as its advocates and producers request – one can be intentional about its use and not turn to it as just another way to "get high".

Pharmacology

The pharmacology of kava is so complex I will primarily turn readers to this source for further reading as I am not certain I can in any brief way make most of this information more digestible to the average person than they do. However, I will mention that noble kava cultivars are generally comprised of several so-called "kavalactones", or molecules that are bioactive and create physiological and physically perceptible effects on the user. First, some of these kavalactones potentiate GABA activity, similar to benzodiazepines (though not necessarily through the same mechanisms). Some also prevent the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine – this leads to a "flooding" of these "feel-good" chemicals in the brain, responsible in part for the euphoric effects of kava.

Use in a Spiritual Context

While kava is a substance of interest to me for a variety of reasons, it is not one that has ever featured in our group rituals here. However, the primary use that I have found is that of dream work. While blue lotus is generally purported to be the miracle substance for such work, I find it fairly inept as it leads to deep sleep that feels dreamless to me without pairing with a fairly strong stimulant like caffeine or ginseng. Kava, on the other hand, isn't necessarily sedative. That isn't to say it's entirely not sedative, as anything that creates somatic relaxation can, of course, lead to sleepiness, but I find that this isn't it's primary effect. On the other hand, kava leads to incredibly visual, prophetic dreams when paired with training and at the right dosage, with the right contextual preparation.

For preparation, I engage in extensive seated meditation visualizing the information I need[5]. I then prepare the kava, a somewhat high dose, using a method of massaging the root powder in a muslin bag in a bowl of water (this takes quite a bit of effort and shortcuts[6] can be made with a blender, but I only take such shortcuts when taking kava for relaxation or socialization) while continuing to focus on my intention. The entire preparation is then a kind of ritual, though it's often done in my kitchen rather than a designated ceremonial space, that doesn't seem to matter. For all intents and purposes the kitchen of a commune is a kind of ceremonial space, though not one which is as controlled as spaces set up for one specific ritual. I then will have set aside time to take a solo nap, for which I set a strict endpoint: usually an alarm set for the 30 minute mark. The sleep is then usually not too deep, and the ability to recall the dreams is quite intense.

Whether kava is leading me to some kind of state where I am divining through the dream (i.e: "contacting divinity" or "accessing cosmic knowledge" or however you choose to verbalize this) or pulling relevant evidence out of my subconscious and presenting it to my rational mind in a symbolic, understandable way is irrelevant. I make no claim either way. The only claim I can make is that there are specific results, the dreams are steeped in symbolism that is legible and relevant to the intention that was set for them, and they have yet to be incorrect.

Of course, given kava's properties, it may potentially also be useful as a meditation aid, or a way to help bring a group of people into a psychic space for a shared ritual. However, as discussed in our blue lotus article, I think that there are better ways to accomplish this.

Final Thoughts

I was originally going to say something quite different here, but several days have lapsed since I began writing the "Use in a Spiritual Context" section and this one, and a few intense experiences have shifted my thinking. I think that this is valuable for people considering using any of the substances I plan on speaking about, and so I will share.

Recently, kava is something I've been sharing with other residents as a social lubricant and relaxation aid more than usual, and making excuses for my increasing use of: I've been incredibly anxious, there are definitely environmental factors I can point my finger to, but in general I think that I've been just having a difficult time psychologically and using some of these legal substances to cope. Generally, I do not endorse this kind of use of substances. Regardless of what "authorities" say the addictiveness or habit-forming tendencies of a substance are, I am certainly one to form bad relations with substance when other factors are not in my favor, and this is something I've been working on my entire life (and something that has generational significance for me). On Friday night, this culminated in me making plans with a fellow resident and collaborator to stay up late after we watched a show together and do art: I put some kava extract in coffee and drank it as we watched, planning on having some calm focus and energy afterwards. Preceding this, I had an intense experience during my meditation practice that evening, entering a sort of consciousness portal that I did not intentionally open, and requesting it be closed until I could set my boundaries and come back intentionally at a later time. Either a) psychological stress culminated to create what followed, b) the kava extract itself and the coffee created the illness, c) I was coming down with a stomach bug anyway and it just happened to hit me after all of these coincidental events, or d) there was the very real need for me to experience a psychic purge and have the realizations that followed. Whichever of these explanations you choose, what happened was an entire night of violent illness, and an almost psychedelic realization that I was poisoning myself and that there are things externally I need to solve as well as internally, which are only being held off by the substances. It was a deep understanding that I was not abiding by my own principles, that I was violating the sacred pacts I've formed through my Practice and own values.

With this, I've entered into a period of deep sobriety, rethinking the way that I utilize substances entirely. While in general this is the way I live, and have lived since I was about 22, I'm aware that I swing into periods of more liberal use of these legal aids occasionally, and that it's way too easy to say "this is a period, I need this right now" and then not find it as easy to stop when I say I will.

So what I have to say to you, on the subject of kava, and which may be a little repetitive of something I said when I introduced this series is this: there are lots of substances that can be useful aids to Practice. And sometimes they are worth using. But usually, if we're being honest with ourselves, there is a better way to engage in Practice. I think that as Westernized people 95% of the time when we claim we're using something in a spiritual context it's a half truth, and that we're generally seeking something else. Perhaps it's a shortcut to enlightenment, perhaps we meditate better when we're sedated, perhaps we can only calm our bodies with medicines, perhaps we crave the lightning bolt we think psychedelics will strike us with (though we lack what to do with it afterwards, without grounding). However, we would do well to remember that these medicines have almost always historically been offered contextually, by someone else. Some cultures drink kava, some chew betel nuts, some chew coca leaves, or kratom. But with these examples it is not to say that these cultures are not full of individuals who are self-medicating when they are doing these things constantly, and we (as well as most of the cultures that still maintain habitual practices like betel nut chewing and so on after colonization) lack a culture of elders or medicine people who know when we should make these decisions to imbibe better than even we do.

Kava has a complicated history, and is a plant mired in complicated global economics. The only people who can teach us how to use it are those who grow it, and their incentives are now hinged on us using it, their economies mired in the reality of needing to ship at a profit, and yet with their own internal desire to share it with an intentional, thoughtful audience. So if we choose to use it at all, let us do so only as intentionally as they do: to welcome a guest, to let the land speak to us through dreams. And let us be wary, always, of our own desires, lest they lead us astray.

Thank you for reading. I think that next time I may take a break from our entheogens series to discuss my Practice a little bit more, though I'm not entirely sure yet what form that will take. As always, please share with a friend if you think that what I have to say is useful, and comment if you have anything you think should be added. Until next time ~

Notes

  1. At which time misinformation about its dangers being blown up by the US media actually crashed the kava economy in Vanuatu and other countries where cultivation is economically critical. See this article for more.
  2. There is a differentiation between "noble" and "non-noble" cultivars of kava. "Non-noble" cultivars are cheaper to produce and ready to harvest much earlier, but have undesirable pharmacological composition and their consumption by unwitting consumers can lead to side effects. Additionally, kava extracts have been known in some cases to cause liver damage, as there is some relationship between the novel (non-traditional) extraction process that damages or extracts out key liver-protecting compounds.
  3. As far as I am aware this is the case, though I could see a case being made for potential water use concerns if cultivated at a large enough scale. However, it doesn't seem enough people are talking about this particular concern with this particular plant for me to find information about it.
  4. I am reliant on the opinions I can seek out on this matter, and am in no way making this statement as though it is the be-all end-all of opinions on the subject. I am simply sharing my knowledge, with all of its limitations, in the form that it exists in the moments I am writing this.
  5. This is intentionally a vague statement, as I feel it's probably apt to go into detail on how to engage in a similar meditative practice at some point, though that will also necessitate a larger discussion of the princples of magick, and possibly an elucidation of what my belief system or Practice actually is.
  6. Many people have told me that kava has never felt psychoactive to them. Perhaps this is in part due to differing biology, but I think the most common issue is starting with too low of a dose and not activating the kavalactones appropriately. The root powder must be agitated a significant amount for the kavalactones to activate. This requires 40 minutes or more of hand massaging or 3+ minutes at a high speed in a high speed blender like a Vitamix. The traditional method of preparation is massaging the powder in water for an extensive amount of time with hands or feet, and it is prepared as a kind of ritual, with a very excited or even ecstatic energy. Fat does also help the kavalactones to become more available, and so I usually add milk to mine. Coconut milk is traditional, because kava comes from Pacific Islander culture, but we do not purchase coconut products because they are unethical as an import to the US.