Kthonigens: Plants of Fate
Atropos (The Fates) Francisco Goya 1823
Known as Morai to the Greeks and Nornir to the Germanic people, these enigmatic and primal forces are known by many names. They are the personification of an inescapable law that binds us all. Destiny. You may not believe in personal destiny. You may feel that it compromises our free will, but in a Universe where even time and space are relative it is hard to argue that there is NOT an unseen force guiding all of this. The Fates as we know them, are a triad of women, sometimes beautiful and sometimes hideous. Regardless of their appearance or their names, they are powerful. We can think of the Fates as the guiding force of the Divine Will, the enforcers of Natural Law. These figures are always female, and they represent various stages of life, death and rebirth. In the Northern Tradition the Norns are said to live in the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil, where they carve runes into the wood to direct the course of events in the lives of the humans and the gods. In ancient Greek mythology, the Morai are so powerful that even the gods heed their word.
Connecting with these primal forces in ritual is a serious task, and many practitioners say that it is a dangerous idea to call Fate into our circle. I disagree. I believe that they are already there, and that when we practice magic of any kind we embody their work. The Fates spin, measure and cut the threads of human existence. They are the weavers of the most important and powerful incantations. The ones that hold the universe together.
Inviting the Fates into our circle, into our lives, is like holding onto a lightning rod in a thunderstorm. They can be the most powerful allies when it comes to co-creating your destiny, but they do so through “tower card” scenarios. Working with poisonous and psychoactive nightshades is a lot like this. It is important that this only be done during the most important transition periods in one’s life. After shamanic death, it is the Fates who sew us back together while they sing their songs. Once we are in sync with our Fate, there is no stopping us.
These women, shrouded in mystery, are perhaps the earliest archetype for the Witch and it is their footsteps that all witches walk. Shakespeare modeled the witches in MacBeth after the Three Fates. It is in their cauldron of potential that they seethe transgressive ingredients, influencing the lives of those around them.
Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos are the names of the three sisters who are the Morai of ancient Greece. It is also easy to see the triple goddess imagery here, as the three Fates could be three aspects of the goddess Hekate. The Queen of Witches, Hekate was a Titan, more powerful than Zeus. All triple goddesses mirror the Fates in their triune forms. While humans are subject to their fates, the Witch weaves her own guided by these ancient spirits. The act of spinning, weaving and working with thread calls forth imagery of grandmother spider building her web. Weaving has always been a sacred art, a vehicle for creation.
The plants of Fate are the plants found in the Poison Garden, the Garden of Hekate or Circe. These are the plants that can bring intoxicating ecstasy or the silence of death. The one group of plants most associated with the Fates is the Nightshade Family. The nightshades or Solanaceae consists of things like tobacco, deadly nightshade, mandrake, henbane and many of our vegetables. Not all nightshades are poisonous or intoxicating. Atropa, the genus of Atropa belladonna, was once used as a more general term for plants in this category such as the formerly named Atropa mandragora. We also see the namesake of Atropos, the inexorable in the alkaloid ‘atropine’ which was one of the most important alkaloids discovered in 1831. Atropos is the Fate responsible for cutting the thread of life, and she is called inexorable because no one can escape her. It makes sense why this is the name for Atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade which if taken in too large a dose, can cut the thread of life as well!
Nightshades have been connected to witchcraft, love magic and murder for centuries. A deeper study of their associated mythology and folklore paints a picture of traditional European witchcraft. They can help us to connect to spirits, journey in spirit, and heal on profound levels. These plants are historically considered dark and sinister, ruled by Saturn in traditional astrology they are plants of the Underworld. They are intimately connected to death, the spirit world and the occult. Working with them in ritual and ceremony as spiritual allies can help us to delve into these areas, but we must work with them safely. There are many safe and effective options to work with nightshades topically and sympathetically in magic.
The plants in this family share themes of sex, death and power. They are transgressive spirits, shadow workers and death walkers, that show us the hidden parts of ourselves and the world we live in. The spirits of plants in the nightshade family are earthly spirits. It is in the forest, the fertile earth and the adversarial wilderness that we find their wisdom. They are not plants of the celestial realm, untouched by the sky gods, drawing their power from the Underworld. They are feral. They are feminine and so is their magic. They are plants of darkness, not because they are evil, but because they are Other. They have had to survive in the shadows, and to learn to thrive where others would fail. They have been demonized and cast into obscurity. Does this sound familiar? It should.
Elementals, land spirits, and ancestors are all spirits connected to the physical power of a place. Genii loci, land dragons and earth serpents are all examples of telluric or chthonic spirits. Some of them dwell on the Earth, and others dwell in it, with the exception of spirits of Air. (but we could also argue that they have transgressive or chthonic qualities as Luciferian spirits) The jaguar, coyote, moth and other nocturnal creatures also walk in this realm. They are the powers of Night, Darkness and the Unknown. As the luminary of the darkness, the Moon also holds powers over the subtle and psychic realms. These forces are different than the verdant and generative powers at work during the day. These are the forces that we encounter when we work with Nightshades, the plants of Fate. They are the forces of the Underworld, the places untouched by the Sun. This is the realm of the Moon.
Entheogens are plants and fungi that have historically had a ceremonial or religious importance. They have along history of ritual use because of their psychoactive effects. They are used in ritual to induce altered states of consciousness and connect with the spirit world. Entheogen, translates to “generate the divine within.” It is plant spirit medicine, that which creates experiences of the divine. Entheogen is a generalized term used synonymously with the term psychedelic, though denoting a spiritual connotation as opposed to recreational use. We are starting to see, through experience and having nuanced discussions about these plants and fungi, that there are many different types of entheogens. Or at least different types of entheogenic use, as many of these botanicals can be used for various purposes entheogenically. Thomas Hatsis expands on this in his book Psychedelic Mystery Traditions, in which he defines entheogenic sub-categories like pythiagen and somnitheogen.
Kthonigenic is a term that I like to use to distinguish the use of plants related to spirits of the dead, ancestral communication and Underworld journeying and goetic practices. Like the other terms, kthonigen refers to how the plant is used. So in this case we are working with plants like henbane, datura, and even magic mushrooms for their khonigenic qualities. They are plants of the Underworld, that when used entheogenically, they create chthonic experiences. This could be working with “dark” deities, practicing necromancy, or working with occult forces for witchcraft. Chthonic/kthonic doesn’t mean that something is evil or bad, but recognizes the difference in their spirits, how the plants are used and the places that they lead. Some poison path witches take the psychedelic approach, connecting with galactic consciousness and interdimensional entities while others resonate more working with the consciousness of the earth and its spirits.