Bruja Breaks Down How Marijuana is a Spiritual Amplifier

Yvette Montoya, aka the Bratty Brujita, is an intuitive medium, a Palera, and a green witch focusing on spiritual sexual wellness and hygiene

bratty-bruja-marijuana — Photo: Zuly Garcia

April 20, 2021 - 15:51

Yvette Montoya, aka the Bratty Brujita, is an intuitive medium, a Palera, and a green witch focusing on spiritual sexual wellness and hygiene. She’s a first-generation LA native of Mexican and Chilean descent and a journalist. She offers readings, brujeria workshops, and handmade limpias along with guides.

I honestly can’t remember the first time I smoked weed but I remember when I started to try it. I think I must have been 18 or 19 years old at the time and I was terrified. The DARE campaigns of my childhood did their job and by the time I found cannabis I already had an idea of what the point of it was– to get high and have fun– if you don’t die first cause drugs! Which, of course, was a big lie, no one dies from smoking weed.

Little did I know that cannabis would be and could be so much more than medical or even recreational. Weed is spiritual too and we need to recognize it for what it is. A sacred plant that has been around for thousands of years and has been used for everything from its fibers and seeds to the buds and oils. As a bruja, I have found so many uses for a plant that I never fully appreciated in my younger years.

Courtesy of Yvette Montoya

Cannabis is an entheogen which is defined as a “chemical substance, typically of plant origin, that is ingested to produce a nonordinary state of consciousness for religious or spiritual purposes.” Because of this marijuana is powerful for manifesting work. As fellow bruja/healer/cannabis advocate Emilia Ortiz once told me “weed is like the quartz of plants” and it’s true since it can be charged and set with any intention or it can be used for additional amplification.

Planets: Saturn, Venus, Jupiter
Zodiac Signs: Capricorn, Gemini
Elements: Earth and Water
Deities: Osiris, Shiva, Isis, Bastet, Hestia, Venus, Freyja
Uses: Magickal magnification, manifestation, programming, healing, money, abundance, clearing negative energy, love, protection, sleep, communication with spirits, cursing and binding, meditation

Quick history

The first reference to marijuana use was recorded around 2700 B.C. by Chinese Emperor Shen. There is also documented use in Ancient Egypt as well as the rest of the Arab world. And it’s a little-known fact that hemp replaced cotton as a major cash crop in southern U.S. states until it was banned by the Harrison Act of 1914 that defined the use of cannabis and other drugs as a crime. Today Black and Bown people are still getting disproportionately locked up for cannabis use. The ACLU reported that despite roughly equal usage rates, Black people are 3.73 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana use.

In manifesting

Courtesy of Yvette Montoya

Adding marijuana buds to the herbs you use in your Love, Money, or Luck manifesting gives it an added boost of power. On the New Moon, I will write out my intentions in my notebook. You can sprinkle cannabis crumbles or use entire buds. You can also draw a sigil (a symbol of your desired outcome) or write an intention on your rolling papers (with non-toxic ink) before you smoke.

In Smudging and Energetic sprays

One of my favorite things to make and to have is a marijuana leaf tincture that I add to pretty much every baño or limpia I make including this green 420-inspired limpia. Marijuana leaves stuffed in Kolonia 1800, rum, or agua florida bottle with a few black tourmaline beads make a great smudging energetic spray.

Señora Hack: You can also stuff buds into a bottle of alcohol and use it as a numbing rub for sore muscles. Many of us have seen our abuelas and tias do this.

In Readings, Prayer, and Meditation

Courtesy of Yvette Montoya

Mary Jane is my best friend when it comes to my own work as a bruja as well. When I do a reading I take a few puffs to center myself and settle into what the spirits want to say. It’s also great to use for meditation and visualization work.

Bruja Hack: Try praying out loud, take a few hits, and then see what messages come through. I recommend the Allan Kardec’s Coleccion de Oraciones Escogidas available in English and Spanish.