Cannabis Hemp Conference & Expo 2017, Saturday, 06. May 2017, Vancouver

Susan Sheldon, a classically trained landscape architect and Master Gardener designs vibrant holistic landscapes she calls “Living Spirit Gardens,” where people can reconnect with the abundant life of a symbiotically healthy eco-system Now that cannabis is legal in Massachusetts, her gardens often include organic cannabis plants. Susan’s horticulture philosophy celebrates plant intelligence and demonstrates that plants thrive outdoors where they are free to soak in sunlight and dance in the wind, their roots reaching out into a rich, complex, living soil. She plants cannabis with a variety of companion plants, including native plants that support native pollinators. Susan advocates for cannabis plants grown in these conditions, where they offer the promise of deeper spirit journeys.

Susan also practices Authentic Movement, a healing modality that delves into the spirit world of the mover and often produces trance like visions. An experienced ayahuasca and cannabis journeyer, she intends to explore the coupling of Authentic Movement and plant spirit medicine. Susan earned a degree in art history from the University of Texas-Austin and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She was awarded a Cosmic Sisters of Cannabis educational grant to participate in this conference.

“The Cosmic Sisters of Cannabis grant gave me an opportunity to speak with a feminine voice for cannabis and the relationship we, as growers and consumers, have with the plant medicine. As part of a Cosmic Sister mission, I presented on a grower’s panel and taught a workshop at the Cannabis Conference 2017 (?) in Vancouver, BC. I shared the panel and workshop with two inspiring young men. As a landscape designer and plantswoman, I have long developed a relationship with plants and how they affect our lives. As a grower, I cultivate not only the physical plant, but its spirit nature as well. What is our symbiotic relationship? On the panel and in the workshop, I was able to advocate for empowering anyone to grow their own cannabis within this paradigm. I believe this is a more feminine approach and, within a male dominated industry, not a commonly explored aspect of our relationship to this master plant.” – Susan Sheldon