Which Household Plants Can Attract Spirits — and Which Are Safe to Keep

The speaker says that in Tantra the plant kingdom and Aushadhi have the greatest importance. It is even said, he notes, that mantra, mani and aushadhi — all three — give their fruit according to bhava. In Sanatan culture, he says, the seva of living beings, of the jivatma, of plants and trees, and of nature is valued extremely highly; everyone is to be served. People ask what comes of serving a cow or a dog, why serve one particular creature, serve everyone. Fine, he says, everyone should be served — but why has a classified seva been prescribed? There has been some reason. He complains that today people raise questions on everything out of modernity — however great a spiritual figure they may be, however much they have read the Veda, call themselves its experts and write commentaries on Vedanta — and end up proving wrong the very mahatmas and dharmacharyas whose books took them forward. They pick selectively what suits them, and because they must be seen as modern, the rest looks to them like sham and hypocrisy: serving the cow is hypocrisy, doing something for dogs is hypocrisy, watering only Tulsi is hypocrisy, serving only the PeepalA sacred fig tree dedicated to Lord Dattatreya — Pitru Tarpan performed beneath it calms agitated ancestral spirits causing domestic unrest. is hypocrisy; they say they will serve all. From there, he says, they correlate all of it with superstition — including the question of planting a cactus at home, which is where his discussion begins.

To those who ask why he forbids a cactus at home and why he says pretas live in it, the speaker answers that it is 100% true: wherever pretas are present, a cactus plant grows by itself and becomes quite large. People nowadays plant it in the house. If flowers come on the cactus you have set out for show, he says, it is not at all necessary that a Preta is sitting in your house; your house may be running very well. But people come and go — guests, friends, relatives, the neighbours next door — and among them, some day, some time, something like this will happen, because this element is like that. He explains the mechanism through the vayu Tattva: there are said to be 49 kinds of Marudgana, 49 kinds of wind that blow, and one of those winds has been related to pretas. Suppose that kind of wind is blowing, and at that time some preta-afflicted or preta-maddened person comes to your house and finds this thing there — then, in part, that thing will be attracted there. It will not dwell there 100%, 24 hours, but there will be some time when it comes, because this plant attracts it.

Which rose, the speaker asks — not every rose is like this. Among thorny plants the rose is offered to Bhagavati; which deity is it not offered to? But because it is thorny, if a flowerless plant stands in your house — a rose you planted that gives no roses after many, many attempts — please immerse it. It is not drying, it is not flowering: somewhere it has fallen into some grip. When does that shadow fall on it? When, among the Marudgana, that kind of wind is blowing — call it the preta-kalpa or the preta influence — and it is very strong; it is powerful at that time and comes into contact with all these things. And why in the house? Because, he says, what is present in your house is pure by the energy generated by your puja-paath and by your atmosphere of thought. It absorbs the energies given off by the living beings around it; it is nourished by what comes out of your Aura, it takes in your thoughts — sattvic or tamasic is another matter. By absorbing those things it too is alive, a different kind of thing. Gold lying in garbage and gold displayed in a jeweller's cabin differ, he says; take gold out of the garbage to the jeweller and he may pay less. In the same way a cactus grown in rubbish gives its effect one way, but the same cactus decorated in your house, flowering nicely, a whole showroom of cactus — when persons of that kind come there, those things are attracted all the more. The two attract each other, their dwelling there becomes certain, and the effect starts in your house. Take it as an akarshan done unknowingly. All thorny plants of this kind attract such things somewhere or other. So flowerless ones — if the rose is not giving roses — remove it.

The speaker raises the objection himself: the BilvaThe sacred Bael tree associated with Lord Shiva — sadhana is undertaken beneath it, its wood is used as fuel for Havan offerings of ghee and sesame seeds during a release ritual, and its trifoliate leaf (Bilvapatra) is the offering proper to Him. tree also has thorns, so do pretas dwell in the Bel? The Bel, he says, has been called the very tree of Shri, the direct form of Narayana, and is held to be Narayana's heart. Can pretas ever dwell on it? Its flowers, its fruit, its leaves are always offered to Sadashiva and to Bhagavati — can pretas dwell on such a tree, just because it too has thorns? Know this, he says: no. In a tree that is bearing fruit, it cannot happen.

The speaker says a fruiting BilvaThe sacred Bael tree associated with Lord Shiva — sadhana is undertaken beneath it, its wood is used as fuel for Havan offerings of ghee and sesame seeds during a release ritual, and its trifoliate leaf (Bilvapatra) is the offering proper to Him. cannot host pretas, but when a Bel tree begins to dry and after it starts drying it is not removed, and thorns are coming on it — then, at those very places, look. People do not speak openly of these things, he says; when he spoke of many things in his bamboo video people said all sorts of things, so they will not tell it openly. The state he means is the in-between one: not fully dry, not still alive, shedding. In this state, all the preta-laden karmas connected with Akarshana and Vashikaran, all the karmas full of tamas, are performed by seeking out such a tree. The Preta does not live in it, there is no attraction, it cannot come by itself — it is seated there by people. They know that tamasic kriyas of this kind will succeed on this tree. Why? Because there is still a god-like shakti in it, but what has that shakti now become? Will that deity remove or drive anyone away? Whoever comes to its refuge, it will keep. So, he says, from a safety point of view, tantriks do their prayogas there — and if you pay attention to such trees you will see things tied and hung on them. Sometimes, he adds, the state becomes such that because of these preta karmas the Bel trees in a deserted place all start drying; they absorb so much energy that even a fine, green tree begins to wither. Ordinary people and the ultra-modern, highly educated will hear all this and think it is just so — but energies are at work in it.

Turning to which plants suit a household doing vanaspati tantra, the speaker names two thorny ones: the rose and the BilvaThe sacred Bael tree associated with Lord Shiva — sadhana is undertaken beneath it, its wood is used as fuel for Havan offerings of ghee and sesame seeds during a release ritual, and its trifoliate leaf (Bilvapatra) is the offering proper to Him. tree. Keep them at home, he says — they are entirely pujya, worthy. But until when? As long as they are flourishing properly, with both flowers and fruit coming. When they start to dry and fall away, they are not to be kept; remove them.

The cactus, the speaker says, is not for worship anywhere; it is offered to pretas. In preta karma — where someone has done Preta Siddhi — one has to go every Amavasya to a deserted area under a PeepalA sacred fig tree dedicated to Lord Dattatreya — Pitru Tarpan performed beneath it calms agitated ancestral spirits causing domestic unrest. tree and set out dal-bhaat and foods of that kind; liquor and the like also have to be given. That is how it is in preta karmas. Among all that goes there at that time, he says, the flowers that grow on a cactus are the ones placed. So in a way the cactus is a centre of attraction for them — and that is why it should not be planted.

Besides this, the speaker says, for the protection of the house we know that the madar tree — Aak (Madar)A milky, latex-producing plant (Calotropis) — its white variety (Shwetark) is planted near a home for protection, though sourcing matters, since milky plants carry dual (positive or negative) properties depending on where they're taken from., akwan — the white Aak, the Shwetark plant, should be planted near the home. Shwetark is not available everywhere. So what to do — can an ordinary Aak be planted or not? It is also said, he notes, that milky, latex-bearing plants carry both kinds of things. So you must keep in mind, when you are bringing a Shwetark plant, which place you are bringing it from.

The speaker says he repeats this again and again: whether it is a bamboo, a PeepalA sacred fig tree dedicated to Lord Dattatreya — Pitru Tarpan performed beneath it calms agitated ancestral spirits causing domestic unrest., a banyan, or an Aak (Madar)A milky, latex-producing plant (Calotropis) — its white variety (Shwetark) is planted near a home for protection, though sourcing matters, since milky plants carry dual (positive or negative) properties depending on where they're taken from. (akwan) you bring, all are sacred trees; the trees of the Navagraha are sacred too. But which place you bring it from, in which NakshatraOne of the 27 lunar constellations used to time rituals — certain occult procedures, such as acquiring a cremation Handi, must be performed within a specific Nakshatra's window. you bring it, where you will plant it, and what the condition of your house is — on all of these depends what fruit it will give you. If you have brought an Aak from a place where earlier some kind of Utara or some kind of preta kriya was performed, then that too comes along with it — and you have no idea.

That, the speaker says, is why there is a process before bringing a plant from any place and planting it — especially the tantrokta plants, those brought according to Vanaspati Tantra. First you will do shodhan of the ground you are taking it from. There you will sprinkle yellow mustard seeds consecrated by mantra vidhan. You will tell the deities of that place to remove what is there, doing these acts through your Ishta Devata. You will first light a lamp and the like, then give the invitation. The next day you go and bring it. That is the whole process. Even after doing all this, he says, there is no guarantee if you do not have knowledge — if you cannot see or hear such things, there is no guarantee that everything will go right. So bring it from a place that is right, and the NakshatraOne of the 27 lunar constellations used to time rituals — certain occult procedures, such as acquiring a cremation Handi, must be performed within a specific Nakshatra's window. must be right. Which nakshatra? Bring it in a deva nakshatra. Pushya Nakshatra is named again and again — whether Ravi Pushya or Guru Pushya, bring it in that nakshatra and all these things will go the right way. That, he says, is how vanaspati tantra should be practised.

The speaker says the Aparajita plant and the ShamiA leaf used in remedy rituals — conventionally not to be picked on a Saturday; if needed for a Saturday rite, it's picked the Friday before. plant must certainly be planted at home, and served in the same manner. Whether blue Aparajita, white Aparajita or the dark-coloured Aparajita — plant any Aparajita. If flowers start coming on the Aparajita, take it as settled that auspicious shaktis have arisen in the house: the shaktis of Bhagavati, the yoginis, their ang-shaktis come and go daily, and only for that reason is the plant flourishing properly. What effect it gives you is for you to understand — what your karmas are and what is happening to you because of them is your matter — but the coming and going of the shaktis is there. This happens because only when positivity is in the atmosphere do flowers begin to come properly on these plants; it is a very big subject, he says. Whether it is a Tulsi plant, an Aak (Madar)A milky, latex-producing plant (Calotropis) — its white variety (Shwetark) is planted near a home for protection, though sourcing matters, since milky plants carry dual (positive or negative) properties depending on where they're taken from., an Aparajita or a Shami — these are plants whose own aura, their method or process of emitting energy, is so sensitive that wherever tantra is in use, wherever the place is not right, they begin to dry at once.

The pomegranate tree, the speaker says, has been called the very form of Bhagavati. On land that has Preta Dosha and the like, or some tantric dosh of that sort, this pomegranate is planted before the house is built. Whether nine pomegranates or twenty-seven trees — however many are needed — the whole lot is planted and left for one year. Once they have fully taken, the full fruit must come on them. After that they are uprooted again and planted somewhere else, and then bhumi shodhan and the related kriyas are done there. But not everything is removed: of twenty-seven, nine will remain and the other eighteen will go. After that the pujan of the land and the rest takes place, and then the house is built (Preta Dosha Tree RemedyPlanting 9 or 27 pomegranate trees — considered a direct form of Bhagavati — on land affected by Preta Dosha before construction, left for a year to fully grow and fruit, then partly uprooted and transplanted before Bhumi Shodhana and Bhumi Pujan precede building.).

Closing, the speaker says there are many kriyas of this kind in Tantra that are done through the plant kingdom — whether Akarshana and Vashikaran, the Shatkarma, maran; there are processes for everything, and siddhi karmas too. So a grihastha, he says, should keep all these things in mind: which plants to bring and when, when to plant them, whether a plant is taking or not. Only after keeping all this in view should Vanaspati Tantra be used in the right way.