Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers

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Suffice to say that since the 1970s the literary reference to the persona of Don Juan shifted almost imperceptibly in America from the amorous Don Juan of Spanish literature to Don Juan Matus, the Yaqui sorcerer, “man of knowledge,” and mentor of Carlos Castaneda. If you read The Yage [Letters], which I’m not a great fan of but it has a huge following — this is William Burroughs’ account — Schultes says to Burroughs, who was a Harvard classmate, “Sorry, Bill. I love your podcast, found you via Tim Ferris, I never even knew that there was such a career as an ethnobotanist. Albert Hofmann, of course, is that fellow who synthesized LSD in 1938, and did it in part on compounds extracted from these magic mushrooms.

Schultes, Hofmann - Plants of The Gods (Healing Arts, 2001) Schultes, Hofmann - Plants of The Gods (Healing Arts, 2001)

Unlike other podcasts relating to these issues, “Plants of the Gods” is hosted by renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that regulates mood, and psilocybin and its derivative psilocin are psychoactive compounds that are lipid soluble — that is, lipophilic and thus capable of easily crossing the blood–brain barrier. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. Recent investigations suggest that psychotropic ergot derivatives may have played a role in the Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece.The latest finds, I think, indicate use of coca, coca quids, coca that’s been chewed, about 8,000 years ago. More Hamburger icon An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The major plants in this family include Mandrake ( Mandragora officinarum), Henbane, Belladonna ( Atropa belladonna; deadly nightshade), and several Datura species, such as Thorn Apple ( Datura stramonium) and D. I was in the middle of a ceremony with a Komsa shaman, actually an Ingano shaman from Colombia, and I soon was able to realize that this was going to be a very, very, very bad trip.

Plants of the Gods” and their hallucinogenic Book Review “Plants of the Gods” and their hallucinogenic

Druantia, hypothetical Gallic tree goddess proposed by Robert Graves in his 1948 study The White Goddess; popular with Neopagans. But for many American baby boomers of the 1960s, “Don Juan” conjures up images of Castaneda’s Don Juan Matus, the Yaqui sorcerer from the Sonora desert. Furthermore, they believe that Toloache is possessed by a malevolent spirit, just as Don Juan, the Yaqui teacher, also believed. It’s such a powerful stimulant that your fingertips tingle and you don’t get hungry or thirsty all day. They bind at the 5-HT receptors, acting as serotonin agonists and mimicking the psychoactive properties of serotonin in the CNS.He is the author of numerous articles and more than 40 books, including Plants of Love, Gateway to Inner Space, Marijuana Medicine, The Dictionary of Sacred and Magical Plants, and The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. And he said, “As a conservationist, as a friend of the indigenous peoples, you confronted many challenges. At the time, this was one of, if not the finest naturist museums in the world, certainly in North America. But after the ceremony, Spruce ventured into the forest to collect the vine and flower, which was necessary for making a precise identification. It is an effective compilation of ethnographic, historic, and neuropharmacologic information on the hallucinogenic plants of planet earth and the psychological and sociological impact they have, particularly in primitive societies.

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Tim Ferriss owns the copyright in and to all content in and transcripts of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, with all rights reserved, as well as his right of publicity. I’m an ethnobotanist, a scientist who studies the uses of plants, fungi, and even animals for medicinal purposes in the rainforests of Central and South America. He is best known to the general public as the author of the book Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice, one of the most popular books ever written about the rainforest.The present-day Tarahumara Indians of Mexico mix Datura plants ( Toloache) with maize to make a ceremonial drink. Another group of plants that should be mentioned for the sake of completeness are the opioids closely related to the narcotics. Their basic thesis was that these plants played a fundamental role in our history, our culture, and our religion, and that we’re still not only understanding their role in the past, but we’re charting a course for the future with the understanding of the power and the healing potential of these plants. And these are the depths of the emotions and the challenges, mental and spiritual, which all of us who have an interest in trying, taking, consuming the plants of the gods must be ready to face. This newfound interest in hallucinogenic therapies is not only improving our understanding of the human mind, it’s also driving an enhanced appreciation of the effectiveness of shamanic healing.

Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic

So when we talk about plants of the gods or fungi of the gods, we’re not just talking about compounds which may be useful for treating mental or emotional ailments. Most of these that I said are flowering plants, although one is a gymnosperm, a conifer, essentially. Now what’s intriguing about these admixtures is that they contain hallucinogenic tryptamines, which is another type of alkaloid, a chemical substance common in many plants. You can learn about everything from hallucinogenic snuffs to the diverse formulations of curare (a plant mixture which relaxes the muscles of the body and leads to asphyxiation), and much, much more.

Grinspoon discuss everything from the pain-relieving and uplifting qualities of cannabis sought by people with chronic illnesses to marijuana in popular culture (cannabis trilogy to brush up on your history! But there’s another aspect to the story which is not very well known and that is that Hoffman also synthesized the first beta blockers. During the middle ages, all three plants were used or were implicated for their use in witches brew and imbued with magic powers and used in potions or ointments in both witchcraft and healing rituals.