Plants of the Gods - Their Sacred Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers

PLANTS OF THE GODS

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A



Richard Evans Schultes

Albert Hofmann

Christian Rätsch

PLANTS OF THE GODSTheir Sacred, Healing,

and Hallucinogenic Powers

"The more you go inside the world of Teonanacati, the more things are seen.And you also see our past and our future, which are there together as a single thing already achieved,

already happened:. . . I saw stolen horses and buried cities, the existence of which was unknown,and they are going to be brought to light. Millions of things I saw and knew. I knew and saw God:

an immense clock that ticks, the spheres that go slowly around, and inside the stars, the earth,the entire universe, the day and the night, the cry and the smile, the happiness and the pain.He who knows to the end the secret of Teonanacati can even see that infinite clockwork."

—Maria Sabina

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Healing Arts PressRochester, Vermont



Caution: This book is not intended as a guide to the use ofhallucinogenic plants. Its purpose is to offer scientific, his-torical, and cultural documentation concerning a group of

plants that are or have been of importance to many societies.Ingestion of some of these plants or plant products may be

dangerous. The remedies, approaches, and techniques de-

scribed herein are meant to supplement, and not be a sub-

stitute for, professional medical care or treatment. They

should not be used to treat a serious ailment without priorconsultation with a qualified healthcare professional.

Healing Arts Press

One Park StreetRochester, Vermont 05767

www.lnnerTraditions.com

First published by Healing Arts Press in 1992

A production of EMB-Service for Publishers,

Lucerne, Switzerland

Copyright © 1998 (updated version) EMB-Service forPublishers, Lucerne, Switzerland

English translation second edition Copyright © 2001

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or me-

chanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any infor-mation storage and retrieval system, without permission inwriting from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataSchultes, Richard Evans.

Plants of the gods : their sacred, healing, and hallucino-

genic powers I Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann,Christian Rbtsch.—2nd ed.

p. cm.Includes bibliographical references

ISBN 0—89281—979—0

1. Hallucinogenic plants. 2. Hallucinogenic plants—Uti-

lization. 3. Ethnobotany. I. Hofmann, Albert, 1906- II.Rätsch, Christian, 1957- Ill. Title

QK99.A1 S39 2001

394.1'4—dc2l 2001004425

1098765432Healing Arts Press is a division of Inner Traditions

International

Picture on title page: Mayan stone" fromEl Salvador, late formative period (300 c.—&. D. 200);

height 13 ¼in. (33.5cm).

Original concept and design: Emil M. BOhrer, Franz Gisler,Joan Halifax, and Robert Tobler

New material translated by: Annabel Lee and

Michael BeasleyComposition: SatzWeise, FOhren, Germany

PhotolithographY: Pesavento AG, Zurich, Switzerland



CONTENTS

7 PREFACE

9 INTRODUCTION

10 WHAT ARE PLANTHALLUCINOGENS?

THE PLANT KINGDOM

PHYTOCHEMICALRESEARCH ON SACREDPLANTS

26 GEOGRAPHY OF USAGE ANDBOTANICAL RANGE

PLANT LEXICON

WHO USES HALLUCINOGENICPLANTS?

OVERVIEW OF PLANT USE

THE MOST IMPORTANTHALLUCINOGENIC PLANTS

82 MAINSTAY OF THE HEAVENSAmanita (Fly Agaric)

86 THE HEXING HERBSAtropa (Deadly Nightshade)Hyoscyamus albus (Yellow Henbane)Hyoscyamus niger (Black Henbane)Mandragora (Mandrake)

92 THE NECTAR OF DELIGHTCannabis (Hemp, Marijuana,

Hashish)

102 ST. ANTHONY'S FIREClaviceps (Ergot)

106 HOLY FLOWER OF THENORTH STARDatura innoxia (Toloache)Datura metel (Datura)Datura stramoniuna (Thorn Apple)

112 GUIDE TO THE ANCESTORSTabernanthe (Iboga)

116 BEANS OF THE HEKULASPIRITAnadenanth era peregrina (Yopo)

120 SEEDS OF CIVILIZATIONAnadenanthera colubrina (CebIl)

124 THE MAGIC DRINK OF THEAMAZONBanisteriopsis (Ayahuasca)

Psychotria (Chacruna)Peganurn (Syrian Rue)Tetrapteris (Yage)

137 AYAHUASCA ANALOGS

140 TRUMPETS OF THE ANGELSBrugmansia (Golden Angel's Trumpet)Brugmansia (Blood-Red Angel's

Trumpet)

144 THE TRACKS OF THE LITTLEDEERLophophora (Peyote)

156 LITTLE FLOWERS OF THEGODSConocybePanaeolus cyanescens (Blue Meanies)Panaeolus sphinctrinus (Hoop-

petticoat)Panaeolus subbalteatus (Dark-rimmed

Mottlegill)Psilocybe cubensis (San Isidro)Psilocybe cyanescens (Wavy Cap)Psilocybe mexicana (Teonanácatl)Psilocybe semilanceata (Liberty Cap)

164 DIVINER'S SAGESalvia divinoru,n

166 CACTUS OF THE FOUR WINDSTrichocereus (San Pedro)

170 VINES OF THE SERPENTIpomoea (Morning Glory)Thrbina (Ololiugui)

176 SEMEN OF THE SUNVirola (Epená)

182 GATEWAY TO DREAMTIMEDuboisia (Pituri Bush)

184 CHEMICAL STRUCTURES OFHALLUCINOGENS

188 USES OF HALLUCINOGENSIN MEDICINE

196 EPILOGUE

198 PICTURE CREDITS

199 BIBLIOGRAPHY

199 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

204 INDEX

The dreaming smoker stretched out

comfortably on his chaise enjoys visions

induced by Hashish. This engraving isfrom M. von Schwind's Album of Etch-

ings, published in 1843.

Page 4 left: The witches of medievalEurope induced inebriation with a great

variety of brews, most of which had at

least one of the Nightshades as a

psychoactive constituent. During their

intoxications, they engaged in many

aspects of hexing, both malevolent andbenevolent. This illustration, a woodcut,

published in 1459, portrays two witches

calling for rain and thunder, possiblyduring a dry spell, and preparing a brew

to help them achieve this goal.

16

20

31

62

65

81



For the Huichol Indians of Mexico, the Peyote cactus (Lophophora williams/i)(see page 7) is not a plant but a god, a gift from the Earth Goddess to hu-

mans to assist them in attaining a connection to her in the mystical realms.

The Huichol celebrate a great Peyote festival every year (be/ow), at which all

members of the tribe partake in eating the freshly harvested Peyote cactus.

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PREFACE

The earliest forms of life on Earth were plants. Re-markably preserved plant fossils have recentlybeen discovered dating back 3.2 billion years.These early plants provided the foundation forthe development of all later forms of plants andindeed of animals, including that most recent ofcreatures, the human being. The green plant coverof the earth has a marvelous relationship with thesun: chlorophyll-bearing plants absorb solar raysand synthesize organic compounds, the buildingmaterials for both plant and animal organisms. Invegetable matter, solar energy is stored in the formof chemical energy, source of all life processes.Thus the Plant Kingdom provides not only body-building foods and calories but also vitamins es-sential for metabolic regulation. Plants also yieldactive principles employed as medicines. The inti-mate relationship between the human and plant

world is easily discerned, but the production ofsubstances profoundly affecting the mind andspirit is often not so easily recognized. These arethe plants that make up the substance of Plants ofthe Gods, focusing attention on the origin of theiruse and the effect that they have had on man's de-velopment. Plants that alter the normal functionsof the mind and body have always been consideredby peoples in nonindustrial societies as sacred, andthe hallucinogens have been "plants of the gods"par excellence.

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"In consciousness dwells the wondrous,with it man attains the realm beyond the material,

and the Peyote tells us,where to find it."

—Antonin Artaud, The Thrahl4mars (1947)

The shamans of the Huichol Indians use the sacred Peyote cactus so that

they may attain a visionary state of consciousness in the alternate realitywhich is causal to occurrences in mundane reality; what affects the former

8

will change the latter. The shaman in the middle of the yarn painting is

depicted with a skull because he is a "dead man" and thus has the ability totravel into the nether realms.



INTRODUCTION

The use of hallucinogenic or consciousness-expanding plants has been a part of human experi-ence for many millennia, yet modern Western so-cieties have only recently become aware of thesignificance that these plants have had in shapingthe history of primitive and even of advanced cul-tures. In fact, the past thirty years have witnesseda vertiginous growth of interest in the use andpossible value of hallucinogens in our own mod-ern, industrialized, and urbanized society.

Hallucinogenic plants are complex chemicalfactories. Their full potential as aids to humanneeds is not yet fully recognized. Some plantscontain chemical compounds capable of inducingaltered perceptions, such as visual, auditory, tac-tile, olfactory, and gustatory hallucinations, orcausing artificial psychoses that, without anydoubt, have been known and employed in humanexperience since earliest man's experimentationwith his ambient vegetation. The amazing effectsof these mind-altering plants are frequently in-explicable and indeed uncanny.

Little wonder, then, that they have long playedan important role in the religious rites of early ci-vilizations and are still held in veneration and aweas sacred elements by certain peoples who havecontinued to live in archaic cultures, bound to an-cient traditions and ways of life. How could manin archaic societies better contact the spirit worldthan through the use of plants with psychic effectsenabling the partaker to communicate with super-natural realms? What more direct method than topermit man to free himself from the prosaic con-fines of this earthly existence and to enable him toenter temporarily the fascinating worlds of inde-scribably ethereal wonder opened to him, eventhough fleetingly, by hallucinogens?

Hallucinogenic plants are strange, mystical,confounding. Why? Because they are only nowbeginning to be the subject of truly scientificstudy. The results of these investigations will, mostassuredly, increase interest in the technical impor-tance of the study of these biodynamic plants. Forman's mind, as well as his body and the organs ofthe body, need curative and corrective agents.

Are these nonaddictive drugs of interest as"mind-expanding agents," as media for attaining"the mystic experience," or as agents to be em-ployed merely as aids in hedonistic adventure?

There is, however, another aspect that engages thescientist's attention: Can a thorough understand-ing of the use and chemical composition of thesedrugs not lead to the discovery of new pharmaceu-tical tools for psychiatric treatment or experimen-tation? The central nervous system is a most com-pleft organ, and psychiatry has not advanced sorapidly as many other fields of medicine, mainlybecause it has not had adequate tools. Some ofthese mind-altering plants and their active chemi-cal principles may indeed have far-reaching posi-tive effects when they are fully understood.

An educated public must be an integral part insuch development of scientific knowledge, espe-cially in so controversial a field as hallucinogenicdrugs. It is for this reason that we offer the presentvolume—directed neither to the scientists who aredeeply involved in research in this field nor to thecasual reader, but to the concerned public. It is ourbelief that scientists—for the sake of humanityitself and its advancement—must make technicalknowledge available to those able to take advan-tage of its presentation. It is in this spirit that wewrote Plants of the Gods, hoping that it may, inone way or another, further the practical interestsof mankind.

Richard Evans SchultesAlbert Hofmann

THE REVISION

When the book Plants of the Gods first appeared in1979, it was a milestone in ethnobotany and ethno-pharmacology. The book inspired and influencedmany young researchers around the world and en-couraged them to continue in their own work. Be-cause of this there have been some new discoveriesabout the plants of the gods. Many questions aboutthe activity and constituents of psychedelic plantshave been clarified. I have tried to incorporate thenew information in a way that preserves the origi-nal character of the book and reflects the currentstate of knowledge. I hope that the plants of thegods retain their valuable position in our worldand that they reach the many people upon whomthe sacredness of nature is dependent.

Christian Rätsch

9



Many plants are toxic. It is no accident that theetymological origin of the word toxic stems di-rectly from the Greek word (toxileon),for "bow," referring to the use of arrow poisons.

Medicinal plants are useful in curing or alleviat-ing man's illnesses because they are toxic. Thepopular interpretation tends to accept the termtoxic as implying poisoning with fatal results.Yet, as Paracelsus wrote in the sixteenth century:"In all things there is a poison, and there is noth-ing without a poison. It depends only upon thedose whether something is poison or not."

The difference among a poison, a medicine, anda narcotic is only one of dosage. Digitalis, for ex-ample, in proper doses represents one of our mostefficacious and widely prescribed cardiac medi-cines, yet in higher doses it is a deadly poison.

We all realize the meaning of the term intoxica-tion, but it is popularly applied primarily to thetoxic effects from overindulgence in alcohol. Inreality, however, any toxic substance may intoxi-cate. Webster defines toxic as "Of, pertaining to,or caused by poison." It might be more specific tostate that a toxic substance is a plant or animalsubstance or chemical ingested for other thanpurely nutritional purposes and which has a no-ticeable biodynamic effect on the body. We realizethat this is a broad definition—a definition thatwould include such constituents as caffeine: whileemployed in its usual form as a stimulant, caffeinedoes not evoke truly toxic symptoms, but in highdoses it is a very definite and dangerous poison.

Hallucinogens must be classed as toxic. Theyinduce unmistakable intoxications. They are like-wise, in the broad sense of the term, narcotics. Theterm narcotic, coming from the Greek(narkoyn), to benumb, etymologically refers to asubstance that, however stimulating it may be inone or more phases of its activity, terminates itseffects with a depressive state on the central ner-vous system. Under this broad definition, alcoholand tobacco are narcotics. The stimulants such ascaffeine do not fall under the definition of narco-tic, since in normal doses, they do not induce aterminal depression, though they are psychoac-tive. English has no term that, like the GermanGenufirnittel ("medium of enjoyment"), includesboth narcotics and stimulants.

But the term narcotic has popularly been inter-

10

Datura has long been connected to the

worship of Shiva, the Indian god asso-

ciated with the creative and destructive

aspects of the universe. In this extraor-

dinary bronze sculpture from South-

east India of the eleventh or twelfth

century, Shiva dances the Anandatãn-

dava, the seventh and last of his

dances, which combines all inflections

of his character. Under his left foot,

Shiva crushes the demon Apasmãra-

purusa, who is the personification ofignorance. In Shiva's upper right hand,

he holds a tiny drum that symbolizes

Time by the rhythm of his cosmic

dance in the field of Life and Creation.

His lower right hand is in the abhaya-

mudrã, expressing Shiva's quality of

safeguarding the universe. In his upper

left hand, he holds a flame that burns

the veil of illusion. His lower left hand is

held in the gajahasta and points to his

raised left foot, which is free in space

and symbolizes spiritual liberation.

Shiva's hair is bound with a band, and

two serpents hold a skull as a central

ornament, thus showing Shiva's de-

structive aspects of Time and Death.

On the right is a Datura flower. Gar-

lands of Datura blossoms are woven

among the locks of his whirling hair.

WHAT ARE PLANT





Below: This painting by the Peruvian shaman Pablo Amaringo depicts the

creation of the drink Ayahuasca, the most important medicine of the Amazo-

nian Indians. The magical drink has powerful visionary properties, which re-

veal to the participant a glimpse of "true reality," the fantastic realm of visions.

preted as referring to dangerously addictive agents,such as opium and its derivatives (morphine, co-deine, heroin) and cocaine. In the United States asubstance must be included in the Harrison Nárco-tic Act to be considered legally a narcotic: thusMarijuana is not legally a narcotic, although it is acontrolled substance.

Hallucinogens are, broadly speaking, all narco-tics, even though none is known to be addictive orto have narcotic effects.

There are many kinds of hallucinations: themost common and popularly recognized is the vi-sual hallucination, often in colors. But all sensesmaybe subject to hallucinations: auditory, tactile,olfactory, and gustatory hallucinations can occur.Frequently a single hallucinatory plant—as in thecase of Peyote or Marijuana—may induce several

12

Page 13 top: The hallucinogenic use of Hemp (Cannabis) can be traced far

back into history. It is possible that the ingestion of this plant was responsible

for the wild dances of the Mongolian shaman.

different hallucinations. Hallucinogens may like-wise cause artificial psychoses—the basis of one ofthe numerous terms for this class of active agents:psychotominietic ("inducing psychotic states").Modern brain research has shown, however, thathallucinogens trigger brain activity entirely differ-ent from that apparent with true psychoses.

Modern studies have demonstrated such a com-plexity of psychophysiological effects that theterm hallucinogen does not always cover thewhole range of reactions. Therefore, a bewilder-ing nomenclature has arisen. None of the terms,however, fully describes all known effects. Theterms include entheogens, deliriants, delusiono-gens, eidetics, hallucinogens, rnisperceptinogens,mysticomimetics, phanerothymes, phantasticants,psych otica, psychoticants, psycho gens, psychosomi-



metics, psycho clyslep tics, psychotaraxics, psych oto-gens, psychotomimetics, schizogens, and psych ecle-lics, among other epithets. In Europe, they are fre-quently called phantastica. The most commonname in the United States—psychedelics—is ety-mologically unsound and has acquired othermeanings in the drug subculture.

The truth is that no one term adequately delimitssuch a varied group of psychoactive plants. TheGerman toxicologist Louis Lewin, who first usedthe term phantastica, admitted that it "does notcover all that I should wish it to convey." The wordhallucinogen is easy to pronounce and to under-stand, yet not all of the plants induce true halluci-nations. Psychotomimetic, while often employed,is not accepted by many specialists because not allthe plants in this group cause psychotic-like states.

But since these two terms—hallucinogen and psy-chotomimetic—are easily understood and widelyused, we shall employ them in this book.

Among the many definitions that have been of-fered, that of Hoffer and Osmond is broad enoughto be widely accepted: ccHallucinogens are. . . che-micals which, in non-toxic doses, produce changesin perception, in thought and in mood, but whichseldom produce mental confusion, memory loss ordisorientation for person, place and time.'

Basing his classification of psychoactive drugson the older arrangements of Lewin, Albert Hof-mann divides them into analgesics and euphorics(Opium, Coca), sedatives and tranquilizers (Re-serpine), hypnotics (Kava-kava), and hallucino-gens or psychedelics (Peyote, Marijuana, etc.).Most of these groups modify only the mood,

13

Below right: In India the flowers of the potent hallucinogenic Thorn Apple

(Datura metel) are brought as an offering to the Hindu god Shiva. They arealso ritually smoked.

Below left: Henbane (Hyoscyarnus albus) is one of the most important hallu-cinogenic plants of Europe. It was used for oracles and ritually burned inancient Greece.



Below: Maria Sabina reverently ingests the niños santos, holy children," as

she lovingly refers to the visionary and healing Magic Mushrooms.

either stimulating or calming it. But the last groupproduces deep changes in the sphere of experience,in perception of reality, in space and time, and inconsciousness of self. Depersonalization may oc-cur. Without loss of consciousness, the subject en-ters a dream world that often appears more realthan the normal world. Colors are frequently ex-perienced in indescribable brilliance; objects maylose their symbolic character, standing detachedand assuming increased significance since theyseem to possess their own existence.

The psychic changes and unusual states of con-sciousness induced by hallucinogens are so far re-moved from similarity with ordinary life that it isscarcely possible to describe them in the languageof daily living. A person under the effects of a hal-lucinogen forsakes his familiar world and operatesunder other standards, in strange dimensions andin a different time.

While most hallucinogens are of plant origin, afew are derived from the Animal Kingdom (toads,

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Page 15:The Mazatec shaman Maria Sabina incenses sacred mushrooms

prior to their ingestion during the healing ceremony of the ye/ada.

frogs, fish) and some are synthetic (LSD, TMA,DOB). Their use goes back so far into prehistorythat it has been postulated that perhaps the wholeidea of the deity could have arisen as a result of theotherworldly effects of these agents.

Indigenous cultures usually have no concept ofphysically or organically induced sickness ordeath: both result from interference from the spir-it world. Therefore, hallucinogens, which permitthe native healer and sometimes even the patientto communicate with the spirit world, often be-come greater medicines—the medicines par excel-lence—of the native pharmacopoeia. They assumefar more exalted roles than do the medicines orpalliatives with direct physical action on the body.Little by little, they became the firm basis for"medical" practices of most, if not all, aboriginalsocieties.

Hallucinogenic plants owe their activity to alimited number of types of chemical substancesacting in a specific way upon a definite part ofthe central nervous system. The hallucinogenicstate is usually short-lived, lasting only until thecausative principle is metabolized or excretedfrom the body. There would seem to be a differ-ence between what we might call true hallucina-tions (visions) and what perhaps could be de-scribed as pseudo-hallucinations. Conditions forall practical purposes apparently very similar tohallucinations may be induced by many highlytoxic plants which so upset the normal metabo-lism that an abnormal mental condition may de-velop. A number of the plants (for example, Salviadivinorum) experimented with by members of theso-called drug subculture and which were consid-ered as newly discovered hallucinogens by theirusers belong to this category as well. Pseudo-hallucinogenic conditions may be induced with-out the ingestion of toxic plants or substances;high fevers are known to cause such reactions.Fanatics of the Middle Ages who went withoutfood or water over long periods finally inducedsuch alterations in normal metabolism that theydid actually experience visions and hear voicesthrough pseudo-hallucinogens.





THE PLANT KINGDOM

Before the eighteenth century; there was really nological or widely accepted classification or namingof plants. They were known in Europe by the ver-nacular names current in the various countries andwere referred to technically in Latin by cumber-some descriptive phrases, often several words long.

The invention of printing and movable type inthe middle of the 1400s stimulated the productionof herbals—that is, botanical books—mainly onmedicinal plants. The so-called Age of Herbals,from about 1470 to 1670, led to the freeing of bot-any and medicine from the ancient concepts ofDioscorides and other classical naturalists thatshaped Europe for some sixteen centuries. Thesetwo centuries saw more progress in botany thanhad taken place during the previous millenniumand a half.

Yet it was not until the eighteenth century thatCarolus Linnaeus, or Carl von Linné, a Swedishnaturalist-physician and professor at the Univer-sity of Uppsala, offered the first comprehensiveand scientific system of classification and nomen-clature for plants in his monumental, 1,200-pagebook Species Plantarum, published in 1753.

Linnaeus grouped plants according to his "sex-ual system"—a simple system of twenty-fourclasses based primarily on the number and charac-teristics of the stamens. He gave each plant a gen-eric and a specific name, resulting in a binomialnomenclature. Although other botanists had usedbinomials, Linnaeus was the first to employ thesystem consistently. While his sexual classifica-tion—highly artificial and inadequate from thepoint of view of an evolutionary understandingof the Plant Kingdom (which was to come la-ter)—is no longer followed, his binomial nomen-clature is now universally accepted, and botanistshave agreed on the year 1753 as the starting pointof current nomenclature.

Believing that he had classified most of theworld's flora in 1753, Linnaeus calculated the sizeof the Plant Kingdom as 10,000 or fewer species.But Linnaeus's work and the influence of hismany students had stimulated interest in the floraof the new lands that were being opened to colo-nization and exploration. Consequently, nearly acentury later, in 1847, the British botanist JohnLindley increased the estimate to nearly 100,000species in 8,900 genera.

Hallucinogenic species occur among the highest-evolvedflowering plants (angiosperms) and in the division fungi of

the simpler plants. Angiosperms are subdivided into mono-

cots (one seed leaf) and dicots (two seed leaves).

Sweet Flag, Hemp (Marijuana), and Deadly Nightshade

(above, right) as well as Fly Agaric (below, right) are repre-

sentative psychoactive species.

16 Hal rcap MossPr,!,,,trirh, rn rnrnrn, nfl



Spermatophytes are the seed plants, subdivided intocone-bearers (gymnosperms) and flowering plants

(angiosperms).

Seaweeds

Algae

Dicots (flowering plants with two seed leaves) are separated into

Archichlamydeae (petals absent or separate) and Metachlamy-

deae (petals joined).

Mushrooms and molds (fungi), seaweeds (algae), mosses

and liverworts (bryophytes), and ferns (pteridophytes) are

simpler plants.

17

White HnePinus strobus



Below: A flower and leaves of the hallucinogenic Datura innoxia, which be-

longs to one of the most highly evolved families of the flowering plants.

Page 19 left: This fossil of blue-green algae (Co/len/a) is approximately 2.3

billion years old and is one of the earliest known specimens of life on Earth.

Page 19 right A fossilized algae colony from the Cambrian period in Bolivia

demonstrates that life-forms can be successfully preserved over billions of

years.

Even though modern botany is only two centu-ries old, estimates have greatly increased. Theyvary from some 280,000 to 700,000 species, thehigher figures being generally accepted by bota-nists whose research is centered in the still onlysuperficially explored tropical regions.

Modern specialists estimate the fungi at be-tween 30,000 and 100,000 species. The great var-iance is due partly to lack of comprehensive stu-dies of many groups and partly to inadequatemeans of defining some of the unicellular mem-bers. One contemporary mycologist, realizingthat the fungi are very sparsely collected in thetropics, where they abound, suggests that the totalfigure might reach 200,000.

All of the algae are aquatic, more than half beingmarine. This most varied group of plants is now be-lieved to comprise from 19,000 to 32,000 species.Algae have been found in pre-Cambrian fossils dat-ing from one to more than three billion years of age.These procaryotic blue-green algae (Collenia) re-present the oldest known form of life on Earth.

18

Lichens—a curious group of plants comprisinga symbiotic union of an alga and a fungus—num-ber from 16,000 to 20,000 species in 450 genera.

The bryophytes comprise two groups: mossesand liverworts. They are primarily tropical, andmany new species are to be expected from the tro-pics with increased field investigations. That theyare not an economic group may be in part respon-sible for our lack of understanding of their extent.

Present calculations assign 12,000 to 15,000 spe-cies to the pteridophytes: the ferns and their allies.An ancient group of plants, it is best representedtoday in tropical regions. The seed-bearing plants,or spermatophytes, clearly dominate the landflora of the present time. The gymnosperms, orcone-bearing plants, constitute a small group ofsome 675 species; dating back into the Carbonifer-ous Age, this group is apparently dying out.

The principal group of plants today—the plantsthat dominate the earth's flora and which have di-versified into the greatest number of species andwhich, in the popular mind, comprise the world'sflora—are the angiosperms. Angiosperms are seedplants in which the seed is covered or protected byovarian tissue, in contrast to the gymnosperms,which have naked seeds. They are commonlycalled flowering plants. Economically the mostimportant group of plants today, they have domi-nated the several terrestrial environments of theearth. Consequently, they may have a right to beknown as the "most important" plants.

Estimates of their extent vary. Most botanistshold that there are 200,000 to 250,000 species in300 families. Other estimates, probably more rea-listic, calculate 500,000 species.

There ar.e two major groups of angiosperms: themonocotyledons, plants with one seed leaf; andthose with usually two seed leaves. The monoco-tyledons are usually credited with one quarter ofthe total.

Some sections of the Plant Kingdom are ofgreat importance from the point of view of biody-namic species with compounds of significance tomedicinal or hallucinogenic activity.

The fungi are of increasing interest: almost allantibiotics in wide use are derived from fungi.They are also employed in the pharmaceutical in-dustry in the synthesis of steroids and for otherpurposes. Hallucinogenic compounds may be



widespread in the fungi, but those that have beenof importance in human affairs belong to the asco-mycetes (Ergot) and the basidiomycetes (variousmushrooms and puffballs). The importance offungi as sources of aflotoxins of foods has onlyrecently been recognized.

Algae and lichens, interestingly, have as yet notyielded any species reported as hallucinogens. Animpressive number of new biodynamic com-pounds, some of possible medical value, have al-ready been isolated from algae. Recent researchhas heightened the promise of isolation of activeprinciples from lichens: they have yielded a largenumber of bacteria-inhibiting compounds andhave been shown to be rich in chemovars. Thereare persistent reports of hallucinogenic lichens em-ployed in northwesternmost North America, butas yet no identifiable specimens or reliableinformation has been forthcoming. In South Amer-ica, a lichen (Dictyonerna) is used as a psychoactive.The bryophytes have been phytochemicallyneglected; the few that have been studied have gi-ven little hope as sources of biodynamic com-pounds. Similarly, in ethnomedicine, the mossesand liverworts seem to have been ignored.

Some ferns appear to be bioactive and psy-choactive. However, phytochemical investigationhas been far from exhaustive. Very recent investi-gations have indicated a hitherto unsuspectedwealth of biodynamic compounds of potential in-terest to medicine and commerce; sesquiterpinoidlactones, ecdyosones, alkaloids, and cyanogenicglycosides. A recent survey for antibacterial activ-ity of extracts from 44 Trinidadian ferns indicatedthe surprising fact that 77 percent were positive.No hallucinogenic constituents have yet been dis-covered in laboratory research or by indigenous

societies, although several ferns are employed inSouth America as additives to hallucinogenicdrinks (Ayahuasca).

Of the spermatophytes, the gymnosperms exhi-bit few biodynamic elements. They are knownprimarily as the source of the sympathomimeticalkaloid ephedrine and the very toxic taxine.Many are of economic importance as sources ofresins and timber. This group of seed plants is richalso in physiologically active stilbines and othercompounds that act as protective agents againstheartwood decay (essential oils).

From many points of view, the angiosperms arethe important plants: as the dominant and mostnumerous group and as the elements basic toman's social and material evolution. They repre-sent the source of most of our medicines of vegetalorigin; most toxic species are angiospermous; andalmost all hallucinogens used by man, as well asother narcotics, belong to this group. It is easy tounderstand why angiosperms have been chemi-cally more assiduously studied; but what is notfully recognized is the fact that the angiospermsthemselves have been merely superficially exam-ined. It is clear that the Plant Kingdom representsan only partially studied emporium of biodyna-mic principles. Each species is a veritable chemicalfactory. Although indigenous societies have dis-covered many medicinal, toxic, and narcotic prop-erties in their ambient vegetation, there is no rea-son to presume that their experimentation hasbrought to light all the psychoactive principleshidden in these plants.

Undoubtedly new hallucinogens are lurking inthe Plant Kingdom and, in them, possible consti-tuents of extreme interest to modern medicalpractice.

19



PHYTOCHEMICALRESEARCH ONSACRED PLANTS

Plants of the gods interest various disciplines: eth-nology, religious studies, history, and folklore.The two major scientific disciplines that concernthemselves with these plants, however, are botanyand chemistry. This chapter describes the work ofchemists who analyze the constituents of plantsused in religious rites and in the magic of medicinemen and discusses the potential benefits fromsuch research.

The botanist must establish the identity ofplants that in the past were used as sacred drugsor which are still employed for that purpose to-day. The next step to be explored by scientists is:What constituents—which of the substances inthose plants—actually produce the effects thathave led to their use in religious rites and magic?What the chemist is looking for is the active prin-ciple, the quintessence or quinta essentia, as Para-celsus called the active compounds in plantdrugs.

Among the many hundreds of different sub-stances that make up the chemical composition ofa plant, only one or two (occasionally up to half adozen) compounds are responsible for its psy-choactive effects. The proportion by weight ofthese active principles is usually only a fractionof 1 percent, and frequently even of one part perthousand of the plant. The main constituents offresh plants, usually more than 90 percent byweight, are cellulose (which provides the support-ing structure) and water (as the solvent and trans-port medium for plant nutrients and metabolicproducts). Carbohydrates (such as starch and var-ious sugars), proteins, fats, mineral salts, and pig-ments make up several more percent of the plant.Together with these normal components, theyconstitute practically the whole plant, and theyare common to all higher plants. Substances withunusual physiological and psychic effects arefound only in certain special plants. These sub-stances as a rule have very different chemicalstructures from those of the usual vegetal consti-tuents and common metabolic products.

It is not known what function these special sub-stances may have in the life of the plant. Varioustheories have been offered. Most psychoactiveprinciples in these sacred plants contain nitrogen,and it has therefore been suggested that they maybe waste products of metabolism—like uric acid

20

in animal organisms—their purpose being theelimination of excess nitrogen. If this theory weretrue, one would expect all plants to contain suchnitrogenous constituents: that is not the case.Many of the psychoactive compounds are toxic iftaken in large doses, and it has therefore been sug-gested that they serve to protect the plants fromanimals. But this theory likewise is hardly convin-cing, because many poisonous plants are in facteaten by animals that are immune to the toxic con-stituents.

It remains, therefore, one of the unsolved rid-dles of nature why certain plants produce sub-stances with specific effects on the mental andemotional functions of man, on his sense of per-ception, and actually on his state of consciousness.

Phytochemists have the important and fascinat-ing task of separating the active principles fromthe rest of the plant materials and of producingthem in pure form. Once active principles are thusavailable, it is possible to analyze them to deter-mine the elements of which they are composed;the relative proportions of carbon, hydrogen,oxygen, nitrogen, etc.; and to establish the mole-cular structure in which these elements are ar-ranged. The next step is the synthesis of the activeprinciple: that is, to make it in the test tube quiteindependently of the plant.

With pure compounds—whether isolated fromthe plant or synthetically produced—exact phar-macological assays and chemical tests can bemade. This is not possible with whole plants be-cause of the varying content of the active princi-pies and interference from other constituents.

The first psychoactive principle to be producedin pure form from a plant was morphine, an alka-loid present in the opium poppy. It was first iso-lated by the pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner in1806. This new compound was named for theGreek god of sleep, Morpheus, because of itssleep-inducing properties. Since then, enormousstrides have been made in developing more effi-cient methods for the separation and purificationof active principles, with the most important tech-niques evolving only during the last decades.These include the techniques of chromatography:methods of separation based on the fact thatdifferent substances adhere in varying degrees onabsorbent materials or are more or less readily



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taken up in solvents that do not mix. The methodsused in qualitative analysis and to establish thechemical structure of compounds have also under-gone fundamental changes in recent years. For-merly, several generations of chemists would beneeded to elucidate the complex structures of nat-ural compounds. Today, it takes just a few weeksor even only days to determine them with thetechniques of spectroanalysis and X-ray analysis.At the same time, improved methods of chemicalsynthesis have been developed. The great ad-vances made in the field of chemistry, and the effi-cient methods now available to plant chemists,have in recent years made it possible to gainappreciable knowledge of the chemistry of activeprinciples found in psychoactive plants.

The contribution made by chemists to thestudy of sacred plant drugs may be illustratedwith the example of the Magic Mushrooms ofMexico. Ethnologists had found Indian tribes inthe southern parts of Mexico using mushrooms intheir religious ceremonies. Mycologists identifiedthe mushrooms used in these rituals. Chemicalanalyses showed clearly which species were psy-choactive. Albert Hofmann tested one species ofmushroom on himself; he discovered that it waspsychoactive, that it could be grown under la-boratory conditions, and he was able to isolatetwo active compounds. The purity and chemicalhomogeneity of a compound can be demonstra-ted by its ability to crystallize, unless of course itbe a liquid. The two hallucinogenic principlesnow known as psilocybine and psilocine, foundin the Mexican Magic Mushroom Psilocybe mex-icana, were obtained in the form of colorless crys-tals.

Similarly, the active principle of the Mexicancactus L op hop ho ra williamsii, mescaline, had been

22

Some psychoactive compounds are also produced by animals. The Colorado

River toad (Bufo a/va rius) secretes considerable amounts of 5-MeO-DMT.

isolated in pure form and crystallized as a salt withhydrochloric acid.

With the active principles of the mushroomsavailable in pure form, it became possible to ex-tend research into various fields, such as psychia-try, with useful results.

By determining the presence or absence of psi-locybine and psilocine, an objective method wasnow available for distinguishing true hallucino-genic mushrooms from false ones.

The chemical structure of the hallucinogenicprinciples of the mushrooms was determined (seestructural formulas in the next chapter), and it wasfound that these compounds were closely relatedchemically to substances (serotonin) occurringnaturally in the brain that play a major role in theregulation of psychic functions.

As the pure compounds can be given in exactdoses, their pharmacological actions could nowbe studied under reproducible conditions in ani-mal experiments, and the spectrum of their psy-chotropic actions in man determined. This wasnot possible with the original mushrooms, be-cause their content of active principles tends tovary, between 0.1 and 0.6 percent of the dryweight of the plant tissue. The greater part of thiscontent is psilocybine, with psilocine present usu-ally only in traces. The median effective dose forhumans is 8 to 16 milligrams of psilocybine orpsilocine. Instead of swallowing 2 grams of thedried mushrooms, which have a rather unpleasanttaste, one merely needs to take about 0.008 gramof psilocybine to experience the hallucinogenic ef-fects, which generally last for several hours.

Once the active principles were available inpure form, it was possible to study their use andeffective application in medicine. They werefound to be particularly useful in experimental



Mescaline—HCI Psilocybine

(mescaline-hydrochloride, crystallized from alcohol) (crystallized from methanol)

psychiatry, as valuable aids to psychoanalysis andpsychotherapy.

One might think that with the isolation, struc-tural analysis, and synthesis of psilocybine andpsilocine, the mushrooms of Mexico had lost theirmagic. Substances that because of their effects onthe mind had led Indians to believe for thousandsof years that a god dwelt in those mushrooms cannow be synthetically produced in the chemist'sretort. It should be remembered, however, thatscientific investigation has merely shown that themagic properties of the mushrooms are the prop-erties of two crystalline compounds. Their effecton the human mind is just as inexplicable, and justas magical, as that of the mushrooms themselves.This also holds true for the isolated and purifiedactive principles of other plants of the gods.

Psilocine(crystallized from methanol)

Many alkaloids crystallize poorly as free bases. They will separate as a crys-

tallized salt, however, when neutralized with a suitable acid, either by cooling

the saturated solution or by evaporation of the solvent. Crystallization of sub-

stances from solutions is carried out mainly fpr purification, since by-products

remain in the solvent.As each substance has its own specific crystalline form, this form serves for

identification and characterization of a substance. A modern method for the

elucidation of chemical constitutions is the X-ray structure analysis. For the

application of this method, alkaloids and other substances must be available

in crystallized form.

23

/



"The largest river in the worldruns through the largest forest . . . By little and little,

I began to comprehendthat in a forest which is practically unlimited—

near three millions of square milesclad with trees and little else but trees,

and where the nativesthink no more of destroying the noblest trees,

when they stand in their way, than we the vilest weed,a single tree cut down

makes no greater a gap, and is no more missed,than when one pulls up a stalk of groundsel

or a poppy in an English cornfield."—Richard Spruce

Be/ow: The photograph depicts an aerial view of the Kuluene River, the southernmost tributary

of the Xingü River, a main affluent of the Amazon.

Right: "There were enormous trees, crowned with magnificent foliage, decked with fantastic

parasites, and hung over with lianas, which varied in thickness from slender threads to huge

python-like masses, were now round, now flattened, now knotted and now twisted with the

regularity of a cable. Intermixed with the trees, and often equal to them in altitude, grew noble

palms; while other and far lovelier species of the same family, their ringed stems sometimes

scarcely exceeding a finger's thickness, but bearing plume-like fronds and pendulous bunches

of black or red berries, quite like those of their loftier allies, formed, along with shrubs and

arbüscles of many types, a bushy undergrowth, not visually very dense or difficult to penetrate

It is worthy to be noted that the loftiest forest is generally the easiest to traverse; the lianas

and parasites. . . being in great part too high to be much in the way. .

—Richard

24





GEOGRAPHY OFUSAGE ANDBOTANICAL RANGE

Many more hallucinogenic plants exist than thosethat man has put to use. Of the probable half-million species in the world's flora, only aboutone thousand are known to be employed for theirhallucinogenic properties. Few areas of the globelack at least one hallucinogen of significance in theculture of the inhabitants.

Despite its size and extremely varied vegeta-tion, Africa appears to be poor in hallucinogenicplants. The most famous, of course, is Iboga, aroot of the Dogbane family employed in Gabonand parts of the Congo in the Bwiti cult. TheBushmen of Botswana slice the bulb of Kwashiof the Amaryllis family and rub it over scarifica-tions on the head, allowing the active principles inthe juice to enter the bloodstream. Kanna is amysterious hallucinogen, probably no longerused: the chewed the plant materialfrom two species of the Ice Plant family that in-duced gaiety, laughter, and visions. In scatteredregions, relatives of Thorn Apple and Henbanewere used for their intoxicating properties.

In Eurasia there are many plants employed fortheir hallucinatory effects. Most significant, it isthe home of Hemp, today the most widespreadof all narcotics: as Marijuana, Maconha, Daggha,Ganja, Charas, etc., the drug and its use havespread nearly throughout the world.

The most spectacular Eurasiatic hallucinogen isthe Fly Agaric, a mushroom consumed by scat-tered tribesmen in Siberia and possibly the sacredgod-narcotic Soma of ancient India.

Datura was employed over wide areas of Asia.In Southeast Asia, especially in Papua New Gui-nea, sundry poorly understood hallucinogens areused. The rhizome of Maraba, a member of theGinger family, is believed to be eaten in New Gui-nea. In Papua, natives ingest a mixture of leaves ofEreriba of the Arum family and bark of a large tree,Agara, to produce a sleep during which visions oc-cur. Nutmeg may once have been taken in Indiaand Indonesia for its narcotic effects. Tribesmenin Turkestan drink an intoxicating tea made fromthe dried leaves of a shrubby mint, Lagochilus.

The heyday of the use of hallucinogens in Eur-ope occurred in ancient times, when they wereused almost exclusively in witchcraft and divina-tion. The major plants involved—Thorn Apple,Mandrake, Henbane, Belladonna—belong to the

26

Nightshade family. The fungus Ergot, a parasiteon rye, frequently poisoned entire regions if acci-dentally milled into the flour. Such attacks ledhundreds of citizens to go mad and suffer hallu-cinations, often causing permanent insanity, gang-rene, or death. This plague was known as St.Anthony's fire. Although Ergot was apparentlynever purposefully used in medieval Europe as ahallucinogen, there are suggestions that the Eleu-sinian mysteries of ancient Greece were associatedwith this fungal genus.

The famous and widely employed Kava-kava isnot a hallucinogen but has been classified as ahypnotic narcotic.

It is in the New World that the number andcultural significance of hallucinogenic plants areoverwhelming, dominating every phase of lifeamong the aboriginal peoples.

There were some hallucinogenic species in theWest Indies. In fact, the early indigenous popula-tions used mainly the snuff known as Cohoba;and it is believed that this custom was importedby Indians invading the Caribbean Islands fromthe Orinoco regions of South America.

Similarly, North America (north of Mexico) isquite poor in hallucinogens. Various species ofDatura were employed rather widely, but most in-tensely in the Southwest. The Indians of the regionof Texas and adjacent areas used the Red Bean orMescal Bean as the basis of a vision-seeking cere-mony. In northern Canada, Indians chewed theroots of Sweet Flag as medicine and supposedlyalso for the hallucinogenic effects.

Mexico represents without a doubt the world'srichest area in diversity and use of hallucinogensin aboriginal societies—a phenomenon difficultto understand in view of the comparatively mod-est number of species comprising the flora of thecountry. Without any question the Peyote cactusis the most important sacred hallucinogen,although other cactus species are still used innorthern Mexico as minor hallucinogens for spe-cial magico-religious purposes. Of almost equalreligious importance in early Mexico and surviv-ing until today in religious rituals are mush-rooms, known to the Aztecs as Teonanácatl. Atleast twenty-four species of these fungi are em-ployed at the present time in southern Mexico.Ololiuqui, the seeds of Morning Glories, repre-



Top: At the Shiva Temple of Pashupatinath near Kathmandu, Nepal, Indian

yogis smoke Marijuana in preparation for the arduous body practice and

meditation.

sents another hallucinogen of great importancein Aztec religion and is still employed in south-ern Mexico. There are many hallucinogens ofsecondary importance: Toloache and other spe-cies of the Datura group; the Mescal Bean orFrijolillo in the north; Pipiltzintzintli of theAztecs; the diviner's sage now known as Hierbade la Pastora; Genista among the Yaqui Indi-ans; Piule, Sinicuichi, Zacatechichi, the puffballs

Below: Visions revealed by hallucinogens can be subsequently processedand rendered artistically. In this way the experience is carried into and con-nected with everyday life. (Hallucigenia by Christian Rätsch, watercolor, circa1993)

known by the Mixtecs as Gi'-i-Wa; and manyothers.

South America ranks a close second to Mexicoin the number, variety, and deep magico-religioussignificance of hallucinogens. The Andean cul-tures had half a dozen species of Brugmansias,known as Borrachero, Campanilla, Floripondio,Huanto, Haucacachu, Maicoa, Toe, Tongo, etc.In Peru and Bolivia a columnar cactus called SanPedro or Aguacolla is the basis of the drinkci,nora, used in a vision-seeking ceremony. Ma-puche Indian witch doctors (who are mostlyfemale) of Chile formerly employed a hallucino-genic tree of the Nightshade family—Latué orArbol de los Brujos. Research has indicated theuse in various parts of the Andes of the rare shrubTaique (Desfontainia), the Shanshi,and the fruits of Hierba Loca and Taglli, both ofthe Heath family. Most recently, a type of Petuniahas been reported as an intoxicant used in Ecua-dor. In the Orinoco and parts of the Amazon, apowerful snuff called Yopo or Niopo is madefrom the toasted seeds of a tree of the legume

27



• NATIVE USE OF MAJOR I

HALLUCINOGENS

Notwithstanding the greater age of cultures and the

widespread use of hallucinogens in the Eastern • • - -

Hemisphere, the number of species so used is farthe Western Hemisphere. Anthropologists

have e plained this disparity on culturalThere does not, to be a significant

difference between the two hemispheres in the num

ber of plants possessing hallucinogenic pnriciples



There are few cultures in the Western Hemisphere that

did not value at least one hallucinogenic plant in

magico-religious ceremonies. Many cultures had

several. In addition to hallucinogens, a number of

otherwise psychoactive plants shared the honors:

Tobacco, Coca, Guayusa, Yoco, Guarancá. Some of

these—especially Tobacco and Coca—rose to exalted

positions in the sacred native pharmacopoeias. These

major hallucinogens are culturally significant in the

areas indicated by the symbols.

eHyoscyamusspp.

Amanita muscaria

Atropa belladonna

Cannabis sativa

CIa viceps purpurea

Daturaspp.

Tabernanthe iboga 0Anadenanthera peregrina 4'Anadenanthera colubrina 4,

q3Q Banistenopsis caapi4,

Brugmansiaspp.

Lophophora williamsii 0Psilocybespp

Turbina corymbosa et lpomoea viofacea

4'Virolaspp

Duboisia spp.



Right: Shamans remain the guardians of wisdom concerning the magical ef-

fects of the psychoactive plants. This photograph was taken at the holy

mountain Kalinchok (4,000 m) in the Himalayas of Nepal.

family. The Indians of northern Argentina take asnuff—CebIl or Vilica—prepared from seeds of aspecies closely related to Yopo. Perhaps the mostimportant lowland hallucinogen in South Americais Ayahuasca, Caapi, Natema, Pindé, or Yajé. Em-ployed ceremonially in the western Amazon andin several localities on the Pacific coastal areas ofColombia and Ecuador, it is made basically fromseveral species of lianas of the Malpighia family.Brunfelsia, a member of the Nightshade family,known widely in the westernmost Amazon asChiricaspi, is taken for hallucinatory purposes.

There are more plants utilized as hallucinogensin the New World than in the Old. Nearly 130species are known to be used in the WesternHemisphere, whereas in the Eastern Hemispherethe number reaches roughly 50. Botanists have noreason to presume that the flora of the New Worldis richer or poorer than that of the Old in plantswith hallucinogenic properties.

30



PLANT LEXICON

The plant lexicon includes basic de-scriptions, primarily botanical innature, of ninety-seven plants thatare known to have a hallucinogenicor psychoactive effect.

Emphasis is given to plants thatare known from the literature, fieldexperience, and/or laboratory evi-dence to have definite psychoactiveeffects. Some species that are re-ported to have "narcotic" or "intox-icating" uses are included as well.

The plants are arranged alphabe-tically according to the Latin nameof the genus. This order has beenfollowed in view of the many differ-ent vernacular names in the greatvariety of native languages. If a par-ticular name is not listed, it may besought in the index of vernacularnames on pages 32—33 or at the endof the book where these epithets arecross-referenced.

Inasmuch as this volume is writ-ten for the general reader, the bota-nical descriptions are intentionallybrief, stressing the obvious and most

easily visible characteristics of theplant. Whenever space permits, ad-ditional information of historical,ethnological, phytochemical, and,very occasionally, psychopharma-cological interest is added. In thisway, an attempt has been made inthis introductory lexicon to give asbroad an interdisciplinary view aspossible. The illustrations in the lex-icon are of two kinds: some of themare watercolors made wheneverpossible from living plant materialor herbarium specimens. Most aredirect reproductions of color photo-graphs. A number of the plants de-picted here are illustrated for thefirst time.

The purpose of the lexicon ismanifestly to help guide the readermore easily into the admittedlycomplex array of facts and storiesthat comprise only a small fractionof the extensive knowledge frommany fields concerning these plantsthat native peoples around the worldhave considered plants of the gods.

The botanical investigation of medicinal

plants has, over the years, become

more and more exact and sophisticated.

In 1543, the writer of one of the most

beautifully illustrated herbals, Leonard

Fuchs, presented this accurate sketch

of Datura stramonium, the Thorn Apple

(left). Some three hundred years later,

Kohler, in his Medizinal Pflanzen, pub-

lished a more detailed pharmacognostic

rendering of this very important thera-

peutic plant (center). In the 125 years

since the establishment of Linnaeus's

herbarium and the binomial system of

nomenclature, our herbaria have greatly

enhanced the understanding of the

morphological variation of vegetal

species through the collection of dried

specimens around the world. The third

illustration depicts a typical herbarium

specimen of the Thorn Apple repre-

senting the kind of material that now

authenticates botanical identification.

Modern technology (for example, theelectron-scanning microscope) is mak-

ing available morphological details,

such as the leaf surface hairs of theThorn Apple, which provide greater ac-

curacy in the work of plant identification.

31



Index and Keyto the Plant Lexicon

Ninety-seven hallucinogenic plants are illu- Acacia 1 El Ahijado 21

strated and described on the following pages Agara 35 El Macho 21

(34—60). Aguacolla 94 El Nene 21

The lexicon is in alphabetical order by genus Ajuca 56 Epená 96

name. Each text in the lexicon includes the fol- Angel's Trumpet 11, 12 Ereriba 39

lowing information in its heading: Arbol de Campanilla 42 Ergot 20

• Genus, author, and, in brackets, the number of Arbol de los Brujos 47 Esakuna 25

species known to exist in the genus. Axocatzin 86 False Peyote 7

• Botanical name of the species shown. The Ayahuasca 9, 93 Fang-K'uei 72

species known to contain hallucinogenic Aztec Dream Grass 16 Flag Root 2

properties orto be used as hallucinogens will Badoh 95 Floripondio 11, 12

be found in the reference section "Overview of Badoh Negro 43 Fly Agaric 3

Plant Use," pages 65—80, which is organized Bakana 24, 84 Frijoles 88

by common name. This reference section! Belladonna 8 Galanga 45

chart provides the botanical names of the Bhang 17 Ganja 17

plants and describes the history, ethnography, Biak—Biak 57 Genista 26

context, purpose of usage, and preparation, Black Henbane 41 GigantOn 94

as well as chemical components and effects. Blood-Red Angel's Trumpet 12 Gi'-i-Sa-Wa 52

• Plant family. Blue Meanies 63 Gi'-i-Wa 52

• Reference number. Blue Water Lily 60 Golden Angel's Trumpet 11

• Geographical distribution of the genus. Borrachero 11, 12, 30, 42 Hashish 17

Common names are listed here below with the Bovista 52 Hawaiian Wood Rose 6

number designating each plant's location in the Brunfelsia 13 Hemp 17

lexicon. Caapi 9, 93 Henbane 40,41

Caapi-Pinima 93 Hierba de Ia Pastora 82

Cahua 80 Hierba de Ia Virgen 82

Calamus 2 Hierba Loca 70

Cawe 62 Hikuli 24

Cebil 4 Hikuli 51

Cebolleta 61 Hikuli Mulato 33

Chacruna 80 Hikuli Rosapara 33

Chacruna Bush 80 Hikuli Rosapara 53

Chalice Vine 87 Hikuli Sunamé 7

Channa 83 Hikuri 53

Charas 17 Hikuri 32

Chautle 7 Hikuri Orchid 61

Chichipe 86 Hongo de San Isidro 76

Chilicote 34 Hoop-petticoat 64

Chiricaspi 13 Huacacachu 11,12

Chiric-Sanango 13 Huanto 11,12

Cohoba 5 Huedhued 70

Coleus 21 Huelpatl 87

Colorines 34,88 Huilca 14

Common Reed 74 Iboga 90

Conocybe 22 Jambur 63

Copelandia 63 Jimsonweed 29

Coral Bean 88 Jurema Tree 56

Coral Tree 34 Kanna 83

Cowhage 58 Kieli 87

Cumala Tree 96 Kieri 87

Dacha 48 Kit 17

Dagga 17 Koribo 92

Dama da Noite 19 Kougued 83

Dark-rimmed Mottlegill 65 Kratom 57

Datura 28 Kuma Mushroom 10

Deadly Nightshade 8 Kwashi 66

Diviner's Sage 82 Lady of the Night 19

Dog Grass 16 Latué 47

Dutra 28 Latuy 30

32



Lemongrass

Liberty Cap

Lion's Tail

Mace

Maconha

Magic Mushroom

Maicoa

Maiden's Acacia

Malva Colorada

Mammillaria

Manaka

Mandrake

Maraba

Marijuana

Marijuanillo

Mashihiri

MatwO

Mescal

Mescal Bean

Mescal Button

Morning Glory

Nightshade

Ninfa

Nonda

Nutmeg

Nyakwana

Ololiuqui

Paguando

Painted Nettle

Paiqul

Petunia

Peyote Cactus

Peyote Cimarrdn

Peyote de San Pedro

Peyotillo

Pincushion Cactus

Pipiltzintzintli

Pitallito Cactus

Pituri

Pituri Bush

Piule

Poison Bush

Pokeberry

Quetzalaxcchiacatl

Rape dos Indios

Red Bean

Red Canary Grass

Reed Grass

Saguaro

Sanango

San Isidro

San Pedro Cactus

Scopolia

Screw Pine

Shang-la

Shanin

Shanshi

She-to

Siberian Lion's Tail

25 Siberian Motherwort

79 Sinicuichi

48 Straw Flower

59 Sweet Calomel

19 Sweet Flag

76, 79 Syrian Rue

11. 12 Tabaco del Diablo

1 Tabernaemontana

86 TagIli

53 Taique

13 Takini

54 TaMa45 Tamu

17 Tecomaxochitl

49 Teonanàcatl

44 Tepescohuite

14 ThIe-pelakano

88 Thorn Apple

88 Tlililtzin

51 Toe

43 Toloache

85 Toloatzin

60 Tonga

10 To-shka

59 Totubjansush

96 Tsuwiri

95 Tupa

42 Turkestan Mint

21 Tzompar.quahuitl

19 VilIca

71 Voacanga

51 Wavy Cap

7 Wichowaka

53 Wichuri

69 Wichuriki

24, 53 Wild Dagga

82 Wood Rose

32 Xtabentum

31 Yahutli

31 Yajé

43,81 Yakee

31 Yellow Henbane

75 Yopo

60 YUn-shih

55 Zacatechichi

88

73

73

18

89

76

94

85

67

75

71

23

64

49

49

36

37

2

2

68

50

89

70

30

38

17

22

87

78

56

16

29

43

11

27

27

11,1264

42

7

50

46

34

4

97

77

62

24

53

48

6

95

91

9

96

40 A South American Indian harvests a even millennia. The Indians caution

plant of the gods, a Blood-Red An- against the thoughtless use of this

is gel's Trumpet (Brugmansia sangui- plant, which causes such strong

16 flea). This alkaloid-rich plant has hallucinations and delirium that only

been cultivated and used for psy- experienced shamans can use it for

choactive purposes for centuries or divination and healing.

33



ACACIA Mill.

Acacia maidenii F von Muell.

Maiden's Acacia

Acorus calamus L.

Sweet Flag

Araceae (Arum Family)

Temperate and warm zones2 of both hemispheres

AMANITA L.

Amanita muscaria (L. ex Fr.) Pers.

Fly Agaric

Amanitaceae

Europe, Africa, Asia,

3 Americas

ANADENANTHERA Speg.

Ariadenanthera colubruna(Vellozo) Brennan

Cebil, Villca

Leguminosae (Pea Family)

Northwest Argentina4

The genus Acacia is widely dis-tributed throughout the tropicaland subtropical regions of theworld. It encompasses for themost part medium-sized treeswith pinnate, occasionallysmooth leaves. The flowersgrow in clusters and the fruit ispea-like. Many acacias are atraditional additive to psycho-active products, such as betel,beer, balché, pituri, and pulque.Some of the species are suitedfor the preparation of Ayahuas-ca analogs. Numerous Austra-lian species (A. maidenii,A. phlebophylla, A. simplicifolia)contain higher concentrations ofDMT in their bark and, leaves.

Acacia maidenii, a beautifulerect tree with a silvery splen-dor, contains different trypta-mines. The bark contains0.36% DMT. The leaves areusable as a DMT-deliveringcomponent of Ayahuasca ana-logs. These acacias are easy tocultivate in temperate climatessuch as in California and south-ern Europe.

Some evidence, although weakand indirect, suggests that theCree Indians of northwesternCanada may occasionally chewthe rootstalk of Sweet Flag for itspsychoactive effects.

Sweet Flag is a semiaquaticherb with a long, aromatic,creeping rootstock producingshoots of erect, linear, swordlikeleaves up to 6ft (2m) in length.The tiny flowers are borne on asolid, lateral, greenish yellowspadix. The rootstalk or rhizomecontains an essential oil re-sponsible for the plant's medic-inal value.

It has been suggested that theactive principles are a-asaroneand There is a struc-tural resemblance betweenasarone and mescaline, a psy-choactive alkaloid. No evidencehas ever been produced, how-ever, that asarone can be asso-ciated with psychotomimeticactivity.

Amanita muscaria is a beautifulmushroom growing in thin for-ests usually under birches, firs,and young pines. It may attain aheight of 8—9 in. (20—23cm).The somewhat viscid, ovate,hemispheric, and finally almostflat cap measures 3—8 in. (8—20 cm) when mature. There arethree varieties: one with a blood-red cap with white warts found inthe Old World and northwesternNorth America; a yellow or or-ange type with yellowish wartscommon in eastern and centralNorth America; and a whitevariety that is found in Idaho.The cylindrical stem, which hasa bulbous base, is white, ½—i in.(1—3 cm) thick, with a conspicu-ous cream-white ring coveredbasically with encircling scales.The white valve adheres to thebase of the stem. The gills varyfrom white to cream color oreven lemon yellow.

This mushroom, perhapsman's oldest hallucinogen, hasbeen identified with Soma ofancient India.

This tree grows 9—50ft (3—18m)and has an almost black barkoften adorned with conicalthorns. The leaves are finely lo-cular and reach up to 1 ft (30 cm)long. The yellowish white flow-ers are round. The leathery darkbrown fruit pods grow to 1 ft(35 cm) long and contain veryflat red-brown seeds ½ to 1 in.(1—2 cm) wide, with rounded toright angles.

The seeds have been used asa hallucinogen by the Indians ofthe southern region of the An-des for approximately 4,500years. They are either workedinto a snuff powder, smoked, orused as an additive for beer.Primarily they are used inshamanism.

The seeds of the CebIl or Vill-ca contain tryptamines, espe-cially bufotenine.


Australia

34



ANADENANTHERA Speg. (2) ARGYREIA Lour. (90) ARIOCARPUS Scheidw. (6)

nadenanthera peregrina (L.) Speg.

LegumiflOSae (Pea Family)

Tropical zones of South

5 America, West Indies

Anadenanthera pore grina is amimosa-like tree, mainly of opengrasslands, attaining a height of65ft (20m) and with a trunk 2ft(60 cm) in diameter. The black-ish bark is coarsely armed withconical mucronate projections.The leaves have from 15 to 30pairs of pinnae with many verysmall hairy leaflets. Many min-ute white flowers in sphericalheads arranged in terminal oraxillary clusters comprise theinflorescence. Flat, thin, glossyblack, roundish seeds occur inrough, woody pods, from 3 to 10in a pod.

A potent hallucinogenic snuffis made from the beans of Ana-denanthera peregrina in the Or-inoco basin, where it is calledYopo. Its former shamanic andritual use in the West Indies, un-der the name Cohoba, was re-ported as early as 1496. Sadly,this use has disappeared due tothe exploitation of the nativepeople.

The tree native to the edges ofthe large forested areas ofGuyana is still used by differenttribes, primarily the Yanomano

and Waika, for the production ofEpená. The shamanic snuff ismade from cultivated trees inaddition to other substancesand plant ashes. The seedscontain mostly N,N-Dimethyl-tryptamine (DMT) as well as5-MeO-DMT and other trypta-mines. The shaman of the rainforest people of the Orinoco re-gion (for example, the Piaroa)cultivate this tree which is notnative to that area. That waythey secure their snuff supplies.

Argyreia nervosa (Burman f.) Bojer,Hawaiian Wood Rose

Convovulaceae

(Morning Glory Family)

India, Southeast Asia,

6 Hawaii

The mature stems of this vigor-ously growing twining bindweedclimb up to 3Oft (lOm) high andcarry a latexlike milk. Thestemmed, heart-shaped leavesare finely haired and have asilvery appearance due to adense white down that coversthe young stems and the leafundersides. The funnel-shapedflowers are violet or lavenderand are carried in the leaf axis.Their sepals are finely haired.The round fruit are berrylike andcontain smooth brown seeds. Ineach seed capsule there are 1—4 seeds.

The plant originates in India,where it has been used medic-inally since ancient times. A tra-ditional use as an entheogenhas not yet been discovered.Phytochemical research is tothank for the awareness of itspotent psychedelic constitution.The seeds contain 0.3% Ergotalkaloids (ergine and lysergic-acid-am ides). Most psycho-nauts describe LSD-like effectsafter taking 4—8 seeds.

Ariocarpus retusus Scheidw.False Peyote

Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Mexico, Texas

These plants are small, grayishgreen to purplish gray or brown-ish cactuses, 4—6in. (10—15 cm)in diameter. They hardly appearabove the ground. Often calledLiving Rocks, they can easily bemistaken for rocks in the stonydesert where they grow. Theirhorny or fleshy, umbricated,three-angled tubercles arecharacteristic of the genus.Dense masses of hair often fillthe areoles. The flowers varyfrom white to pink and purplishand measure approximately21/4 in. (6 cm) long and up to1½ in. (4cm) wide when fullyopen.

Indians in northern and cen-tral Mexico consider A. fissura-tus and A. retusus as "false

These species of cactus, re-lated to Lophophora, are typicaldesert plants, growing preferen-tially in the open sun in sandy orrocky stretches.

Several psychoactive pheny-lethylamine alkaloids have beenisolated from A. fissuratus andA. retusus.

35



ATROPA L.

Atropa belladonna L.

Deadly Nightshade

(4)

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Europe, North Africa, Asia

This much-branched perennialherb up to 3ft (90 cm) tall may beglabrous or pubescent-glandu-lar. The ovate leaves attain alength of 8in. (20cm). The soli-tary, drooping, bell-shaped,brown-purple flowers, approxi-mately 11/s in. (3 cm) long, pro-duce shiny black berries 1 ½—1½ in. (3—4 cm) in diameter. Allparts of the plant contain potentalkaloids. It grows in thicketsand woods on lime soils and isnaturalized especially near oldbuildings and hedges.

It is believed that Belladonnafigured as an important ingredi-ent in many of the witches'brews of antiquity. There are, ofcourse, numerous records ofaccidental and purposeful poi-soning associated with theDeadly Nightshade.

This plant played a major rolein the war of the Scots underDuncan I against the Norwegianking Sven Canute about A. D.

1035. The Scots destroyed theScandinavian armyby sending them food and beerto which "Sleepy Nightshade"had been added.

36

The main psychoactive con-stituent is atropine but lesseramounts of scopolamine andtrace amounts of minor tropanealkaloids are also present. Thetotal alkaloid content in theleaves is 0.4%, in the roots0.5%, and in the seeds 0.8%.

In addition to the usual Bella-donna there is a rare, yellowblooming variety (var. Iutea) aswell as lithe known related kinds.The Indian Belladonna (Atropaacuminata Royle ex Lindl.) iscultivated for pharmaceuticalpurposes because of its highcontent of scopolamine. In Asiathe Caucasian Belladonna(Atropa caucasia Kreyer) andthe Turkmenish Belladonna(Atropa komaro vii Blin. et Shal)are found. Belladonna is stillcultivated for the pharmaceuti-cal production of atropine.

BANISTERIO PS IS

C.B. Robinson et Small

(20—30)

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Gri-

seb.) Morton, Ayahuasca

Malpighiaceae

(Malpighia Family)

Tropical zones of northern

9 South America, West Indies

These giant forest lianas are thebasis of an important hallucino-genic drink (Ayahuasca) rituallyconsumed in the western half ofthe Amazon Valley and by iso-lated tribes on the Pacific slopesof the Colombian and Ecuador-ean Andes. The bark of Banis-teriopsis caapi and B. inebrians,prepared in cold water or afterlong boiling, may be taken alone,but various plant additives—especially the leaves of Diplop-tens cabrerana, known as Oco-Yajé, and of Psychotria viridis—are often used to alter the effectsof the hallucinogenic drink.

Both species are lianas withsmooth, brown bark and darkgreen, chartaceous, ovate-lan-ceolate leaves up to about 7 in.(18 cm) in length, 2—3 in. (5—

8cm) wide. The inflorescence ismany-flowered. The small f low-ers are pink or rose-colored. Thefruit is a samara with wingsabout 1% in. (3.5 cm) long.B. inebrians differs from B. caa-pun its thicker ovate, more at-tenuate leaves and in the shapeof the samara wings. The lianacontains MAO inhibitors.

BOLETUS Dill. ex Fr.

Boletus manicus HelmKuma Mushroom

Boletaceae

Cosmopolitan10

(225)

Several species of Boletus areinvolved in the curious "mush-room madness" of the Kuma ofNew Guinea. Boletus reayi, oneof these, is characterized by ahemispherical, strong brownishred cap that is cream-yellow atthe periphery; it measures from3/4to 1½ in. (2 to 4cm) in dia-meter. The flesh of the cap islemon-colored. The stipe variesfrom orange at the top, to amarbled green and gray-rose inthe middle, to a green at thebase. The spores, which areelongated ellipsoidal, have ayellow membrane but are olive-colored within.

B. manicus is a well-knownspecies that, as its name im-plies, has somewhat toxic prop-erties, (mania = insanity). Hallu-cinogenic properties have notyet been proven.



BRUGMANSIA Pers. (9—10)

Brugmansia sanguThea

(lRuiz et Pavón) D. Don

Blood-Red Angel's Trumpet

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

South America,1 2 Colombia to Chile

BRUNFELSIA L. (40)

Brun fe/s/a grand/flora D. DonBrunfelsia

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Tropical zones of northern1 3 South America, West Indies

Closely related to Datura, thespecies of BrugmansIa are ar-borescent, and it is suspectedthat they are all cultigens un-known in the wild. Biologicallyvery complex, all species ap-pear to have been used as hal-lucinogens for millennia. Brug-mans/a suaveolens andB. Insignis occur in warmerparts of South America, espe-cially in the western Amazonia,where they are employed aloneor mixed with other plants,usually under the name Too.Most of the species, however,prefer the cool, wet highlandsabove 6,000 ft. (1,830 m). Themost widespread species in theAndes is Brugmansia aurea,with both yellow and, more com-monly, white flower forms. In thehorticultural literature it has fre-quently been misidentified asBrugmansia (or Datura) arbor-ea, which is in reality a muchless common plant. Brugmansiaaurea is a shrub or small tree upto 30ft (9m) tall with oblong-el-liptic, often minutely hairyleaves, the blade measuring 4—16 in. (10—40cm) long, 2—6½ in.

(5—16cm) wide, borne on a pe-tiole up to 5in. (13cm) long. Theflowers are nodding, not whollypendulous, usually 7—9 in. (18—

23 cm) long and very fragrant,especially in the evening. Thetrumpet-shaped corolla flaringbroadly at the mouth is white orgolden yellow, its slender basalpart completely enclosed by thecalyx, its teeth 1 in. (4—

6cm) long, recurving. The elon-gate-ovoid, smooth, green fruit,which is variable in size, re-mains fleshy, never becominghard or woolly. The angular,blackish or brownish seeds arerelatively large, measuringabout ½by%in. (l2by9mm).In addition to their use as hallu-cinogens, all species haveplayed major roles as medicinesfor a large spectrum of ills,especially in the treatment ofrheumatic pains. They containpotent hallucinogenic tropanealkaloids.

This perennial Brugmansia isheavily branched and reaches 6—16 ft (2—Sm), developing a verywoody trunk. The gray-greenleaves are furry and roughly ser-rated at the edge. The Blood-RedAngel's Trumpet does not emitscents in the night. Usually theflowers are green at the base,yellow in the middle, and have ared edge around the top. Thereare also green-red, pure yellow,yellow-red, and almost comple-tely red varieties. The smoothoval fruits are bulbous in the cen-ter and pointed at the ends andare usually partially protected bythe dried calyx. In Colombia thispowerful shaman plant was ri-tually used in the cult of the sun ofpre-Columbian times. The plantis still used as a hallucinogen bythe shamans and Curanderos ofEcuador and Peru.

The entire plant contains tro-pane alkaloids. The flowerscontain essentially atropine andonly traces of scopolamine(hyoscine). In the seeds ap-proximately 0.17% totalalkaloids are present; of those,78% are scopolamine.

Several species of Brun fe/s/ahave medicinal and psycho-active roles in the Colombian,Ecuadorean, and PeruvianAmazon as well as in Guyana.Scopoletine has been found inBrun fe/s/a, but this compound isnot known to be psychoactive.

B. chiricaspi and B. grand/-flora are shrubs or small treesreaching a height of about loft(3m). The oblong or lanceolateleaves, measuring 21/2_12 in.

long (6—30 cm), are scatteredalong the branchlets. The f low-ers have a tubular corolla, longerthan the bell-shaped calyx andmeasuring about 4—4¾ in. (10—

12 cm) across, blue to violet,fading with age to white. B. chir-icaspi differs from B. grand/florain having much larger leaves,longer leaf stalks, a few-f low-ered inflorescence, and de-flexed corolla lobes. B. chiricas-p/ occurs in the west Amazoniaof Colombia, Ecuador, andPeru. B. grand/flora is wide-ranging in western South Amer-ica from Venezuela to Bolivia.Brun fe/s/as serve as Ayahuasca

additives.

37

BRUGMANSIA Pers. (7—8)

Brugmansia aurea Lagerh.

Golden Angel's Trumpet

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Western South America

11



Cacalia cordifolia L. f ii.

Matwü

Compositae (Sunflower Family)

East Asia, North America,14 Mexico

Caesalpinia sepiaria Roxb.Yün-Shih

Calea zacatechichi Schlecht.

Dog Grass

Cannabis sativa L.

Hemp

Cannabaceae (Hemp Family)

Warm-temperate zones,1 7 worldwide

A small shrubby climber,Cacalia cordifolia has dusty-puberulent, six-angled stems.The leaves are thin, ovate, andbasally cordate, 1 ½—3½ in. (4—9cm) long. The flowering headis subsessile or pedicellate,about %in. (1cm) long.

This and several other spe-cies of Cacalia have been re-ferred to in parts of northernMexico as Peyote and may pos-sibly have once been employedfor hallucinatory purposes. InMexico Cacalia cordifolla is apresumed aphrodisiac and curefor sterility. An alkaloid has beenreported from the plant, butthere is no evidence of a chemi-cal constituent with psycho-active properties.

This little researched plant isapparently often confused withCalea zacatechichi.

Caesalpinia sepiaria or Yün-Shih, a shrubby vine with retro-rsely hooked spines, is reput-edly used as a hallucinogen inChina. The roots, flowers, andseeds also have value in folkmedicine.

The earliest Chinese herbal—Pen-ts'-ao-ching——stated thatthe "flowers could enable one tosee spirits and, when taken inexcess, cause one to staggermadly?' If consumed over a longperiod, they produce levitationand "communication with thespirits?'

This plant is an extensiveclimber with pinnate leaves 9—15 in. (23—38cm) long andlinear-oblong leaflets in 8—12pairs. The large, erect, un-branched showy racemes, 21 in.(53 cm) long, bear canary yellowflowers. The smooth, elongate-ovoid, pointed fruit has 4 to 8ovoid, brown- and black-mottledseeds, % in. (1 cm) long. An al-kaloid of unknown structure hasbeen reported from Caesalpiniasepiaria.

Known in Mexico as Zacatechi-chi ("bitter grass"), this incon-spicuous shrub, occurring fromMexico to Costa Rica, has beenimportant in folk medicine. It hasalso been valued as aninsecticide.

Recent reports suggest thatthe Chontal Indians of Oaxacatake a tea of the crushed, driedleaves as a hallucinogen. Be-lieving in visions seen indreams, Chontal medicine men,who assert that Zacatechichiclarifies the senses, call theplant ThIe-pelakano, or "leaf ofgod?'

Calea zacatechichi is a heav-ily branching shrub withtriangular-ovate, coarselytoothed leaves in. (2—

6.5 cm) long. The inflorescenceis densely many-flowered(usually about 12).

No constituent with hallucina-tory properties has as yet beenisolated from C. zacatechichi.

The plant contains germacra-nolides. The subtile psychoac-tive effect can be described asdreamlike.

Cannabis sativa has becomevery polymorphic, but it isusually a rank, robust, erect,loosely branched annual herb,sometimes attaining a height ofl8ft (5.4m). The sexes are nor-mally on separate plants, thestaminate weaker and dyingafter shedding pollen, the pistil-late stockier and more foliose.The membranaceous leaves aredigitate, with 3 to 15 (usually 7to 9) linear-lanceolate, serratedsegments commonly 2¼—4 in.(6—10cm) wide. The flowers areborne in axillary or terminalbranches, dark green, yellow-green, or brownish purple. Thefruit is an ovoid, slightly com-pressed, often brownish akenecovered by a persistent calyx,enveloped by an enlarged bract,usually lacking a strong marbledpattern; it is firmly attached tothe ètalk without a definite ar-ticulation. The seed is ovoid,mostly ½ by 1/6 in. (4 by 2 mm).

Cannabis indica is pyramidalor conical in form and under 4—5ft (120—150cm) in height.

Cannabis ruderalis is smalland is never cultivated.

CACALIAL. (50) CAESALPINIAL. (100) CALEAL. (95) CANNABISL. (3)

Leguminosae (Pea Family)Tropical and warm zones of

1 5 both hemispheres


Tropical zones of northern1 6 South America, Mexico

38



CARNEGIEA Britt. et Rose (1) CESTRUM L. (160) CLAVICEPS Tulasne (6) COLEUS Lour. (150)

Carnegiea giganfea (Engeim.) Britt.

at Rose

Saguaro


Southwestern North1 8 America, northern Mexico

This largest of the columnarcactus plants, Saguaro, reach-ing a height of some 40ft (12m),is a candelabra-branched "tree."The many-ribbed stems andbranches attain a diameter of 1—2½ ft (30—75 cm). The spinesnear the top of the plant are yel-low-brown. Measuring 4—5 in.(10—13cm) in length, the white,funnel-shaped flowers openduring the day. The fruit, red orpurple, is an ovoid or ellipsoid

I berry splitting down the side intotwo or three sections and mea-suring 2½—3½ in. (6—9cm) long.

The numerous small seeds areblack and shining.

Although there are no reportsof the Saguaro as a hallucino-gen, the plant does containpharmacologically active alka-loids capable of psychoactivity.

Carnegine, 5-hydroxycarne-gine, and norcarnegine, plustrace amounts of 3-methoxytyr-amine and arizonine (a tetrahy-droquinoline base), have beenisolated from Saguaro.

The native people make awine from the pressed fruit.

Cestrum parqui LHérit.

Lady of the Night

Solanaceae(Nightshade Family)

Chile

19

Cestrum parqui has been usedmedicinally and ritually for sha-manic healing since pre-Columbian times by the Ma-puche in southern Chile. Theplant has the power to withstandattacks of sorcery or black ma-gic. The dried leaves of Cestrumparqui are smoked.

The shrub grows to 5ft (1.5 m)and has small, lanceolate mattegreen leaves. The bell-shapedyellow flowers have five pointypetals. They hang from the stemin clusters. The flowers bloom inChile between October and No-vember and release a powerful,heady aroma. The plant hassmall oval berries that are ashiny black color.

Cestrum parqui contains so-lasonine, a glycoside steroid-al-kaloid, as well as solasonidineand a bitter alkaloid (Farquin'sformula C21 H39N03), which hasa similar action to strychnine oratropine.

Claviceps purpurea (Fr.)

Tulasne

Ergot

Clavicipitaceae

Temperate zones of Europe,20 northern Africa, Asia,

North America

/Ergot is a fungal disease of cer-tain grasses and sedges, pri-marily of rye. Meaning "spur,"Ergot refers to the sclerotium orfruiting body of an ascomyceteor sac fungus. The spur is apurplish or black, curved, club-shaped growth ½—2½ in. (1—

6cm) long, which parasiticallyreplaces the endosperm of thekernel. The fungus producespsychoactive and toxic alka-loids.

There are two distinct periodsin the life cycle of this fungus: anactive and a dormant stage. TheErgot or spur represents thedormant stage. When the spurfalls to the ground, the Ergotsprouts globular heads calledascocarps from which growasci, each with threadlike as-cospores that are disseminatedwhen the asci rupture.

In the Middle Ages and earlierin Europe, especially where ryewas used in bread-making,whole areas frequently werepoisoned, suffering plagues ofergotism, when fungus-infectedrye kernels were milled intoflour.

Coleus blumei Benth.

Painted Nettle

Labiatae (Mint Family)

Tropical and warm zones of21 Europe, Africa, Asia

Two species of Coleus have sig-nificance in Mexico. Related toSalvia divinorum is La Hembra("the woman"); C. pumi/us is ElMacho ("the man"); and twoforms of C. blumei are El Nene("the child") and El Ahijado ("thegodson"). C. b/umei attains aheight of 3ft (1 m) and hasovate, marginally toothed leavesup to 6in. (15 cm) in length; thebottom surface is finely hairy,the upper surface usually withlarge dark red blotches. Themore or less bell-shaped blue orpurplish flowers, measuringabout ½ in. (1 cm) long, areborne in long lax, whorledracemes up to 12 in. (30 cm) inlength.

Recently, salvinorine-like sub-stances (diterpene) were dis-covered. The chemical structurehas not yet been determined, Itis possible that by drying orburning the diterpene, its che-mical structure is modified intopotent material. The chemistryand pharmacology must be re-

searched further.

39



CONOCYBE (40)

Conocybe sillgineoides HeimConocybe

Agaricaceae (Bolbitiaceae)

(Agaric Family)

Cosmopolitan22

Conocybe siligineoides hasbeen reported as one of thesacred intoxicating mushroomsof Mexico. Psilocybine has notas yet been isolated from thisspecies, but Conocybecyanopus of the United Stateshas been shown to contain thispsychoactive alkaloid.

This beautiful mushroom, upto about 3m. (8 cm) tall, living onrotting wood, has a cap up to1 in. (2.5 cm) in diameter that isfawn-orange-red, with a deeperorange at the center. The gillsare saffron-colored or brownishorange with chrome yellowspores.

Many species of the genusConocybe contain psilocybine,are psychoactive, and are usedritually. Recently a rudimentarycult around Tamu (a Conocybespecies, "Mushroom of Aware-ness") has been discovered.

Conocybe siligeneoides is anobscure mushroom which hasnot been found or analyzedagain since its first description.

CORIARIA L. (15)

Coriara thymifolia HBK ex Wilid.

Shanshi

In the highest Andes from Co-lombia to Chile, Coriaria thymi-folia adorns the highways withits frondlike leaves. It has beenfeared in the Andean countriesas a plant toxic to browsing ani-mals. Human deaths have sup-posedly followed ingestion of thefruit. Reports from Ecuador,nevertheless, suggest that thefruit (shanshi) may be eaten toinduce an intoxication charac-terized by sensations of soaringthrough the air.

Coriaria thymifolla is a shrubusually up to 6ft (1.8m) tall. Theleaves are oblong-ovate, 1/2_3/4 in. (1—2cm) in length, borne

on slender, arching lateralbranches. The small, dark pur-ple flowers occur densely onlong drooping racemes. Theround purplish black fruit iscomposed of five to eight com-pressed fleshy parts, or carpels.The whole shrub has a fernlikeappearance.

No psychoactive propertieshave been isolated yet.

CORYPHANTHA

(Engelm.) Lem.

Coryphantha compacta

(Engelm.) Britt. et Rose

Pincushion Cactus


Southwestern North24 America, Mexico, Cuba

A small, solitary, globular butsomewhat flattened, spiny cac-tus up to 3¼ in. (8 cm) in dia-meter, Coryphantha compactagrows in dry hilly and mountai-nous regions. It is hardly visiblein the sandy soil where it occurs.The radial spines are whitish,

in. (1—2 cm) in length; thecentral spines are usually ab-sent. The crowded tubercles arearranged in 13 rows. Arisingfrom the center of the crowneither singly or in pairs, the yel-low flowers measure up to 1 in.(2.5 cm) in length. The Tarahu-mara of northern Mexico con-sider Coryphantha compacta akind of Peyote. The plant, calledBakana, is taken by shamansand is respected and feared. It isused as a substitute for Peyote.

Coryphantha palmerii haslikewise been reported as a hal-lucinogen in Mexico. Various al-kaloids, including the psychoac-tive phenylethylammnes, havebeen isolated from severalspecies of Coryphantha: horde-nine, calipammne, and macro-merine.

CYMBOPOGON Sprengel (60)

Gym bopogon densifiorus Stapf

Lemongrass

Gramineae (Grass Family)

Warm zones of Africa and25 Asia

Native medicine men in Tanza-nia smoke the flowers of Cym-bopogon densiflorus alone orwith tobacco to cause dreamsthat they believe foretell the fu-ture. The leaves and rhizomes,pleasantly aromatic of citron,are locally used as a tonic andstyptic.

This perennial grass hasstout, erect culms with linear tolinear-lanceolate leaves, basallywide and rounded and taperingto a fine point, 1 ft. (30 cm) inlength and 1/2_i in. (1—2 .5cm) inwidth. The flowering spikes areslender, olive green to brownish.This species grows in Gabon,the Congo, and Malawi.

Little is known about the psy-choactive properties of thegrass. The genus Cymbopogonis rich in essential oils, and ster-oidal substances have beenfound in some species.

(64)

Coriariaceae (Coriaria Family)

Southern Europe, northern23 Africa, Asia; New Zealand;

Mexico to Chile

40



CYTISUSL. (30)I

DATURAL. (14—16) DATURAL. (14—16) DATURAL. (14—16)

Cytisus canariensis (L.) 0. Kuntze

Genista

Rarely are foreign plants incor-porated in ceremonial use inaboriginal American societies.Native to the Canary Islands,Genista was introduced intoMexico from the Old World,where it has no record of use asa hallucinogen. It apparently hasacquired magical use amongthe YaquI Indians of northernMexico, where medicine menvalue the seed as ahallucinogen.

A coarse, evergreen, much-branched shrub up to 6ft (1.8 m)tall, Cytisus canariensis bearsleaves with obovate or oblong,hairy leaflets ¼—½ in. (.5—1 cm)long. The fragrant, bright yellowflowers, in terminal, many-flow-ered, dense racemes, measureabout ½in. (1 cm) in length. Thepods are hairy, in. (1—

2cm) long.Cytisus is rich in the lupine al-

kaloid cytisine, which is com-mon in the Leguminosae. Cy-stifle has similar properties asnicotine. For this reason, plantsthat contain cystine are oftensmoked as a substitute forTobacco.

Datura innoxia Mill. (D. meteloides)

Toloache

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)Tropical and warm-

27 temperature zones of bothhemispheres

The most extensive use of Da-tura centers in Mexico and theAmerican Southwest, where themost important psychoactivespecies seems to be Datura in-noxia. This is the famous To-loache of Mexico, one of theplants of the gods among theAztecs and other Indians. Themodern Tarahumara of Mexicoadd the roots, seeds, and leavesof D. innoxia to tesquino, a cere-monial drink prepared frommaize. Mexican Indians believethat, unlike Peyote, Toloache isinhabited by a malevolent spirit.

Datura innoxia is a herbac-eous perennial up to 3ft (1 m)tall, grayish because of finehairs on the foliage; the leaves,unequally ovate, repand or sub-entire, measure up to 2 or 2¼ in.(5 cm) in length. The erect,sweet-scented flowers, 5½—9 in.(14—23cm) long, are white witha 10-pointed corolla. The pen-dant fruit is nearly globose, 2 in.(5 cm) in diameter, covered withsharp spines.

Datura mete! L.

Datura

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Tropical and warm-28 temperate zones of Asia

and Africa

In the Old World, the most cul-turally important species of Da-tura for medicinal and hallucino-genic use is D. mete!.

Datura mete!, native probablyto the mountainous regions ofPakistan or Afghanistan west-ward, is a spreading herb,sometimes becoming shrubby,3—6ft (1—2m) tall. The triangu-lar-ovate, sinuate, and deeplytoothed leaves measure 5½—8½ in. (1 4-22 cm) long, 3—4¼ in. (8—11 cm) wide. The soli-tary flowers, which may be pur-ple, yellowish, or white, are tub-ular, funnel- or trumpet-shaped,almost circular when expanded,may attain a length of 6½ in.(17 cm). The drooping, roundfruit, up to 2¼ in. (6cm) in dia-meter, is conspicuously tuber-culate or muricate, opening toexpose flat, light brown seeds.The flowers are primarily violetand grow at an angle or uprightto the sky.

All types of Datura contain thehallucinogenic tropane alkaloidsscopolamine, hyosyamine andsomeatropine.

Datura stramonium L.

Thorn Apple

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Tropical and moderate zones29 of both hemispheres

This annual herb grows to about4ft (1.2 m) and has many-forkedbranches and branched, leaflessstems. The rich green leaves arecoarsely serrated. The funnel-shaped flowers are 5-pointed,stand erect, and open upward.The common variety carrieswhite flowers that at 2—3 in. (6—

9cm) long are among the smal-lest of the Datura species. Thetatula variety has smaller violetflowers. The green egg-shapedfruit is covered with thorns andstands erect. The flat, liver-shaped seeds are black.

The origins of this powerfulhallucinogenic species of ThornApple is uncertain and its bota-nical history ardently arguedover. Some authors suggest thatDatura stramonium is an ancientspecies that originates in the re-gion of the Caspian Sea. Othersbelieve that Mexico or NorthAmerica is the original habitat.Today the herb is foundthroughout North, Central, andSouth America; North Africa;Central and Southern Europe; inthe near East; and in the

Himalayas.

41


Southern Europe, northern26 Africa, western Asia; Canary

Islands, Mexico



DESFONTAINIA R. et P.

Desfontainia spinosa ft et P.Taique

(1—3)

Desfontainiaceae

Highlands of Central30 America and South America

One of the least-known Andeanplants, Desfontainia spinosa issometimes assigned to a differ-ent family: Logan iaceae or P0-taliaceae. Botanists are not inagreement as to the number ofspecies in the genus.

Des fontainia spinosa, a beau-tiful shrub 1—6ft (3Ocm-1.8m) inheight, has glossy green leaves,resembling those of Christmasholly, and tubular red flowerswith a yellow tip. The berry iswhite or greenish yellow, gb-bose, with many lustrous seeds.It has been reported as a hallu-cinogen from Chile and south-ern Colombia. In Chile it isknown as Taique, in Colombiaas Borrachero ("intoxicator").

Colombian shamans of theKamsá tribe take a tea of theleaves to diagnose disease or"to dream." Some medicine menassert that they "go crazy" underits influence. Nothing is as yetknown of the chemical constitu-ents of Des fontainia.

In southern Chile Des fontai-nia is used for shamanic pur-poses similar to Latua pubiflora.

42

DUBOISIA R. Br.

Duboisia hop wood/i F. v. Muell.

Pituri Bush

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Central Australia

(3)

The branched evergreen shrubwith woody stems grows to ap-proximately 6—9ft (2.5—3m). Its

wood has a yellow color and adistinct scent of vanilla. The green

leaves are lanceolate, with a con-tinuous margin tapered at the pe-tiole and are 4—5 in. long (12—

15cm). The flowers are white, oc-casionally with rose speckles, andbell-shaped (to 7mm long) andhang in clusters off the tips of thebranches. The fruit is a black ber-ry with numerous tiny seeds.

The psychoactive Pituri hasbeen hedonistically and rituallyused by the Aborigines since theirsettlement of Australia. Theleaves are gathered in August

when the plants are in flower.They are hung up to dry or roasted

over afire. They are either chewedas Pituri or smoked in cigarettesrolled with alkaline substances.

Duboisia hopwoodii containsa variety of powerful and stimu-lating but toxic alkaloids: pitur-in dubosine, D-nor-nicotine,and nicotine. The hallucinogenictropane alkaloids hyoscyamineand scopolamine have beendiscovered in the roots.

ECHINOCEREUS Engelm. (75)

Echinocereus triglochidiatus En-

gelm.

Pitallito Cactus


Southwestern North32 America, Mexico

The Tarahumara Indians of Chi-huahua consider two species asfalse Peyotes or Hikuri of themountainous areas. They arenot so strong as Ariocarpus,Coryphantha, Epithelantha,Mammillaria, or Lophophora.Echinocereus salmdyckianus isa low, caespitose cactus withdecumbent, yellow-green stems

in. (2—4cm) in diameter.The ribs number 7 to9. The 8 or9 radial spines are yellow, ½ in.(1 cm) long, central spine soli-tary and longer than radials. Theorange-colored flowers mea-sure 31/4—4in. (8—10cm) longand have oblanceolate tospathulate perianth segments.This species is native to Chi-huahua and Durango in Mexico.Echinocereus triglochidiatus dif-fers in having deep green stems,fewer radial spines, which turngrayish with age, and scarletflowers 2—2¾ in. (5—7 cm) long.

A tryptamine derivative hasbeen reported from Echinocer-eus triglochidiatus (3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenethylamine).

EPITHELANTHA Weber

ex Britt. et Rose(3)

Epithelantha micromeris (Engelm.)

Weber ex Britt. et RoseHikuli Mulato



This spiny cactus, one of the so-called false Peyotes of the Tara-humara Indians of Chihuahua,has acidic, edible fruit called Chi-litos. Medicine men take HikuliMulato to make their sight clearerand to permit them to communewith sorcerers. It is taken by run-ners as a stimulant and "protec-tor," and the Indians believe that it

prolongs life. It is reportedly ableto drive evil people to insanity orthrow them from cliffs.

Alkaloids and triterpenes havebeen reported from Epithelanthamicromeris. This very small,globular cactus grows to a dia-meter of 2½ in. (6 cm). The lowtubercles, 1A6 in. (2mm) long, arearranged in many spirals. Thenumerous white spines almosthide the tubercles. The lower ra-dial spines measure 1A6 in.

(2 mm) long, the upper about% in. (1 cm). The small flowers,

which arise from the center of theplant in a tuft of wool and spines,are whitish to pink, ¼ in. (5mm)broad. The clavate fruit, in.

(9—13mm) long, bears ratherlarge, shining black seeds, 1A6 in.(2mm) across.



ERYTHRINA L.

Erythrina americana Mill.

Coral Tree


Tropical and warm zones of34 both hemispheres

Tzompanquahuitl of the ancientAztecs may have been from themany species in the genus Ery-thrina, the seeds of which arebelieved to have been employedas a medicine and hallucinogen.In Guatemala the beans areemployed in divination.

The beans of Erythrina flabel-I/form/s constitute a TarahumaraIndian medicinal plant of manyvaried uses, which may havebeen utilized as a hallucinogen.

Erythrina flabe//iformis is ashrub or small tree with spinybranches. The leaflets are 21/2_3½ in. (3—6cm) long, usuallybroader than long. The denselymany-flowered racemes bearred flowers 1 1/5_21/2 in. (3—6 cm)

long. Sometimes attaining alength of 1 ft (30 cm), the pods,shallowly constricted betweenthe seeds, contain from two tomany dark red beans. This spe-cies is common in the hot, dryregions of northern and centralMexico and the AmericanSouthwest.

GALBULIMIMA F. M. Bailey

Galbulimima beigraveana

(F. v. Muell.) Sprague

Agara

HimantandraceaeNortheast Australia,

35 Malaysia

Natives in Fapua boil the barkand leaves of this tree with aspecies of Homa/omena to pre-pare a tea that causes an intox-ication leading to a deep slum-ber, during which visions areexperienced.

This tree of northeasternAustralia, Papua, and Moluccais unbuttressed, attaining aheight of 9Oft (27m). The highlyaromatic, gray brownish, scalybark measures ½in. (1 cm) inthickness. The elliptic, entireleaves are a glossy, metallicgreen above, brown beneath,and are normally 41/2—6in. (11—

15cm) long and in. (5—

7cm) wide. Lacking sepals andpetals but with many conspicu-ous stamens, the flowers have apale yellow or brownish yellowhue with a rusty brown calyx.The ellipsoidal or globose fruit isfleshy-fibrous, reddish, ¾ in.(2 cm) in diameter.

Although 28 alkaloids havebeen isolated from Galbulimimabeigraveana, a psychoactiveprinciple has not yet been foundin the plant.

HEIMIA Link et Otto

Heimia salicifolia

(H.B.K.) Link et Otto

Sinicuichi

Lythraceae (Loosestrife Family)

Southern North America to36 Argentina, West Indies

This genus has three very simi-lar species, and all play impor-tant roles in folk medicine. Sev-eral vernacular names reportedfrom Brazil seem to indicateknowledge of psychoactivity,e.g., Abre-o-sol ("sun-opener')and Herva da Vida ("herb oflife").

Sinicuichi (Helm/ais 2—6ft (6Ocm-1.8m) tall withlanceolate leaves ¾_31/2 in. (2—9cm) long. The yellow flowersare borne singly in the leaf axils;the persistent bell-shaped calyxdevelops long hornlike appen-dages. The shrub grows abun-dantly in moist places and alongstreams in the highlands.

In the Mexican highlands, theleaves of H. salicifolia areslightly wilted, crushed in water,and the preparation is then al-lowed to ferment into an intoxi-cating drink. Although it is be-lieved that excessive use ofSinicuichi may be physicallyharmful, there are usually nouncomfortable aftereffects. Thisplant contains quinolizidine al-kaloids (lythrine, cryogenine, ly-foline, nesidine).

HELICHRYSUM Mill

Helichrysum (L) Moench.Straw Flower

Compositae (Suntlower Family)

Europe, Africa, Asia,37 Australia

Two species are used by witchdoctors in Zululand "for inhalingto induce trances." It is pre-sumed that the plants aresmoked for these effects.

He/ichrysum foetidum is a tall,erect, branching herb 10—l2in.(25—30 cm) in height. It is slightly

woody near the base and is verystrongly scented. The lanceo-late or lanceolate-ovate, basallylobed, entire leaves, measuringup to 3½ in. (9 cm) long and¾ in. (2 cm) wide, basally en-clasp the stem; they are gray-woolly beneath and glandularabove. The flowers occur inloose, terminal, corymboseclusters of several stalkedheads ¾—1½ in. (2—4cm) in dia-

meter, subtended by cream-co-lored or golden yellow bracts.These species of Hel/chrysumare some of the plants known inEnglish as Everlasting.

Coumarine and diterpeneshave been reported from thegenus, but no constituents withhallucinogenic properties have

been isolated.

43



HELICOSTYLIS Trécul

Helicostylis pedunculataBenoist

Takini

Moraceae (Mulberry Family)

Central America, tropical38 zones of South America

HOMALOMENA Schott

Homalomena lauterbachii Engi.Ereriba

Araceae (Arum Family)

South America, tropical39 zones of Asia

HYOSCYAMUS L.

Hyoscyamus albus L.

Yellow Henbane

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Mediterranean, Near East40

HYOSCYAMUS L.

Hyoscyamus niger L.

Black Henbane

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Europe, northern Africa,41 southwestern and central

Asia

Takini is a sacred tree of the Gui-anas. From the red "sap" of thebark a mildly poisonous intoxi-cant is prepared. Extracts fromthe inner bark of two trees elicitcentral nervous system depres-sant effects similar to those pro-duced by Cannabis sativa. Thetwo species responsible for thishallucinogen are H. pedunculataand H. tomentosa.

These two species of trees aresimilar. Both are cylindrical orvery slightly buttressed forestgiants 75 ft (23 m) tall with grayishbrown bark; the latex is pale yel-low or cream-colored. The leath-

ery lanceolate-elliptic leaves at-tain a length of 7 in. (18cm) and awidth of 3 in. (8cm). The fleshy,

pistillate flowers are borne in gb-bose cauliflorous heads.

Very little is known about thesetrees and they are rarely studied.The hallucinogen could theoreti-cally originate from either of therelated genera Brosimum or Pir-atinera. Extracts from the innerbark of both trees have beenpharmacologically studied; theyhave a softening or dampeningeffect, similar to Cannabis sativa.

44

In Papua New Guinea the na-tives are said to eat the leaves ofa species of Homalomena withthe leaves and bark of Galbuli-mima beigraveana to induce aviolent condition ending in slum-ber, during which visions are ex-perienced. The rhizomes have anumber of uses in folk medicine,especially for the treatment ofskin problems. In Malaya an un-specified part of a species wasan ingredient of an arrowpoison.

The species of Homalomenaare small or large herbs withpleasantly aromatic rhizomes.The leaves are oblong-lanceolate or cordate-ovate,borne on very short stems,rarely exceeding 6 in. (15cm) inlength. The spathe usually per-sists in fruit. The male and fe-male portions of the spadix areproximate. The small berries arefew or many-seeded.

The chemistry of this group ofplants has not yet disclosed anyhallucinogenic principle.

Although the herb has erectstems, it often appears bushy. Itgrows to approximately 8—12 in.(40—50cm) high. The light greenstems and serrated leaves, aswell as the funnel-shaped f low-ers and fruits, are all pileous.The herb blooms from Januaryto July. The color of the flowersis light yellow with deep violet onthe interior. The seeds have awhitish or ocher color, occasion-ally a gray color.

This henbane was the mostwidely used magical herb andmedicinal plant. The hallucino-gen was an important medium inantiquity, used to promote atrance and taken by oracles anddivinitory women. In the ancientearth oracle of Gaia, it is the"dragon's herb?' The goddess ofthe witches, Hecate, uses "crazy-maker" in the Kobch oracle. Lateantiquity gives us "Zeus's Beans"in the oracle of Zeus-Am mon andthe Roman god Jupiter. In theDelphi oracles of Apollo, who isthe God of "prophetic insanity," itis known as "Apollo's Plant?'

The entire plant contains thetropane alkaloids hyoscyamineand scopolamine.

Henbane is a coarse annual orbiennial, viscid, hairy, strong-smelling herb up to about 30 in.(76 cm) tall. The leaves are en-tire or occasionally have a fewlarge teeth, ovate, 6—8 in. (15—20 cm) long, the lower caulineamplexicaul leaves being oblongand smaller. The flowers, yellowor greenish yellow veined withpurple, attain a length of about1½ in. (4cm) and are borne intwo ranks in a scorpioid cyme.The fruit is a many-seeded cap-sule enclosed in the persistentcalyx with its five triangularpoints becoming rigid. Theseeds release a powerful anddistinctive odor when squeezed.

In antiquity and the MiddleAges, Hyoscyamus niger wasemployed in Europe as an im-portant ingredient of the witches'brews and ointments.. It not onlyreduced pain but also inducedoblivion.

The active principles in thissolanaceous genus are tropanealkaloids, especially scopola-mine. Scopolamine is a potenthallucinogenic agent.



0CHROMA Benth, (24) IPOMOEA L. (500) JUSTICIA L. (350)

:chroma fuchsioides (Benth.) Miers


Tropical and subtropical42 zones of South America

the Kamsá Indians ofthe Colombian Andes, I. fuch-sb/des is taken by shamans fordifficult diagnoses.

The intoxication is not plea-sant, leaving aftereffects forseveral days. The shrub is va-lued also as a medicine fortreating difficulties with digestionor bowel function, and to aid incases of difficult childbirth.

lochroma fuchsboides, ashrub or small tree 1O—l5ft (3—4.5 m) tall, but sometimes larger,occurs in the Colombian andEcuadorean Andes at about7,000ff (2,200m) altitude. Thebranches are reddish brown,and the leaves, obovate-oblong,measure 4—6in. (10—15cm) inlength. The clustered tubular orbell-shaped flowers are red, 1—1½ in. (2.5—4cm) long. The red

I fruit is an ovoid or pyriform berryabout ¾ in. (2 cm) in diameter,partially enclosed in a persistentcalyx.

The plant containswithanolide.

lpomoea violacea L.

Morning Glory

Convolvulaceae(Morning Glory Family)

Mexico to South America

43

In Oaxaca, in southern Mexico,the seeds of this vine are es-teemed as one of the principalhallucinogens for use in divina-tion as well as magico-religiousand curing rituals. The Chinan-

tec and Mazatec Indians call theseeds Piule; the Zapotecs, Ba-doh Negro. In pre-Conquestdays, the Aztecs knew them asTlililtzin and employed them inthe same way as Ololiuqul, theseeds of another Morning Glory,Turbina corymbosa.

lpomoea vbolacea, knownalso as I. rubrocaerulea, is anannual vine with entire, ovate,deeply cordate leaves 21/2—4in.

(6—10cm) long, ¾—3m. (2—8cm)

wide. The inflorescence is three-or four-flowered. The flowersvary from white to red, purple,blue or violet-blue, and measure2—2¾ in. (5—7cm) wide at themouth of the trumpet-shaped,corolla tube, 2—2¾ in. (5—7 cm)

long. The ovoid fruit, about ½ in.(1 cm) in length, bears elongate,angular black seeds.

This variable species rangesthrough western and southernMexico and Guatemala and inthe West Indies. It can be foundas well in tropical South Ameri-ca. It is well known in horticul-

Just/cia pectora/isJacq. var.stenophy/la LeonardMashihiri

Acanthaceae (Acanthus Family)

Tropical and warm zones of44 Central and South America

Justicia pectoral/s var. steno-phylla differs from the wide-spread j. pectoral/s mainly in itssmaller stature and its very nar-rowly lanceolate leaves andshorter inflorescence. It is anherb up to 1 ft (30 cm) tall, witherect or ascending stems,sometimes rooting at the lowernodes. The internodes areshort, usually less than ¾ in.(2 cm) long. The numerousleaves measure normally ¾—2¼ in. (2—5 cm) long, %—l in. (1—

2cm) wide. The dense inflores-cence, covered with glandularhairs, may reach a length of 4in.(10cm) but is usually muchshorter. The inconspicuousflowers, about ¼ in. (5mm) long,are white or violet, frequentlypurple-spotted. The fruit, ¼ in.(5mm) long, bears flat, reddishbrown seeds.

Chemical examination of Jus-

t/c/a has been inconclusive.Preliminary indications that the

leaves of J. pectoral/s var. ste-nophy/la contain tryptamifleS(DMT) need confirmation. Thedried herb contains coumarin.

45

ture.



KAEMPFERIA L.

Kaempferia galanga L.Galanga

Kaempferia galanga is used asa hallucinogen in New Guinea.Throughout the range of thisspecies, the highly aromatic rhi-zome is valued as a spice to fla-vor rice, and also in folk medi-cine as an expectorant andcarminative as well as an aph-rod isiac. A tea of the leaves isemployed for sore throat, swel-lings, rheumatism, and eye in-fections. In Malaysia, the plantwas added to the arrow poisonprepared from Antiaris toxicaria.

This short-stemmed herb hasflat-spreading, green, roundleaves measuring 3—6 in. (8—15 cm) across. The white flow-ers (with a purple spot on thelip), which are fugacious, appearsingly in the center of the plantand attain approximately 1 in.(2.5 cm) in breadth.

Beyond the high content ofessential oil in the rhizome, littleis known of the chemistry of theplant. Psychoactive activitymight possibly be due to consti-tuents of the essential oils.

LAGOCHILUS Bunge

Lagochilus inebrians Bunge

Turkestan Mint


Central Asia

46

On the dry steppes of Turkestan,the Tajik, Tatar, Turkoman, andUzbek tribesmen have used atea made from the toastedleaves of the mint Lagochilus in-ebrians as an intoxicant. Theleaves are frequently mixed withstems, fruiting tops, and flowers,and honey and sugar may occa-sionally be added to lessen theintense bitterness of the drink.

This plant has been well stu-died from the pharmacologicalpoint of view in Russia. It is re-commended for its antihemor-rhagic and hemostatic effects toreduce permeability of bloodvessels and as an aid in bloodcoagulation. It has also beenconsidered helpful in treatingcertain allergies and skin pro-blems. It has sedativeproperties.

Phytochemical studies haveshown the presence of a crys-talline compound called lagochi-line—a diterpene of the grinde-ian type.

This compound is not known tobe hallucinogenic.

LATUA Phil.

Latua pubiflora (Griseb.) Baill.


Chile

47

Latua, 6—30ft (2—9m) tall, hasone or more main trunks. Thebark is reddish to grayish brown.The spiny branches, rigid and1 in. (2.5 cm) long, arise in theleaf axils. The narrow ellipticleaves, dark to light greenabove, paler beneath, are mar-ginally entire or serrate andmeasure 13/8—l¾in. (3½—4½ cm) by %—1½ in. (1.5—4cm).The flowers have a persistent,bell-shaped, green to purplishcalyx and a larger, magenta tored-violet, urceolate corolla 1 s/a—

1½ in. (3.5—4cm) long, ½ in.(1 cm) wide at the mouth. Thefruit is a globose berry about1 in. (2.5 cm) in diameter, withnumerous kidney-shapedseeds.

The leaves and fruit of L. pub-iflora contain 0.18% hyoscya-mine and atropine and 0.08%scopolamine. -

LEONOTIS (pers.) R. Br.

Leonotis leonurus (L.) R. Br.

Lion's Tail


48South Africa

This South African shrub hasorange-colored flowers and isreported to be "hallucinogenic?'In Africa it is called Dacha, Dag-gha, or Wild Dagga, whichmeans "wild hemp?' The Hotten-tots and the Bush people smokethe buds and the leaves as anarcotic. It is possible that thisplant is one of the narcoticplants called Kanna (compare toSceletium tortuosum). The resi-nous leaves, or the resin ex-tracted from the leaves, aresmoked alone or mixed with to-bacco. Chemical studies arelacking.

In California the plant hasbeen grown and tested, reveal-ing a bitter-tasting smoke and alightly psychoactive effect that isreminiscent of both Cannabisand Datura. In eastern SouthAfrica, the closely related Leo-notis ovata is reportedly used forthe same purpose.

Zingiberaceae (Ginger Family)

Tropical zones of Africa,45 southeastern Asia

46



Leonurus sibiricus L.

Siberian Motherwort

Family)

Siberia to East Asia, Central49 aid South America

(fiaturalized)

This herb grows erect and tall,reaching over 6ft (2m) often ona single stem. It has maxilliformbranches and finely serrated,dark green leaves. The violetflowers appear on the ends ofeach stem and the inflorescencecan be long and attractive.

The Siberian Motherwort ismentioned in the ancient Chi-nese Shih Ching (the Book ofSongs, written approximately1000—500 B. c.), where it is

called t'uei. Later it was occa-sionally praised as a medicinalplant in old Chinese herbals.

The dried leaves, harvestedfrom the flowering plant, aresmoked as marijuana substitutein Central and South America(1—2g per cigarette).In the plant, 0.1% of the flavo-noid glycoside rutin has beenascertained. Of particular inter-est with regard to the psych oac-tive properties was the discov-ery of three new diterpenes:leosibiricine, leosibirine, and theisomers isoleosibiricine inessential oil.

Lobelia tupa L.

Tabaco del Diablo

Campanulaceae (Lobeliaceae)

(Harebell Family)

Tropical and warm zones

50

This beautiful, red- or red-pur-ple-flowered, 6—9ft (2—3m) highpolymorphic Lobelia is well re-cognized as toxic in the Andesof southern Peru and northernChile, where it is called Tupa orTabaco del Diablo ("devil's to-bacco"). It flourishes in dry soil,and its stems and roots have awhite latex that irritates the skin.

The luxuriant foliage clothesnearly the whole length of theplant with grayish green, elliptic,often minutely hairy leaves 4—9in. (10—23cm) long. 1¼—31/4in.

(3—8 cm) wide. Carmine red orpurple, the flowers, 1½ in. (4cm)in length, are borne densely on astalk 14 in. (36 cm) long. Thecorolla is decurved, sometimesrecurved with the lobes united atthe apex.

Tupa leaves contain the pi-peridine alkaloid lobeline, a re-spiratory stimulant, as well asthe diketo- and dihydroxy-deri-vatives lobelamidine and nor-b-bedamidine. These constituentsare not known to possess hallu-cinogenic properties. Neverthe-less, the smoked leaves have apsychoactive effect.

LOPHOPHORA Coult.

Lophophora williams/i (Lem.) Coult.Peyote


Mexico, Texas

51

Two species of Lophophora arerecognized: they differ morpho-logically and chemically.

Both species of Lophophoraare small, spineless gray-greenor bluish green top-shapedplants. The succulent chloro-phyll-bearing head or crownmeasures up to 3¾ in. (8 cm) indiameter and is radially dividedin from 5 to 13 rounded ribs.Each tubercle bears a small, flatareole from the top of whicharises a tuft of hairs ¾ in. (2cm)long. The whitish or pinkishcampanulate, usually solitary,

in. (1 .5—2.5cm) long flow-ers are borne in the umbilicatecenter of the crown.

The Indians cut off the crownand dry it for ingestion as a hal-lucinogen. This dry, diskllkehead is known as the MescalButton or Peyote Button.

Lophophora williams/i isusually blue-green with from 5 to13 ribs and normally straightfurrows. It has up to 30 alka-loids—primarily Mescaline—aswell as further psychoactivephenylethylamines and isoqui-nolines. L. diffusa has a gray-

green, sometimes even a ratheryellowish green crown with in-definite ribs and sinuate furrows.The flowers are usually muchlarger than in L. williams/i. Thechemical constitution is muchsimpler.

Both species of Lophophorainhabit the driest and stoniest ofdesert regions, usually on cal-careous soil. When the crown isremoved, the plant will oftengrow new crowns and thusPeyotes with multiple heads arecommonly seen. The hallucino-genic effects of Peyote arestrong, with kaleidoscopic, richlycolored visions. The othersenses—hearing, feeling,taste—can also be affected.There are reportedly two stagesin the intoxication. At first, a per-iod of contentment and sensitiv-ity occurs. The second phasebrings great calm and muscularsluggishness, with a shift in at-tention from external stimuli tointrospection and meditation.

47



LYCOPERDON L. (50—100) MAMMILLARIA Haw. (150—200) MANDRAGORA L. (6)

Lycoperdon mixtecorum Heim

Lycoperdon marginatum Vitt.Bovista

Lycoperdaceae

(Club Moss Family)Temperate zones of Mexico

52

In northern Mexico, among theTarahumara of Chihuahua, aspecies of Lycoperdon, knownas Kalamoto, is taken by sor-cerers to enable them to ap-proach people without being de-tected and to make people sick.In southern Mexico, the Mixtecsof Oaxaca employ two speciesto induce a condition of half-sleep, during which it is said thatvoices and echoes can beheard.

Lycoperdon mixtecorum,known only from Oaxaca, issmall, attaining a diameter of nomore than 1¼ in. (3cm). Itissubglobose, somewhat flat-tened, abruptly constricted intoa peduncle scarcely ½ in.(3 mm) long. The exterior sur-face is densely cobbled-pustuli-form and light tan in color. Theinterior substance is straw co-lored.

The spherical spores, brown-ish tawny with a subtle tinge ofviolet, measure up to Thisterrestrial species grows in lightforest and in pastures.

Psychoactive constituentshave not yet been isolated.

48

Mammillaria spp.

Pincushion Cactus


Southwestern North53 America, Central America

Among the most important"false Peyotes" of the Tarahu-mara Indians are several spe-cies of Mammillaria, all of themround and stout-spined plants.

N-methyl-3,4-dimethoxy-phe-nylethylamine has been isolatedfrom M. heyderii, a species do-selyrelatedtoM. craigii.Horde-nine is present in many species.

Mammillaria crai,gii is globosebut apically somewhat flattenedwith conical, angled tuberclesabout ½1n. (1 cm) long and axilsand areoles at first woolly; thecentral spines are about ¼ in.(5 mm) long. The rose-coloredflower attains a length of % in.(1.5cm). M. grahamii may beglobose or cylindric, 2½ in.(6cm) in diameter with small tu-bercles and naked axils; thecentral spines are 3/4 in. (2 cm) orless in length. The flowers,which attain a length of 1 in.(2.5 cm), have violet or purplishsegments, sometimes withwhite margins.

Mandragora officinarum L.

Mandrake

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Southern Europe, northern54 Africa, western Asia to

Himalayas

Probably no plant has had amore fantastic history than theMandrake. As a magical plantand hallucinogen, its extraordin-ary place in European folklorecan nowhere be equaled.Known for its toxic and real andpresumed medicinal properties,Mandrake commanded the fearand respect of Europeansthroughout the Middle Ages andearlier. Its folk uses and attri-butes were inextricably boundup with the Doctrine of Signa-tures, because of its anthropo-morphic root.

While there are six species ofMandragora, it is M. officinarumof Europe and the Near Eastthat has played the most impor-tant role as a hallucinogen inmagic and witchcraft. It is a

stemless perennial herb up to1 ft (30 cm) high, with a thick,usually forking root and large,stalked, wrinkled, ovate leaves,marginally entire or toothed andmeasuring upto 11 in. (28cm) inlength. The whitish green, pur-plish, or bluish bell-shaped flow-ers, 1¼ in. (3cm) in length, areborne in clusters among thetufted leaves. The globose orovoid, succulent yellow berryhas a delightful fragrance.

The total content of tropanealkaloids in the root is 0.4%.The principal alkaloids arehyoscyamine and scopolamine,but atropine, cuscohygrine, ormandragorine is also present.



MAQUIIRA AubI.

Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C. C.

Berg

Rape dos Indios

Moraceae (Mulberry Family)

Tropical zones of South55 America

MIMOSAL.

Mimosa hostilis (Mart.) Benth. (Mi-

mosa tenuiflora)

Jurema Tree


Mexico and Brazil

56

In the Pariana region of the Bra-zilian Amazon, the Indians for-merly prepared a potent halluci-nogenic snuff that, although nolonger prepared and used, isknown as Rape dos Indios ("In-dian snuff"). It is believedhave been made from the fruit ofan enormous forest tree, Ma-quira scierophylla (known alsoas Olmedioperebea sciero-phylla).

Maquira scierophylla attains aheight of 75—lOOft (23—30m).The latex is white. Very thick andheavy, the ovate or oblong-ovate, marginally inrolled leavesare 8—12 in. (20—30cm) long, 3—

6½ in. (8—16cm) wide. The maleflowering heads are globose, upto about ½ in. (1 cm) in dia-meter; the female inflores-cences are borne in the leaf ax-Is and have one or rarely twoflowers. The drupe or fruit, cin-namon-colored and fragrant, isglobose, in. (2—2.5 cm) in

diameter. The tree containscardiac glycosides.

In the dry caatingas of easternBrazil, this busy, sparsely spinytreelet flourishes abundantly.The spines are basally swollen,½in. (3mm) long. Its finely pin-nate leaves are 1½—i ¾ in. (3—

5cm) long. The flowers, whichoccur in loosely cylindricalspikes, are white and fragrant.The legume or pod, about 1—1¼ in. (2.5—3 cm) long, breaksinto 4—6 sections. An alkaloidwas isolated from the root of thistreelet and called nigerine. Itwas later shown to be identicalwith the hallucinogenicN, N-dimethyltryptamine.

Several species of Mimosaare called Jurema in easternBrazil. M. hostilis is often knownas Jurema Prêta ("black jure-ma"). It is identical to the Mexi-can Tepescohuite (M. tenui-flora). The related M. verrucosa,from the bark of which a stupe-facient is said to be derived, isfrequently called Jurema Branca("white jurema").

The tropical tree or shrub growsin marshy areas. Often it growsonly to 6—9ft (3—4m) high, oc-casionally to 36—42 ft (12—16m).

It has an erect stem with forkedbranches that grow obliquelyupward. The green oval leaves(8—12cm) are very broad andbecome narrower toward the tip,which is pointed. The flowersare deep yellow and hang inglobular clusters. The seeds arewinged.

The dried leaves are smoked,chewed, or worked into an ex-tract called Kratom or Mambog.

The psychoactive propertiesof kratom are paradoxical. Per-sonal research, the descriptionsof it in the literature, as well asthe pharmacological character-istics of the material have re-vealed kratom to be simulta-neously stimulating like cocaineand soothing like morphine. Thestimulating effects begin within 5to 10 minutes of chewing thefresh leaves.

As early as the 19th centurythe use of Kratom as an opiumsubstitute and a curative foropium addiction was reported.There are numerous indole al-kaloids present in the plant. Theprimary constituent is mitragy-nine, which is apparently easilytolerated and shows barely anytoxicity even in high doses.

MITRAGYNA Korth.

Mitragyna speciosa KorthalsKratom

Rubiaceae (Madder Family)

Southeast Asia (Thailand,57 northern Malay Peninsula to

Borneo, New Guinea)

49



Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC.

Cowhage



MYRISTICA Gronov.

Myristica fragrans Houtt.

Nutmeg

Myristicaceae (Nutmeg Family)


NYMPF-IAEA L.

Nymp/iaea amp/a (Salisb.) DC.

Water Lily

Nymphaeaceae

(Water Lily Family)

Temperate and warm zones60 of both hemispheres

ONCIDIUM Sw.

Oncidium cebolleta (Jacq.) Sw.Hikuri Orchid

Orchidaceae (Orchid Family)

Central America, South61 America, Florida

Mucuna pruriens has not beenreported as a hallucinogen, butthe plant has been chemicallyshown to be rich in psychoactiveconstituents (DMT, 5-MeO-DMT).

This stout, scandent herb,with acute angulate stems, hasthree-foliolate leaves. The leaf-lets, oblong or ovate, are den-sely hairy on both surfaces. Thedark purple or bluish flowers, ¾—11/4 in. (2—3cm) long, are bornein short hanging racemes. Thepods, with long, stiff, stinginghairs, measure about 1 ½—3½ in.(4—9cm) long, ½ in. (1cm) thick.

The total indole alkylaminecontent was studied from thepoint of view of its hallucino-genic activity. It was found thatmarked behavioral changes oc-curred that could be equatedwith hallucinogenic activity. It ispossible that Indian peoplesmay have discovered and uti-lized some of these psychoac-tive properties of M. pruriens.The powdered seeds are con-sidered aphrodisiac in India.The seeds contain DMTand areused as an Ayahuasca analogtoday.

50

Nutmeg and mace can, in largedoses, induce an intoxicationcharacterized by space and timedistortion, a feeling of detach-ment from reality, and visual andauditory hallucinations. Fre-quently with unpleasant effectssuch as severe headache, dizzi-ness, nausea, tachycardia, nut-meg intoxication is variable.

Myristica fragrans is a hand-some tree, unknown in a trulywild state, but widely cultivatedfor nutmeg, from the seed, andfor mace, from the red aril sur-rounding the seed. The twospices have different tastesbecause of differing concentra-tions of components of theiressential oils. The aromaticfraction of oil of nutmeg is madeup of nine components belong-ing to the groups terpenes andaromatic ethers. The majorcomponent—myristicine—is aterpene, but its biological activityis believed to be that of anirritant.

The psychotropic activity isthought to be due primarily toaromatic ethers (myristicine andothers).

There is evidence that Nym-phaea may have been employedas a hallucinogen in both the Oldand New Worlds. The isolationof the psychoactive apomor-phine has offered chemical sup-port to this speculation. Nucifer-me and nornuciferine are alsoisolated from N. amp/a.

Nymphaea amp/a has thickishdentate leaves, purple beneath,measuring 5½—il in. (14—28 cm) across. The beautiful,showy white flowers, with 30—190 yellow stamens, become 3—51/4 in. (7—13 cm) across at ma-

turity. The Egyptian nativeN. caeru/ea's oval, peltateleaves, irregularly dentate,measure 5—6in. (1 2—15cm) in

diameter and are green-purpleblotched beneath. The light blueflowers, dull white in the center,open three days in the mid-morning; they measure 3—6 in.(7.5—15cm) across; the petals,acute-lanceolate, number 14 to20, while the stamens number50 or more.

Oncidium cebo//eta is an epi-phytic orchid that grows onsteep, stone cliffs and trees inthe Tarahumara Indian countryof Mexico. It is employed as atemporary surrogate of Peyoteor Hikuri (Lophophora wi//lam-sii). Little is known, however, ofits use.

The tropical orchid is widelydistributed in the New World.The pseudo-bulbs appear as lit-tle more than a swelling at thebase of the fleshy, erect, roundleaves, grayish green, oftenspotted with purple. The flower-ing spike, often arching, has agreen stalk with purplish or pur-ple-brown spots. The flowershave brownish yellow sepalsand petals spotted with darkbrown blotches. The three-lobedlip, 3/4 in. (2cm) long by 11/8 in.

(3 cm) across the mid-lobe, isbright yellow with reddish brownmarks.

An alkaloid has been reportedfrom Oncidium cebol/eta.



PACHYCEREUS (A. Berger)

Britt. et Rose

Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum

(Engelm.) Britt. et Rose

Cawe


Mexico

62

PANAEOLUS (Fr.)

Panaeolus cyanescens Berk. et Br.

Blue Meanies

CoprinaceaeWarm zones of both

63 hemispheres

PANAEOLUS (Fr.)

Quélet

Panaeolus sphinctrinus (Fr.) QubletHoop-petticoat

Coprinaceae

Cosmopolitan

64

A plant of many uses among theIndians, this tall, treelike colum-nar cactus, arising from a 6ff(1.8 m) trunk, attains a height of35ff (10.5m). The short spinesare characteristicafy gray withblack tips. The 2—3 in. (5—8 cm)

flowers are purplish in the out-ermost petals, white in the innerparts. The fruit, globose andmeasuring 21/2—3in. (6—8cm) in

diameter, is densely coveredwith yellow wool and long yellowbristles.

The Tarahumara, who knowthe plant as Cawe and Wicho-waka, take a drink made fromthe juice of the young branchesas a narcotic. It causes dizzi-ness and visual hallucinations.The term Wichowaka alsomeans "insanity" in the Tarahu-mara language. There are anumber of purely medicinal usesof this cactus. Recent studieshave isolated 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethylamineand 4-tetrahydroisoquinolinealkaloids from this plant.

Panaeolus cyanescens is asmall, fleshy or nearly membra-naceous, campanulate mush-room. The slender stipe is fra-gile and the lamellae arevariegated, with metuloid co-lored, pointed cystidia on thesides. The spores are black. Thefruiting bodies take on bluishflecks with age or after bruising.

The islanders of Bali pickPanaeolus cyanescens fromcow and water buffalo dung andingest them for celebrations andartistic inspiration. The mush-room is also sold as a hallucirio-gen to strangers as they passthrough on their travels.

Although this mushroom isprimarily tropical, the discoverythat it contains psilocybine wasmade with material collected in agarden in France. Up to 1.2% ofpsilocine and 0.6% of psilocy-bine has been found in thisspecies.

One of the sacred hallucinogenicmushrooms employed in divina-tion and other magic ceremoniesin northeastern Oaxaca, Mexico,among the Mazatec and Chi-nantec Indians is this member ofthe small genus Panaeolus. It isknown in Mazatec as 1-ha-na-sa, She-to, and To-shka. She-tomeans "pasture mushroom" andTo-shka, "intoxicating mush-room." While not so important asthe several species of Psilocybeand Stropharia, P sphinctrinusis on occasion used by certainshamans. This and other spe-cies of Panaeolus have been re-ported to contain the hallucino-genic alkaloid psilocybine.

Growing on cow dung in for-ests, open fields, and alongroads, P sphinctrinus is a deli-cate yellowish brown mushroomup to 4in. (10 cm) in height. Ithas an ovoid-campanulate, ob-tusely pointed, tan-gray cap upto 1¼ in. (3cm) in diameter. Thestipe is dark grayish. The darkbrownish black gills bear black,lemon-shaped spores that varyin size; they can measure 12 to15 by 7.5 to 8.311.

The flesh is thin, in color simi-lar to the surface, with scarcelyany bdor. Several investigatorshave at times argued thatP sphinctrinus is not among thehallucinogenic mushroomsused by shamans in Indiancommunities of Oaxaca, but thisview is contradicted by ampleevidence. Its use by OaxacanIndians along with so manyother mushroom species de-monstrates the tendency amongshamans to use a surprisinglywide range of different mush-rooms, depending on season,weather variation, and specificusage. Investigators now be-lieve that there may be morespecies and genera of mush-rooms in use among MexicanIndian populations than thosenow known.

In European Panaeolussphinctrinus no psilocybine hasbeen detected. Neither havepsychoactive effects been de-termined in human pharmacolo-gical experiments. It is possiblethat chemically different typesexist.

51



Quélet

Panaeo/us subbalteatus Berk. etBroome

Dark-rimmed Mottlegill

Coprinaceae

Eurasia, North and Central65 America

The Dark-rimmed Mottlegill iswidely distributed throughoutEurope. It grows in dung-ferti-lized, grassy earth, in particularin horse pastures and in con-junction with horse manure. Thecap is in. (2—6 cm) wide

and somewhat smooth. Thismushroom spreads rapidly. It isat first damp brown and growsdrier toward the middle, so thatthe edge often appears markedlydarker. The red-brown lamellaeare curved and eventually be-come black due to the spores.

There is no informationpassed on about a traditionaluse of this mushroom. It is pos-sible that it was an ingredient inthe mead or beer of the Ger-mans. Nevertheless, this mush-room has a symbiotic relation-ship with the horse, the sacredanimal of the German god ofecstasy, Wodan.

The fruiting body contains 0.7%psilocybine as well as 0.46%baeocystine, a fair amount of ser-

otonine and alsotophane, but no psilocine. Activityis experienced with 1 .5g dried

mushroom; 2.7g are visionary.

52

Pancratium trianthum Herbert

Kwashi

Many of the 15 species of thisplant are potent cardiac poi-sons; others are emetics; one issaid to cause death by paralysisof the central nervous system.P trianthum is reputedly one ofthe most toxic species.

Little is known of the use of

Pancratium trianthum. In Dobe,Botswana, the Bushmen report-edly value the plant as a halluci-nogen, rubbing the sliced bulbover cuts made in the scalp. Intropical west Africa, P trianthumseems to be religiously important.

The species of Pancratiumhave tunicated bulbs and linearleaves, mostly appearing withthe flowers. The white or green-ish white flowers, borne in anumbel terminating in an erect,solid, stout scape, have afunnel-shaped perianth with along tube and narrow segments.The stamens, located at thethroat of the perianth, are joinedtogether at the base into a kindof cup. The seeds are angledand black.

In the bulb of P trianthum thealkaloids lycorine and hordeninehave been detected.

Pandanussp.

Screw Pine

Pandanaceae

(Screwpine Family)


Natives of New Guinea employthe fruit of a species of Panda-nusfor hallucinogenic purposes,but little is known of this use.

Dimethyltryptamine has beenisolated and identified in Panda-nus nuts. Pandanus is a verylarge genus of the Old Worldtropics. It is dioecious, treelike,sometimes climbing, with pro-minent flying-buttress- or stiltlikeroots. The leaves of some spe-cies attain a length of 15 ft(4.5 m) and are used for matting:they are commonly long, stiff,swordlike, armed with prickles,hooked forward and backward.The naked flowers occur in largeheads enclosed in spathes. Theaggregate fruit or syncarpium, isa large, heavy, hard, compositeball-like, orconelike mass com-prising the union of the angled,easily detachable carpels. Mostspecies of Pandanus occuralong the seacoast or in saltmarshes. The fruits of somespecies are used as food inSoutheast Asia.

The Syrian Rue is an herb nativeto desert areas. It is a bushyshrub attaining a height of 3ft(1 m). The leaves are cut intonarrowly linear segments, andthe small white flowers occur inthe axils of branches. The gb-bose, deeply lobed fruit containsmany flat, angled seeds of abrown color, bitter taste, andnarcotic odor. The plant pos-sesses psychoactive principles:t3-carboline alkaloids—harmine,harmaline, tetrahydroharmine—and related bases known to oc-cur in at least eight families ofhigher plants. These constitu-ents are found in Peganum har-ma/a in the seeds.

The high esteem that P har-ma/a enjoys in folk medicinewherever the plant occurs mayindicate a former semisacreduse as a hallucinogen in nativereligion and magic. It hasrecently been postulated thatP harma/a may have been thesource of Soma or Huoma of theancient peoples of Persia andIndia.

PANAEOLUS (Fr.) (20—60)I

PANCRATIUM L. (15)I

PANDANUS L. fil. (600)I

PEGANUM L. (6)

Amaryllidaceae

(Amaryllis Family)

Tropical and warm zones of66 Africa and Asia

Peganum harmala L.

Syrian Rue

Zygophyllaceae

(Caltrop Family)

Western Asia to northern In-68 dia; Mongolia, Manchuria



PELECYPHORA Ehrenb. (2)

Pelecyphora aselliformis Ehrenb.

Peyotillo


Mexico

69

There are suspicions that thisround cactus may be valued inMexico as a "false Peyote" It islocally known as Peyote andPeyotillo.

A beautiful cactus, P aselli-formis is a solitary, gray-green,tufted, cylindric-conical plant 1—2½ in. (2.5—6.5 cm), althoughrarely up to4in. (10cm) india-meter. The laterally flattened tu-bercles are spiraled, not ar-ranged on ribs, and bear verysmall, scalelike, pectinatespines. The apical bell-shapedflowers measure up to 1¼ in.(3 cm) in width; the outer seg-ments are white, the inner red-violet.

Recent investigations haveindicated the presence of alka-loids, mescaline among others.When consumed, the cactushas a similar effect to Peyote.

PERNETTYA (20)

Gaud.-Beaup.

Pernettya furens (Hook. ex DC.)

Klotzch

Hierba Loca

Ericaceae (Heath Family)

Mexico to the Andes; Gala-70 pagos and Falkiand Islands;

New Zealand

Numerous reports indicate thatPernettya is intoxicating. Thefruit of P furens, the Huedhuedor Hierba Loca of Chile, causesmental confusion, madness,and even permanent insanity.The effects of the intoxicationare said to be similar to thosecaused by Datura. TaglIi, orP parvifolia, has toxic fruit cap-able, when ingested, of inducinghallucinations as well as otherpsychic and motor alterations.

It has been suggested thatPernettya was employed byaboriginal peoples as a magico-religious hallucinogen.

These two species of Pernet-tya are small, sprawling to sub-erect shrubs with densely leafybranches. The flowers are whiteto rose-tinted. The berrylike fruitis white to purple.

PETUNIA Juss. (40)

Petunia violacea Lindl.

Shanin

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Warm zones of North

71 America, South America

A recent report from highlandEcuador has indicated that aspecies of Petunia is valued as ahallucinogen. It is called Shaninin Ecuador. Which group of In-dians employs it, what species,and how it is prepared for useare not known. It is said to in-duce a feeling of levitation or ofsoaring through the air, a typicalcharacteristic of many kinds ofhallucinogenic intoxications.

Most of the cultivated types ofPetunia are hybrids derived fromthe purple-flowered Petunia vio-lacea and the white Petunia ax-illaris. These species are nativeto southern South America.

Phytochemical studies of thehorticulturally important genusPetunia are lacking, but as a so-lanaceous group allied to Nicoti-ana—the tobaccos—it may wellcontain biologically activeprinciples.

PEUCEDANUM L. (125)

Peucedanum japonicum Thunb.Fang-K'uei

Umbelliferae (Parsley Family)

Temperate zones of Europe,72 southern Africa, Asia

Peucedanumjaponicum is astout perennial, blue-green herbwith-thick roots and short rhi-zomes. The solid, fibrous stemsattain a length of 20—40 in. (0.5—

1 m). The thick leaves are 8—

24 in. (20—61 cm) long, twice orthrice ternate with obovate-cuneate leaflets 1¼—2½ in. (3—

6cm) long. The flowers areborne in umbellate clusters. The10 to 20 rays are ¾—1¼ in. (2—

3cm) long. The ellipsoid fruit isminutely hairy, 11/2—2in. (3.5—

5cm) long. This plant is com-mon on sandy places near sea-shores.

The root of Fang-K'uei is em-ployed medicinally in China asan eliminative, diuretic, tussic,and sedative. Although thoughtto be rather deleterious, it may,with prolonged use, have tonic

effects.Alkaloidal constituents have

been reported from Peuceda-num. Coumarin and furocou-mann are widespread in thegenus and occur in Pjaponi-

cum.

53



PHALARIS L.

Phalaris arundinacea L.

Red Canary Grass

Graminaea (Grass Family)

Cosmopolitan73

PHRAGMITES Adans.

Phragmites australis (Cay.) Trin. exSteud.

Common Reed

Gramineae (Grass Family)

Cosmopolitan74

PHYTOLACCA L.

Phytolacca acinosa Roxb.

Phytolaccaceae


PSILOCYBE (Fr.) Quélet

Psilocybe cubensis (Earle) Sing.San Isidro

Strophariaceae

Nearly cosmopolitan in the76 tropics

This perennial grass has grayishgreen stalks that grow to 6ff (2 m)and can be split lengthwise. Thelong, broad leaves have roughedges. The pan ole can take on alight green or red-violet colora-tion. The calyx holds one flower.

The Red Canary Grass wasknown already in antiquity. Thusfar, no traditional use of Phalarisarundinacea as a psychoactivesubstance is known.

The psychoactive constitu-ents of Phalaris were first no-ticed by a phytochemical studyon grasses done for agriculturalpurposes. It is possible that inthe past few years "cellar sha-mans" might have been experi-menting with a possible psy-choactive use for the grass inAyahuasca analogs and DM1extracts.

The entire grass contains in-dole alkaloids, which are highlyvariable according to their spe-cies, tribe, position, and harvest.In most, DMT, MMT, and 5-MeO-DMTare to be found. Thegrass can also contain highconcentrations of gramine, anextremely toxic alkaloid.

54

The Common Reed, the largestgrass in Central Europe, often

grows in harbors. It has a thick,many-branched rhizome. Thestalks are 3—9ft (1—3m) high; theleaves have rough edges andgrow upto 16—20 in. (40—50cm)long and in. (1—2 cm) wide.

The very long pan ide, 6—16 in.(15—40cm) long, has many darkpurple flowers. It flowers fromJuly to September. Seeds maturein winter, at which point the leaves

drop and the panicle turns white.The Common Reed had many

uses in ancient Egypt, particu-larly as fibrous material. Tradi-tional use for psychoactive pur-poses has been documented,only as a fermented ingredient ina beerlike drink.

The rootstalk contains DMT,5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine, andgram me. Reports concerning

psychoactive properties are pri-marily from experiences with anAyahuasca analog made from anextract of the roots, lemon juice,and the seeds of Peganum har-ma/a. Unpleasant side effectssuch as nausea, vomiting, anddiarrhea have been described.

Phytolacca acinosa is a glab-rous perennial with robust,branching green stems up to 3ff(91 cm) in length. The ellipticleaves average about 4% in.(12 cm) long. The white flowers,about % in. (1 cm) in diameter,are borne on densely floweredracemes4in. (10cm) in length.The purple-black, berrylike fruitbears small black kidney-shaped seeds ½ in. (3 mm) long.

A well-known Phytolacca inChina, Shang-lu exists in twoforms: one with white flowersand a white root and one withred flowers and a purplish root.The latter type is considered tobe highly toxic, although the for-mer is cultivated as a food. Theflowers—Ch'ang-hau'—are es-teemed for treating apoplexy.The root is so poisonous that it isnormally used only externally.

Phytolacca acinosa is high insaponines and the sap of thefresh leaves has been reportedto have antiviral properties.

This mushroom, known in Oax-aca as Hongo de San Isidro, isan important hallucinogen,although it should be noted thatnot all shamans will use it. TheMazatec name is Di-shi-tjo-le-rra-ja ("divine mushroom ofmanure").

The mushroom may attain aheight of 1%—3m. (4—8cm), very

rarely up to 5% in. (15cm). Thecap, usually %—2in. (2—5cm) indiameter (rarely larger), is conic-campanulate, at first especiallypapillose, then becoming con-vex to plane. It is golden yellow,pale tan to whitish near the mar-gin; in age or upon injury, it maybecome cyanaceous. The stipeis hollow, usually thickened atthe base, white but yellowing orbecoming ashy red, andstrongly lined. The gills varyfrom whitish to deep gray-violetor purple-brown. The ellipsoidspores are purple-brown.

The active principle in Psilo-cybe cubensis is psilocybine.



Psilocybe cyanescens is rela-tively easy to identify by its wavybrown cap in. (2—4cm)wide. It doesn't live on dung, buton decaying plants, coniferousmulch, and humus-rich earth. Inolder mushroom guides it is of-ten called Hyphaloma cyanes-cens. It is very closely related tothe species Psiocybe azures-cens and Psiocybe bohemica,both also very powerfulhallucinogens.

A traditional or shamanic useof this highly potent Psilocybehas not yet been documented.

Today, Psilocybe cyanescensis used in Central Europe andNorth America in neo-paganrituals. In addition, cultivatedmushrooms that have a veryhigh concentration of psilocy-bine are eaten. Visionary dosesare 1 g of the dried mushroom,which contains approximately1 % tryptamine (psilocybine,psilocine, and baeocystine).

P mexicana grows at altitudesof 4,500—5,500ft (1,375—1,675 m), especially in lime-stone regions, isolated or verysparsely in moss along trails, inwet meadows and fields, and inoak and pine forests. One of thesmallest of the hallucinogenicspecies, it attains a height of 1—(rarely) 4in. (2.5—10cm). Theconic campanulate or frequentlyhemispherical cap, ¼—1½ in.(1—3cm) in diameter, is a weakstraw color or greenish strawcolor (sometimes even brownishred) when living, drying to agreenish tan or deep yellow; ithas brown striations, and theterminal nipple is often reddish.The flesh of the cap turns bluishon bruising. The hollow stipe isyellow to yellowish pink, red-brown near the base. Thespores are deep sepia to darkpurple-brown.

Psi/ocybe semilanceata is themost common and widespreadmushroom in the Psilocybegenus. The Liberty Cap prefersto grow in fields with old manurepiles and on grassy, fertile mea-dows. Its cap, in. (1—2.5cm)wide, is conical and oftenpeaked. It usually feels damp andslimy. The "head skin" is easy topeel off. The small lamels are ol-ive to red-brown; the spores aredark brown or purple-brown.

P semi/anceata contains highconcentrations of psilocybine(0.97% up to 1.34%), some psi-locine, and less baeocystine(0.33%). This species is one ofthe most potent Psiocybemushrooms.

Toward the end of the MiddleAges in Spain, P semilanceatawas probably used as a halluci-nogen by women who were ac-cused of being witches. Alleg-edly the nomads of the Alpsnamed P semilanceata the"dream mushroom" and tradi-tionally used it as a psycho-active substance. Today thismushroom is ritually taken incertain circles.

The evergreen shrub can growinto a small tree with a woodytrunk, but usually remains at aheight of 6—9ft (2—3m). Itswhorled leaves are long andnarrow with a color ranging fromlight green to dark green and ashiny top side. The flowers havegreenish white petals on longstalks. The red fruit is a berrythat contains numerous smalllong oval seeds, about 1 in.(4 mm) long.

The leaves must be gatheredin the morning. They are usedeither fresh or dried in the pro-duction of Ayahuasca. Todaythey are also used as an Aya-huasca analog.

The leaves contain 0.1—0.61 % DMT, as well as traces ofsimilar alkaloids (MMT, MTHC);most of the leaves containaround 0.3% DMT.

pSILOCYBE (Fr.) Quélet (180) PSILOCYBE (Fr.) Quelet (180) PSILOCYBE (Fr.) Quélet (180) PSYCHOTRIA L. (1200—1400)

Psi/ocybe cyanescens Wakefield Psi/ocybe mexicana Helm

emend. Kriegelsteiner Teonanácatl

Navy Cap

Strophariaceae Strophariaceae

North America, Nearly cosmopolitan77 Central Europe 78

Psilocybe semilanceata (Fr.) Quélet Psychotria viridis Ruiz et PavdnLiberty Cap Chacruna

Strophariaceae Rubiaceae (Madder Family)

Cosmopolitan, Amazonia—from Colombia79 except Mexico 80 to Bolivia and eastern Brazil

Many species of Psilocybe areemployed in southern Mexico assacred mushrooms, P mexica-na being one of the most widelyused.

..' '• —., )__'_•

55



RHYNCI-IOSIA Lour.

Rhynchosia phaseoloides DC.Piule



SALVIA L. (700)

Salvia divinorum Epi. etJátiva-M.

Diviner's Sage


Oaxaca, Mexico82

SCELETIUM

Sceletium tortuosum L.Kougued

Aizoaceae (Carpetweed Family)

South Africa

83

SCIRPUS L.

Scirpus atrovirens WilId.Bakana

Cyperaceae (Sedge Family)

Cosmopolitan

The beautiful red and blackbeans of several species ofRhynchosia may have been em-ployed in ancient Mexico as ahallucinogenic. Paintings ofthese seeds on frescoes datedA. D. 300—400 at Tepantitla sug-gest former use as a sacredplant.

These two species are simi-lar—scandent vines with flowersin long racemes. The flowers ofR. longeracernosa are yellow;the seeds are mottled light anddark brown. R. pyramidalls hasgreenish flowers and handsomehalf-red, half-black seeds.

Chemical studies of Rhynch-osia are still preliminary and in-decisive. An alkaloid with cur-are-like activity has beenreported from one species.Early pharmacological experi-ments with an extract of R. pha-seoloides produced a kind ofsemi-narcosis in frogs.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, the MazatecIndians cultivate Salvia divinor-urn for the leaves, which arecrushed on a metate, diluted inwater, and drunk or chewedfresh for their hallucinogenicproperties in divinatory rituals.The plant, known as Hierba deIa Pastora ("herb of the shep-herdess") or Hierba de Ia Virgen('herb of the Virgin"), is culti-vated in plots hidden away inforests far from homes androads.

Salvia divinorum is a peren-nial herb 3ft (1 m) tall or more,with ovate leaves up to 6 in.(15cm) and finely dentate alongthe margin. The bluish flowers,borne in panicles up to 16 in.(41 cm) in length, are approxi-mately5/8in. (15mm) long.

It has been suggested that thenarcotic Pipiltzintzintli of the an-cient Aztecs was Salvia divinor-urn, but at present the plant

seems to be used only by theMazatecs. The plant contains thepotent compound salvinorin A.

Over two centuries ago, Dutchexplorers reported that the Hot-tentots of South Africa chewedthe root of a plant known asKanna or Channa as a vision-in-ducing hallucinogen. This com-mon name is today applied toseveral species of Sceletiumthat have alkaloids—mesembr-me and mesembrenine—withsedative, cocainelike activitiescapable of inducing torpor.

Sceletium expansurn is ashrub up to 12in. (30cm) tall withfleshy, smooth stems and pros-trate, spreading branches. Thelanceolate-oblong entire,smooth, unequal leaves, mea-suring 1½ in. (4cm) long, ½in.(1cm) wide, are ofafresh greencolor and very glossy. Borne onsolitary branches in groups ofone to five, the white or dull yel-low flowers are 1 ½—2 in. (4—

5cm) across. The fruit is angular.Both S. expansurn and S. for-

tuosum were formerly Mesem-bryanthemum.

One of the most powerful herbsof the Tarahumara of Mexico isapparently a species of Scirpus.Tarahumara Indians fear to cul-tivate Bakana lest they becomeinsane. Some medicine mencarry Bakana to relieve pain.The tuberous underground partis believed to cure insanity, andthe whole plant is a protector ofthose suffering from mental ills.The intoxication that it inducesenables Indians to travel far andwide, talk with dead ancestors,and see brilliantly coloredvisions.

Alkaloids have been reportedfrom Scirpus as well as from therelated genus Cyperus.

The species of Scfrpus maybe annuals or perennials andare usually grasslike herbs withfew- to many-flowered spikeletsthat are solitary or in terminalclusters. The fruit is a three-angled akene with or without abeak. They grow in many habi-tats but seem to prefer wet soilor bogs.



SCOPOLIAJacq Corr. Link

Scopolia carniolica Jacques

Scopolia

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Alps, Carpathian Mountains,85 Caucasus Mountains,

Lithuania, Latvia, andUkraine

This herbaceous annual oftengrows 1—3ft (30—80cm). Thedull green leaves are longish,pointed, and slightly pileous.The fleshy root is tapered. Thesmall, bell-shaped flowers areviolet to light yellow and hangdown individually from the ra-chis and look similar to the flow-ers of henbane (Hyoscyamusalbus). It flowers April to June.The fruit develops a capsulewith doubled dividing wall andmany small seeds.

In Slovenia, Scopolia waspossibly used for the prepara-tion of witches' salves. In EastPrussia, the root was used as anative narcotic, beer additive,and aphrodisiac. Women alleg-edly used it to seduce youngmen into being willing lovers.

The whole plant containscoumarins (scopoline, scopole-tine) as well as hallucinogenicalkaloids (hyoscyamine,scopolamine) and chlorogenicacid. Today the plant is grown forthe industrial harvest ofL-hyoscyamine and atropine.

SIDA L. (200)

Sida acuta Burm.

Axocatzin

Malvaceae (Mallow Family)

Warm zones of both hemi-86 spheres

These two species are herbs orshrubs often up to 9ft (2.7m) inheight, found in hot lowlands.The stiff branches are employedin making rough brooms. Theeaves, lanceolate to obovoidand measuring about 1 in.(2.5cm) wide and upto 4in.(10cm) long, are beaten inwater to produce a soothinglather for making skin tender.The flowers vary from yellow towhite.

Sida acuta and S. rhombifoliaare said to be smoked as a sti-mulant and substitute for Mari-juana along the Gulf coastal re-gions of Mexico. Ephedrine isfound in the roots of these spe-cies of Sida. The dried herbsmells distinctly like coumarine.

A luxuriant climbing bush withshowy flowers resembling thoseof Brugmansia, Solandra is va-lued for its hallucinogenic pur-poses in Mexico. A tea madefrom the juice of the branches ofS. brevicalyx and of S. guerrer-ensis is known to have strongintoxicant properties. Mentionedby Hernández as Tecomaxochitlor Huelpatl of the Aztecs,S. guerrerensis is used as an in-toxicant in Guerrero.

These two species of So/an-dra are showy, erect, or ratherscandent shrubs with thick ellip-tic leaves up to about 7in.(18 cm) in length and with large,cream-colored or yellow, fra-grant, funnel-form flowers, up to10 in. (25cm) in length andopening wide at maturity.

The genus Solandra, aswould be expected in view of itsclose relationship to Datura,contains tropane alkaloids:hyoscyamine, scopolamine,nortropine, tropine, cuscohy-grine, and other bases havebeen reported.

The beautiful red beans of thisshrub were once used as a hal-lucinbgen in North America.

Sophora secundif/ora seedscontain the highly toxic alkaloidcytisine, belonging pharmacolo-gically to the same group as ni-cotine. It causes nausea, con-vulsions, and eventually, in highdoses, death through respira-tory failure. Truly hallucinogenicactivity is unknown for cytisine,but it is probable that the power-ful intoxication causes, througha kind of delirium, conditionsthat can induce a visionarytrance.

Sophora secundif/ora is ashrub or small tree up to 35ff(10.5m) in height. The ever-green leaves have 7 to 11 glossy

leaflets. The fragrant, violet-blueflowers, borne in drooping ra-cemes about 4in. (10cm) long,measure up to 1¼ in. (3cm) inlength. The hard, woody pod,constricted between each seed,bears two to eight bright red

beans.

(3-5) SOLANDRASw. (10—12)

Solandra grandif/ora Sw.

Chalice Vine

Solanaceae

(Nightshade Family)

Tropical zones of South87 America, Mexico

SOPHORA L. (50)

Sophora secundif/ora (Ort.) Lag. exDC.

Mescal Bean



57



Tabernaemontana spp.

Sanango

Apocynaceae (Dogbane Family)

Tropical zones of both89 hemispheres

Most species of Tabernaemon-tana are bushy shrubs, climbers,or small trees. The leaves areevergreen, lanceolate, oftenwith a leathery top side. Theflowers consist of five pointedpetals that mostly grow in clus-ters out of the calyx. The twosymmetrical fruits are dividedand marked with fairly visibleveins. Because of this, they areeasily confused with the testesof a mammal.

In the Amazon, the Sanango(Tabernaemontana sananho R.et P.) is considered a panacea.The leaves, roots, and the latex-rich bark are used in folk medi-cine. The tree grows as tall asl5ft (5m). The leaves are usedas a psychoactive additive toAyahuasca. It is used in combi-nation with Virola in the produc-tion of an orally effective halluci-nogen. In the Amazon, Sanangois also considered a "memoryplant." Ayahuasca is enhancedwith it in order that the visionscan be better recalled.

Phytochemical research hasrecently been done on thegenus. Indole alkaloids are theprimary constituent, in someeven ibogaine and voacanginehave been ascertained. For thisreason, this species is of parti-cular interest for the discoveryof new psychoactive plants. Afew of the species (Tabernae-montana coffeoides Bojer oxDC., Tabernaemontana crassaBenth.) have already revealedpsychoactive properties anduses.

Taberrianthe iboga Baill.

Iboga


Tropical zones of western90 Africa

Ta be rnanthe iboga is a shrub 3—

4½ ft (1—1.5 m) tall, found in theundergrowth of tropical forestsbut often cultivated in nativedooryards. The shrub has co-pious white, vile-smelling latex.The ovate leaves, usually 3½—4in. (9—10 cm) long, about11/4 in. (3cm) wide (but occa-sionally up to 8½ by 2¾ in. or 22by 7 cm), are yellowish greenbeneath. The tiny yellowish,pinkish, or white- and pink-spotted flowers, which grow ingroups of5to 12, have acra-teriform corolla (a long, slendertube abruptly flaring at themouth) with twistGd lobes ¾ in.(1 cm) long. The ovoid, pointedyellow-orange fruits occur inpairs and become as large asolives.

Chemical studies on Taber-nanthe iboga have shown atleast a dozen indole alkaloids,the most active being ibogaine,the effects of which, in toxicdoses, lead to extraordinaryvisions; an overdose, to paraly-sis and death.

TAGETES L. (50)

Tagetes lucida Cay.

Yauhtli


Warm zones of the Americas91 mostly Mexico

The Huichol of Mexico inducevisions by smoking a mixture ofNicotiana rustica and Tageteslucida. They frequently drink afermented beer from maizealong with the smoking in order"to produce clearer visions."Tagetes lucida is occasionallysmoked alone.

Tagetes lucida is a stronglyscented perennial herb up to1½ ft (46 cm) tall. The oppositeleaves are ovate-lanceolate,toothed, and punctated with oilglands. The flowering heads areproduced in dense terminalclusters ½ in. (1 cm) in diameter,usually yellow to yellow-orange.This species is native to Mexico,where it is very abundant in thestates of Nayarit and Jalisco. Noalkaloids have been isolatedfrom Tagetes, but the genus isrich in essential oils and thio-phene derivatives; /-inositol,saponines, tannins, coumarinederivatives, and cyanogenic gly-cosides have been reported.

TABERNAEMONTANA L. (120) TABERNANTHE Baill. (2—7)

58



TANAECIUM Sw. (7)

nocturnum (Barb.-Rodr.)

3ur. et K. Schum.

Koribo

Bignoniaceae (Bignonia Family)

Tropical zones of Central92 America and South America,

West Indies

Tanaecium nocturnum is amuch-branched climber withbroadly elliptic leaves 5½ in.(1 3.5 cm) long, 4in. (10cm)wide. The white flowers, 6½ in.(16.5cm) long, are tubular,borne in five- to eight-floweredracemes 3m. (8 cm) long, aris-ing from the stem. The stem,when cut, emits an odor of al-mond oil.

The Paumari, who live on theRio Purus, create a ritual snuffthat they call koribo-na fun/out ofthe leaves. The shamans sniff itwhen they are dealing with diffi-cult cases—for example, in or-der to extract a magical objectout of the body of the sick per-son. They also sniff it during aritual for protection of children,during which they fall into atrance. The snuff is used only bythe men. This species is said tobe prized as an aphrodisiac byIndians of the ColombianChocó.

Saponines and tannins havebeen found in Tanaecium. Theleaves contain prussic acid andcyanoglycosides, which disinte-grate when roasted.

It is uncertain as to whetherthe toxin's waste products con-tribute to the psychoactive effectof T nocturnum. It is not yetknown if there are other activecompounds in the leaves orother parts of the plant. It ispossible that this plant containssubstances of unknown chemi-cal structure and pharmacologi-cal effect.

TETRAPTERIS Cay. (80)

Tetrapteris methystica R. E. Schult.

Caapi-pinima

Malpighiaceae (Malpighia Family)

Tropical zones of South93 America, Mexico,

West Indies

The nomadic Makü Indians ofthe Rio Tikié in the northwesternmost Amazonas of Brazil pre-pare a hallucinogenic drink, asort of Ayahuasca or Caapi,from the bark of Tetrapterismethystica. Reports of the ef-fects of the drug would suggestthat (3-carboline alkaloids arepresent.

Tetrapteris methystica (T mu-cronata) is a scandent bush withblack bark. The leaves are char-aceous, ovate, in. (6—

8.5cm) long, 1—2in. (2.5—5cm)wide, bright green above, ashygreen beneath. The inflores-cence is few-flowered, shorterthan the leaves. The sepals arethick, hairy without, ovate-Ian-ceolate, with eight black oval-shaped glands; the petals,spreading, membranaceous,yellow with red or brown in thecenter, elongate-orbicular, ½ in.(1 cm) long, 1/16 in. (2mm) wide.The fruit, or samara, is ovoid, ¼by½by1A6in. (4by4by2mm),with brownish wings about ½ byYl6in. (loby2mm).

TRICHOCEREUS (A. Berger)Riccob.

Trichocereus pachanoi

Britt. et Rose

San Pedro Cactus


Temperate and warm zones94 of South America

This cactus is a branched, oftenspineless, columnar plant 9—20ft (2.75—6m) in height. Thebranches, which have 6 to 8 ribs,are glaucous when young, darkgreen in age. The pointed budsopen at night to produce verylarge, 7½—9¼ in. (19—24 cm),

funnel-shaped, fragrant flowerswith the inner segments white,the outer segments brownishred, and long, greenish stamenfilaments. The fruit, as well asthe scales on the floral tube,have long black hairs.

Trichocereus pachanoi is richin mescaline: 2% of the driedmaterial or 0.12% of the freshmaterial. Other alkaloids havebeen reported from the plant:3,4-dimethoxyphenylethyla-mine, 3-methoxy-tyramine, andtraces of other bases.

Trichocereus pachanoi (Echi-nopsis pachanoi) occurs in thecentral Andes between 6,000and 9,000ft(1,830—2,750m),particularly in Ecuador andnorthern Peru.

59



TURBINA Rat. (10) VIROLAAUbI. (60) VOACANGA (10—20)

Turbina corymbosa (L.) Raf.

Ololiuqui

Convolvulaceae

(Morning Glory Family)

Tropical zones of the95 Americas, mostly Mexico

and Cuba

The seeds of Turbina corymbo-sa, better known as Rivea cor-ymbosa, are valued as one ofthe major sacred hallucinogensof numerous Indian groups insouthern Mexico. Their usegoes back to early periods.Known as Ololiuqui, they wereimportant in Aztec ceremoniesas an intoxicant with reputedlyanalgesic properties.

Turbina corymbosa is a largewoody vine with heart-shapedleaves 2—3½ in. (5—9cm) longand in. (2 .5—4.5cm) wide.The cymes are many-flowered.The bell-shaped corollas, 3/4_1½ in. (2—4cm) long, are whitewith greenish stripes. The fruit isdry, indehiscent, ellipsoidal withpersistent, enlarged sepals, andbears a single hard, roundish,brown, minutely hairy seedabout 1/s in. (3 mm) in diameter.The seeds contain lysergic acidamide, analogous to LSD.

Classification of genera inthe Morning Glory family orConvolvulaceae has alwaysbeen difficult. This species hasat one time or another beenassigned to the genera Convol-vu/us, Ipomoea, Legendrea,Rivea, and Turbina. Most che-mical and ethnobotanical stu-dies have been reported underthe name Rivea corymbosa,but recent critical evaluation in-dicates that the most appropri-ate binomial is Turbinacorymbosa.

V/rota theiodora (Spr.) Warb.

Cumala Tree

Myristicaceae (Nutmeg Family)

Tropical zones of Central96 America and South America

Most, if not all, species of Virolahave a copious red 'resin" in theinner bark. The resin from anumber of species is preparedas a hallucinogenic snuff orsmall pellets.

Probably the most importantspecies is Viro/a theiodora, aslender tree 25-75 ft (7.5—23 m)in height, native to the forests ofthe western Amazon basin. Thecylindrical trunk, 1½ft(46cm) indiameter, has a characteristicsmooth bark that is brownmottled with gray patches. Theleaves (with a tea-like fragrancewhen dried) are oblong orbroadly ovate, 31,4.13 in (9—33cm) long, 1½—4½ in. (4—

11 cm) wide. The male inflores-cences are many-flowered,usually brown- or gold-hairy,shorter than the leaves; the verysmall flowers, borne singly or inclusters of 2 to 10, are stronglypungent. The fruit is subglobose,3/$_3/4 in. (1—2cm) by ¼—% in.(.5—

1.5cm); the seed is covered forhalf its length by a membranac-eous, orange-red aril.

The resin of the Virola con-tains DMTand 5-MeO-DMT.

Voacanga spp.

Voacanga


Tropical Africa

97

The Voacanga genus has re-ceived little research. The spe-cies are similar to one another.They multiple-branched,evergreen shrubs or small trees.The flowers are mostly yellow orwhite with five united petals.There are two symmetricalfruits. Latex runs in the bark.

The bark and seeds of theAfrican Voacanga africanaStapf. contain upto 10% indolealkaloids of the iboga type (voa-camine is the primary alkaloid,ibogaine) and should be simu-lating and hallucinogenic. InWest Africa the bark is used as ahunting poison, stimulant, andpotent aphrodisiac. Supposedlythe seeds are used by Africanmagicians in order to producevisions.

The seeds of the Voacangagrandiflora (Miq.) Rolfe are usedby magicians in West Africa forvisionary purposes. Unfortu-nately the details are not yet un-covered, as the knowledge ofthe magicians is a closelyguarded secret.

60



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WHO USESHALLUCINOGENICPLANTS?

Notwithstanding the recent upsurge in the use ofpsychoactive plants in modern Western societies,the thrust of this book emphasizes almost exclu-sively the employment of hallucinogens amongaboriginal peoples who have restricted the use ofthese plants mostly to magic, medical, or religiouspurposes. The outstanding difference between theuse of hallucinogens in our culture and their use inpreindustrial societies is precisely the difference inthe belief concerning their purpose and origin: allaboriginal societies have considered—and stilldo—that these plants are the gifts of the gods, ifnot the gods themselves. It is obvious that our cul-ture does not view hallucinogenic plants in thislight.

There are many examples—and more will bediscussed in the following pages—of plants thatare sacred and even severed as gods. Soma, the an-cient god-narcotic of India, may be the most out-standing example. Most hallucinogens are holymediators between man and the supernatural, butSoma was deified. So holy was Soma that it has

been suggested that even the idea of deity mayhave arisen from experiences with its unearthlyeffects. The sacred Mexican mushrooms have along history that is closely linked to shamanismand religion. The Aztecs called them Teonanácatl("divine flesh"), and they were ceremonially in-gested. Highland Maya cultures in Guatemalaapparently had, more than three thousand yearsago, a sophisticated religion utilizing mushrooms.Probably the most famous sacred hallucinogen ofthe New World, however, is Peyote, which,among the Huichol of Mexico, is identified withthe deer (their sacred animal) and maize (theirsacred vegetal staff of life). The first Peyote-collecting expedition was led by Tatewari, theoriginal shaman, and subsequent annual trips to 'collect the plant are holy pilgrimages to Wirikuta,original paradisiacal home of the ancestors. In

62

Page 61:The Fly Agaric is used for shamanic purposes worldwide. It has

even been linked to the ancient Indian Soma.

South America, Ayahuasca reveals the real world,while daily living is an illusion. Ayahuasca means"tendril of the soul" in Kechwa and comes fromthe frequent experience that the soul separatesfrom the body during the intoxication, commun-ing with the ancestors and forces of the spiritworld. The drinking of Caapi is a return "to thematernal womb, to the source and origin of allthings," and participants see "all the tribal divi-nities, the creation of the universe, the first humanbeings and animals and even the establishment ofthe social order" (Reichel-Dolmatoff).

It is not always the shaman or medicine manwho administers these sacred plants. The generalpopulation—usually the adult male portion—often shares in the use of hallucinogens. Under



Above: The symbols in Huichol mythology are vividly depicted in their popular

sacred art. The beauty of the forms has as a basis the ceremonial use of

Peyote. The yarn painting above, like an Aztec Codex, is a chronicle of the

creation of the world. The gods emerged from the Underworld to MotherEarth. This was possible because Kauyumari, Our Elder Brother Deer, found

the nierika, or portway. The nierika of Kauyumari (top center) unifies the spirit

of all things and all worlds. Through it all life came into being.

Below Kauyumari's nierika, Our Mother Eagle (center) lowers her head to

listen to Kauyumari, who sits on a rock, bottom right. His sacred words travel

down a thread to a prayer bowl and are transformed into life energy, depicted

as a white blossom.

Above Kauyumari, the Spirit of Rain, a serpent, gives life to the gods. Tatewari,

first shaman and Spirit of Fire (top center right), is bending down toward Kauyu-

marl listening to his chant. Both are connected to a medicine basket (center

right), which binds them together as shamanic allies. Our Father Sun, seen op-

posite Tatewari on the left, is connected with the Spirit of Dawn, the orange figure

below. The Sun and Spirit of Dawn are both found in Wirlkuta, the Sacred Land of

Peyote. Also in Wirikuta is Kauyumari's nierika and the temple of Elder Brother

Deer Tail. The temple is the black field, lower center. Deer Tail, with red antlers, is

seen with his human manifestation above him. Behind Deer Tail is Our Mother

the Sea. A crane brings her a prayer gourd containing the words of Kauyumari.

Blue Deer (left center) enlivens all sacred offerings. A stream of energy goes from

him toourMother Sea's prayergourd; he also offers his blood to the growing corn,

the staff of life germinating below him. Above Blue Deer is the First Man, who

invented cultivation. First Man faces a sacrificed sheep.

Page 62: This early-sixteenth-century Aztec statue of Xochipilli, the ecstaticPrince of Flowers, was unearthed in Tlamanalco on the slopes of the volcano

Popocatepetl. The stylized glyphs depict various hallucinogenic plants. From

left to right, the glyphs represent: mushroom cap; tendril of the Morning Glory;

flower of Tobacco; flower of the sacred Morning Glory; bud of Sinicuiche; and,

on the pedestal, stylized caps of Psilocybe aztecOrum.

63



these circumstances, however, use is often strictlycontrolled by taboos or ceremonial circumscrip-tions. In almost all instances, in both the Old andthe New World, the use of hallucinogenic drugs isrestricted to adult males. There are, however,striking exceptions. Among the Koryak of Siberia,Anianita may be used by both sexes. In southernMexico, the sacred mushrooms can be taken byboth men and women; in fact, the shaman is usual-ly a woman. Similarly, in the Old World, Ibogamay be taken by any adult, male or female. Whilepurely speculative, there may be a basic reason forthe exclusion of women from ingesting narcoticpreparations. Many hallucinogens are possiblysufficiently toxic to have abortifacient effects.Since women in aboriginal societies are frequentlypregnant during most of their childbearing years,the fundamental reason may be purely an insur-

64

or communicants aloneimbibe or ingest flex drinks,

Datura infusions, Tobacco,...Peyote cactus, Ololiuqui seeds, mushrooms,

narcotic Mint leaves or Ayahuascathe ethnographic principle is the same.These plants contain spirit power."

—Weston La Barre

ance against abortions—even though this reasonhas been forgotten.

Sometimes hallucinogens are administered tochildren. Among the JIvaro, Brugmansia may begiven to boys, who are then admonished by theancestors during the intoxication. Frequently,the first use of a hallucinogen occurs in pubertyrituals.

There is hardly an aboriginal culture without atleast one psychoactive plant: even Tobacco andCoca may, in large doses, be employed for the in-duction of visions. An example is the smoking ofTobacco among the Warao of Venezuela, who useit to induce a trancelike state accompanied bywhat, for all practical purposes, are visions.

Although the New World has many more spe-cies of plants purposefully employed as hallucino-gens than does the Old World, both hemisphereshave very limited areas where at least one halluci-nogen is not known or used. So far as we know,the Inuit have only one psychoactive plant; thePolynesian Islanders of the Pacific had Kava-kava(Piper niethysticum), but they seem never to havehad a true hallucinogen in use: Kava-kava isclassed as a hypnotic.

Africa has been poorly studied from the pointof view of drug plants, and may have hallucino-genic species that have not yet been introducedto the scientific world. It is, however, possible toassert that there are few parts of the continentwhere at least one such plant is not now utilizedor was not employed at some time in the past.

Asia, a vast continent, has produced relativelyfew major hallucinogenic varieties but their usehas been widespread and extremely significantfrom a cultural point of view; furthermore, theuse of them is extremely ancient. Numeroussources describe the use of hallucinogenic andother intoxicating plants in ancient Europe. Manyresearchers see the roots of culture, shamanism,and religion in the use of psychoactive or halluci-nogenic plants.

"Whether shaman alone,or shaman and communicants,



OVERVIEW OFPLANT USE

Two points stand out in clear relief inthis tabular summary of material setforth in greater detail in other sectionsof the book. It is obvious that: (1) thesources of information are interdisci-plinary in nature; and (2) there is urgentneed for deeper studies in view of thesparsity or vagueness of knowledge inso many cases.

That progress in future studies will bemade only when they are based on inte-gration of data, from sundry fields—.anthropology, botany, chemistry, history,

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medicine, mythology, pharmacology,philology, religion, and so on—shouldbe obvious. And wise handling of such awealth of information calls for patienceand breadth of understanding. One ofthe first steps in this direction must bepresentation of such diverse material ineasily assimilated outline form—an endthat we have tried to accomplish in thisoverview.

It is man living in so-called archaic so-

cieties and intimately familiar with hisambient vegetation who has discoveredthe hallucinogens and bent them to hisuse. The relentless march of civilizationis ever increasing in speed and intensity,reaching even the most remote and hid-den peoples. Acculturation inevitablyspells the doom of native lore and leadsto the disappearance of knowledge builtup through the ages. It is, therefore,urgent that we step up the tempo ofresearch before this knowledge will for-ever be entombed with the culture thatgave it birth.

Accurate botanical identification ofthe source plant is basic to a sound un-derstanding of hallucinogens. We do notalways have this knowledge. Ideally,botanical determination of a productshould be made on the basis of a voucherspecimen: only in this way canexactnessbe ensured. It is sometimes necessary tobase an identification on a commonname or on a description, in which casethere always may exist some doubt as toits accuracy. It is equally essential thatchemical investigations be foundedupon properly vouchered material. Bril-liant phytochemical work too often isworthless simply because grave doubtsabout the identity of the original vegetalmaterial cannot be dispelled.

Similar deficiencies in other aspectsof our knowledge of hallucinogens andtheir use hamper our understanding.The full cultural significance of mind-altering plants may not be appreciated.It is only in very recent years that an-thropologists have begun to compre-hend the deep and all-encompassingrole that hallucinogens play in the his-tory, mythology, and philosophy ofaboriginal societies. In time as this un-derstanding is appreciated, anthropol-ogy will advance in its explanation ofmany basic elements of human culture.

The material presented in this book isof necessity concentrated in detail. Itmay also at times be diffuse. Realizingthe desirability occasionally of having aquick means of consultation, we havestriven to assemble the essential factsand present them in skeletal form in thisOverview of Plant Use.

Key symbols designating plant types inOverview of Plants Use

XEROPHYTES ANDSUCCULENTS

LIANAS

VINES AND TWINERS

GRASSES AND SEDGES

HERBS

LILY-LIKE PLANTS

FUNGI

ORCHIDS

SHRUBS

TREES

AQUATIC PLANTS

Left: The English botanist RichardSpruce spent fourteen years in field

research in South America during the

1800's. An insatiable plant-explorer, he

might be called the prototype of ethno-botanists of tropical America. His

studies laid the foundation of research

on the hallucinogens Yopo and Caapi—

research still in progress.

Page 64: The culture of Colombia

(from 1200 to 1600) has yielded manyenigmatic gold pectorals with mush-roomlike representations. They may

imply the existence of a cult using these

intoxicating fungi, species of which

occur in the area. Many of the pectorals

have winglike structures, possiblysignifying magic flight, a frequent char-

acteristic of hallucinogenic intoxication.

65



REFNUMBER

COMMONNAME

TYPE OFPLANT

BOTANICAL

NAME

USAGE:HISTORYAND ETI-INOGRAPHY

Agara Galbulimima beigraveana (F. Muell.) Sprague Natives in Papua

I I

Angel's TrumpetsFloripondio

Brugmansia arborea (L.) Lagerh.;B. aurea Lagerh.; B. x insignis (Barb.-Rodr.)

Brugmansia are employed in the warmer parts of SouthAmerica, especially in the western Amazon, under the

1 2BorracheroHuacacachu

Lockwood ex R. E. Schult.;B. Sanguiflea (R. et P.) Don;

name of Toe.Also used by the Mapuche Indians of Chile, the Chib-

Huanto B. suaveolens (H. et B. ex WilId.) cha of Colombia, and known to Peruvian Indians as

Maicoa Bercht. et Presl.; Huacacachu.

Toe B. versicolor Lagerh.;

Tonga B. vulcanicola (A. S. Barclay) R. E. Schult.

(see also pages 140—143)

AyahuascaCaapi

Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton;B. inebrians Morton; B. rusbyana (Ndz.) Morton;

Used in the western half of the Amazon Valley and byisolated tribes on the Pacific slopes of the Colombian

Yajé Diplopterys cabrerana (Cuatr.) B. Gates and Ecuadorean Andes.


A') Badoh Negropiule

Ipomoea violacea L. Oaxaca, southern Mexico.Known to the Aztecs as Tlililtzin and employed in

Tlililtzin the same way as Ololiuqui, Ipomoea is called Piule by

(see also pages 170—175) the Chinantec and Mazatec, and Badoh Negro by theZapotec.

2 ABakanaHikuli

Coryphantha compacta (Engelm.)Britt. et Rose; C. app.

The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico consider C. corn-pacta (Wichuri, also referred to as Bakana or Bakana-

Wichuri wa) a kind of Peyote or Hikuli (see Peyote).

o A0'1Bakana Scirpus sp. A species of Scirpus is apparently one of the most

powerful herbs of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico.The Indians fear the plant because of possible

insanity.

6VBlue Water LilyNinfa

Nymphaea amp/a (Solisb.) DC.;N. caerulea Say,

Water Lilies enjoyed an exceptionally prominent place inthe mythology and art of Minoan and dynastic Egyptian

Quetzalaxochiacatl cultures, in India and China, as well as in the Mayanworld from the Middle Classical period until the inceptionof the Mexican period.

Among Old and New World similarities is the relationof N. amp/a to the toad, itself associated with hallucino-genic agents, and the relation of the plant to death.

Caapi-PinimaCaapi (see Ayahuasca)

Tetrapteris methyst/ca R. E. Schul.;T mucronata Cay,

Caapi-Pinima is employed by the nomadic Makü Indiansof the Rio Tikié in the northwestern Amazon of Brazil.

.

They call it Caapi, the same as Banister/opals. Severalwriters have mentioned "more than one kind" of Caapi inthe Rio Vaupés area of Brazil and adjacent Colombia.

6 2CaweWichowaka

Pachycereus pecten-aboriginum (Engeim.)Britt. et Rose

Employed by the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, Wicho-waka means "insanity" in the local language.

A CebilVilIca

Anadenanthera colubrina (VeIl.) Brenan;A. colubrina (Veil.) Brenan var.

A. peregrina is used today by tribes of the Orinoco basin(Yopo) and was first reported in 1946. No longer used in

5Yopo


Cebl/ (Griseb.) Altschul;

A. peregrina (L.) Speg.;A. peregrina (L.) Speg. var. fa/cata (Benth.)Altschul

the West Indies.Indians of Argentina (VilIca or Huilca) and southern

Peru (Cebul) are believed to have employed A. co/ubrinain precolonial times.

i'j ICebolleta '*' Onc/dium cebo//eta (Jacq.) Sw. It is suspected that the Tarahumara of Mexico make use

of this orchid.

8VChacrunaChacruna Bush

Psychotria v/rid/s Ruiz et Pavón Used for ages in the Amazon region as a significant in-gredient of Ayahuasca.

Cahua

66



USAGE:CONTEXTAND PURPOSE

PREPARATION CHEMICAL COMPONENTSAND EFFECTS

Hallucinogenic intoxication The bark and leaves of this tree are boiled with a spe- Although 28 alkaloids have been isolated, a psychoac-cies of Homalomena to prepare a tea. tive principle has not yet been found.

Visions of men and animals to be killed are experi-enced.

The Indians of Sibundoy use Brugmansia for magico- The drug is usually taken in the form of powdered All species of Brugmansia are chemically similar, withmedicinal purposes, the Mapuche as medicine for seeds added to fermented drinks, or as a tea made of scopolamine as their principal psychoactive constitu-recalcitrant children, the leaves. ent. Content of lesser alkaloids is also similar.

The Chibcha formerly gave fermented Chicha with A dangerous hallucinogen, Brugmansia brings on anBrugmansia seeds to wives and slaves of dead chief- intoxication often so violent that physical restraint istains to induce a stupor before they were buried alive necessary before the onset of a deep stupor, during.vith their husbands or masters, which visions are experienced.

Indians in Peru still believe that Brugmansia permitsthem to communicate with ancestors and that it canreveal treasures preserved in graves.

Usually drunk in religious ceremonies. The bark, prepared in cold or boiling water, may be The hallucinogenic activity is primarily due to harmine,In the famous Tukanoan YuruparI ceremony in Co- taken alone or with additives—especially the leaves of the major 3-carboline alkaloid in the plants.

lombia—an adolescent initiation ritual for boys. The B. rusbyana (Diplopterys cabrerana) and of Psychotria Effects of taking the bitter and nauseating drinkJivaro believe that Ayahuasca makes possible corn- v/rid/s—which alter the effects. range from pleasant intoxication with no hangover tomunication with ancestors and that, under its influ- The bark can also be chewed. Recent evidence from violent reactions with sickening aftereffects. Usually,ence, a man's soul may leave the body and wander the northwestern Amazon suggests that the plants are visual hallucinations in color occur. The intoxicationfree, also used in the form of a snuff. ends with a deep sleep and dreams.

In southern Mexico, this vine is respected as one of A drink is prepared from about a thimbleful of the The alkaloid content is five times that of Turbinathe principal hallucinogens for use in divination, crushed seeds. corymbosa; accordingly natives use fewer seeds. Themagico-religious, and curing rituals, same alkaloids are found in other Morning Glories but

usage is restricted to Mexico. (See Ololiuqui.)

Medicinal purposes. The aboveground Teuile ("meat" of the cactus) is eaten Various alkaloids, including phenylethylarnines, haveTaken by shamans as a potent medicine and greatly fresh or dried. Eight to twelve cactus "tops" are an been isolated from Coryphantha, a promising genus for

feared and respected by the Indians. adequate dose. future studies.

Scirpus plays an important role in folk medicine The tuberous roots of Scirpus are often collected from Alkaloids have been reported from Scirpus and relatedsnd as a hallucinogen; it must be treated with great faraway places. sedges. The Indians believe that they can travel to dis-'everence. tant places, talk with their ancestors, and have colored

visions.

There exist numerous interesting parallels between Dried flowers and buds of Nymphaea amp/a are The alkaloids apomorphine, nuciferine, and nornuci-the ritualistic (shamanic) significance of Nymphaea in smoked. The rhizomes are eaten raw or cooked. The ferine, isolated from the rhizomes of N. amp/a, may bethe Old and the New Worlds, suggesting that Nym- buds of N. caeru/a are used to make a tea, responsible for the psychotropic activity.phaea may have been used as a narcotic, possibly ahallucinogen.

N. amp/a has recently been reported to be used inMexico as a recreational drug with "powerful halluci-natory effects."

Hallucinogenic intoxication. A drink is prepared from the bark of T methystica incold water. The infusion is yellowish, unlike the brown-ish color of the beverage prepared from Banisteriopsis.

It has not been possible as yet to carry out chemicalexamination of T met hystica, but reports of the effectsof the drug would suggest that the same or similarj3-carboiine alkaloids are present as in Banisteriopsis.

There are several purely medicinal uses of this A hallucinogenic drink is prepared from the juice of the 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethylamine and four tetra-cactus, young branches of P pecten-aboriginum. hydroisoquinolirie alkaloids have been isolated.

It causes dizziness and visual hallucinations.

Now smoked as a hallucinogenic intoxicant by Indians The snuff is prepared from the beans, which are Tryptamine derivatives and j3-carbolines.n northern Argentina. usually moistened, rolled into a paste, and dried by

toasting.When pulverized to a gray-green powder, it is mixed

with an alkaline plant ash or snail shell lime.

A twitching of the muscles, slight convulsions, andlack of muscular coordination followed by nausea,visual hallucinations, and disturbed sleep. Macropsia.

Reportedly used as a hallucinogen, 0. cebo/leta is Unknown. An alkaloid has been reported from 0. cebol/eta.employed as a temporary surrogate for Peyote.

This bush has great cultural significance as a DMT- Fresh or dried leaves are mixed with vines or the husk The leaves contain 0.1 % to 0.61 % N,N,-DMT, as wellproviding ingredient of the hallucinogen Ayahuasca, of Banisteriopsis caapi and cooked. The preparation is as traces of other alkaloids.which has a central place in the shamanic tradition of drunk as Ayahuasca (Caapi, Yagd,).;he Amazon.

67



REFNUMBER

COMMONNAME

TYPE OFPLANT

BOTANICAL

NAME

USAGE:

HISTORYAND ETHNOGRAPHY

3I

ChiricaspiChiric-Sanango

Brunfelsia chiricaspi Plowman;B. grandiflora D. Don;

Brunfelsia is known as Borrachero ('the intoxicator") toColombian Indians, and as Chiricaspi (cold tree") in

Manaka B. grandfflora D. Don subsp. schultesii Plowman westernmost Amazonia (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru).

3 AColorinesChilicote

Erythrina americana Mill.;

E. coraioides Moc. et Sesse ex DC.;The beans of various species are frequently sold withthose of Sophora secundfflora (Mescal Beans) in

Tzompanquahuitl E. flabelliformis Kearney Mexico. They are used as amulets or charms.

7 A'+Common Reed Phragmites australia (Cay.) Trinius ex Steudel Used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. Psy-

choactive use is a recent phenomenon.

CopelandiaJambur

Panaeolus cyanescens Berk. et Br.;Copelandia cyanescens (Berk. et Br.) Singer

Cultivated on cow and buffalo dung in Bali.

5 00Cowhage Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. India. Used in Ayurvedic medicine. The seeds are used

worldwide as charms or amulets.

I

Dams da Noite(Lady of the Night)

Cestrum Iaevigatum Schlecht;Cestrum parqui L'Herit.

Coastal regions of southern Brazil, southern Chile.

Palqui

Maconha

2 0 DaturaDutra

Datura metelL. D. metelis mentioned as a hallucinogenic plant in earlySanskrit and Chinese writings.

(see also pages 106—111) Known as a drug to the Arabian physician Avicenna in. the eleventh century.

Employed today especially in India, Pakistan, and Af-ghanistan.

D. ferox, a related Old World species, plays a minorrole.

8Deadly NightshadeBelladonna

Atropa belladonna L. Europe, Near East.Deadly Nightshade figured as an important ingredient in

(see also pages 86—91) many of the witches' brews of the Middle Ages.

Atropa played a prominent role in the mythology ofmost European peoples.

2El Nene

El AhijadoColeus blumei Benth.; C. pumilus Blanco Native to the Philippine Islands, two species of this plant

have acquired significance similar to Salvia in southernEl Macho Mexico among the Mazatec Indians.

'v'-'EpenáNyakwana

Virola calophylla Warb.;V calophylloidea Markgr.;

In Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru a number ofspecies of Virola are used, the most important of which

Yakee V elongata (Spr. ex Benth.) Warb.; appears to be V theiodora.(see also pages 176-181) V theiodora (Spr.) Warb. The hallucinogenic snuff has various names depend-

ing on the locality or tribe, with the most commonly re-cognized terms being Paricá, Epená, and Nyakwana inBrazil, Yakee and Yato in Colombia.

Ereriba Homalomena sp. The natives of Papua are reported to use Horiialomena.

2Ergot C/avjceps purpurea (Fr.) Tulasne It has recently been convincingly argued that Ergot

'-' (see also pages 102—105) played a role in the Eleusinian mysteries of ancientGreece.

When accidentally ground up with rye flour during theMiddle Ages, Ergot (which grows primarily as a fungaldisease on rye) poisoned whole districts with ergotism.These mass poisonings became known as St. Antho-ny's fire.

68



USAGE:

CONTEXTAND PURPOSEPREPARATION CHEMICAL COMPONENTS

AND EFFECTS

n Amazonian folk medicine, Brunfelsia plays a major The Kofán of Colombia and Ecuador and the Jivaro of Scopoletine has been found in Brunfelsia, but thismagico-religious role. Ecuador add Brunfelsia to Yajé, prepared basically compound is not known to be psychoactive.

Used as an additive to the hallucinogenic drink Yale from Banisteriopsis (see Ayahuasca). It heightens the A sensation of chills follows ingestion, an effect that(see Ayahuasca). hallucinogenic effects, has given rise to the name Chiricaspi tree").

The plant may once have been used by the Tarahu- The red beans are often mixed with the similar ones of Some species of Erythrina contain alkaloids of the er-mara, who value the beans medicinally. Sophora secundiflora. ythran type, producing effects similar to those of curare

or cytisine.

Used today as a DMT-delivering agent for Ayahuasca Twenty to 50g of roots are boiled with 3g of seeds from The roots contain the psychedelic or vision-inducinganalogs. Peganum harmala and the preparation is consumed as

a drink,alkaloid N, N-DMT, 5-MEO-DMT, Bufotenin, and thetoxin gramine.

Used in native festivals in Bali and reportedly sold to The mushrooms are eaten fresh or dried. Up to 1.2% of psilocine and 0.6% of psilocybine haveloreign visitors as a hallucinogen, been found in C. cyanescens, which is the highest

content of these alkaloids found in hallucinogenicmushrooms.

Indian peoples may have utilized the psychoactive Powdered seeds. Source of DM1 for Ayahuasca Although Mucuna has not been reported as a halluci-properties. analogs. nogen, it is rich in psychoactive alkaloids (such as

Mucuna is considered an aphrodisiac in India. DMT) capable of inducing behavioral changes equita-ble with hallucinogenic activity.

The Mapuche of southern Chile smoke Palqui. The leaves are smoked as a substitute for Marijuana. The unripened fruit, leaves, and flowers contain sapo-nines that are not known to be hallucinogenic.

Used as an aphrodisiac in the East Indies. Powdered seeds added to wine. See Toloache.Valuable drug. The seeds are added to alcoholic drinks, to Canna-Ceremonial intoxication and recreation. bis cigarettes or tobacco, and occasionally to the betel

chew mixture.

Witches' brews; the sabbat. The entire plant contains psychoactive constituents. The plant contains alkaloids, capable of inducing hal-Today, A. belladonna is an important source for lucinations. The main psZchoactive constituent is

medicinal drugs. hyoscyamine, but lesser amounts of scopolamine andtrace amounts of minor tropane alkaloids are alsopresent.

Having magico-religious significance, Coleus is used The leaves are chewed fresh or the plants are ground, No hallucinogenic principle has yet been discovered inas a divinatory plant. then diluted with water for drinking, the 150 known Coleus species.

Epená or Nyakwana may be snuffed ceremonially by Some Indians scrape the inner layer of the bark and dry Tryptamine and 13-carboline alkaloids, 5-methoxydi-

all adult males, occasionally even without any ritual the shavings over a fire. When pulverized, powdered methyltryptamine and dimethyltryptamine (DMT),

connection. The medicine men use the drug in diag- leaves of Just ic/a, the ashes of Amasita, the bark of being the main constituents, are responsible for thenosis and treatment of illnesses. Elizabetha princeps may be added. hallucinogenic activity. Effects of the intoxication vary.

The use of Yakee or Paricá is restricted to shamans. Other Indians fell the tree, collect the resin, boil it to apaste, sun-dry the paste, crush and sift it. Ashes of sev-eral barks and the leaf powder of Justicia may be added.

A further method is to knead the inner shavings offreshly stripped bark and to squeeze out the resin andboil it to a paste, which is sun-dried and prepared intosnuff with ashes added.

A group of Makü Indians in the Colombian Vaupésingest the unprepared resin as it is collected from thebark.

They usually include initial excitability, setting in withinseveral minutes from the first snuffing. Then followsnumbness of the limbs, twitching of the facial muscles,inability to coordinate muscular activity, nausea, visualhallucinations, and finally, a deep, disturbed sleep.

Plants are used in traditional medicine and to create The leaves are eaten with the leaves and bark of Gal- Little is known still of the constituents of this genus.hallucinogenic dreams. bulimima be/graveana (see Agara). Violent derangement is followed by slumber with

visions.

It appears that Ergot has never been utilized pur- Used for psychoactive purposes. Taken as a cold- Ergoline alkaloids, mainly derivatives of lysergic acid,

posefully as a hallucinogen in medieval Europe. water infusion. Dosage is difficult to determine and can are the pharmacologically active constituents of Ergot.Employed extensively as a medicine by midwives in be dangerous! Ergot alkaloids or derivatives of them are the basis of

cases of difficult childbirth during the Middle Ages, important medicines used today in obstetrics, internalErgot induced contractions of involuntary muscles medicine, and psychiatry. The most potent hallucino-and was a strong vasoconstrictor. gen, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), is a synthetic

derivative of Ergot.

69



REFNUMBER

COMMONNAME

TYPE OFPLANT

BOTANICALNAME

USAGE:HISTORYAND ETF-INOGRAPI-IY

25Esakuna Cymbopogon densfflorus Stapf Used by medicine men in Tanzania.

72Fang-K'uei Peucedanumjaponicum Thunb. China

Fly Agaric(see also pages 82—85)

Amanita muscaria (L. ex Fr.) Pers. Finno-Ugrian peoples in eastern and western Siberia.Several groups of Athabaskan peoples of NorthAmerica. A. muscaria could very well be the mysteriousgod-narcotic Soma of ancient India, taken by the

A 5GalangaMaraba

Kaempferia galanga L. There are vague reports that Galanga is employed as ahallucinogen in New Guinea.

2 VGenista Cyt/sus canariensjs (L.) 0. Kuntze Although native to the Canary Islands, Genista was in-

corporated in aboriginal American societies.Genista has apparently acquired an important role

among the Yaqui Indians of Mexico.

5 2Gi'-i-WaGi'-i-Sa-Wa

Lycoperdon marginatum Vitt.;L. mixtecorum Helm

In southern Mexico, the Mixtec of Oaxaca employ twospecies to induce a condition of half-sleep. There seemsto be no ceremony connected with the use.

In northern Mexico, among the Tarahumara of Chi-huahua, a species of Lycoperdon, known as Kalamota,is employed.

A''J 1-lenbane

(see alsoHyoscyamus nigerL.; H. a/bus L. During the Middle Ages, Henbane was an ingredient of

the witches' brews and ointments.

A .1'+ I

In ancient Greece and Rome, reports of "magicdrinks" indicate that Henbane frequently served as aningredient. It has been suggested that the priestessesDelphi prophesied under the influence of Henbane.

8 2Hierba de Ia PastoraHierba de Ia Virgen

Salvia div/forum EpI. et Jativa-M. Used by the Mazatec Indians of Mexico as a substitutefor psychoactive mushrooms, S. divinorum ("of the dlvi-

Pipiltzintzintli ners") is called "herb of the shepherdess:' It is commonlybelieved to be the narcotic Pipiltzintzintli of the AztecIndians.

3 3Hikuli MulatoHikuli Rosapara

Epithelantha micromeris (Engelm.)Weber ex Britt. et Rose

One of the "false Peyotes" of the Tarahumara Indians ofChihuahua and the Huichol of northern Mexico.

7Hikuli SunaméChautle

Ariocarpus fissuratus Schumann;A. retusus Scheidw.

The Tarahumara Indians in northern and central Mexicoassert that A. fissuratus is stronger than Peyote (Lo-

Peyote CimarrOn phophora).Tsuwiri Huichol Indians of Mexico.

'-"Iboga

(see also pages 112—115)Tabernanthe iboga Baill. In Gabon and the Congo, the cult surrounding Iboga

provides the natives with the strongest single forceagainst the missionary spread of Christianity and Islamin this region.

56JuremaAjuca

Mimosa host//is (Mart.) Benth.;M. verrucosa Benth. = Mimosa tenu/f/ora

Valued in eastern Brazil, where several tribes in Pernam-

buco use the plant in ceremonials; also employed by var-Tepescohuite (WilId.) Poir. bus now extinct tribes of the same area.

Over two centuries ago, Dutch explorers reported thatthe Hottentots of South Africa employed the root of aplant known as Channa or Kanna.

83Kanna Mesembryanthemum expansum L.;

M. tortuosum L. = Sceletium tortuosum (L.)N.E.Br.

70



Iboga is known to be used as a hallucinogen in magico-religious context, especially the Bwiti cult, and servesto seek information from ancestors and the spirit world,hence 'a coming to terms with death." Moreover, intox-ication is practiced in the initiation ceremonies.

The drug also has the reputation of a powerfulstimulant and aphrodisiac.

The hallucinogenic use of Mimosa hostilis in ceremo-nies seems to have nearly disappeared today. Em-ployed in connection with warfare.

Probably once used as a vision-inducing hallucino-gen.

The root of Fang-K'uei is employed medicinally in

China.

Fresh or dried roots are eaten pure, or added to palmwine. Roughly log of dried root powder induces apsychedelic effect.

The root of Mimosa hostilis was the source of a "mira-culous drink," known locally as Ajuca or Vinho de Jure-

ma.

In the hinterlands of South Africa, the roots and leaves

are still smoked.Apparently, the leaves are sometimes dried after

fermentation and chewed as an inebriant.

CHEMICAL COMPONENTSAND EFFECTS

It is not known to which compound the alleged halluci-nogenic activity has to be attributed.

Alkaloidal constituents have been reported from Peu-cedanum, but whether or not they are of hallucinogenic

types is not known. Coumarins and furocoumarins arewidespread in the genus; both occur in P japonicum.

Iboga contains at least a dozen indole alkaloids, ibo-game being the most important. Ibogaine is a strongpsychic stimulant that in high doses produces alsohallucinogenic effects.

One active alkaloid identical with the hallucinogenic N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine has been isolated.

The common name is today applied to several species

of Sceletium and Mesembfyaflttlemum that have alka-

loids — mesembrine and mesembrenine —with sedative

activities capable of inducing torpor.Kanna produces a strong intoxication.

71


PREPARATION

Employed to cause dreams in order to foretell the fu-

ture.

Folk medicine.

Smoking of the flowers, either alone or with tobacco.

Shamanistic inebriation. One or several mushrooms are taken sun-dried or Ibotenic acid, Muscimole, Muscazone.

Religious significance; healing ceremonies. slowly toasted over a fire. They may also be drunk as Euphoria, colored visions, macropsia; on occasion

Religious ceremonies, an extract in water or reindeer milk or with the juice ofVaccinium oliginorum or Epilobium angustifolium. Ri-tualistic drinking of the urine of intoxicated individuals

in Siberia also occurs.

religious fervor and deep sleep may occur.

Hallucinogenic intoxication (?),folk medicine, aphro- The highly aromatic rhizome is valued locally as a Beyond the high content of essential oil (to which hal-

disiac. condiment; a tea from the leaves is employed in folk

medicine,

lucinogenic activity might be due) in the rhizome of this

relative of Ginger, little is known of the chemistry.

Ceremonial use in Native American tribes. The seeds are valued by Yaqul medicine men. Cytisus is rich in the lupine alkaloid cytisine.

Employed especially by the medicine men as a hal- Hallucinogenic activity has not been reported

lucinogen in magic ceremonies. cytisine, but it is known to be toxic.

Used as auditory hallucinogen. The fungi are eaten. There is as yet no phytochemical basis to explain the

Taken by sorcerers to enable them to approach psychotropic effects.

people without being detected and to make people

sick.

Witches' brews; magic infusions. The dried herb is smoked as a cigarette or smoked in a The active principles in this solanaceous genus are

Induces a clairvoyant trance. smokehouse. The seeds are mainly smoked. Theseeds are used as a substitute for hops in making beer.Dosage varies from person to person.

tropane alkaloids, especially hyoscyamine scopo-

lamine, the latter being mainly responsible for thehallucinogenic effects.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, the Mazatec Indians cultivate The leaves are chewed fresh or crushed on a metate, The main active ingredient, salvinorin A, can bring

S. divinorum for its hallucinogenic properties in divi- then diluted with water and filtered for a drink, about extreme hallucinations when inhaled in amounts

natory rituals, of 250 to 500 mcg.

It is apparently used when Teonanácatl or Ololiuquiseeds are rare.

Medicine men take Hikuli Mulato to make their sight Cactus flesh is eaten fresh or dried. Alkaloids and triterpenes have been reported.

clearer and permit them to commune with sorcerers, It This cactus is reportedly able to drive evil people

is taken by runners as a stimulant and "protector" and insanity and throw them from cliffs.

the Indians believe that it prolongs life.

Valuing it in witchcraft, the Tarahumara believe that Consumed either fresh or crushed in water. Several phenylethylamine alkaloids have been

thieves are powerless to steal when this cactus calls isolated.

its soldiers to its aid.The Huichol consider Ariocarpusto be evil, insisting

that it may cause permanent insanity.



Tanaecium nocturnum (Barb.-Rodr.)Bur. et K. Schum.

Employed by the Karitiana Indians of the Rio Madeira inAmazonian Brazil.

5 7KratomBiak-Biak

Mitragyna speciosa Korthals In the 19th century, Kratom was known as an opiumsubstitute in Thailand and Malaysia.

QUKwashi Pancratium fr/ant hum Herbert Kwashi is employed by the Bushmen in Dobe,

Botswana.

A 71

LatCie

Arbol de los BrujosLatua pub/flora (Griseb.) Baill. Formerly used by the Mapuche Indian shamans of

Valdivia, Chile.

ILiberty Cap Psilocybe semi/anceata (Fries) Quelet It is possible that this fungus has been used for psycho-

active purposes in Central Europe for about 12,000years. Earlier, it was used as a hallucinogen by the Alpennomads and has also been used in European witchcraft.

A 8Lion's Tail

Wild Dagga ' Leon/f/s leonurus (L.) R. Br. This herb has been used as a narcotic in southern Africasince ancient times.

Dacha

i'

Maiden's Acacia Acacia maidenii F. von Muell.;A. phiebophylla F. von Muell.;A. simplicifolia Druce

Many Acacias are used in traditional medicine. Thepsychoactive use of Acacia, Which contains DMT, is veryrecent and has been developed especially in Australiaand California.

8 6Malva ColoradaChichibe

Sida acuta Burm.; S. rhomb/folia L. Sida acuta and Sida rhomb/folia are said to be smokedalong the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Axocatzin

5 AMandrake(see also pages 86—91)

Mandragora off/cinarum L. Mandrake has a complex history in the Old World.The root of Mandrake can be likened to the human

form, hence its magic.

7I

MarijuanaBhang

Cannabis sat/va L.; C. md/ca Lam. In India, use of Cannabis has had religious significance.

Specimens nearly 4,000 years old have turned up in anCharas Egyptian site.

Dagga In ancient Thebes, the plant was made into a drink with

Ganja opium-like effects.

Hashish The Scythians, who threw Hemp seeds and leaves onHemp hot stones in steam baths to produce an intoxicatingKif smoke, grew the plant along the Volga 3,000 years ago.Ta Ma Chinese tradition puts the use of the plant back 4,800(see also pages 92—101) . years.

Indian medical writing, compiled before 1000 B. C., re-

ports therapeutic uses of Cannabis.The Greek physician Galen wrote, about A. o. 160, that

general use of Cannabis in cakes produced intoxication.In 13th-century Asia Minor, organized murderers,

rewarded with Hashish, were known as hash/shins, fromwhich may come the term assassin in Europeanlanguages.

Mashihiri Just/cia pectoral/s Jacq. var.stenophylla Leonard

The Waiká and other Indians of the uppermost Orinocoand the adjacent parts of northwestern Brazil cultivateJust/cia.

72

REF COMMON TYPE OF BOTANICAL USAGE:

NUMBER NAME PLANT NAME HISTORYAND ETHNOGRAPHY

8 7KielifKieri Solandra brev/calyxStandl.; Mentioned by Hernández as Tecomaxochiti or Hueipatl

Hueipatl S. guerrerensis Martinez of the Aztec Indians.

Tecomaxochiti In the mythology and symbolism of the Mexican Hui-chol and other tribes, several species of Solandra areimportant.

92Koribo



Cannabis has a long history of use in folk medicineand as a psychoactive substance.

It is the source of fiber, an edible fruit, an industrialoil, a medicine, and an intoxicant.

Use of Cannabis has grown in popularity in the past40 years as the plant has spread to nearly all parts ofthe globe. Increase in the plant's use as an inebriant inWestern countries, especially in urban centers, hasled to major problems and dilemmas for Europeanand American authorities. There is a sharp division ofopinion as to whether the widespread use of Canna-bis is a vice that must be stamped out or is an innoc-uous habit that should be permitted legally. The sub-ject is debated hotly, usually with limited knowledge.

Extracts from the husk and leaves of A. maidenii, thebark of A. simplicifolia, or the leaves of A. phiebophyllaare combined with the seeds from Peganum harmala.

Methods of consuming Cannabis vary. In the NewWorld, Marijuana (Maconha in Brazil) is smoked—thedried, crushed flowering tips or leaves are often mixedwith tobacco or other herbs in cigarettes. Hashish, theresin from the female plant, is eaten or smoked, oftenin water pipes, by millions in Muslim countries ofnorthern Africa and western Asia. In Afghanistan andPakistan, the resin is commonly smoked. East Indiansregularly employ three preparations: Bhang consists ofplants that are gathered green, dried and made into adrink with water or milk or into a candy (majun) withsugar and spices; Charas normally smoked or eatenwith spices, is pure resin; Ganja, usually smoked withtobacco, consists of resin-rich dried tops from the

female plant.

Many varieties of Acacia contain the psychedelic sub-stance, DMT. The bark of A. maideniicontains 0.36%DMT; the leaves of A. phiebophylla contain 0.3% DMT.The bark of A. simplicifolia can contain up to 3.6% al-kaloids, of which DMTaccounts for roughly one third.

The psychoactive principles—cannabinOtic com-pounds—are found in greatest concentration in a resinproduced most abundantly in the region of the pistillate

inflorescence. A fresh plant yields mainly cannabidiolicacids, precursors of the tetrahydrocannabinOls and re-lated constituents, such as cannabinol and cannabi-diol. The main effects are attributable totetrahydrocannabinol.

The principal effect is euphoria. Everything from amild sense of ease to hallucinations, from feelings ofexaltation and inner joy to depression and anxiety havebeen reported. The drug's activities beyond the centralnervous system seem to be secondary. They consist of

a rise in pulse rate and blood pressure, tremor, vertigo,

difficulty in muscular coordination, increased tactile

sensitivity, and dilation of the pupils.

The natives mix Justicia leaves with the snuff pre-pared from Virola (see Epena) to "make the snuff

smell better'

The leaves are dried and pulverized. Tryptamines have been suspected from several spe-

cies of Justicia.

73



The Huichol worship and fear Solandra as a god-nar-cotic, Kieli, a powerful aid in sorcery. Realizing theclose relationship of Solandra, Datura, and Brugman-sia, the Huichol sometimes combine their use: theydistinguish between Datura inoxia or Kielitsa ("badKieli") and the real Kieli or Solandra.

S. guerrerensis is known to be employed as anintoxicant in the state of Guerrero.

A tea made from the juice of the branches of both spe-des is known to be employed as an intoxicant.

The genus Solandra, closely related to Datura, con-tains hyoscyamine, scopolamine, nortropine, tropine,scopine, cuscohygrine, and other tropane alkaloids

with strong hallucinogenic effects.

Folk medicine.This species is said to be praised as an aphrodisiac

by Indians of the Colombian ChocO.

A tea is made of the leaves of this liana and those of an

unidentified plant as a remedy for diarrhea.

Reports from botanical collectors of the odor of T noc-turnum suggest that cyanogenesis occurs in this spe-des. Saponines and tannins have been isolated.

In Southeast Asia, the leaves are chewed or smokedfor use as a stimulant or a narcotic,

Fresh leaves are chewed, dried, and smoked, or takeninternally as atea or extract. The leaves are sometimes

used together with Betel.

The entire plant contains alkaloids, of which Mitragy-nine is the main active ingredient. Mitragynine, which ischemically similar to yohimbine and psilocybine, is a

very powerful psychoactive substance.

Reportedly used as a hallucinogen and in folk medi-

cine.ReligiousimportanceassumedintropicalWestAftica.

The bulbs are cut in two and rubbed over incisions onthe scalp. This custom most closely approaches theWestern habit of injecting medicine.

Many of the 15 species contain very toxic alkaloids.The toxic state may be accompanied by hallucinogenicsymptoms.

is a virulent poison once used to induce delir-lum, hallucinations, and even permanent insanity,

Dosages were a secret closely guarded. The fresh fruit

was preferentially employed.

The leaves and fruit contain 0.15% hyoscyamine and0.08% of scopolamine, responsible for hallucinogenic

activity.

This mushroom has been used worldwide for its hal-lucinogenic and vision-inducing qualities,

Eaten fresh or dried. Thirty fresh mushrooms orroughly 3g of dried mushrooms is a sufficient psyche-

delic dose.

Contains high concentrations of psilocybin, and somepsilocine and baeocystine (the total alkaloid concen-tration is roughly 1 % of the dried mass). This is a

potent hallucinogen.

The Hottentots and bush people smoke the plant as a

narcotic or as a substitute for Cannabis.

The dried buds and leaves are smoked either alone or

mixed with tobacco.

There have been no chemical studies to date.

Acacia resin is used in conjunction with Pituri by theAustralian Aborigines. Today, various varieties ofAcacia are used as DMT sources and also in the pre-paration of Ayahuasca analogs for hallucinogenicexperiences.

Employed as a stimulant and substitute for Marijuana. Smoking. Ephedrine, which induces a mild stimulating effect, hasbeen reported from these species of Sida.

Used as a panacea, Mandrake played an extraordin- There existed various precautions in pulling the root Tropane alkaloids with hyoscyamine as the main con-

ary role as a magic plant and hallucinogen in Eur- from the earth because the plant's unearthly shrieks stituent besides scopolamine, atropine, mandragorine,The total

opean folklore. An active hallucinogenic ingredient of could drive collectors mad. and others are the psychoactiveis 0.4%.the witches' brews, Mandrake was probably the most content of tropane alkaloids

potent admixture.



REF.

NUMBERCOMMONNAME

TYPE OFPLANT

BOTANICALNAME

USAGE:


•4 A MatwO

Huilca

Cacalia cordifolla L. f ii. Mexico

88Mescal BeanCoral BeanColorinesFrijolesRed Bean

Sophora secundiflora (On.) Lag. ex DC. Use of Mescal Bean goes far back into prehistory in theRio Grande basin, where they have had ritual uses for atleast 9,000 years.

The Arapaho and Iowa tribes in the United Stateswere using the beans as early as 1820.

At least a dozen tribes of Indians in northern Mexicoand southern Texas practiced a vision-seeking dance.

00Nightshade Scopolia carniolica Jacques Probably used as an ingredien.t of witches' salves and

ointments; used in Eastern Europe as a substitute forMandrake; also used as an intoxicating ingredient inbeer.

I UNonda Boletus kumeus Helm; B. manicus Helm;

B. nigroviolaceus Helm; B. reayi HeimNew Guinea

5 9NutmegMace

Myristica fragrans Houtt. Known as "narcotic fruit" in ancient Indian writings.Occasionally used as a surrogate for Hashish in

Egypt.

Unknown in classical Greece and Rome, Nutmeg wasintroduced to Europe in the first century A. 0. by theArabs, who employed it ass medicine.

Nutmeg poisoning was common in the Middle Ages,and during the 19th century in England and America.

9 5OloliuquiBadohXtabentum(see also pages 170—1 75)

,

Turbina corymbosa (L.) Raf.[= Rivea corymbosa]

The seeds of this Morning Glory, formerly known as

Rivea corymbosa, are valued as one of the major sacredhallucinogens of numerous Indian groups in southernMexico. Their use goes back to early periods, and theywere important in Aztec ceremonies as an intoxicantand as a magic potion with reputedly analgesicproperties.

A 2PaguandoBorracheroTotubjansushArbol de Campanilla

Iochroma fuchsioides Miers Used by the Indians of the Sibundoy Valley of southernColombia and the Kamsá of the southern Andes ofColombia.

5 1Peyote

Hikuli

Mescal Button(see also pages 144—155)

Lophophora diffusa (Croizat) Bravo;L. williamsii (Lem.) Coult.

Spanish chronicles described use of Peyote by the Az-tec Indians. Lophophora is valued today by the Tarahu-mara, Huichol, and other Mexican Indians as well as bymembers of the Native American Church in the UnitedStates and western Canada.

Peyotillo Pelecyphora aselliformis Ehrenb. There are suspicions that this round cactus may bevalued in Mexico as a "false Peyote:'

3 2PitallitoHikuri

Echinocereus salmdyckianus Scheer;E. triglochidiatus Engelm.

The Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua consider bothspecies as "false Peyotes."

3 -1Pituni

Pituri BushPoison Bush

Duboisia hopwoodii F. con Muell. Pituni leaves have been used for at least 40,000 years inAustralian rituals and are used for both medicinal andpleasurable purposes.

8 1'

Piule Rhynchosja longeracemosa Mart. et Gal.;R. phaseoloides; R. pyramidalis (Lam.) Urb.

The red/black beans of several species of Rhynchosiamay have been employed in ancient Mexico as ahallucinogen.

Rape dos Indios Maquira sclerophylla (Ducke) C. C. Berg Indians of the Pariana region of the Brazilian Amazonformerly used Maquira, but encroaching civilization hasended this custom.

74





Presumed aphrodisiac and cure for sterility. The dried herb is smoked. One alkaloid has been reported.No evidence of hallucinogenic properties.

The arrival of the Peyote cult, centering on Lopho- A drink was prepared from the red beans of The seeds contain the highly toxic alkaloid cytisine,

phora, a safer hallucinogen, led the natives to aban- S. secundiflora. which pharmacologically belongs to the same group as

don the Red Bean Dance, which had made use of the nicotine. Hallucinogenic activity from cyti-

beans as an oracular, divinatory, and hallucinogenic sine, but the powerful intoxication may cause a kind of

medium. delirium comparable to a visionary trance.In high doses, respiratory failure may lead to death.

Pituri has been of central importance in AustralianAboriginal society as a substance for social enjoy-ment, a shamanic magic drug, and a valuable good for chewed.

trade. Pituri is chewed for its narcotic effects, as astimulant to dreams and visions, and simply to be

enjoyed.

Hallucinogenic intoxication (?)

The leaves contain various psychoactive alkaloids(piturine, nicotine, nornicotine, anabasine, and others).

The roots also contain nornicotine and scopolamine.The chewed leaves can act as a narcotic, stimulant, or

hallucinogen.

Chemical studies of Rhynchosia are still indecisive. Analkaloid with curare-like activity has been reportedfrom one species. Pharmacological experiments withR. phaseoloides produced a kind of seminarcoSis in

frogs.

Used as an aphrodisiac and psychoactive love potion The roots are used as an ingredient in beer. The dried

in Lithuania and Latvia. herb can be smoked alone or mixed with other herbs.

The whole plant contains strong hallucinogenic tro-panalkaloids, especially hyoscyamine and scopola-

mine. Also contains scopoletine.

Several species of Boletus are involved in the re-ported madness" of the Kuma.

The dried, ground fruit is eaten. Active principles unknown.

The most notable use of Nutmeg is found in Westernsociety, especially among prisoners deprived of other

drugs.

At least one teaspoon is used when taken orally orsnuffed for narcotic purposes, although usually muchmore is required to bring on full intoxication. Nutmeg ison occasion added to the betel chew.

The main active ingredient of nutmeg's essential oils ismyristicine; safrol and eugenol are also present.

In high doses extremely toxic and dangerous, thecomponents of Nutmeg oil so upset normal body func-tions that they evoke a deliriuth comparable to halluci-nations, usually accompanied by severe headache,

dizziness, nausea, etc.

At the present time the small round seeds are utilizedin divination and witchcraft by Chinantec, Mazatec,Mixtec, Zapotec, and others and, as has recentlybeen stated, in almost all villages of Oaxacaone finds seeds still serving the natives as an ever-present help in time of trouble!'

The seeds, which must be collected by the person whois to be treated, are ground by a virgin on a metate,water is added, and then the drink is filtered. Thepatient drinks it at night in a quiet, secluded place.

Ergoline alkaloids were found to be the psychoactiveprinciples, lysergic acid amide and lysergic acid hydro-xyethylamide, closely related to the potent hallucino-gen LSD, being the most important constituents.

According to shamans, the aftereffects are so strongthat the plant is used for divination, prophecy, and di-agnosis of disease only when other medicines" areunavailable, or for especially difficult cases.

The fresh bark is rasped from the stem and boiled withan equal amount of leaves, usually a handful. The re-suiting tea, when cooled, is drunk with no admixture.The dose is said to be one to three cupfuls of a strongdecoction over a three-hour period,

Although chemical investigation of this genus has notbeen carried out, it belongs to the Nightshade family,

well recognized for its hallucinogenic effects.The intoxication is not pleasant, having after effects

of several days.

Mythological and religious significance; healing cere-monies.

In the United States, use of Peyote is avision-questritual with a combination of Christian and Native ele-ments and high moral principles.

The cactus may be eaten raw, dried, or made into a

mash or a tea.From 4 to 30 tops are consumed during the

ceremony.

Contains up to 30 alkaloids of the phenylethylamineand tetrahydroisoquinoline type. The main constituentresponsible for the hallucinogenic activity is trimethox-yphenylethylamine, named mescaline.

Hallucinations are characterized by colored visions.

The cactus is used in northern Mexico as Peyote(Lophophora williams/i).

Cactus flesh is eaten fresh or dried. Recent investigations have indicated the presence of

alkaloids.

The Tarahumara sing to Pitallito during collection andsay it has "high mental qualities!'

Cactus flesh is eaten fresh or dried. A tryptamine derivative has been reported from

E. trig/ochid/atus.

The fermented leaves are mixed with alkaline plantashes and other resins (such as Acacia resin) and

The snuff was taken during tribal ceremonials.

The seeds are referred to by Indians of Oaxaca by thesame name used for the hallucinogenic seeds ofMorning Glory (Turbina corymbosa).

The method of preparation from the dried fruit is ap-parently remembered only by the very old.

No chemical studies have been carried out on

M. scierophylla.

75



REF COMMONNUMBER NAME

73Reed Grass

TYPE OF BOTANICAL

PLANT NAME

Phalaris arundinacea L.

USAGE:


Although Reed Grass was familiar to writers of antiquity,its psychoactive use is very recent.

Southwestern United States and Mexico. Although thereare apparently no ethnological reports of Saguaro as ahallucinogen, the plant is an important medicine amongthe Indians.

There are many varieties of the genus Ta be rnaemon-tana in Africa and South America. Especially in Africa,

some varieties seem to have been used for a long time inshamanic or traditional medicine practices.

18Saguaro Carnegiea gigan tea (Engelm.) Britt. et Rose

89SanangoTabernaemontana

Tabernaemonfana coffeojdes Bojer ex DC.;T crassa Bentham; T dichotoma Roxburgh;T pandacaqui Poir.

[= Ervatamia pandacaqui (Poir.) Pichonj

A San Pedro Trichocereus pachanoi Britt. et Rose Used by the natives of South America, especially in theAguacolla [= Andes of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.Gigantón(see also pages 166—169)

67ScrewPine Pandanussp. NewGuinea

Shang-la Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. China

Shanin Petunia violacea Lindi. A recent report from highland Ecuador has indicatedPetunia

- that a species of Petunia is valued as a hallucinogen.

23Shanshi Coriaria thymifolia HBK. ox Wilid. Peasants in Ecuador.

A Siberian Lion's Tail Leonurus sibiricus L. The Siberian Motherwort has been used medicinallyMarijuanillo from the very beginning of Chinese medicine. Since theSiberian Motherwort plant was transplanted to the Americas, it has been used

as a substitute for Marijuana.

Sinicuichi Heimia salicifolia (H BK) Link et Otto Although all three species of Heimia are important inMexican folk medicine, mainly H. sa/icifolia has beenvalued for its hallucinogenic properties.

Straw Flower Helichrysum foetidum (L.) Moench; Zululand, South Africa.H. stenopterum DC.

2Sweet Flag Acorus calamus L. Cree Indians of northwest Canada.Flag RootSweet CalomelCalamus

Syrian Rue Peganum harmala L. P harmala is valued today from Asia Minor across toIndia with extraordinary esteem, suggesting formerreligious use as a hallucinogen.

Tagili Pernettya furens (Hook. ex DC.) Klotzch; P furens is called Hierba Loca in Chile ("maddening'-' Hierba Loca P parvifolla Bentham plant"), while P parvifolia is known as TagIli in Ecuador.

Huedhued

Taique Desfontainia spinosa ft et P. Reported as a hallucinogen from Chile (Taique) andBorrachero southern Colombia (Borrachero = "intoxicant").Latuy

76



USAGE:

CONTEXTAND PURPOSE

Mexican natives report that Sinicuichi possessessupernatural virtues, but the plant does not appear to

be taken ritually or ceremonially.Some natives assert that it helps them clearly to

recall happenings of long ago—even prenatal events.

Known to be employed as a hallucinogen, it has beensuggested that Pernetlya has played a role in magico-religious ceremonies in South America—a still unpro-

ven claim.

Medicine men of the Kamsá tribe drink a tea from theleaves for the purpose of diagnosing disease or when

they "want to dream'

In the Mexican highlands the leaves of H. salicifolia areslightly wilted, crushed in water, and then allowed to

ferment into an intoxicating drink.

Alkaloids of the quinolizidine type have been isolated,among them cryogenine (vertine), to which the psy-

chotropic activity may be attributed.The beverage induces giddiness, a darkening of the

surroundings, shrinkage of the world around, and apleasant drowsiness. Auditory hallucinations may oc-cur with voices and distorted sounds that seem to

come from far away.

The plant possesses undoubted hallucinogenic princi-

ples: f3-carboline alkaloids—harmine, harmaline, tetra-hydroharmine, and related bases known to occur in at

least eight families of higher plants. These constituents

are found in the seeds.

The chemistry of the toxic fruits of both P furens and

P parvifolia, which cause mental confusion and even

insanity, is not yet elucidated.

Nothing is as yet known of the chemistry of D. spinOSa.

Visions are experienced and some of the medicine

men assert that they temporarily "go crazy" under its

influence.


In connection with research on the so-called Aya-huasca analogs, a species of Reed Grass has beendiscovered that has a high DMT content and can be

used psychoactively.

An extract is made from the leaves. In combination withPeganum harmala, it has visionary effects, and can be

drunk as a substitute for Ayahuasca.

This grass contains many indole alkaloids, especiallyN,N-DMT,5-MeO-DMT,MMTand [sometimes] grarnine.DMTand 5-MeO-DMT have very strong psychedeliceffects, while gramine is very toxic.

The Sen Indians of Sonora consider Saguaro effica-cious against rheumatism.

The fruit of Carnegiea is valued as food and in wine-

making.

The plant contains pharmacologically active alkaloidscapable of psychoactivity. Carnegine, 5-hydroxycarne-gine, aRd norcarnegine, plus trace amounts of 3-meth-oxytyramine and the new alkaloid arizonine (a tetrahy-droquinoline base), have been isolated.

Tabernaemor,tana crassa is used in West Africa as anarcotic in traditional medicine. T dichotoma is usedfor its psychoactive effects in India and Sri Lanka.

The seeds of T dichotoma are used as a hallucinogen.Unfortunately, very little is known about this interesting

genus.

Most varieties contain ibogaine-lilce alkaloids (such asvoacangine), which have very strong hallucinogenic

and vision-inducing effects.

Hallucinogenic intoxication.The use of I pachanoi appears to be primarily for

divination, diagnosis of disease, and to make oneself

owner of another's identity.

Short pieces of the stem are sliced and boiled in waterfor several hours. Several other plants, Brugmansia,Pernettya, and Lycopodium, for example, are some-

times added.

T pachanoiis rich in mescaline: 2% of dried material

(or 0.12% of fresh material).

A species of Pandanus is said to be used for halluci-nogenic purposes, while others are known to be Va-lued in folk medicine, in magic, and for ceremonial

purposes.

It has recently reported that natives of New

Guinea employ the fruit of a species of Pandanus.

Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has been detected in an al-kaloid extract. Eating substantial amounts of the nuts is

said to cause an "outbreak of irrational behavior"known as Karuka madness among local people.

Shang-la is a well-known medicinal plant in China. Itwas reportedly used by sorcerers, who valued its hal-

lucinogenic effects.

The flowers and roots enter Chinese medicine: the for-mer for treating apoplexy, the latter for external use

only.

P acinosa has a high concentration of saponines.The toxicity and hallucinogenic effects of Shang-la

are commonly mentioned in Chinese herbals.

Taken by the Indians of Ecuador to induce a sensation

of flight.

The dried herb is smoked. Phytochemical studies of Petunia are lacking.

The plant is said to induce a feeling of flying.

Recent reports suggest that the fruit may purposefully

be eaten to induce intoxication.

The fruit is eaten. The chemistry is still poorly known.Levitation or sensations of soaring through the air.

This herb is smoked in Brazil and Chiapas as a sub-

stitute for Cannabis.

The flowering herb is dried and smoked alone or mixedwith other plants. One to 2g of the dried plant is an

effective dose.

Contains alkaloids, flavonglycosides, diterpenes, andan essential oil. The psychoactive effects may be attri-

butable to the diterpenes (leosibiricine, leosibirine, and

isoleosibirine).

These herbs are used by native doctors 'for inhaling to

induce trances:'

The dried herb is smoked. Coumarins and diterpenes are reported, but no consti-tuents with hallucinogenic properties have been

isolated.

Antifatigue medicine; also used against toothache, Chewing of the rootstalk. The active principles are a-asarone and 3-asarone.In large doses, visual hallucinations and other ef-

headache, and asthma.fects similar to those of LSD may occur.

Hallucinogenic intoxication (uncertain)

Syrian Rue has many uses in folk medicine, as well as The dried seeds constitute the Indian drug Harmal.

being valued as an aphrodisiac. Often used as

incense.

Eating of the fruit.

Tea made from the leaves or fruit.

77



I ZacatechichiI Thie-Pelakano

Aztec Dream Grass

REFNUMBER

COMMONNAME

TYPE OFPLANT

BOTANICALNAME

USAGE:

HISTORYANDETHNOGRApHY

38Takini Helicostylls pedunculata Benoist;

H. tomentosa (P. et E.) MacbrideIn the Gulanas, Takini is a sacred tree.

22TeonanácatlTamu

Conocybe siligineoides Heim;Panaeolus Sphinctrinus (Fr.) Quelet;

Mushroom worship seems to be rooted in centuries ofnative Indian tradition of Middle America.

64Hongo de San IsidroShe-to

Psilocybe acutissima Heim;P aztecorum Helm; P caerulescens Murr.;

The Aztec Indians called the sacred mushrooms Teo-nanácatl; the Mazatec and Chinantec in northeastern

76To-shka(see also pages 156163)

P caerUlescens Murr. var. albida Helm;P caerulescens Murr. var. mazatecorum Heim;P caerulescens Murr. var. nigripes Helm;

Oaxaca, Mexico, refer to Panaeo/us sphinctrinus asT-ha-na-sa, To-shka ("intoxicating mushroom"), andShe-to ("pasture mushrooms"). While in Oaxaca Psilo-

78 P caeru/escens Murr. var. ombrop/i//a Heim;P mexicana Helm; P mixaeensis Helm;P semperviva Helm et Cailleux;P wassoniiHeim;P yungensis Singer; P zapotecorum Heim;Psilocybe cubensis Earle

cybe cubensis is named Hongo de San Isidro, in theMazatec language it is called Di-shi-tjo-le-rra-ja ("divinemushroom of manure").

2Thorn AppleJimsonweed

Datura stramonium L. Reportedly employed by the Algonquin and others.Ingredient of the witches' brews of medieval Europe.

(see also pages 106—111) Used in both the Old and New World, the geographicorigin of Jimsonweed is uncertain.

2ToloacheToloatzin

Datura innoxia Mill.;D. disco/or Bernh. ex Tromms.;

Known also as D. met eloides, D. innoxia is used in Mex-ico and the American Southwest.

(see also pages 106—111) D. kymatocarpa A. S. Barclay;D. pruinosa Greenm.;D. quercifolia HBK;

D. reburra A. S. Barclay;D. sframonium L.;D. wrightii Regel.

5r%Tupa

Tabaco del DiabloLobe/ia tupa L. Recognizing L. tupa as toxic, the Mapuche Indians of

Chile value the leaves for their intoxicating properties.Other Andean Indians take it as an emetic andpurgative.

A Turkestan Mint Lagochi/us inebrians Bunge The Tajik, Tatar, Turkoman, and Uzbek tribesman on thedry steppes of Turkestan have for centuries prepared atea made from L. inebrians.

n7Voacanga Voacanga africana Stapf;

V bracteata Stapf;

V dregei E. Mey. V grandiflora (Miq.) Rolfe.

In Africa, a number of varieties of the genus Voacangahave been used as hallucinogens, aphrodisiacs, andmedicines.

5 0 WichurikiHikuli Rosapara

Mammil/aria craigii Lindsay;M. graham/i Engelm.;

The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico value several spe-cies of Mamm/Ilaria among the most important "false

Hikuri M. sen//is (Lodd.) Weber Peyotes.'Peyote de San PedroMammillaria

Wood Rose Argyreia nervosa (Burman f.) Bojer The Wood Rose has been used since ancient times inHawaiian Wood Rose Ayurvedic medicine. A traditional use as a hallucinogen

has been discovered in Nepal.

I

Yauhtli Tagetes lucida Cay. Tagetes is used by the Huichol of Mexico and valuedceremonially fdr its hallucinatory effects.

1 5YOn-Shih Caesa!pinia sepia na Roxb.

[= C. decapetala (Roth) AlstonjChina; used medicinally in Tibet and Nepal.

Ca/ea zacatechichj Schlecht.

78

Seems to be used only by the Chontal Indians of Oaxa-Ca, even though it ranges from Mexico to Costa Rica.



USAGE: PREPARATION CHEMICAL COMPONENTS

CONTEXTAND PURPOSE AND EFFECTS

Little is known of the use. A mildly poisonous intoxicant is prepared from the red No specific hallucinogenic constituents have been

"sap" of the bark, identified. Extracts from the inner bark of both specieshave pharmacologically been shown to elicit depres-sant effects similar to those produced by Marijuana.

Mythological and sacramental use. Personal preference, purpose of use, and seasonal The indolic alkaloids psilocybine and psilocine are the

Employed today in divination and healing ceremo- availability determine the kinds of mushrooms used by main hallucinogenic principles of the sacred mush-

nies. different shamans. P mexicana, one of the most widely rooms. The content varies from species to species be-

Contacts with Christianity or modern ideas do not used, may perhaps be considered the most typical tween 0.2 and 0.6% of psilocybine and small amounts

seem to have influenced the deep spirit of reverence sacred mushroom. of psilocine in dried mushroom material. The mush-

characteristic of the mushroom ritual. Anywhere from 2 to 30 mushrooms (depending on rooms cause both visual and auditory hallucinations,

It has been suggested that Psilocybe species may the type used) are eaten during a typical ceremony. with the dreamlike state becoming reality.

be employed for hallucinogenic inebriation also by the They may be consumed either fresh or ground and

Yurimagua Indians of Amazonian Peru. made into an infusion.

Initiation rites. The roots of the Thorn Apple may have been used in See Toloache.

Ingredient of the witches' brews. the Algonquin drink wysoccan.

D. innoxia was employed medicinally and as a sacred The Tarahumara add D. innoxia to their maize beer and All species of the genus Datura are chemically similar

hallucinogen by the Aztec and other Indians. The Zuni use the roots, seeds, and leaves, with the active principles tropane alkaloids, especially

Indians value the plant as an analgesic and as a The Zuni chew the roots and put powder prepared hyoscyamine and scopolamine, the latter being the

poultice to cure wounds and bruises. Toloache is said from them into the eyes. main component.

to be the exclusive property of the rain priests. Valued Among the Yokut Indians, the seeds are said to be

in initiation rituals, taken only once during a man's lifetime.

Hallucinogenic intoxication; folk medicine. Smoking of the leaves and taken internally. Tupa leaves contain the piperidine alkaloid lobeline, arespiratory stimulant, as well as the diketo- and dihy-droxy-derivatives lobelamidine and nor-lobelamidine,which are not known to.be hallucinogenic.

Hallucinogenic intoxication. The leaves are toasted to produce a tea. Drying andstorage increases the aromatic fragrance. Stems,fruiting tops, and flowers may be added.

The presence of a crystalline compound called ago-chiline—a diterpene of the grindelian type—is known.This compound is not known to be hallucinogenic.

The seeds of various Voacanga varieties are taken by The seeds or the bark of various Voacanga varieties Many varieties of Voacanga contain psychoactive in-

African magic men to create visual hallucinations, can be taken. dole alkaloids, especially voacangine and voccamine,both of which are chemically related to ibogaine.

Used as a visual hallucinogen. M. craig/i is split open, sometimes roasted, and the N-methyl-3, 4-di-methoxyphenylethylamifle has been

M. graham/i is taken by shamans in special cere- central tissue is used. The top of the plant, divested of isolated from M. heyderii, a close relative to M. craig/i.

monies, its spines, is the most powerful part; the fruit and upperpart of M. graham/i are said to have similar effects,

Deep sleep, during which a person is said to travelgreat distances, and brilliant colors characterize the

intoxication.

In Ayurvedic medicine, Wood Rose is used ass tonic The seeds are ground and mixed with water. Four to 8 The seeds contain 0.3% ergot alkaloids (especially

and as an aphrodisiac, and it is also used to increase seeds (approximately 2g) are sufficient for a medium chanoclavin-l, also ergine (LSA), ergonovine, and iso-

intelligence and to slow down the aging process. To- psychoactive dose. lysergic acid amide,

day, the seeds are of interest in Western society fortheir psychoactive properties.

Used to induce or enhance visions. T lucida is occasionally smoked alone but is some-

times mixed with tobacco (N/cot/aria rust/ca).

No alkaloids have been isolated from Tagetes, but

the genus is rich in essential oils and thiophenederivatives.

If consumed over a long period, the flowers are said to Roots, flowers, and seeds. An unknown alkaloid has been reported.

induce levitation and "communication with the Spirits?' The earliest Chinese herbal stated: the "flowers en-

Folk medicine, able one to see spirits and cause one to stagger

madly?'

Used in folk medicine, especially as an aperitif, a feb- Tea is made of the crushed dried leaves and used as a There is an as yet unidentified alkaloid. Also contains

rifuge, and an astringent for treating diarrhea. The hallucinogen. After drinking Zacatechichi, the Indians sesquiterpene-lactone.

Chontal take Zacatechichi to clarify the senses, recline quietly to smoke a cigarette of the dried leaves. Restful and drowsy condition during which the In-dians say that one's own heart and pulse can be felt.

79



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THE MOST IMPORTANTHALLUCINOGENIC PLANTS

Of the ninety-seven hallucinogens inthe lexicon, the most important are dis-cussed in detail in the ensuing chapters.Several reasons underlie our selection.Most of these plants are or have beenso culturally and materially importantin aboriginal societies that they cannotbe overlooked. A few are of special bo-tanical or chemical interest. Others areof great antiquity. Still others have re-cently been discovered or identified.And the use of one has spread through-out the modern world and is now of vi-tal importance.

Anianita muscaria (Fly Agaric), oneof the oldest hallucinogens, is employedin both hemispheres and is biochemi-cally significant, since its active princi-ple is atypically excreted unmetabo-lized.

The use of Peyote (Lophophora wil-liamsii), of great antiquity, has nowspread from its original Mexican home-land to Texas in the United States,where it is the basis of a new Indian re-ligion. Its main psychoactive alkaloid,mescaline, is utilized in psychiatry.

The religious use of mushrooms—known as Teonanácatl—in Mexico andGuatemala is ancient and was firmly es-tablished among the Aztec Indians at thetime of the Conquest. Their psychoac-tive constituents are novel structuresnot known in any other plants.

Of similar importance, and as an-cient, are the seeds of several MorningGlories. Their use has persisted untilthe present in southern Mexico. Ofgreat chemo-taxonomic interest, theirpsychoactive constituents are found on-ly in an unrelated group of fungi, con-taining Ergot, which may have beenhallucinogenically important in ancientGreece.

Deadly Nightshade, Henbane, andMandrake were the main ingredients ofthe witches' brews of medieval Europe,where they long exerted a great culturaland historical influence.

In both hemispheres, Datura playedhighly significant roles in native cul-tures. The related Brugniansia is still

employed as one of the principal hallu-cinogens in South America.

Archaeology indicates that the SouthAmerican cactus Trichocereus pachanoihas a long history, although it has onlyrecently been identified as a principalhallucinogen of the central Andes.

The most significant African halluci-nogen is Iboga, employed in initiationrituals and to communicate with ances-tors. Spreading today in Gabon and theCongo, it is a unifying culture trait de-terring the intrusion of foreign customsfrom Western society.

The intoxicating drink prepared fromBanisteriopsis holds a place of culturalprimacy throughout the western Ama-zon. Known in Peru as Ayahuasca

of the soul"), it allows the soul toleave the body and wander freely, com-municating with the spirit world. Itspsychoactive principles are 13-carbolinesand tryptamines.

Three snuffs are of importance in cer-tain South American cultures. One, inthe western Amazon, is prepared froma resin like liquid produced in the barkof several species of Virola. The others,made from the beans of a species ofAnadenanth era and used in the Orino-co, adjacent Amazon, and Argentina,was formerly also valued in the West In-dies. Both snuffs play significant roles inthe life of many Indian groups and areof chemical interest, since their activeprinciples are tryptamines.

Pituri is the most important psycho-active substance in Australia. Cannabis,an ancient Asiatic hallucinogen, is nowused in nearly all parts of the world. Anunderstanding of its roles in primitivesocieties may help elucidate its popular-ity in Western culture. Some of the fiftychemical structures found in Cannabisare medically promising.

A long chapter could well be writtenabout any of the more than ninety spe-cies which have been enumerated in theplant lexicon. But in the interest ofspace, the following have been treatedin greater detail for the reasons out-lined.

The Greek lecythus isa sacramental

vessel filled with fragrant oils and placed

next to a death bed or grave. On this

lecythus (450—425 B. c.), a crowned

Triptolemus holds the Eleusinian grain, a

grass probably infected with Ergot; while

Demeter or Persephone pours a sacred

libation, prepared presumably from the

infected grain. The two figures are sepa-

rated by the staff of Triptolemus and uni-

ted into one field by the grain and poured

libation.

Page 80: Mandrake (Mandragora offici-narum), "the man-like plant," has a

complex history of usage. In Europe, it

was employed as a stupefacient in

addition to being one of the strongestingredients added to the brews con-

cocted by witches of the Middle Ages.

The root of the Mandrake was likened to

the form of a man or woman, and ac-cording to superstition, if the plant were

pulled from the earth, its shrieks coulddrive the collectors mad. This image ofMandragora was engraved by the well-

known artist MatthSus Merian in the

early eighteenth century.

81



AMANITAFly Agaric

(The number refers to the "Plant Lexi-con'; the common name refers to the

reference chart "Overview of Plant

Use")

MAINSTAY OF THE HEAVENS

Page 83 top: Cliff drawing of a shaman

in the Altai mountains of Asia.

Page 83 right: Fly Agaric (Amanitamuscaria) is found around the world and

is associated nearly everywhere with

fairy worlds, alternative realities, and

shamanic practices.

Siberian shamans use elaborate sym-

bolic costumes and decorated drums in

their ceremonies. The left figure is ashaman from Krasnojarsk District; atright, the Kamtchatka District.

Soma, the god-narcotic of ancient India,attained an exalted place in magico-religious ceremonies of the Aryans,who 3,500 years ago swept down fromthe north into the Indus Valley, bringingwith them the cult of Soma. These earlyinvaders of India worshiped the holy in-ebriant and drank an extract of it in theirmost sacred rites. Whereas most halluci-nogenic plants were considered merelyas sacred mediators, Soma became a godin its own right. An ancient Indian tra-dition recorded in the Rig-Veda assertsthat "Parjanya, the god of thunder, wasthe father of Soma" (Indra).

"Enter into the heart of Indra, receptacle

of Soma, like rivers into the ocean, thouwho pleasest Mitra, Varuna, Vaya,mainstay of heaven! . . . Father of thegods, progenitor of the moving force,mainstay of the sky, foundation of theearth."

Of the more than 1,000 holy hymns inthe Rig-Veda, 120 are devoted exclu-sively to Soma, and references to thisgetal sacrament run through many of theother hymns. The cult was suppressed,and the original holy plant was forgot-ten; other plant surrogates—with little

or no psychoactivity—were substituted.Yet the identity of Soma remained oneof the enigmas of ethnobotany for twothousand years. Only in 1968 did the in-terdisciplinary research of Gordon Was-son provide persuasive evidence that thesacred narcotic was a mushroom, Ama-nita muscaria, the Fly Agaric. Amanitaniuscaria may be the oldest of the hallu-cinogens and perhaps was once the mostwidely used.

The curious hallucinogenic use ofAmanita muscaria has been documen-ted since 1730. It was then that a Swed-ish military officer, a prisoner of war inSiberia for twelve years, reported thatprimitive tribesmen there employed theFly Agaric as a shamanistic inebriant.The custom persisted among scatteredgroups of Finno-Ugrian peoples of Si-beria. Traditions suggest that othergroups in this vast northern region alsoused the mushroom.

A Koryak legend tells us that the cul-ture hero, Big Raven, caught a whalebut was unable to put such a heavy ani-mal back into the sea. The god Vahiyi-nm (Existence) told him to eat wapaqspirits to get the strength that heneeded. Vahiyinin spat upon the earth,and little white plants—the wapaq spir-its—appeared: they had red hats andVahiyinin's spittle congealed as whiteflecks. When he had eaten wapaq, BigRaven became exceedingly strong, andhe pleaded: "0 wapaq, grow forever onearth." Whereupon he commanded hispeople to learn what wapaq could teachthem. Wapaq is the Fly Agaric, a gift di-rectly from Vahiyinin.

These Siberian mushroom users hadno other intoxicants, until the Russiansintroduced alcohol. They dried themushrooms in the sun and ingestedthem either alone or as an extract inwater, reindeer milk, or the juice of sev-eral sweet plants. When the mushroomwas swallowed as a solid, it was firstmoistened in the mouth, or a womanrolled it in her mouth into a moistenedpellet for the men to swallow. Theceremonial use of the Fly Agaric de-veloped a ritualistic practice of urine-drinking, since these tribesmen learned



that the psychoactive piinciples of themushroom pass through the bodyunmetabolized, or in the form of stillactive metabolites—most unusual forhallucinogenic compounds in plants.An early account, referring to the Kor-yak, reported that "they pour water onsome of the mushrooms and boil them.They then drink the liquor, which intox-icates them; the poorer sort, who cannotafford to lay in a store of the mush-rooms, post themselves on these occá-sions round the huts of the rich andwatch the opportunity of the guestscoming down to make water and thenhold a wooden bowl to receive the urine,which they drink off greedily, as havingstill some virtue of the mushroom in it,and by this way, they also get drunk."

The Rig-Veda definitely refers to urine-drinking in the Soma ritual: "The swol-len men piss the flowing Soma. Thelords, with full bladders, piss Somaquick with movement." The priests im-personating Indra and Vayu, havingdrunk Soma in milk, urinate Soma. Inthe Vedic poems, urine is not offensivebut is an ennobling metaphor to describerain: the blessings of rain are likened toshowers of urine, and the clouds fertilizethe earth with their urine.

A traveler among the Koryak in theearly twentieth century offered one ofthe few descriptions of intoxication inaboriginal use of the mushroom. Hewrote that the "Fly Agaric produces in-toxication, hallucinations, and delirium.Light forms of intoxication are accom-panied by a certain degree of animationand some spontaneity of movements.Many shamans, previous to their sé-ances, eat Fly Agaric to get into ecstaticstates . . . Under strong intoxication, thesenses become deranged, surroundingobjects appear either very large or verysmall, hallucinations set in, spontaneousmovements and convulsions. So far as Icould observe, attacks of great anima-tion alternate with moments of deep de-pression. The person intoxicated by FlyAgaric sits quietly rocking from side toside, even taking part in conversationswith his family. Suddenly, his eyes dilate,he begins to gesticulate convulsively,

The active principle of Amanita muscaria was thought once, a century ago, to

have been muscarine when Schmiedeberg and Koppe isolated this sub-

stance. This belief has been proved erroneous. Recently Eugster in Switzer-

land and Takemoto in Japan isolated ibotenic acid and the alkaloid muscimole

as being responsible for the Fly Agaric's psychotropic effects. The mushroom

is taken usually dried. The drying process induces the chemical transforma-

tion of ibotenic acid to muscimole, the most active constituent.

83

The Chemistry of Fly Agaric



Right: The Fly Agaric is often and falsely

feared as being a poisonous mush-room; nevertheless, it is gladly used for

luck-bringing candy.

Above left: To bring good luck into the

coming year, fireworks in the shape of

Fly Agaric are set off on New Year's Eve.

Above right: The results of smoking Fly

Agaric are depicted in the German chil-

dren's book Mecki and the Dwarves.

Below right: It is possible that Fly Agaric

is identical to the Vedic wonder-drug

Soma. Today Ephedra (Ephedra ger-

ardiana) is called somalata, "soma

plant." In Nepal Ephedra is not halluci-

nogenic or psychedelic but is a verystrong stimulant.

84

converses with persons whom he imagi-nes he sees, sings and dances. Then aninterval of rest sets in again.'"

The Fly Agaric was apparently em-ployed hallucinogenically in Mesoa-merica. It occurs naturally in highlandareas in southern Mexico and Guatema-la. The Maya of highland Guatemala,for example, recognize Amanita mus-caria as having special properties, forthey call it Kakuljá-ikox ("lightningmushroom"), relating it to one of thegods, Rajaw Kakuljá or Lord of Light-ning. It is this god who directs the oper-ating of chacs, dwarf rain-bringers nowusually known by their Christian desig-nation, angelitos. The Quiche name ofthe Amanita muscaria, Kaquljá, refersto its legendary origin, whereas the termItzelo-cox refers to its sacred power as"evil or diabolical mushroom." Thun-der and lightning have widely andanciently been associated with mush-rooms, in both hemispheres, especiallywith Amanita muscaria. "In any event,the Quiche-Maya . . . are evidently wellaware the Amanita nzuscaria is noordinary mushroom but relates to thesupernatural."

The first settlers of the Americascame from Asia, slowly crossing the

region of the Bering Strait. Anthropol-ogists have found many Asia-related orremnant culture traits that persist in theAmericas. Recent discoveries have un-covered vestiges of the magico-reli-gious importance of the Fly Agaric thathave indeed survived in North Ameri-can cultures. Indications of undoubted



hallucinogenic use of the Fly Agarichave been discovered among the Do-grib Athabascan peoples, who live onthe Mackenzie Mountain range innorthwestern Canada. Here Ainanitamuscaria is employed as a sacrament inshamanism. A young neophyte repor-ted that whatever the shaman had done

to him, "he had snatched me. I had novolition, I had no power of my own. Ididn't eat, didn't sleep, I didn't think—I wasn't in my body any longer." Aftera later séance, he wrote: "Cleansed andripe for vision, I rise, a bursting ball ofseeds in space . . . I have sung the notethat shatters structure. And the notethat shatters chaos, and been bloody

I have been with the dead and at-tempted the labyrinth." His first mush-room experience represented dismem-berment; his second, meeting with thespirit.

More recently, the religious use ofAmanita muscaria as a sacred hallucino-gen has been discovered in an ancient an-nual ceremony practiced by the OjibwaIndians or Ahnishinaubeg who live onLake Superior in Michigan. The mush-room is known in the Ojibwa languageas Oshtimisk Wajashkwedo ("Red-topmushroom").

Left: A Kamtchatka shaman implores

the Fly Agaric, her ritual substance, toassist her in traveling to other realms.

Above right: The Spirit of the Fly Agaric

in Japan is the long-nosed, red-facedTengu. Whoever eats Beni-Tengu-Dake

(Red Tengu mushroom) will encounter

the lively entity.

Below left: The myth of Soma still lives

on. Here it is the name of a bar in a

luxury hotel in Delhi.

85



ATROPA° Deadly Nightshade

A HYOSCYAMUS ALBUSYellow Henbane

A i HYOSCYAMUS NIGERBlack Henbane

MANDRAGORAMandrake

THE HEXING HERBS

Above left: The yellow blossom of the

rare variety of Atropa belladonna var.

lutea. The yellow Deadly Nightshade

is regarded as particularly potent formagic and witchcraft.

Above right: The bell-shaped flowers of

the Deadly Nightshade clearly show its

membership in the Nightshade family.

Page 87 above left: The flowers of theMandrake (Mandragora officinarum)

are rarely seen, as they bloom very

briefly and then quickly vanish.

Page B7above right:The flowers of theBlack Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger)

have a characteristic coloring and an

unforgettable pattern on the petals. Inearlier times, it was thought to be theeye of the devil.

86

Since antiquity several members of theNightshade family have been asso-ciated with witchcraft in Europe. Theseplants enable witches to perform featsof occult wonder and prophecy, to hexthrough hallucinogenic communicationwith the supernatural and transportthemselves to far-off places for thepractice of their nefarious skills. Theseinebriating plants were mainly Hen-bane, Hyoscyamus albus and H. niger;Belladonna, Atropa belladonna; andMandrake, Mandragora officinarum.All four species have long histories ofuse as hallucinogens and magic plantsconnected with sorcery, witchcraft,and superstition. The extraordinary re-putation of these plants is due primar-ily to the bizarre psychoactivity thatthey possess. Their similarity in effectsis the result of similarity in chemicalconstitution.

These four solanaceous plants containrelatively high concentrations of tropanealkaloids, primarily atropine, hyoscya-mine, and scopolamine; other bases arefound in trace amounts. It is apparentlyscopolamine, not atropine or hyoscya-mine, that produces the hallucinogeniceffects. It induces an intoxication fol-

lowed by narcosis in which hallucina-tions occur during the transition statebetween consciousness and sleep.

Atropine has served chemists as amodel for the synthesis of several hallu-cinogenic compounds. Their effects—and those of scopolamine—differ fromthose of the usual natural hallucinogens:they are extremely toxic; and the userremembers nothing experienced duringthe intoxication, losing all sense of rea-lity and falling into a deep sleep like analcoholic delirium.

Hyoscyamus has been known andfeared from earliest classical periods,when it was recognized that there wereseveral kinds and that the black varietywas the most potent, capable of causinginsanity. The ancient Egyptians recor-ded their knowledge of Henbane in theEbers Papyrus, written in 1500 B. C.

Homer described magic drinks with ef-fects indicative of Henbane as a majoringredient. In ancient Greece it servedas a poison, to mimic insanity, and toenable man to prophesy. It has beensuggested that the priestesses at theOracle of Delphi made their propheticutterances while intoxicated with thesmoke from Henbane seeds. In the



thirteenth century, Bishop Albcrtus theGreat reported that Henbane was em-ployed by necromancers to conjure updemons.

From earliest times, the painkillingproperties of Henbane have been recog-nized, and it has been employed to re-lieve the suffering of those sentenced totorture and death. Its great advantagelies in its ability not only to allay painbut also to induce a state of completeoblivion.

Henbane is best known as an ingredi-ent of the so-called "witch's salve."

When young people were to be in-ducted into membership in groups dedi-cated to witchcraft, for example, theywere often given a drink of Henbane sothat they could easily be persuaded toengage in the sabbat rituals preparatoryto the acceptance officially of a place inwitchcraft circles.

Those experiencing intoxication withHenbane feel a pressure in the head, asensation as if someone were closing theeyelids by force; sight becomes unclear,objects are distorted in shape, and themost unusual visual hallucinations areinduced. Gustatory and olfactory hal-lucinations frequently accompany the

The Chemistry of Deadly Nightshade, Henbane, and Mandrake

three solanaceous plants Atropa, Hyoscyamus, and Mandragoracontain

the same active principles: primarily the alkaloids hyoscyamine, atropine, and

scopolamine. The difference is only one of relative concentration. Belladonnacontains little scopolamine, but this alkaloid is the main component of Man-

drake and especially of Henbane.The alkaloids are found in the entire plant, with the highest concentration in

the seeds and roots. The hallucinogenic effects are due essentially to scopo-lamine. Atropine and hyosyamine are less active under these circumstances.

Left: According to this illustration from

the Juliana Codex, the Greek herbalistDioscorides received the Mandrake

plant from Heuresis, goddess of discov-

ery, illustrating the belief that this medi-

cine was a plant of the gods.

87



"The Mandrake is the 'Tree of Knowledge'and the burning love ignited by its pleasure

is the origin of the human race."—Hugo Rahner

Greek Myths in Christian Meaning (1957)

Above: The ancient goddess of witches,

Hecate, lords over the psychoactive and

magical herbs, particularly those in the

Nightshade family. In this colored print

by William Blake, she is depicted withher shamanic animals.

Page 89 below right: The design for thecover of a book about medicinal plants

depicts the anthropomorphic Mandrake.

88

intoxication. Eventually sleep, disturbedby dreams and hallucinations, ends theinebriation.

Other species of Hyoscyamus have si-milar properties and are occasionallyused in similar ways. Indian Henbaneor Egyptian Henbane, or H. muticus,occurring from the deserts of Egypt eastto Afghanistan and India, is employedin India as an intoxicant, the dried leavesbeing smoked. The Bedouins particu-larly employ this intoxicant to becomedrunk, and in some parts of Asia andAfrica it is smoked with Cannabis as aninebriant.

Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade isnative to Europe but is now sponta-neous as an escape from cultivation inthe United States and India. Its genericname, Atropa, comes from the Greek

Fate Atropos, the inflexible one whocuts the thread of life. The specificepithet, meaning "beautiful lady," re-calls the use of sap of the plant to dilatethe pupils of the eyes among the fine la-dies of Italy who believed that the drea-my, intoxicated stare thus produced wasthe height of fetching beauty. Many ver-nacular names of the plant refer to itsintoxicating properties: Sorcerer's Cher-ry, Witch's Berry, Devil's Herb, Mur-derer's Berry, Dwaleberry (dwale inEnglish deriving from the Scandinavianroot meaning "trance").

The maenads of the orgies of Diony-sus in Greek mythology dilated theireyes and threw themselves into the armsof male worshipers of this god or, with"flaming eyes," they fell upon men totear them apart and eat them. The wine



Left: The magical conjuration of the

Mandrake is a durable theme in Eur-

opean literature and art history. Here

is a scene from a modern comic,

Gaza.

Be/ow right: Witches" persecutedduring the Inquisition were often ac-cused of using hallucinogenic plants ofthe Nightshade family, in particular,Henbane and Mandrake. For thismany were tortured, murdered, and

burned.

of Bacchanals was possibly adulteratedwith juice of the Nightshade. Anotherbelief from classical times maintainedthat Roman priests drank Belladonnabefore their supplications to the god-dess of war for victory.

It was during the early Modern period,however, that Belladonna assumed itsgreatest importance in witchcraft andmagic. It was one of the primary ingredi-ents of the brews and ointments em-ployed by witches and sorcerers. Onesuch potent mixture, containing Bella-donna, Henbane, Mandrake, and the fatof a stillborn child, was rubbed over theskin or inserted into the vagina for ab-sorption. The familiar witch's broom-stick goes far back in European magicbeliefs. An investigation into witchcraftin 1324 reported that "in rifleing the

89



Top: Amphibians, especially frogs

(which often produce poisons in their

bodies), have always been connected

with witchcraft and magic in the Old as

well as the New World. These animals

were occasionally added to potent

witches' brews in Europe. They have

also figured significantly in certain New

World cultures in connection with hallu-cinogenic activities.

Above left: The delightfully scented fruit

of the Mandrake (Mandragora officinar-

urn) are also called Apples of Love and

are identical to the golden apples ofAphrodite.

Above middle: The ripe black berries of

the Deadly Nightshade (Atropa bella-donna).

Above right: White or yellow Henbane

(Hyoscyamus albus) was consecratedto the god of oracles, Apollo.

90

closet of the ladie, they found a Pipe ofointment, wherewith she greased astaffe, upon which she ambled and gal-loped through thick and thin, when andin what manner she listed." Later, in thefifteenth cenulry a similar account sta-ted: "But the vulgar believe and thewitches confess, that on certain daysand nights they anoint a staff and rideon it to the appointed place or anointthemselves under the arms and in otherhairy places and sometimes carry charmsunder the hair." Porta, a contemporaryof Galileo, wrote in 1589 that under theeffects of a potion of these solanaceousplants a "man would seem sometimes tobe changed into a fish; and flinging outhis arms, would swim on the ground;sometimes he would seem to skip upand then to dive down again. Anotherwould believe himself turned into agoose and would eat grass, and beat theground with his teeth like a goose; nowand then sing and. . . clap his wings."

Mandrake became famous in magicand witchcraft because of its powerfulnarcotic effects and the bizarre form ofits root. It would be difficult to find abetter example of the application of thephilosophy of the Doctrine of Signa-

tures. For the root of this herbaceousperennial, unassuming in its growth ap-pearance, is so twisted and branchedthat it occasionally resembles the humanbody. This extraordinary resemblanceled early to the belief that it exercisedgreat supernatural powers over the hu-man body and mind, even though actu-ally its chemical composition gave it nogreater psychoactivity than some othersolanaceous species.

From earliest times, curious beliefsabout the need to exercise great care inharvesting the root grew up. Theo-phrastus in the third century c. wrotethat collectors of medicinal plants drewcircles around Mandrake, and they cutoff the top part of the root while facingwest; the remainder of the root wasgathered after the collectors had per-formed certain dances and recited spe-cial formulas. Two centuries earlier, theGreek Pythagoras had described Man-drake root as an anthropomorph, ortiny human being. In Roman times thatmagic began extensively to be associ-ated with the psychoactive propertiesof the plant. In the first century A. D.,Josephus Flavius wrote that there grewa plant in the Dead Sea area that glowed



red at night and that it was difficult toapproach the plant, which hid when aman drew near it; but it could be tamedif urine and menstrual blood weresprinkled on it. It was physically dan-gerous to pull the plant from the earth,but a dog, tied to the root, was em-ployed to extract the root, after which,according to belief, the animal usuallydied. The myths surrounding Mandrakegrew, until it was said that the plant hidby day but shone like a star at night, andthat when being pulled from the groundthe plant let out such unearthly shrieksthat whoever heard the noise might die.Eventually, only black dogs—a colordenoting evil and death—were em-ployed. Early Christians believed thatthe Mandrake root was originally cre-

ated by God as an experiment beforehe created man in the Garden of Eden.

When, later in the Dark Ages, Man-drake began to be cultivated in centralEurope, it was thought that the plantwould grow only under gallows whereurine or semen from the condemnedman fell—hence the common Germannames meaning "gallows man" and"dragon doll."

The apogee of Mandrake's fame seemsto have occurred in the late sixteenthcentury. At this time, the herbalists be-gan to doubt many of the tales associatedwith the plant. As early as 1526 the Eng-lish herbalist Turner had denied that allMandrake roots had a human form andprotested against the beliefs connectedwith its anthropomorphism. AnotherEnglish herbalist, Gerard, for example,wrote in 1597: "All which dreams andold wives tales you shall henceforth castout of your books and memory; know-ing this, that they are all and everie partof them false and most untrue. For I myselfe and my servants also have diggriup, planted and replanted very mail',

But many superstitions surroundiii-;Mandrake persisted in European fulllore even into the nineteenth century.

Above left: In the Temple of Apollo at

Delphi, the "navel of the world," the Sibyl

and prophetess informed the Pythia of

her oracle after she had inhaled the

smoke of Henbane.

Above middle: The root of the Mandrake

(Mandragora officinarum).

Above right: The Ginseng's (Panax gin-

seng) root is not only similar to theMandrake, but in Korea, Ginseng root is

also attributed with secret and magical

powers.

Belowleft:The sun and oracle godApollo at a libation in front of a raven.

(Discovered at Delphi).

91



17 CANNABrHempM arijuanoHashish

Tradition in India maintains that thegods sent man the Hemp plant so thathe might attain delight and courage,and have heightened sexual desires.When nectar or Amrita dropped downfrom heaven, Cannabis sprouted fromit. Another story tells how, when thegods, helped by demons, churned themilk ocean to obtain Amrita, one of theresulting nectars was Cannabis. It wasconsecrated to Shiva and was Indra's fa-vorite drink. After the churning of the

"seeds," consumed by man for food;for its narcotic properties; and thera-peutically to treat a wide spectrum ofills in folk medicine and in modernpharmacopoeias.

Mainly because of its various uses,Cannabis has been taken to many re-gions around the world. Unusual thingshappen to plants after long associationwith man and agriculture. They aregrown in new and strange environ-ments and often have opportunities to

Above right: Mnstirline plant of a Hempcross-breed (Cannabis indica x sat/va).

92

ocean, demons attempted to gain con-trol of Amrita, but the gods were ableto prevent this seizure, giving Cannabisthe name Vijaya ("victory") to com-memorate their success. Ever since, thisplant of the gods has been held in Indiato bestow supernatural powers on itsusers.

The partnership of Cannabis and manhas existed now probably for ten thou-sand years—since the discovery of agri-culture in the Old World. One of ouroldest cultivars, Cannabis has been a

five-purpose plant: as a source of hem-pen fibers; for its oil; for its akenes or

hybridize that are not offered in theirnative habitats. They escape from culti-vation and frequently become aggres-sive weeds. They may be changedthrough human selection for character-istics associated with a specific use.Many cultivated plants are so changedfrom their ancestral types that it is notpossible to unravel their evolutionaryhistory. Such is not the case, however,with Cannabis. Yet despite its long his-tory as a major crop plant, Cannabis isstill characterized more by what is notknown about its biology than by whatis known.

THE NECTAR OF DELIGHT

Above left: Wild Inmp plants (Cannabismd/ca) with spinolid white flowers inthe Langtang un ii of the Himalayas(Nepal).



Below left: The blue-skinned Hindu god Shiva takes great pleasure in Hemp.

Because of this, it is a sacred plant of the gods and is used for rituals and

Tantric practices.

Right: The long-haired Sadhus or "holy men" of India devote their lives to the

god Shiva. They have no property and practice yoga and meditation. In ad-dition they often smoke a large amount of charas (handmade hash) and

ganja (Marijuana) sometimes mixed with Datura leaves and other psychoac-

The botanical classification of Canna-bis has long been uncertain. Botanistshave not agreed on the family to whichCannabis belongs: early investigatorsput it in the Nettle family (Urticaceae);later it was accommodated in the Fig fa-mily (Moraceae); the general trend todayis to assign it to a special family, Canna-baceae, in which only Cannabis and Hu-mulus, the genus of Hops, are members.There has even been disagreement as tohow many species of Cannabis exist:

tive plants (Sadhu at a Shiva temple, Pashupatinath, Kathmandu Valley,

Nepal).

Bottom right: Cannabis is consumed in many countries, usually illegally. It is

often smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes. There are countless products for the

consumption of marijuana for everyone from beginners to the specialists—forinstance, large-format rolling papers, preferably out of Hemp. Also shown here

are a metal cigarette box and lighter.

whether the genus comprises one highlyvariable species or several distinct spe-cies. Evidence now strongly indicatesthat three species can be recognized:C. indica, C. ruderalis, and C. sativa.These species are distinguished by dif-ferent growth habits, characters of theakenes, and especially by major differ-ences in structure of the wood. Althoughall species possess cannabinols, theremay possibly be significant chemical dif-ferences, but the evidence is not yetavailable.

The Indian vedas sang of Cannabis asone of the divine nectars, able to give

93



Above: In Africa Hemp is smoked for

medicinal and pleasurable purposes, as

this wood carving shows.

Top: The characteristic Hemp leaf

(Cannabis indica) was formerly a sym-

bol of the subculture and rebellion. To-

day, it has become a symbol of ecologi-cal awareness.

94

man anything from good health andlong life to visions of the gods. TheZend-Avesta of 600 B. C. mentions an in-toxicating resin, and the Assyrians usedCannabis as an incense as early as theninth century B. C.

Inscriptions from the Chou dynastyin China, dated 700—500 B.C., have a"negative" connotation that accompa-nies the ancient character for Cannabis,Ma, implying its stupefying properties.Since this idea obviously predated writ-ing, the Pen Tsao Ching, written in A. D.100 but going back to a legendary em-peror, Shen-Nung, 2000 B. C., maybe ta-ken as evidence that the Chinese knewand probably used the psychoactiveproperties at very early dates. It wassaid that Ma-fen ("Hemp fruit") "if ta-ken to excess, will produce hallucina-tions [literally, "seeing devils"]. If takenover a long term, it makes one commu-nicate with spirits and lightens one's

body." A Taoist priest wrote in the fifthcentury B. c. that Cannabis was em-ployed by "necromancers, in combina-tion with Ginseng, to set forward timeand reveal future events." In these earlyperiods, use of Cannabis as a hallucino-gen was undoubtedly associated withChinese shamanism, but by the time ofEuropean contact 1,500 years later, sha-manism had fallen into decline, and theuse of the plant for inebriation seems tohave ceased and been forgotten. Itsvalue in China then was primarily as afiber source. There was, however, a con-tinuous record of Hemp cultivation inChina from Neolithic times, and it hasbeen suggested that Cannabis may haveoriginated in China, not in central Asia.

About 500 B. C. the Greek writer Her-odotus described a marvelous steambath of the Scythians, aggressive horse-men who swept out of the Trans-caucasus eastward and westward. He

:1. -



reported that "they make a booth byfixing in the ground three sticks inclinedtoward one another, and stretchingaround them woollen pelts which theyarrange so as to fit as close as possible:inside the booth a dish is placed uponthe ground into which they put a num-ber of red hot stones and then add someHemp seed . . . immediately it smokesand gives out such a vapor as no Grecianvapor bath can exceed; the Scyths, de-lighted, shout for joy. . ." Only recent-ly, archaeologists have excavated frozenScythian tombs in central Asia, datedbetween 500 and 300 B.C., and havefound tripods and pelts, braziers, andcharcoal with remains of Cannabisleaves and fruit. It has generally beenaccepted that Cannabis originated incentral Asia and that it was theScythians who spread the plant west-ward to Europe.

While the Greeks and Romans maynot generally. have taken Cannabis forinebriation, they were aware of the psy-choactive effects of the drug. Democri—tus reported that it was occasionallydrunk with wine and myrrh to producevisionary states, and Galen, about A. D.200, wrote that it was sometimes cus-tomary to give Hemp to guests to pro-mote hilarity and enjoyment.

Cannabis arrived in Europe from thenorth. The Roman writer Lucilius men-tioned it in 120 B. C. Pliny the Elder out-lined the preparation and grades ofhempen fibers in the first century A. D.,and hempen rope was found in a Romansite in England dated A.D. 140—180.Whether or not the Vikings used Hemprope is not known, but palynologicalevidence indicates that Hemp cultiva-tion had a tremendous increment inEngland from the early Anglo-Saxonperiod to late Saxon and Normantimes—from 400 to 1100.

Henry VIII fostered the cultivationof Hemp in England. The maritime su-premacy of England during Elizabethantimes greatly increased the demand.Hemp cultivation began in the Britishcolonies in the New World: first in Ca-nada in 1606, then in Virginia in 1611;the Pilgrims took the crop to New Eng-

land in 1632. In pre-RevolutionaryNorth America, Hemp was employedeven for making work clothes.

Hemp was introduced quite indepen-dently into Spanish colonies in SouthAmerica: Chile, 1545; Peru, 1554.

There is no doubt that hempen fiberproduction represents an early use ofCannabis, but perhaps consumption ofits edible akenes as food predated thediscovery of the useful fiber. Theseakenes are very nutritious, and it is dif-ficult to imagine that early man, con-stantly searching for food, would havemissed this opportunity. Archaeologicalfinds of Hemp akenes in Germany, da-ted at 500 B. C., indicate the nutritionaluse of these plant products. From earlytimes to the present, Hemp akenes havebeen used as food in eastern Europe,and in the United States as a major in-gredient of bird food.

The folk-medicinal value of Hemp—frequently indistinguishable from itspsychoactive properties—may even beits earliest role as an economic plant.The earliest record of the medicinal useof the plant is that of the Chinese em-peror-herbalist Shen-Nung who, fivethousand years ago, recommendedCannabis for malaria, ben-ben, consti-pation, rheumatic pains, absent-mind-edness, and female disorders. Hoa-Glio,another ancient Chinese herbalist, re-commended a mixture of Hemp resinand wine as an analgesic during surgery.

It was in ancient India that this "giftof the gods" found excessive use in folkmedicine. It was believed to quickenthe mind, prolong life, improve judg-ment, lower fevers, induce sleep, curedysentery. Because of its psychoactiveproperties it was more highly valuedthan medicines with only physical ac-tivity. Several systems of Indian medi-cine esteemed Cannabis. The medicalwork states that it cured le-prosy. The Bharaprakasha, of aboutA.D. 1600, described it as antiphleg-matic, digestive, bile affecting, pungent,and astringent, prescribing it to stimu-late the appetite, improve digestion, andbetter the voice. The spectrum of med-icinal uses in India covered control of

Top: Feminine flower of industrial Hemp

(Cannabis sativa).

Above: The Chinese emperor Shen-

Nung is said to have discovered the

medicinal properties of many plants. His

pharmacopoeia, believed to have been

first compiled in 2737 B.C., notes that

Cannabis sativa has both male and fe-

male plants.

95



Right: There are countless strains of Hemp that contain barely any THC, theintoxicating and euphoric constituent. These species are used in the produc-

tion of fiber, but are not suited for personal consumption, as the warning signin the botanical gardens in Bern, Switzerland, states: "This industrial Hemp isuseless for the production of drugs because of its lack of active properties."

Bottom: Feminine plants of flowering industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa).

dandruff and relief of headache, mania,insomnia, venereal disease, whoopingcough, earache, and tuberculosis!

The fame of Cannabis as a medicinespread with the plant. In parts of Africa,it was valued in treating dysentery, ma-laria, anthrax, and fevers. Even todaythe Hottentots and Mfengu claim its ef-ficacy in treating snakebites, and Sothowomen induce partial stupefaction bysmoking Hemp before childbirth.

Cannabis was highly valued in medi-cine, and its therapeutic uses can betraced back to early classical physiciansDioscorides and Galen. Medieval herb-alists distinguished "manured hempe"(cultivated) from "bastard hempe"(weedy), recommending the latter"against nodes and wennes and otherhard tumors," the former for a host ofuses from curing cough to jaundice.They cautioned, however, that in excessit might cause sterility, that "it drieth up

the seeds of generation" in men "andthe milke of women's breasts." An inter-esting use in the sixteenth century—source of the name Angler's Weed inEngland—was locally important: "pou-red into the holes of earthwormes [it]will draw them forth and. .. fishermenand anglers have used this feate to baitetheir hooks."

The value of Cannabis in folk medi-cine has clearly been closely tied withits euphoric and psychoactive proper-ties; knowledge of these effects may beas old as its use as a source of fiber.Primitive man, trying all sorts of plant

96



materials as food, must have known theecstatic euphoria-inducing effects ofHemp, an intoxication introducing himto an otherworldly plane leading to re-ligious beliefs. Thus the plant early wasviewed as a special gift of the gods, asacred medium for communion withthe spirit world.

Although Cannabis today is the mostwidely employed psychoactive sub-stance, its use purely as a narcotic, ex-cept in Asia, appears not to be ancient.In classical times its euphoric propertieswere, however, recognized. In Thebes,Hemp was made into a drink said tohave opium-like properties. Galen re-ported that cakes with Hemp, if eatento excess, were intoxicating. The use asan inebriant seems to have been spreadeast and west by barbarian hordes ofcentral Asia, especially the Scythians,who had a profound cultural influenceon early Greece and eastern Europe.And knowledge of the psychoactive ef-fects of Hemp goes far back in Indianhistory, as indicated by the deep mytho-logical and spiritual beliefs about theplant. One preparation, Bhang, was sosacred that it was thought to defer evil,bring luck, and cleanse man of sin.Those treading upon the leaves of thisholy plant would suffer harm or disas-ter, and sacred oaths were sealed overHemp. The favorite drink of Indra,god of the firmament, was made fromCannabis, and the Hindu god Shivacommanded that the word Ghangi bechanted repeatedly in hymns during

sowing, weeding, and harvesting ofthe holy plant. Knowledge and use ofthe intoxicating properties eventuallyspread to Asia Minor. Hemp was em-ployed as an incense in Assyria in thefirst millennium B. C., suggesting its useas an inebriant. While there is no directmention of Hemp in the Bible, severalobscure passages may refer tangentiallyto the effects of Cannabis resin orHashish.

It is perhaps in the Himalayas of In-dia and the Tibetan plateau that Canna-bis preparations assumed their greatestimportance in religious contexts. Bhangis a mild preparation: dried leaves orflowering shoots are pounded withspices into a paste and consumed ascandy—known as maa-jun—or in teaform. Ganja is made from the resin-richdried pistillate flowering tops of culti-vated plants that are pressed into acompacted mass and kept under pres-sure for several days to induce chemicalchanges; most Ganja is smoked, oftenwith Tobacco or Datura. Charas con-sists of the resin itself, a brownish massthat is employed generally in smokingmixtures.

The Tibetans considered Cannabissacred. A Mahayana Buddhist traditionmaintains that during the six steps of as-ceticism leading to his enlightenment,Buddha lived on one Hemp seed a day.He is often depicted with "Soma leaves"in his begging bowl and the mysteriousgod-narcotic Soma has occasionallybeen identified with Hemp. In Tantric

Top left: In northern India the Hemp

leaves are soaked in water, shredded,

and then roiled into balls. These are

sold as "Bhang" on the market (display

in the Governmental Ganja Shop Om

Varnasi, Benares).

Top right: The Bhang balls are either

sucked on or mixed into a drink with

milk, yogurt, and water.

Page 97above left: The Cora Indians of

the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico

smoke Cannabis in the course of theirsacred ceremonies. Rarely is an intro-

duced foreign plant adopted and used in

indigenous religious ceremonies, but it

seems that the Cora of Mexico and the

Cuna of Panama have taken up the ri-

tual smoking of Cannabis, notwith-standing the fact that, in both areas, it

was brought in by the early Europeans.

Page 97 above right: These three

photographs show the germinating

Hemp plant. The rounded leaves arecotyledons or seed-leaves. The first real

leaves are always simple, not segmen-

ted as are the mature leaves.

Page 96 middle (4 Photos): The use of

Cannabis by peoples ot both the Old

World and the New is widespread. In the

Old World (left to right) Cannabis is

being smoked by a Kung woman from

South Africa, a Pygmy from the Congo,

a traveler in Kashmir, and North African

Hashish smokers.

97



The Chemistry of Marijuana

Whereas the psychoactive principles of most hallucinogenic plants are alka-loids, the active constituents of Cannabis are non-nitrogenous and occur in aresinous oil. The psychoactive properties are due to cannabinoids, of whichthe most effective is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—chemically:transtetrahydrocannabinol. The highest concentration is found in the resin ofthe unfertilized pistillate inflorescence. Even though less potent, the driedleaves are also employed for their psychoactive effects.

Following the elucidation of the chemical structure (see molecular modelon page 184), it has recently been possible to synthesize THC.

Psychoactive Plants that are used as a Marijuana Substitute

Botanical Name

Aichornea floribunda

Argemone mexicana

Artemisia mexicana

Calea zacatechichi

Canavalia maritima

Catharanthus roseus

Cecropia mexicana

Cestrum Iaevigatum

Cestrum parqui

Cymbopogon dens iflorus

Helichrysum foetidurn

Helichrysum stenopterum

Hieracium piocella

Leonotis leonurus

Leonurus sibiricus

Nepeta cataria

Piper auritum

Sceletium tortuosum

Sida acuta

Sida rhombifolla

Turnera diffusa

Zornia diphylla

Zornia latifolla

98

Common Name

Niando

Prickly Poppy

Mexican Mugwort

Dog Grass

Sea Bean

Madagascar Periwinkle

Chancarro

Lady of the Night

Palqui

Lemongrass

Everlasting

Everlasting

Hawkweed

Wild Dagga

Siberian Motherwort

Catnip

Root Beer Plant

Kougued

Common Wireweed

Escobilla

Damiana

Maconha Brava

Maconha Brava

Part of Plant Used

Roots

Leaves

Herbage

Herbage

Leaves

Leaves

Leaves

Leaves

Leaves

Flower extract

Herbage

Herbage

Herbage

Herbage

Herbage

Herbage

Leaves

Herbage, Roots

Herbage

Herbage

Herbage

Leaves

Dried leaves

Buddhism of the Himalayas of Tibet,Cannabis plays a very significant rolein the meditative ritual used to facilitatedeep meditation and heighten aware-ness. Both medicinal and recreationalsecular use of Hemp is likewise socommon now in this region that theplant is taken for granted as an every-day necessity.

Folklore maintains that the use ofHemp was introduced to Persia by anIndian pilgrim during the reign ofKhursu (A.D. 53 1—579), but it is knownthat the Assyrians used Hemp as an in-cense during the first millennium B. C.Although at first prohibited among Isla-mic peoples, Hashish spread widelywest throughout Asia Minor. In 1378,authorities tried to extirpate Hempfrom Arabian territory by the imposi-tion of harsh punishments.

Cannabis extended early and widelyfrom Asia Minor into Africa, partlyunder the pressure of Islamic influ-ence, but the use of Hemp transcendsIslamic areas. It is widely believed thatHemp was introduced also with slavesfrom Malaya. Commonly known inAfrica as Kif or Dagga, the plant has



"Hemp is the 'giver of joy,' 'heaven's pilot,' 'the heavenly guide,''the heaven of the poor man,' 'the soother of sorrows.'

No god, no man is as good as the religious hemp drinker."—Hemp Drug

Commission Report (1884)

entered into archaic native cultures insocial and religious contexts. The Hot-tentots, Bushmen, and Kaffirs usedHemp for centuries as a medicine andas an intoxicant. In an ancient tribalceremony in the Zambesi Valley, parti-cipants inhaled vapors from a pile ofsmoldering Hemp; later, reed tubesand pipes were employed, and theplant material was burned on an altar.The Kasai tribes of the Congo haverevived an old Riamba cult in whichHemp, replacing ancient fetishes andsymbols, was elevated to a god—aprotector against physical and spiritualharm. Treaties are sealed with puffs ofsmoke from calabash pipes. Hemp-smoking and Hashish-snuffing cultsexist in many parts •of east Africa,especially near Lake Victoria.

Hemp has spread to many areas of theNew World, but with few exceptionsthe plant has not penetrated signifi-cantly into many Native American reli-gious beliefs and ceremonies. There are,however, exceptions, such as its useunder the name Rosa Maria, by the Te-pecano Indians of northwest Mexico,who occasionally employ Hemp when

Peyote is not available. It has recentlybeen learned that Indians in the Mexi-can states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, andPuebla practice a communal curing ce-remony with a plant called Santa Rosa,identified as Cannabis sativa, which isconsidered both a plant and a sacred in-tercessor with the Virgin. Although theceremony is based mainly on Christianelements, the plant is worshiped as anEarth deity and is thought to be aliveand to represent a part of the heart ofGod. The participants in this cult be-lieve that the plant can be dangerousand that it can assume the form of aman's soul, make him ill, enrage him,and even cause death.

Sixty years ago, when Mexican la-borers introduced the smoking of Mar-ijuana to the United States, it spreadacross the South, and by the 1920s itsuse was established in New Orleans,confined primarily among the poor andminority groups. The continued spreadof the custom in the United States andEurope has resulted in a still unresolvedcontroversy.

Cannabis sativa was officially in theU.S. Pharmacopoeia until 1937, recom-

Above left: In C. sativa, well-developed

hairs of glandular and non-glandularkinds are shown in various stages of

development.

Top right: Different types of glandular

hairs of Cannabis. The capitate gland

with a prominent pseudo-stalk on thesurface of the anther wall that faces the

center of the flower.

Bottom right: Bulbous gland from adax-

ial leaf surface. The stalk and head are

made up of two cells each. The tip of the

gland possesses a small, disk-shaped

region below which resin accumulates

in the extended membrane.

Page 98: Above, Cannabis saliva isbeing harvested for Hemp at the turn

of the century. This species attains a

height of 18 feet (6m). Below, an extre-

mely potent Hashish is produced from

Cannabis indica, a low, pyramidal,densely branched species, as shown

above growing wild near Kandahar,

Afghanistan.

99

Scanning Electron Microscopy



Top: Drawing by W. Miller. Copyright

1978 The New YorkerMagazine, Inc.

'Hey, what is this stuff? It makes every-

thing I think seem profound."

Below: Gustave Doré's painting 'Com-

position of the Death of Gerard de Ner-

val," for which he may have used Can-

nabis and Opium for inspiration. Thecontemporary American cartoon shows

in a humorous way the resurrection of

this belief.

100

•

'I

.



mended for a wide variety of disorders,especially as a mild sedative. It is nolonger an official drug, although re-search in the medical potential of someof the cannabinolic constituents or theirsemi-synthetic analogs is at present veryactive, particularly in relation to the sideeffects of cancer therapy.

The psychoactive effects of Cannabispreparations vary widely, depending ondosage, the preparation and the type ofplant used, the method of administra-tion, the personality of the user, andthe social and cultural background.Perhaps the most frequent characteris-tic is a dreamy state. Long forgottenevents are often recalled and thoughtsoccur in unrelated sequences. Percep-tion of time, and occasionally of space,is altered. Visual and auditory halluci-nations sometimes follow the use oflarge doses. Euphoria, excitement, in-ner happiness—often with hilarity andlaughter—are typical. In some cases, afinal mood of depression may be ex-perienced.

Above: Marijuana is made from the

dried and slightly fermented blossoms

of the feminine Kemp plant.

Left: In Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonder-

land, the encounter between Alice and

the languorous caterpillar is as follows:

"She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and

peeped over the edge of the mushroom,

and her eyes immediately met those of

a large blue caterpillar that was sitting

on the top, with its arms folded, quietlysmoking a long hookah, and taking not

the slightest notice of her or anything

"This marvelous experience oftenoccurs as if it were the effect of a

superior and invisible power actingon the person from without...

This delightful and singular stategives no advance warning.

It is as unexpected as a ghost,an intermittent haunting

from which we must draw,if we are wise,

the certainly of a better existence.This acuteness of thought,

this enthusiasm of the senses andthe spirit must have appeared to

man through the agesas the first blessing."

—Charles BaudelaireLes Paradis Artificiels

Above: In the nineteenth century, a se-

lect group of European artists and wri-ters turned to psychoactive agents in an

attempt to achieve what has come to be

regarded as "mind-expansion" or "mind-Many people, such as the

French poet Baudelaire (below), be-

lieved that creative ability could begreatly enhanced by the use of Canna-

bis. In fact, Baudelaire wrote vivid de-

scriptions of his personal experiencesunder the influence of Cannabis.

101

I



CLAVICEPSErgot

ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE

Above: While Ergot infects a number of

different grasses, it is best known as a

parasite on the inflorescence of rye.

Page 103 top: The Ergot of rye are con-

siderably bigger than those of the Pas-palum grass.

Page 103 left: Fruiting bodies of C/a vi-

ceps purpurea. The specific name of

this fungus means purple," a color thatin antiquity was linked with powers ofthe underworld.

Page 103 right: When grain is infected

by Ergot, long black growths appear onthe heads, called sclerotium.

102

"The ancient testimony about Eleusis isunanimous and unambiguous. Eleusiswas the supreme experience in an initia-te's life. It was both physical and mysti-cal: trembling, vertigo, cold sweat, andthen a sight that made all previous see-ing seem like blindness, a sense of aweand wonder at a brilliance that caused aprofound silence, since what had justbeen seen and felt could never be com-municated; words were unequal to thetask. These symptoms are unmistakablythe experience induced by a hallucino-gen. Greeks, and indeed some of themost famous and intelligent amongthem, could experience and enter fullyinto, such irrationality.

"Eleusis was different from the con-vivial inebriation of friends . . . In theirvarious ways, other Greek cults tooenacted aspects of the ancient commu-nion practiced between gods and men,between the living and the dead, but itwas at Eleusis alone that the experi-ence occurred with overwhelming fin-ality...

"For close on to two thousand years,a few of the ancient Greeks passedeach year through the portals of Eleu-sis. There they celebrated the divinegift to mankind of the cultivated grain,and they were also initiated into theawesome powers of the nether worldthrough the purple dark of the grain'ssibling - .

Thus in an interdisciplinary studybased on three different approaches,ethnomycology, classical studies, andchemistry, the secret rites of ancientGreece, which have remained a puzzlefor four thousand years, are associatedwith intoxication caused by the fungusClaviceps, which grows parasitically oncertain cereals.

It is now believed that the intoxicantunderlying the ecstasy experienced inthe mysteries was induced by Clavicepspaspali, and possibly other species,growing on various Loliums and othercereal grasses native to Greece. The bio-dynamical principles characteristic ofthe well-known Ergot, or Clavicepspur-pkrea, have been isolated from some ofthe other species of this fungal parasite.

The reasons for considering the Eleusianmysteries to be associated with the useof Claviceps are long and complex, butthe arguments are most convincing andapparently from several disciplinessound. Basically, it has now been shownthat several species of Claviceps can in-fect a number of wild grasses in Greece.

By far the most important species ofClaviceps is C. purpurea, the Ergot ofrye (Secale cereale). This hard, brownor purplish black sclerotium of a fungusoriginating in the caryopsis of rye isexceedingly common in Europe. Thenative nomenclature of Claviceps pur-purea is indeed complex. Ergot, theFrench word for "spur" of a cock, nowgenerally employed in numerous lan-guages, was first applied to the fungusin a region not far from Paris. Thereare, however, two dozen other wordsfor the sclerotium in French; sixty-twovernacular names in German, Mutter-korn being the most commonly used.There are twenty-one in Dutch, fifteenin the Scandinavian languages, fourteenin Italian, and seven in English in addi-tion to the borrowed word Ergot. Thisproliferation of vernacular terminologyindicates the importance of the fungusin European countries.

Although its medicinal use was un-known in classical times, it was early re-cognized as a poison. As far back as 600B. C., the Assyrians called the spurlikegrowth or Ergot a "noxious pustule inthe ear of the grain." The sacred booksof the Parsees (about 350 B. C.) reported:"Among the evil things created by An-gro Maynes are noxious grasses thatcause pregnant women to drop thewomb and die in childbed." Althoughthe ancient Greeks apparently em-ployed the fungus in their religious ri-tuals, they did not eat rye because ofthe "black malodorous produce ofThrace and Macedonia." Rye was notintroduced into classical Europe untilthe beginning of the Christian era, soErgot poisoning did not enter into Ro-man pharmaceutical literature.

The earliest undoubted reports of Er-got poisoning appeared during the Mid-dle Ages, when bizarre epidemics broke



(

and hallucinations were common symp-toms of the intoxication, which was fre-quently fatal. An early European visita-tion of ergotism described it as "a greatplague of swollen blisters {that] con-sumed the people by a loathsome rot."Abortions of women were general dur-ing these attacks. The "Holy Fire" wasalways characterized by a feeling ofburning in the feet and hands.

St. Anthony, after whom the "fire"was named, lived as a religious hermitin Egypt; he died at the age of 105 inA.D. 356. He is the protecting saintagainst fire, epilepsy, and infection.During the Crusades, the knightsbrought back his remains to Dauphiné,in France, for burial. It was here in Dau-phiné that the earliest recognized plagueof "Holy Fire" occurred in 1039. Awealthy citizen, Gaston, and his sonwere among the afflicted, and Gaston

The active ingredients in Ergot are indole alkaloids, all derived from the samebasic compound, lysergic acid. The most important alkaloids in Ergot of ryeare ergotamine and ergotoxine, in which lysergic acid is connected with apeptide radical consisting of three amino acids. These alkaloids and theirderivatives have various medicinal uses.

toxic doses they cause gangrene because of their vasoconstrictingproperties. Ergot from wild grasses, however, contains essentially simplelysergic acid amides, ergine, and lysergic acid-hydroxyethylamide (foundonly in traces in Ergot of rye). These psychotropic alkaloids may have playeda role in the convulsive form of ergotism. They occur as the main activeprinciples in the Mexican Morning Glory Ololiuqui (Turbina corymbosa) [seepage 187 for the molecular model of the chemical structure] and other Bind-weeds (Ipomoea violacea, Argyreia nervosa).

103

out in various parts of Europe, takingthousands of lives and causing untoldagony and suffering. These epidemicsmanifested themselves in two forms:those with nervous convulsions and epi-leptic symptoms; those with gangrene,mummifications, atrophy, and occa-sional ioss of extremities—noses, ear-lobes, fingers, toes, and feet. Delirium

4.

The Chemistry of Ergot



T1'uI'i It is possible that the alkaloid-richDI the Paspalum grass was used

Secret ingredient in Kykeon, the

InhliqIory drink of Eleusis.

left: The goddess Demeter with

of grain and opium pods in herit

right: The Plutonluon of Eleusis.

105 bottom: One of the rare out-breriks of ergotism in England attackedOne tomily in Wattisham in 1762. SoLift irtual was this plague that it has been

meit lorialized with a plaque in the parish

10-4

promised to give all his wealth to aidother victims if St. Anthony would curehim and his son. Thus it was that in thisFrench town a hospital to care for suf-ferers was founded and the Order of St.Anthony was also established.

A pilgrimage to shrines consecratedto St. Anthony was believed to curethe disease. But a change in diet—breadfree of Ergot—may have had a benefi-cial effect. It was not until 1676—somefive hundred years after the height of St.Anthony's fire—that the real cause ofergotism was discovered, whereuponmeasures of control were set up. Millersin the Middle Ages frequently keptclean rye flour for the affluent, sellingflour made from "spurred rye"—thatinfected with Ergot—to poorer custo-mers. Once the cause was known, vigi-lance in the mills quickly reduced theepidemics of St. Anthony's fire.

Even today, however, there are occa-sional outbreaks of epidemics in whichwhole villages are affected. The mostnotorious recent attacks have occurredin France and Belgium in 1953 and inthe Ukraine and Ireland in 1929. Thereare suggestions that the alleged out-breaks of witchcraft in colonial NewEngland, especially in Salem, Massachu-

setts, may have been due to Ergot poi-soning.

European midwives had long knownthat Ergot could aid in cases of difficultchildbirth and had used the fungus forthat purpose. Chemicals isolated fromErgot are still official drugs to inducecontraction of involuntary muscles instubborn childbirth. The earliest medi-cal report of the obstetric value of Ergotwas published in 1582 by Lonicer ofFrankfurt, who stated that Ergot-parasitized rye is of sovereign efficiencyin pregnancy pains. Although widelyemployed by midwives, Ergot was firstemployed by a physician when Des-granges of Lyons experimented with itand published his observations in 1818.The Swiss botanist Bauhin describedErgot in 1595, and his son later pro-duced the first illustration of Ergot in1658. In 1676, the French physician-botanist Dodart added much scientificknowledge to the story of Ergot. He ad-vised the French Academy that the onlyway to control plagues of ergotism wasto sift the rye to extract the Ergot sporesfrom it. But even as late as 1750, bota-nists still were uncertain how Ergotgrew and why it was toxic. In 1711 andagain in 1761, learned botanists accepted



the view that the black spur was formedby the germinating embryo, which cau-sed a hypertrophied growth in place ofa normal caryopsis. Only in 1764 didthe German botanist von Münchhausendeclare that Ergot was a fungal infec-tion, but his opinion was not accepteduntil the famous botanist A. P. de Can-dolle proved it in 1815. A widely ac-claimed report of Ergot efficacy waspublished by Dr. John Stearns in 1808.A few years later, a Massachusetts doc-tor, Prescott, gave a dissertation on the"natural history and medicinal effects"of Ergot, which, when published in1813, called the attention of medicalscience in the New World to the re-

Fim.. Tnhrpl;on Lo

t In aitsTarifh.,01 loft the

,it U nn uot to d brA \ ui at of (1aIe recotd

In the Flubs

markable properties of the fungus.From that time on, Ergot was increas-ingly employed in medicine, although itwas not- accepted in the Pharmacopoeiauntil 1836.

It was not, however, until the 1920sthat the active principles of Clavicepspurpurea were known: ergotamine in1921; ergonovine in 1935. Subsequently,a number of other related alkaloids havebeen discovered in the plant. Eventhough this dangerous infection of ryenever had a major magico-religious rolein European culture, it did earn a specialplace as a plant having connections withspiritual forces—a kind of malevolentplant of the gods.

--

• -

-

- -

sn - Urfnd,e

-- ba

-

Above left: Persephone, the Queen of

the Dead, making an offering of shafts

of is enthroned beside her hus-

band, Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

Originally a goddess associated with

grain, she was abducted to the Under-

world by Hades, and her return from the

realm of the dead was connected withsymbolic rebirth experiences in the

Eleusinian mysteries, where the wor-

shipers believed that the restoration of

the goddess to the upper world ensuredthe faithful a resurrection. It is possible

that these amazing events in Perse-

phone's life might have been linked with

intoxication from Ergot, since Greek

sophistication in the chemical proper-

ties of plants was well developed.

Above right: The title page of a German

book from 1771, Ergot: An Alleged

Cause of the So-called St. Anthony's

Fire.

VGfl -

—

- )

105



27 DATURAINNOXIA' Toloache

DATURAMETELDatura

2n DATURA STRAMONIUMThorn Apple

HOLY FLOWEROF THE NORTH STAR

Above left: The Datura stramonium var.

tatula is the most common in the Hima-

layas. It is easily recognized by the

violet color of the flower.

Above right: The sacred Thorn Apple

(Datura metel) is often found in the

Himalayas on altars to the gods of the

mountains (photo taken in Tukche,Nepal).

Below right: A yellow-flowered Daturametelin full bloom.

106

A beautiful Zuñi Indian legend tells ofthe divine origin of Aneglakya, Daturainnoxia, their most sacred plant:

the olden time a boy and a girl,brother and sister (the boy's name wasA'neglakya and the girl's name A'negla-kyatsi'tsa), lived in the interior of theearth, but they often came to the outerworld and walked about a great deal,observing closely everything they sawand heard and repeating all to theirmother. This constant talking did notplease the Divine Ones (twin sons ofthe Sun Father). On meeting the boyand the girl the Divine Ones asked,'How are you?' and the brother and sis-ter answered, 'We are happy.' (Some-times A'neglakya and A'neglakyatsi'tsaappeared on Earth as old people.) Theytold the Divine Ones how they couldmake one sleep and see ghosts, andhow they could make one walk about alittle and see one who had committedtheft. After this meeting the DivineOnes concluded that A'neglakya andA'neglakyatsi'tsa knew too much andthat they should be banished for all timefrom this world; so the Divine Ones

caused the brother and sister to disap-pear into the earth forever. Flowerssprang up at the spot where the two des-cended—flowers exactly like those thatthey wore on each side of their headswhen visiting the earth. The DivineOnes called the plant 'a'neglakya' afterthe boy's name. The original plant hasmany children scattered over the earth;some of the blossoms are tinged withyellow, some with blue, some with red,some are all white—the colors belong-ing to the four cardinal points."

This and related species of Datura



The various species of Datura contain the same major alkaloids as relatedsolanaceous plants (Angel's Trumpet, Belladonna, Henbane, and Mandrake)hyoscyamine and, in greatest concentration, scopolamine. Meteloidine is acharacteristic secondary alkaloid of D. meteL

have long been employed as sacred hal-lucinogens, especially in Mexico and theAmerican Southwest, and have playedmajor roles in native medicine andmagico-religious rites. Their undoubteddanger as potent narcotics, however, hasnever been challenged, even from ear-liest times.

In the Old World, has had along history as a medicine and sacredhallucinogen, although the genus hasapparently never enjoyed the ceremo-nial role that it has had in the NewWorld. Early Sanskrit and Chinesewritings mention Datura metei. It wasundoubtedly this species that the Ara-bian doctor Avicenna reported in theeleventh century under the name Jouz-rnathal ("metel nut"); this report wasrepeated in Dioscorides' writings. Thename metel is taken from this Arabicterm, while the generic epithet Daturawas adapted to Latin by Linnaeus fromthe Sanskrit Dhatura. In China, theplant was considered sacred: when Bud-dha was preaching, heaven sprinkled theplant with dew or raindrops. A Taoistlegend maintains that Datura metel is

one of the circumpolar stars and thatenvoys to earth from this star carry aflower of the plant in their hand. Severalspecies of Datura were introduced intoChina from India between the Sung andMing dynasties—that is, between A. D.960 and 1644—so they were not re-corded in earlier herbals. The herbalistLi Shih-chen reported the medicinaluses of one of the species known asMan-t'o-lo in 1596: the flowers andseeds were employed to treat eruptionson the face, and the plant was prescribedinternally for colds, nervous disorders,and other problems. It was taken to-gether with Cannabis in wine as an an-esthesia for minor surgical operations.Its narcotic properties were known tothe Chinese, for Li Shih-chen person-ally experimented on himself and wrote:"According to traditions, it is allegedthat when the flowers are picked foruse with wine while one is laughing,the wine will cause one to producelaughing movements; and when theflowers are picked while one is dancing,the wine will cause one to produce dan-cing movements. [I have found out] that

Above left: The hanging fruit of Datura

innoxia. The seeds that are chewed by

shamans to induce a clairvoyant trance

are clearly visible.

Above middle: Many species of Datura

have played a vital medicinal and ineb-

riant role in Mexico since early times.

This page from the "Badianus Manu-scripr' (Codex Berberini Latina 241,

Folio 29) depicts two species of Datura

and describes their therapeutic uses.

This document of 1542 is the first herbal

to be written in the New World.

Above right: A Datura flower is left as an

offering on a Shiva Lingam at Pashupa-

tinath (Nepal).

107

The Chemistry of Datura

Top: Traditional depiction of the Thorn

Apple on a Tibetan medicinal painting.



Right: The typical fruit of the Daturamete!. In India it is given to the godShiva as an offering.

4

.4

Below: It was believed that when Bud-

dha preached, dew or raindrops fellfrom heaven on Datura. This bronze

shrine from the Sui period of China de-picts Amitabha Buddha seated underthe jeweled trees of Paradise.

such movements will be produced whenone becomes half-drunk with the wineand someone else laughs or dances toinduce these actions."

In India, it was called tuft of Shiva, thegod of destruction. Dancing girls some-times drugged wine with its seeds, andwhoever drank of the potion, appearingin possession of his senses, gave answersto questions, although he had no controlof his will, was ignorant of whom he wasaddressing, and lost all memory of whathe did when the intoxication wore off.For this reason, many Indians called theplant "drunkard," "madman," "decei-ver," and "foolmaker." The Britishtraveler Hardwicke found this plantcommon in mountain villages in Indiain 1796 and reported that an infusion ofthe seeds was used to increase the intox-ication from alcoholic drinks. Duringthe Sanskritic period, Indian medicine

108

valued Datura metel for treating mentaldisorders, various fevers, tumors, breastinflammations, skin diseases, and. diar-rhea.

In other parts of Asia, D. metel wasvalued and similarly employed in nativemedicine and as an intoxicant. Even to-day, seeds or powdered leaves of thisplant are often mixed with Cannabis orTobacco and smoked in Indochina. In



1578, its use as an aphrodisiac in theEast Indies was reported. From earliestclassical times, the dangers of Daturawere recognized. The English herbalistGerard believed that Datura was theHippomanes that the Greek writerTheocritus mentioned as driving horsesmad.

Datura stranzonium var. ferox, a spe-cies now widely distributed in the war-mer parts of both hemispheres, has usesalmost identical with those of D. metel.It is employed especially in parts ofAfrica. In Tanzania, it is added toPombe, a kind of beer, for its inebriating

to induce visual hallucinations but alsofor a great variety of medicinal uses,especially when applied to the body torelieve rheumatic pains and to reduceswellings.

Writing shortly after the conquest ofMexico, Hernández mentioned its med-icinal value but warned that excessiveuse would drive patients to madnesswith "various and vain imaginations."Neither its magico-religious nor its ther-apeutic use has diminished in Mexico.Among the Yaqui, for example, it is ta-ken by women to lessen the pain ofchildbirth. It is considered so powerfulthat it can be handled only by "someoneof authority." One ethnobotanist wrote:"My collecting these plants was oftenaccompanied with warnings that Iwould go crazy and die because I wasmistreating them. Some Indians refusedto talk to me for several days afterward."

Page 108 bottom right: The opening

blossom of a Datura innoxia. The

Mayans call it xtohk'uh, 'toward the

gods:' and still use it for shamanic pur-

poses such as divination and medicinal

healing.

Above left: A Datura fruit has been left

as an offering at the image of Nandi,

Shiva's sacred steer.

effects. A common medical use in Africais smoking the leaves to relieve asthmaand pulmonary problems.

In the New World, the Mexicans callDatura Toloache, a modern version ofthe ancient Aztec Toloatzin (that is,"inclined head," in reference to its nod-ding fruit). It was also known in theNahuatl language as Tolohuaxihuitland Tlapatl. It was employed not only

Toloache is rather widely added to mes-cal, a distilled liquor from A gave, or toTesguino, a fermented maize drink, as anadded intoxicant—"as a catalyst and toinduce a good feeling and visions."Some Mexicans prepare a fatty ointmentcontaining seeds and leaves of Toloache,which is rubbed over the abdomen to in-duce visual hallucinations.

Among the Indians of the Southwest,

PERFUME

CHAM Ico

Bottom left: In northern India Datura

fruit is threaded into garlands and

offered to the Hindu god Shiva.

Bottom right: The Curanderos (localhealers) of northern Peru enjoy using a

perfume that is named Chamico (Thorn

Apple).

109

14

- V

I,

• JtJ

La ünicisofucidn Conocido par ion iribus umazanicusdel Alto Ucayeli. El perfume CHAMICO te di enenqiapare hacer el amer coonlas vases gamma 5 omarlar aa persona qué gammas. Quieres sir sensual? Cain -

pertwne.



Top left: The thorn-protected fruit of a

rare species of Thorn Apple.

Bottom left: The blossoms of the ThornApple (Datura stramonium) open in the

evening, exude a delightful scentthroughout the night, and fade in the

morning.

Right: A purple variety of the Datura

mete!, better known as Datura fastuosa.In particular, this plant is used in Africa

as an inebriant in initiation rites.

"I ate the thorn apple leavesAnd the leaves made medizzy.

I ate the thorn apple, leavesAnd the leaves made iiaedizzy.

I ate the thorn apple flowersAnd the drink made mestagger.

The hunter's bow remainingHe overtook and killed me.

Cut and threw my hornsaway,The hunter, reed remaining.

He overtook and killed meCut and threw my feet away.

Now the flies become crazyAnd drop with flappingwings.

No drunken butterflies sitWith opening and shuttingwings."

—F. RusselPima hunting song

110

D. innoxia has assumed extraordinaryimportance as a sacred element and isthe most widely used plant to inducehallucinations. The Zuñis believe thatthe plant belongs to the Rain PriestFraternity and rain priests alone maycollect its roots. These priests put thepowdered root into their eyes to com-mune with the Feathered Kingdom atnight, and they chew the roots to askthe dead to intercede with the spiritsfor rain. These priests further use D. in-noxia for its analgesic effects, to deadenpain during simple operations, bone-setting, and cleaning ulcerated wounds.The Yokut, who call the plant Tanayin,take the drug only during the spring,since it is considered to be poisonous inthe summer; it is given to adolescentboys and girls only once in a lifetime toensure a good and a long life.

Boys and girls of the Tubatulobaltribe drink Datura after puberty to"obtain life," and adults use it to obtainvisions. The roots are macerated andsoaked in water for ten hours; afterdrinking large amounts of this liquor,the youths fall into a stupor accompa-nied by hallucinations that may last upto twenty-four hours. If an animal—aneagle, a hawk, for example—is seen dur-ing the visions, it becomes the child's"pet" or spiritual mascot for life: if"life" is seen, the child acquires a ghost.The ghost is the ideal object to appear,since it cannot die. Children never maykill the animal "pet" that they see intheir Datura vision, for these "pets"may visit during serious illness and ef-fect a cure.

The Yuman tribes believe that the re-action of braves under the influence ofToloache may foretell their future.These people use the plant to gain oc-cult power. If birds sing to a man in aDatura trance, he acquires the powerto cure.

The Navajo take Datura for its vi-sionary properties, valuing it for diag-nosis, healing, and purely intoxicatinguse. Navajo use is magic-oriented. Vi-sions induced by this drug are especiallyvalued, since they reveal certain animalspossessing special significance. Uponlearning from these visions the cause ofa disease, a chant may be prescribed. If aman be repulsed in love by a girl, heseeks revenge by putting her saliva ordust from her moccasins on a Datura,then the singing of a chant will immedi-ately drive the girl mad.

Datura stramonium is now believedto be native to eastern America, wherethe Algonquins and other tribes mayhave employed it as a ceremonial hallu-cinogen. Indians of Virginia used a toxicmedicine called wysoccan in initiatoryrites: the Huskanawing ceremony. Theactive ingredient was probably Daturastramonium. Youths were confined forlong periods, given "no other substancebut the infusion or decoction of somepoisonous, intoxicating roots" and"they became stark, staring mad, inwhich raving condition they were kepteighteen or twenty days." During theordeal, they "unlive their former lives"and begin manhood by losing all mem-ory of ever having been boys.

There is in Mexico a curious species



Right: A magician of Kuma in northeast

Africa leads entranced women in a ritual

dance. The substance that they ingest con-

sists of a secret mixture of many different

plants, most ot which are unknown. Evi-

dence suggests that Datura is among them.

The women are possessed by the spirits

who use them as their medium.

Left: The illustration from the earlywritings of Sahagun, the Spanish friarwho wrote shortly after the conquestof Mexico, pictures the utilization of

an infusion of Datura to relieverheumatism. This use is still foundrecommended in modernpharmacopoeias.

of Datura, so distinct that a separatesection of the genus has been set up forits classification. It is D. a

fleshy plant with thick, forking stemsof bogs, or growing in water. Known asTorna Loco ("maddening plant"), it ispowerfully narcotic. In ancient Mexico,it was considered "sister of Ololiuqui"and was held in great veneration. Littleis known concerning its use today forhallucinogenic purposes.

The effects of all species are similar,since their constituents are so muchalike. Physiological activity begins witha feeling of lassitude and progresses intoa period of hallucinations followed bydeep sleep and loss of consciousness. Inexcessive doses, death or permanent in-sanity may occur. So potent is the psy-choactivity of all species of Datura thatit is patently clear why peoples in indi-genous cultures around the world haveclassed them as plants of the gods.

111



TABERNANTHE'7V Iboga GUIDE TO THE ANCESTORS

Page 113 top: Dried Iboga roots.

Page 113 middle left: Old wooden fetish

objects of the Fang, who were onceassociated with an Iboga cult.

Page 113 middle right The conspicu-ous bright yellow fruits of the lboga.

"Zame ye Mebege [the last of the crea-tor gods] gave us Eboka. One day. . . hesaw... the Pygmy Bitamu, high in anAtanga tree, gathering its fruit. He madehim fall. He died, and Zame brought hisspirit to him. Zame cut off the little fin-gers and the little toes of the cadaver ofthe Pygmy and planted them in variousparts of the forest. They grew into theEboka bush."

open the head," thus inducing a contactwith the ancestors through collapse andhallucinations."

The drug has far-reaching social in-fluence. According to the natives, theinitiate cannot enter the cult until hehas seen Bwiti, and the only way to seeBwiti is to eat Iboga. The complex cere-monies and tribal dances associatedwith consumption of Iboga vary greatly

Left: The roots of the Iboga bush are ri-

tually eaten by the Bwiti cult in order to

call forth the ancestors.

Right: Iboga, necessary for rituals, is

grown at the temple of the Bwiti cult.

112

One of the few members of the Apo-cynaceae utilized as a hallucinogen, thisshrub attains a height of 4 to 6 feet (1.5—2m). Its yellowish root is the active partof the plant, containing the psychoac-tive alkaloids. The root bark is raspedand eaten directly as raspings or as apowder or is drunk as an infusion.

Iboga is basic to the Bwiti cult andother secret societies in Gabon andZaire. The drug is taken in two ways:regularly in limited doses before and inthe early part of the ceremonies, fol-lowed after midnight by a smallerdose; and once or twice during the in-itiation to the cult in excessive doses ofone to three basketfuls over an eight-to twenty-four-hour period, to CC break

from locality to locality. Iboga entersalso other aspects of Bwiti's control ofevents. Sorcerers take the drug to seekinformation from the spirit world, andleaders of the cult may consume Ibogafor a full day before asking advice fromancestors.

Iboga is intimately associated withdeath: the plant is frequently anthropo-morphized as a supernatural being, a"generic ancestor," which can so highlyvalue or despise an individual that it cancarry him away to the realm of the dead.There are sometimes deaths from theexcessive doses taken during initiations,but the intoxication usually so interfereswith motor activity that the initiatesmust sit gazing intently into space,



eventually collapsing and having to becarried to a special house or forest hide-out. During this almost comatose peri-od, the "shadow" (soul) leaves the bodyto wander with the ancestors in the landof the dead. The banzie (angels)—theinitiates—relate their visions as follows:"A dead relative came to me in my sleepand told me to eat it"; "I was sick andwas counseled to eat Iboga to cure

myself"; wanted to know God—toknow things of the dead and the landbeyond"; "I walked or flew over a long,multicolored road or over many riverswhich led me to my ancestors, who thentook me to the great gods."

Iboga may act as a powerful stimu-lant, enabling the partaker to maintainextraordinary physical exertion withoutfatigue over a long period. The bodymay feel lighter, and levitation—a feel-ing of floating—is often experienced.Spectrums or rainbowlike effects areseen in surrounding objects, indicationsto the banzie that the initiate is ap-proaching the realms of the ancestorsand of the gods. Time perception is al-tered; time is lengthened, and initiates

As with other hallucinogens, especially Teonanácatl (Psilocybe spp.) andOloliuqui, the active principles of Tabernanthe iboga belong to the large classof indole alkaloids. Ibogaine, which can be produced synthetically, is the mainalkaloid of T iboga. Its hallucinogenic effects are accompanied by strong sti-mulation of the central nervous system.

Iboga roots contain an alkaloid known as ibogaine. This substance was firstintroduced in the 1 960s by the Chilean psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo as a"fantasy-enhancing drug" for psychotherapy. Today, ibogaine is in the spot-light of neuropsychological research, which has shown that the alkaloid canease drug addiction (to such drugs as heroin and cocaine) and make way for

a cure. lbogaine calms the motor activity that is present when under the influ-

ence of an opiate. The chiropractor Karl Naeher says that "lbogaine, when

taken in one high dose by an opiate addict, drastically reduces withdrawalsymptoms and, at the same time, causes a 'trip' that reveals such deep in-sights into the personal causes of the addiction that the majority of those whoundergo this type of therapy can go for months without a relapse. But severaladditional sessions are required before a lasting stabilization is evident?'

Research into the potential use of ibogaine as a treatment for substanceabuse is being carried out by Deborah Mash and her team in Miami.

113

The Chemistry of Iboga

Addiction Therapy with Ibogaine



/ 'age 115 top: The seeds of the Iboga

bush can germinate only under particu-

l:tr conditions. They themselves contain

rio active compounds.

Page 115 right: Music plays a central

role in the Bwiti cult. The harp player

not only allows the strings to resonate,

but also sings liturgies in which the

cosmology and woridview of the tribe

are expressed.

Top left: The typical leaves of the Iboga

bush.

Thp right: A herbarium specimen of

Tabernanthe iboga in a comparativebotanical collection.

Above left and right: During the initiationriler of the Bwiti cult, the novices ingest

extremely high doses of the Iboga root

in order to attain contact with the an-cestors during the powerful ritual.

114

feel that their spiritual trip has takenmany hours or even days. The body isseen as detached: one user reported,"Here I am, and there is my body goingthrough its action." Large doses induceauditory, olfactory, and gustatory syn-esthesia. Mood may vary greatly fromfear to euphoria.

An Englishman writing on Gabonmentioned "Eroga" under "fetish plants"as early as 1819. Describing it as a"favorite but violent medicine," heundoubtedly saw it powdered and as-sumed that it represented a charredfungus. French and Belgian explorersencountered this remarkable drug andthe cults using it a little over a centuryago. They stated that the drug greatlyincreased muscular strength and endur-ance and that it had aphrodisiac proper-ties. An early report, in 1864, insistedthat Iboga is not toxic except in highdoses, that "warriors and hunters use itconstantly to keep themselves awake

during night watches . . ." In the 1880s,the Germans met it in Cameroon(northern Gabon), and in 1898 it wasreported that the root had an "excitingeffect on the nervous system so that itsuse is highly valued on long, tiringmarches, on lengthy canoe voyages,and on difficult night watches."

The earliest report of its hallucino-genic effects dates from 1903, with the

description of the experiences of an in-itiate under high dosage of the drug:"Soon all his sinews stretch out in anextraordinary fashion. An epilepticmadness seizes him, during which, un-conscious, he mouths words which,when heard by the initiated ones, havea prophetic meaning and prove that thefetish has entered him."

Other plants of reputed narcoticproperties are involved in the Iboga

cults, sometimes used alone, sometimesas admixtures with Tabernanthe ibogaitself. Cannabis sativa—known as Yarnaor Beyama—may often be smoked fol-lowing ingestion of small doses of Ibo-ga. In Gabon, Cannabis resin may onoccasion be eaten with Iboga. Alan, theeuphorbiaceous Aichornea floribz4nda,is often consumed in large amounts tohelp produce the collapse experienced



in Bwiti initiations; in southern Gabon,it is mixed with Iboga. Another euphor-biaceous plant—Ayan-beyem or Elaeo-phorbia be taken dur-ing Bwiti initiations, when Alan is slowto take effect; the latex is applied di-rectly to the eyes with a parrot feather,affecting the optical nerve and inducingvisions.

The Bwiti cult has been growing innumber of converts and in socialstrength, not waning, in recent decades.It represents a strong native element in achanging society being rapidly engulfedin foreign cultural influences. They con-sider that the drug and its associatedcults enable them more easily to resistthe vertiginous transition from the indi-vidualism of traditional tribal life to thecollectivism and loss of identity in theencroaching Western civilization. Itmay well offer the strongest single forceagainst the missionary spread of Chris-tianity and Islam, since it unifies manyof the once hostile, warring tribes in re-sistance to European innovations. Asone initiate stated: "Catholicism andProtestantism is not our religion. I amriot happy in the mission churches."

The cultural importance of the drug iseverywhere seen. The name Iboga isused for the whole Bwiti cult; ndzi-ebolea ("eater of Iboga") means a mem-ber of the cult; nyiba-eboka signifies thereligion surrounding the narcotic plant.

Iboga in every sense of the term is in-deed a plant of the gods. It appears to behere to stay in the native cultures ofwest-central Africa.

1./

/I

115



In the beginning, the Sun created variousbeings to serve as intermediaries betweenHim and Earth. He created hallucino-genic snuff powder so that man couldcontact supernatural beings. The Sunhad kept this powder in His navel, butthe Daughter of the Sun found it. Thusit became available to man—a vegetalproduct acquired directly from the gods.

As far back as 1496, an early Spanishreport mentioned that the Taino of His-paniola inhaled a powder called Cohobato communicate with the spirit world. Itwas so strong that those who took it lostconsciousness; when the stupefying ac-tion began to wane, the arms and legsbecame loose and the head nodded, andalmost immediately they believed thatthey saw the room turn upside-down sothat men were walking with their headsdownward. Mainly because of the dis-appearance of aboriginal peoples in theWest Indies, this snuff is no longer em-ployed anywhere in the Antilles.

In 1916, ethnobotanical researchestablished the identity of this Coho-ba—quite generally until then thoughtto have been a very potent kind of To-bacco snuff—with the hallucinogenicsnuff of the Orinoco called Yopo andderived from the beans of Anade-

better known in theliterature as Piptaa!enia peregrina. The

center of use of this snuff is and prob-ably always has been the Orinoco. TheWest Indian tribes are thought to havebeen, in the main, invaders from north-ern South America. It is very probablethat the custom of snuffing the drug, aswell as the tree itself, was introduced byinvaders from the Orinoco area.

It is now suspected that Yopo was

used much more widely in earlier peri-ods. There is evidence that in pre-Hispanic times, this snuff was used byChibchan tribes from the ColombianAndes east across the Ilanos, or plains,to the upper Orinoco.

In 1560 a missionary in the Colom-bian lianos wrote that the Indians alongthe Rio Guaviare "are accustomed totake Yopa and Tobacco, and the formeris a seed or pip of a tree. . . they become

ANADENANTHERA'-' PEREGRINA

Yopo

BEANS OF THE HEKULA SPIRIT

I— •g-i

Left: The beans of the Yopo Tree (Ana-

denanthera peregrina) are used by

many Indians as a shamanic snuff

(specimen collected in Guyana).

Right: Baron Alexander von Humboldt

and his co-collector Aimé Bonpland

carefully explored the flora of the Orino-co River, the frontier between Colombia

and Venezuela, and while there they

encountered the preparation and use ofYopo snuff in 1801.

116



Below left:The finely pinnate leaves of

the Yopo tree are important for identit I-

cation, but contain no active properties.

Right: In the open grasslands, or cam-

poe, of the northern Amazon of Brazil,

Anadenanthera grows profusely. The

tree bears long pods with usually six to

twelve seeds, which are the source of

the hallucinogenic snuff.

Below right: Over 125 years ago, the

English explorer Richard Spruce col-lected on the Orinoco these artifactsassociated with the preparation and

use of Yopo snuff. They are still pre-

served in the museum at the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew.

Tobacco ... going out of their minds,and then the devil speaks to themJopa is a tree with small pods like thoseof vetches, and the seeds inside are simi-lar but smaller." Yopo was so importantin pre-Conquest Colombia that Indiansof the highlands, where the tree will notgrow, traded the drug up from the tro-pical lowlands: the Muisca of theColombian Andes, according to anearly Spanish historian, used the snuff:"Jop: herb of divination, used by themojas or sun-priests in Tunja and Bogo-tá." The Muisca "will not travel norwage war nor do any other thing of im-portance without learning beforehandwhat will be the outcome, or this theytry to ascertain with two herbs whichthey consume, called Yop and Osca. .

Yopo snuff may sometimes, as amongthe Guahibo, be taken daily as a stimu-lant. But it is more commonly employedby payés (shamans) to induce trancesand visions and communicate with the

117

drowsy while the devil, in their dreams,shows them all the vanities and corrup-tions he wishes them to see and whichthey take to be true revelations in whichthey believe, even if told they will die.This habit of taking Yopa and Tobaccois general in the New Kingdom." An-other chronicler wrote in 1599: "Theychew Hayo or Coca and Jopa and

The Chemistry of Yopo

The active principles of Anadenanthera peregrina belong to both open-chained and ringed tryptamine derivatives and, therefore, to the importantclass of iridole alkaloids. Tryptamine is also the basic compound of the aminoacid tryptophane, widely distributed in the Animal Kingdom. Dimethyltrypta-mine (DMT) and 5-hydroxydimethyltryptamine (bufotenine) are representa-tives of the open-chained Anadenanthera tryptamines. Bufotenine has alsobeen found in the skin secretion of a toad (Bufo sp.)—hence its name. Ringedtryptamine derivatives found in Anadenanthera are 2-methyl- and 1 ,2-di-methyl-6-methoxytetrahydro-13-carboline.



Photo sequence pages 118—19:

Undoubtedly the most intense of

Yopo snuff prepared from Anade-

nanthera peregrina is found among the

various groups of Waikh living in

southernmost Venezuela and adjacent

parts of northernmost Brazil. Thesepeoples consume enormous amountsof the hallucinogenic powder, blowing it

forcefully into the nostrils through long

tubes made from the stems ofmaranthaceous plants.

Before snuffing Yopo, the Waiká sha-

mans gather and chant, invoking the

Hekula spirits with whom they will be

communicating during the ensuingintoxication.

The snuff acts rapidly, causing first a

profuse flow of mucus from the nasal

passages and occasionally a notable

quivering of the muscles, especially in

the arms, and a contorted expressionon the face.

This period quickly gives way to one

in which the shamans begin to prance,

gesticulating and shrieking violently,calling on the Hekula.

The expenditure of energy lasts fromhalf an hour to an hour; eventually, fully

spent, they fall into a trancelike stupor,

during which visions are experienced.

118

Hekula spirits; to prophesy or divine; toprotect the tribe against epidemics ofsickness; to make hunters and even theirdogs more alert. There has been a longand complicated confusion between thehallucinogenic snuff prepared fromAnadenanthera and that from Virolaand other plants. Consequently, the nu-merous distribution maps in anthropo-logical literature showing immenseareas of South American using Anade—nanthera-derived snuff must be usedwith due caution.

In 1741, the Jesuit missionary Gumil-Ia, who wrote extensively on the geo-graphy of the Orinoco, described theuse of Yopo by the Otomac: "They haveanother abominable habit of intoxicat-ing themselves through the nostrils withcertain malignant powders which theycall Yupa which quite takes away theirreason, and they will furiously take uparms. . ." Following a description of thepreparation of the snuff and a custom ofadding lime from snail shells, he re-ported that "before a battle, they wouldthrow themselves into a frenzy withYupa, wound themselves and, full ofblood and rage, go forth to battle likerabid jaguars."

The first scientific report of Yopo wasmade by the explorer Baron von Hum-boldt, who botanically identified thesource and reported that the MaypureIndians of the Orinoco, where he wit-nessed the preparation of the drug in

Drawings right (pages 118—19):Countless artifacts related to the ritual

use of snuff have been discovered inarchaeological digs in the Caribbean

and in South America (for example,

Haiti, Costa Rica, Colombia, and

Brazil).



1801, broke the long pods, moistenedthem, and allowed them to ferment;when they turned black, the softenedbeans were kneaded into cakes with cas-sava flour and lime from snails. Thesecakes were crushed to• make snuff.Humboldt, quite erroneously, believedthat "it is not to be believed that thepods are the chief cause of the. . . effectsof the snuff . . . These effects are due tothe freshly calcined lime."

Later, Spruce offered an extremelydetailed report on the preparation anduse of Yopo among the Guahibo of theOrinoco. He collected a complete set ofethnographic material connected withthe substance, and seeds that he col-lected for chemical study in 1851 werechemically analyzed only in 1977.

"A wandering horde of Guahibo In-dians. . . was encamped on the savannasof Maypures, and on a visit to theircamp I saw an old man grinding Nioposeeds, and purchased of him his appara-tus for making and taking the snuff..The seeds, being first roasted, are pow-dered on a wooden platter. . . It is heldon the knees by a broad thin handle,which is grasped in the left hand, whilethe fingers of thç right hold a small spa-tula or pestle . . . with which the seedsare crushed . . . The snuff is kept in amull made of a bit of the leg-bone ofthe jaguar. . . For taking the snuff, theyuse an apparatus made of the leg bones

of herons or other long-shanked birdsput together in the shape of the letter Y

A contemporary observer describedthe effects of Yopo snuffing as follows:"His eyes started from his head, hismouth contracted, his limbs trembled.It was fearful to see him. He was ob-liged to sit down or he would have fall-en. He was drunk but only for aboutfive minutes; he was then gayer."

There is appreciable variation fromtribe to tribe and from one area to an-other in the preparation of Yopo. Theseeds are usually toasted and pulver-ized. Lime from snails or the ashes ofcertain plants are normally added, butsome Indians use the snuff without thisalkaline admixture. It appears that otherplant admixtures are never employedwith Anadenanthera snuff.

Anadenanthera peregrina occurs na-turally and sometimes apparently culti-vated in the plains or grassland areas ofthe Orinoco basin of Colombia and Ve-nezuela, in light forests in southernBritish Guyana, and in the Rio Brancoarea of the northern Amazonia of Bra-zil. It may occur also in isolated savannaareas in the Rio Medeira region. When itis found elsewhere, it may probablyhave been introduced by Indians. Thereis evidence that, a century ago, it wascultivated in more localities outside ofits natural range than at present.

ee_e Ge

eeeo 0><

a

0 00 0

119



A ANADENANTHERA

Cebfl

SEEDS OF CIVILIZATION

Above from left to right: The Mataco use

a decoction of fresh (still green) Cebit

pods as a head wash for headaches.

Cebit, the "Seeds of Civilization"

(seeds of the Anadenanthera colubri-

na). Bufotenine is the main active con-stituent.

The ripe seed pods of the Cebit tree

(Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil)

collect underneath the leaf canopy.The knotty bark of the Argentinian Cebit

tree (Anadenanthera colubrina bvar.

cebil.

Page 121:The Cebit tree (Anade-nanthera colubrina var. cebil) with ripeseed pods.

In the Atacama Desert of northernChile there is an oasis called San Pedrode Atacama. The art historian and ar-chaeologist C. Manuel Torres excavatedand studied over six hundred prehisto-ric graves there. The results were aston-ishing. Nearly every interred personwas accompanied for the last journeyby numerous tools dedicated to the ri-tual sniffing of Cebli.

The name CebIl designates a tree(Anadenanthera as well asits seeds, which can induce a strong psy-choactive effect.

In the Puna region of northwest Ar-gentina is the oldest archaeologicalproof of the ritual or shamanic use ofCebIl. They have been smoked therefor over 4,500 years. Numerous ceramicpipes have been discovered in certaincaves of this region. Occasionally the

bowls of the pipe still contain Cebilseeds. The psychoactive use seems inparticular to have influenced the cultureof Tiahuanaco (literally, "City of theGods"). The Tiahuanaco culture is the"mother" of Andean civilizations. Allsubsequent high cultures of the regionhave been influenced by it.

Many examples of pre-Columbiansnuff paraphernalia (snuff tablets, snuffpipes) displaying the iconography of theTiahuanaco culture have been found inPuna and the Atacama Desert. They ap-pear to be significantly inspired by thevisions of the CebIl seeds.

The use of CebIl as a snuff powder inthe southern Andean region is firstmentioned in 1580 by the Spanishchronicler Cristobal de Albornoz in hiswork Relacion. A psychoactive sub-stance cited in sources from colonialtimes called Vilica is possibly identicalto CebIl.

The shamans of the Wichi (MatacoIndians) of northwest Argentina stilluse a snuff made of CebIl today. Theshamans of the Mataco smoke thedried or roasted seeds, preferably in apipe or rolled in a cigarette. The CebIlseeds are for them a means to enterand influence another reality. CebIl is,in a manner of speaking, a gateway toa visionary world; this is how the sha-man Fortunato RuIz expresses it. Hesmokes the seeds with tobacco and Ar-omo—just as his ancestors did fivethousand years ago. This makes the

The Chemistry of Anadenanthera colubrIna

Some varieties of Cebli seed contain exclusively bufotenin (C12H160N2) asthe psychoactive ingredient. In tests of other seeds, 5-MeO-MMT, DM1, DMT-N-oxide, bufotenin, and 5-OH-DMT-N-oxide were found. Old tests of theseeds contained 15 mg/g of bufotenin.

In the dried seeds from the trees of northeast Argentina (Salta), there hasbeen found mostly bufotenin (more than 4%), and a related substance (per-haps serotonin), but otherwise no other tryptamines or alkaloids. In tests ofother seeds taken from the garden of a Mataco shaman, 12% bufotenin con-tent was found. The ripe pods of the fruit also contain some bufotenin.

120





northwest of Argentina the place withthe longest uninterrupted ritualistic orshamanic use of psychoactive sub-stances in the world.

As some Matacos have converted toChristianity in recent years, they havecome to identify CebIl with the biblicalTree of Knowledge. But they do not seeCebIl as a "forbidden fruit"; rather, theysee it as the fruit of a holy tree, which isused by shamans for healing.

The hallucinations triggered by CebIlseem to have been very influential inthe iconography of the so-called Tia-huanaco Style. The iconography of ar-tist ChavIn de Huantar is full of similarmotifs: intertwined snakes coming outof the head of the oracle god are clearlyCebil hallucinations.

The vision-inducing effects of CebIlsnuff last for roughly twenty minutesand include strong hallucinations,which are often only black and white,and seldom in color. They are not (orare only very rarely) geometric in nat-ure, but are strongly flowing and "de-centralized." They are very reminiscentof the images produced by the pre-Columbian Tiahuanaco culture.

CebIl seeds also have psychoactive ef-fects if they are smoked. The effects arevery strong for about thirty minutes andthen fade away. The effects begin with afeeling of heaviness in the body. Afterfive to ten minutes, visual hallucinationsbegin with the eyes closed, often featur-ing worm- and snakelike images flowinginto one another. Sometimes geometric,symmetrical, or crystallographic hallu-cinations can occur, but very seldom arethere any strong visions of a realisticnature (such as the experience of flying,traveling in another world, transforminginto an animal, contact with helpingspirits, and so on).

Below:The German artist Nana Nauwald de-picted her experience with Cebli seeds in a

painting in 1996. The picture bears the title"Nothing is separate from me" and shows the

typical "worm-like" visions.

Right: Recently it was reported that the Mataco

in northern Argentina smoke and sniff Anade-nanthera colubrina. With this, the Spaniards'

assumption, that the snuffs CebIl and VilIca aremade from this plant, is confirmed.

What Was Vilica?

In the colonial literature of New Spain, there are. numerous references to thepsychoactive use of certain seeds or fruits that were known variously asHuilca, Huillca, Vilca, Vilcas, Vilica, Wil'ka, Willca, or Wilika. The ethnohistori-cally documented vu/ca (fruit) is today known as the seed of Anadenantheracolubrina. Villca was of great ritual and religious significance in Peru in thetime before the arrival of the Spaniards, and was known to the Incan highpriests and soothsayers (umu) as Viica or V/I/ca camayo. A holy Indian relic(huaca) was known as Villca or Vi/cacona and an especially holy mountain isknown as Villca Coto. On the peak of Villca Coto, it is said that a couple ofhumans saved themselves during the primeval deluge.

Vilica seeds had a ceremonial significance for the Incas as a psychoactivesubsitute for beer. The "juice" of Villca was added to a fermented corn bev-erage and taken by the soothsayer, who would then be able to look into thefuture.

Villca was also the name for enemas, which were used for medicinal orshamanic purposes.

122



Far left: Pre-Columbian snuff tools from

a grave at San Pedro de Atacama.

Left: Pre-Columbian snuff vessel made

from a carved bone (San Pedro de

Atacama, Chile).

Above: The northwest Argentinianregion of Puna is the area in which the

longest continued use of visionary and

shamanic plants can be proved. In this

region the CebIl seeds have been

smoked or sniffed for 4,500 years for

healing ceremonies.

Left: The painting (oil on canvas, 1996)

by the Columbian-American artistDonna Torres shows the study of an

ethnobotaniSt who is researching

Anadenanthera colubrina.

123



BANISTERIOPSISAyahuasca

PSYCHOTRIAChacruna

60PEGANUMSyrian Rue

TETRAFTERIS

THE MAGIC DRINKOF THE AMAZON

124

There is a magic intoxicant in northwes-ternmost South America that the In-dians believe can free the soui fromcorporeal confinement, allowing it towander free and return to the body atwill. The soul, thus untrammeled, liber-ates its owner from the realities ofeveryday life and introduces him towondrous realms of what he considersreality and permits him to communicatewith his ancestors. The Quechua termfor this inebriating drink—Ayahuasca("vine of the soul")—refers to this free-ing of the spirit. The plants involved aretruly plants of the gods, for their poweris laid to supernatural forces residing intheir tissues, and they were divine giftsto the earliest Indians on earth.

Ayahuasca has many native names:Caapi, Dápa, Mihi, Kahf, Natema,Pindé, Yajé. The drink, employed forprophecy, divination, sorcery, and med-ical purposes, is so deeply rooted in na-tive mythology and philosophy thatthere can be no doubt of its great age asa part of aboriginal life.

Two closely related species of themalpighiaceous genus Banisteriopsis—B. caapi and B. inebrians—are the mostimportant plants used in preparing Aya-huasca. But other species are apparentlyused locally on occasion: B. quitensis;Mascagnia glandulifera, M. psilophyllavar. antifebrilis; Tetrapteris rnethysticaand T mucronata. All of these plantsare large forest lianas of the same family.Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians arefrequently cultivated in order to have asupply close at hand for use.

Many plants of diverse families are of-ten added to the basic drink to alter theintoxicating effects. The most com-monly used admixtures are leaves ofDzplopterys cabrerana and of the rubiac-eous Psychotria carthaginensis or P vir-idis. Other known psychoactive plants,such as Brugmansia suaveolens, Brun-felsia chiricaspi, and B. grandij7ora, mayalso be added. Among the many plantsemployed are Tobacco; Malouetiatamaquarina and a species of Tabernae-montana of the Apocynaceae; the acan-thaceous Teliostachya lanceolata var.c-rispa or Toe negra; Calathea veitchiana

of the Maranthaceae; the amaranthac-eous Alternanthera lehmannii and a spe-cies of Iresine; several ferns includingLygodium venustum and Lomariopsisjapurensis; Pbrygylanthus eugenioiclesof the Misteltoe family; the AmericanBasil Ocirnum micra nthum; a species ofthe sedge genus Cyperus; several cactiincluding species of Opuntia and Epi-piJylluni; and members of the familiesClusiaceae and Guttiferae.

The natives often have special namesfor diverse "kinds" of Ayahuasca, al-though the botanist frequently findsthem all representative of the same spe-cies. It is usually difficult to understandthe aboriginal method of classification;some may be age forms; others may comefrom different parts of the liana; stillothers may be ecological forms growingunder varying conditions of soil, shade,moisture, and so on. The natives assertthat these "kinds" have a variety of ef-fects, and it is conceivable that they mayactually have different chemical compo-sitions. This possibility is one of the leastinvestigated yet most significant aspectsin the study of Ayahuasca.

Among the Tukano of the ColombiaVaupés, for example, six "kinds" ofAyahuasca or Kahi are recognized. Bo-tanical identification has not yet beenpossible in all cases, but the "kinds"have definite native names. Kahi-riáma,the strongest, produces auditory hallu-cinations and announces future events.It is said to cause death if improperlyemployed. The second strongest, Me-né-kahI-má, reputedly causes visions ofgreen snakes. The bark is used, and it isalso said to cause death, unless cau-tiously taken. These two "kinds" maynot belong to Banisteriopsis or even tothe family Malpighiaceae.

The third in strength is called Suána-KahI-má ("KahI of the red jaguar"),producing visions in red. KahI-vaIBucura-rijomá ("KahI of the monkeyhead") causes monkeys to hallucinateand howl. The weakest of the hallucino-genic "kinds" of KahI orhas little effect but is used in the drinkto help the All of these"kinds" are referable probably to Banis-



V

Top: The Chacruna shrub (Psychotria

viridis) is the second most important

ingredient in the Ayahuasca drink.

Above right: The shoots of the Aya-

huasca liana.

Left: A Shipibo Indian with an

Ayahuasca hana that he has cultivated

in his garden.

Page 124 above: The Ayahuasca liana(Banisteriopsis caapi) is a powerful and

vigorously growing tropical vine.

Page 124 below: The pieces of

branch are the base of the Ayahuasca

preparation.

125



"Ayahuasca, medicine, enrapture me fully!Help me by opening your beautiful world to me!You also are created by the god who created man!

Reveal to me completely your medicine worlds. I shall heal the sick bodies:These sick children and this sick woman shall I heal by making everything good!"

—Ayahuasca Song of the Shipibo

Above left: The British plant explorer

Spruce collected the first botanical spe-cimens of Banisteriopsis caapiin 1851.

He sent material from the same plant for

chemical analysis. The material was lo-

cated in the Museum at the Royal Bota-

nic Gardens at Kew in 1969.

Above right: Among the Kofán of Co-

lombia and Ecuador, special medicine

men prepare Curare and Yajé. There is

an association between these two plant

products, and Yajé is taken before hunt-

ing in the belief that the visions will re-

veal the hiding places of the animals to

besought.

Far right: To make Ayahuasca or Caapi,

the freshly stripped bark must be vigor-

ously pounded before being boiled in

water or kneaded thoroughly in cold

water.

Page 127 left: The numerous Tukanoan

tribes of the Vaupés River basin in Co-

lombia and Brazil practice a male-

oriented ancestor ceremony. The

Yurupari dance, in which Caapi is a

major element, enables the participants

to communicate with spirits of the dead.

Page 127 right: Line dancing with intri-

cate steps and gourd rattles accompa-nying chants is typical of Barasana

ceremonies in which Caapi is taken,Piraparanb River.

126

teriopsis caapi. KahI-somomá or KahI-uco ("KahI that makes you vomit"), ashrub, the leaves of which are added tothe drink, an emetic agent, is undoubt-edly cabrerana, the sameplant known among the western Tu-kanoan Siona of the Colombian Putu-mayo as Oco-yajé.

Although not so famous as Peyote orthe sacred Mexican mushrooms, Aya-huasca has received popular attentionbecause of news articles extolling theso-called telepathic powers of the drink.In fact, in the chemical investigation ofBanisteriopsis, the first alkaloid isolatedwas named telepathine.

The hallucinogen may be prepared indiverse ways. Usually, bark is scrapedfrom freshly harvested pieces of thestem. In the western areas, the bark isboiled for several hours, and the bitter,thick liquid is taken in small doses. Inother localities, the bark is pulverizedand then kneaded in cold water; muchlarger doses must be taken, since it isless concentrated.

The effects of the drink vary accord-ing to the method of preparation, thesetting in which it is taken, the amountingested, the number and kinds of ad-mixtures, and the purposes for which itis used, as well as the ceremonial controlexercised by the shaman.

Ingestion of Ayahuasca usually in-duces nausea, dizziness, vomiting, andleads to either a euphoric or an aggressive

state. Frequently the Indian sees over-powering attacks of huge snakes or ja-guars. These animals often humiliate himbecause he is a mere man. The repetitive-ness with which snakes and jaguars occurin Ayahuasca visions has intrigued psy-chologists. It is understandable that theseanimals play such a role, since they are theonly beings respected and feared by theIndians of the tropical forest; because oftheir power and stealth, they have as-sumed a place of primacy in aboriginalreligious beliefs. In many tribes, the sha-man becomes a feline during the intoxica-tion, exercising his powers as a wild cat.Yekwana medicine men mimic the roarsof jaguars. Tukano Ayahuasca-takersmay experience nightmares of jaguar jawsswallowing them or huge snakes ap-proaching and coiling about their bodies.Snakes in bright colors climb up anddown the house posts. Shamans of theConibo-Shipibo tribe acquire greatsnakes as personal possessions to defendthemselves in supernatural battles againstother powerful shamans.

The drug may be the shaman's tool todiagnose illness or to ward off impend-ing disaster, to guess the wiles of an en-emy, to prophesy the future. But it ismore than the shaman's tool. It entersinto almost all aspects of the life of thepeople who use it, to an extent equaledby hardly any other hallucinogen. Par-takers, shamans or not, see all the gods,the first human beings, and animals, and



come to understand the establishmentof their social order.

Ayahuasca is, above all, a medicine—the great medicine. The Ayahuasca lea-der among the Campa of Peru is a reli-gious practitioner who, following astrict apprenticeship, maintains and in-creases his shamanistic power throughthe use of Tobacco and Ayahuasca.The Campa shaman under Ayahuascaacquires an eerie, distant voice and aquivering jaw that indicates the arrivalof good spirits who, splendidly clad,sing and dance before him; the sha-man's singing is merely his own voiceechoing their song. During the singing,his soul may travel far and wide—aphenomenon not interfering with per-formance of the ceremony nor withthe shaman's ability to communicatethe wishes of the spirits to participants.

Among the Tukano, the partaker ofthe drug feels himself pulled along bypowerful winds that the leading shamanexplains as a trip to the Milky Way, thefirst stop on the way to heaven. Simi-larly, the Ecuadorean Zaparo experiencea sensation of being lifted into the air.The souls of Peruvian Conibo-Shipiboshamans fly about in the form of a bird;or shamans may travel in a supernaturalcanoe manned by demons to reconquerlost or stolen souls.

The effects of the drink are greatly al-tered when leaves of Diploterys cabrer-ana or of Psychotria are added. The

Banisteriopsis spp.Koch/a scoparia (L.) SCHRAD.Passiflora involucrataPassiflora spp.Peganum harmala L.

Strychnos usambarensis GILGTribulus terrestris L.

HarmineHarmine, Harmane13-CarbolineHarmine, Harmane, etc.Harmine, Tetrahydroharmine,Dihydroharmaline, Harmane, Isohar-mine, Tetrahydroharmol, Harmalol,Harmol, Norharmine,HarmalineHarmaneHarmine, among others

The Chemistry of Ayahuasca

In the belief that they were new discoveries, the first alkaloids isolated fromBanisteriopsis were called telepathine and banisterine. Further chemical in-vestigations revealed that these preparations were identical with the alkaloidharmine, previously isolated from Syrian Rue, Peganum harmala. Further-more, the secondary alkaloids of Paganum, harmaline and tetrahydrohar-mine, also occur in Banisteriopsis. The active principles are indole alkaloidsfound in several other hallucinogenic plants.

The drink made from Ayahuasca is a unique pharmacological combinationof Banisteriopsis caapi, a lana that contains harmaline, and Chacruna (Psy-chotria viridia) leaves, which contain DMT. Harmaline is an MAO inhibitor; itreduces the body's production and distribution of monoamine oxidase (MAO).MAO normally breaks down the vision-inducing ingredient DMT before it cancross the blood-brain barrier into the central nervous system. Only with thiscombination of ingredients can the drink have its consciousness-expandingeffects and trigger visions.

Plants Containing the MAO-Inhibiting f3-Carboline Alkaloids:

127



"Practically all decorativeelements . . . are said .

to be derived fromhallucinatory imagery.

The most outstandingexamples are the paintings

executed on the front walls ofthe malocas . . . sometimes.

representing the Lord ofGame Animals . .

When asked about thesepaintings, the Indians simplyreply: 'This is what we seewhen we drink Yajé. .

—G. Reichej-Dolmatoff

128



tryptamines in these additives are be-lieved to be inactive when taken orally,unless monoamine oxidase inhibitorsare present. The harmine and its deriva-tives in B. caapi arid B. inebrians are in-hibitors of this kind, potentiating thetryptamines. Both types of alkaloids,however, are hallucinogenic.

Length and vividness of the visual hal-lucinations are notably enhanced whenthese additives are present. Whereasvisions with the basic drink are seenusually in blue, purple, or gray, thoseinduced when the tryptaminic additivesare used may be brightly colored in redsand yellows.

The Ayahuasca intoxication may be avery intense experience with visions oflight setting in with the eyes closed aftera period of giddiness, nervousness, pro-fuse sweating, and sometimes nausea. Aperiod of lassitude initiates the play ofcolors—at first white, then mainly a hazy,smoky blue that later increases in inten-sity; eventually sleep, interrupted bydreams and occasional feverishness, takesover. Serious diarrhea, which continuesafter the intoxication, is the uncomforta-ble effect most frequently experienced.With the tryptaminic additives, many ofthese effects are intensified, but tremblingand convulsive shaking, mydriasis, andincrease of pulse rate are also noted.Frequently, a show of recklessness, some-times even aggressiveness, marks ad-vanced states of the inebriation.

The famous YuruparI ceremony of theTukanoans is an ancestor-communicationritual, the basis of a man's tribal societyand an adolescent male initiation rite. Itssacred bark trumpet, which calls the Yur-uparI spirit, is taboo to the sight of wo-men; it symbolizes the forces to whomthe ceremony is holy, favorably influen-cing fertility spirits, effecting cures of pre-valent illnesses, and improving the maleprestige and power over women. TheYuruparI ceremony is now little practiced.One of the most detailed reports of a re-cent dance describes it as follows:

"A deep booming of drums fromwithin the maloca heralded the app ear-ance of the mystic YuruparI horns. Withonly very slight urging from one of the

older men, all females from babes in armsto withered, toothless hags betook them-selves to the fringing forest, to hear onlyfrom afar the deep, mysterious notes ofthe trumpets, sight of which is believedto spell certain death for any womanPayés shamans and older men are notabove aiding the workings of the mys-tery by the judicious administration ofpoison to any overcurious female.

"Four pairs of horns had been takenfrom places of concealment, and theplayers now ranged themselves in arough semi-circle, producing the firstdeep, lugubrious notes

"Many of the older men had mean-while opened their tangatara boxes ofceremonial feathers and were selectingwith great care brilliant feather ruffs,which were bound to the mid-sectionof the longer horns.

"Four oldsters, with perfect rhythmand dramatic timing, paraded throughthe maloca, blowing the newly decoratedhorns, advancing and retreating withshort dancing steps. At intervals, a coupledanced out of the door, their horns raisedhigh, and returned after a brief turn, theexpanding and contracting feather ruffsproducing a beautiful burst of translu-cent color against the stronger light.Younger men were beginning the first ofthe savage whippings, and the master ofceremonies appeared with the red, cur-iously• shaped clay jar containing thepowerful narcotic drink called Caapi.The thick, brown, bitter liquid wasserved in pairs of tiny round gourds;many drinkers promptly vomited...

"Whipping proceeded by pairs. Thefirst lashes were applied to the legs andankles, the whip flung far back in a de-liberately calculated dramatic gesture;the blows resounded like pistol shots.Places were immediately exchanged.Soon the whips were being freely ap-plied, and all the younger men werelaced with bloody welts on all parts ofthe body. Tiny lads not more than six orseven years old would catch up theabandoned whips, merrily imitatingtheir elders. Gradually the volume ofsound diminished, until only two loneperformers remained, enchanted with

Top: Many species of Passion flower

(Passiflora spp.) contain the active sub-

stances harmine and harmaline.

Above right: Syrian Rue (Peganum

harmala) with fruit capsules.

Page 128 above: The mural in the

Cuzco Airport (Peru) reveals the

visionary world of Ayahuasca.

Page 128 below: Shipibo Indians in

traditional costumes decorated with

Ayahuasca patterns (Yarinacocha,

Peru).

129

3.

p .

.'',. '



Left: A beer mug of the Conibo-Shipibo

Indians that has been completely

painted with the Ayahuasca pattern.

Right: Shipibo women communally

paint a ceramic with Ayahuasca pat-terns.

130

their art, bowing, advancing, and re-treating, with great delicacy and gracein the center of the maloca. About adozen of the older men were outfittingthemselves with their finest diadems ofresplendent guacamayo feathers, tall,feathery egret plumes, oval pieces ofthe russet skin of the howler monkey,armadillo-hide disks, prized loops ofmonkey-hair cord, precious quartzitecylinders, and jaguar-tooth belts. Be-decked with these triumphs of savageart, the men formed a swaying, dancingsemi-circle, each with his right handresting on his neighbor's shoulder, allshifting and stamping in slow unison.

Leading the group was the ancient payé,blowing Tobacco smoke in benedictionon his companions from the huge cigarin its engraved ceremonial fork, whilehis long, polished rattle-lance vibratedconstantly. The familiar, dignified Ca-chirI ceremonial chant was intoned bythe group; their deep voices rose andfell, mingling with the mysteriousbooming tones of the YuruparI horns."

The Tukano believe that when, at thetime of creation, humans arrived to po-pulate the Vaupés region, many extraor-dinary happenings took place. Peoplehad to endure hardship before settlingthe new regions. Hideous snakes and



dangerous fish lived in the rivers; therewere spirits with cannibalistic procliv-ities; and the Tukano received in trepida-tion the basic elements of their culture.

There lived among these early Tukanoa woman—the first woman of crea-tion—who "drowned" men in visions.Tukanoans believe that during coitus, aman "drowns"—the equivalent of see-ing visions. The first woman found

the sensual, to a mystical union with themythic era, the intrauterine stage, is theultimate goal, attained by a mere hand-ful but coveted by all."

All or much of Indian art, it has beenproposed, is based on visionary experi-ence. Colors, similarly, are symbolicallysignificant: yellow or off-white has aseminal concept, indicating solar fertili-zation; red—color of the uterus, fire,

Above: Many species of the genus Ba-

nisteriopsis, like this B. muricata from

southern Mexico, are rich in MAO-inhibiting Because of this,

they are particularly suited in the

preparation of Ayahuasca analogs.

herself with child. The Sun-father hadimpregnated her through the eye. Shegave birth to a child who became Caapi,the narcotic plant. The child was bornduring a brilliant flash of light. The wo-man—Yajé-----cut the umbilical cord and,rubbing the child with magical plants,shaped its body. The Caapi-child livedto be an old man zealously guarding hishallucinogenic powers. From this agedchild, owner of Caapi or the sexual act,the Tukanoan men received semen. Forthe Indians, wrote Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, "the hallucinatory experi-ence is essentially a sexual one . . . tomake it sublime, to pass from the erotic,

heat—symbolizes female fecundity;blue represents thought through To-bacco smoke. These colors accompanyAyahuasca intoxications and have pre-cise interpretations. Many of the com-plicated rock engravings in the rivervalleys of the Vaupés region areundoubtedly based upon drug ex-periences. Likewise, the stereotypedpaintings on the bark wall of Tukanoancommunal houses represent themesfrom Ayahuasca hallucinations.

Pictures and decorations on pots,houses, basketry, and other householdobjects fall into two categories: ab-stract design and figurative motifs.

Above left: A Shipibo woman paints

a piece of fabric with her traditional

Ayahuasca pattern.

Above right: The jungle pharmacy of the

Shipibo Indians. Countless medicinal

plants are taken with Ayahuasca, which

strengthen the effects.

131



"The caji plants(Ayahuasca) reveal them-selves to the experiencer,it grows, becomes green,blooms, and ultimately

vanishes. The moment ofthe blossoming is valued

as the apexof the experience."

—Florian Deltgen (1993)

Above: A Barasana Indian traces in

sand near his maloca patterns seen

during the course of Caapi intoxication.

It has been suggested that many of the

design motifs induced by Caapi are, onthe one hand, culture-bound and, on the

other hand, controlled by specific bio-chemical effects of the active principlesin the plant.

132

The Indians know the difference be-tween the two and say that it is due toCaapi intoxication. "Someone watchinga man at work or finding a drawingwould say: 'This is what one sees afterthree cups of Yajé,' occasionally speci-fying the kind of plant that had beenused and thus giving an indication ofthe nature of the narcotic effects theyattributed to different concoctions,"speculated G. Reichel-Dolmatoff.

It would seem that such an importantdrug would have attracted the attentionof Europeans at a very early date. Suchwas not the case. In 1851, however, theEnglish botanist Spruce, who was col-lecting among Tukanoan tribes in the

Rio Vaupés region of Brazil, met withCaapi and sent material for chemicalstudy to England. Three years later, heobserved Caapi use again among theGuahibo Indians along the upper

Orinoco. Later, he encountered Aya-huasca among the Zaparo of Ecuadorand identified it as the same hallucino-gen as Caapi.

"In the course of the night," Sprucewrote of Caapi, "the young men par-took of Caapi five or six times, in theintervals between the dances; but onlya few of them at a time, and a very fewdrank of it twice. The cup-bearer—whomust be a man, for no woman can touchor taste Caapi—starts at a short runfrom the opposite end of the house,with a small calabash containing abouta teacupful of Caapi in each hand, mut-tering 'Mo-mo-mo-mo-mo' as he runs,and gradually sinking down until at lasthis chin nearly touches his knees, whenhe reaches out one of his cups to theman who stands ready to receive itIn two minutes or less after drinking it,the effects begin to be apparent. Thedian turns deadly pale, trembles inevery limb, and horror is in his aspect.Suddenly contrary symptoms succeed;he bursts into perspiration and seemspossessed with reckless fury, seizeswhatever arms are at hand . . . andrushes to the door, while he inflicts vio-lent blows on the ground and door-posts, calling out all the while: 'Thuswould I do to mine enemy [naminghim by name] were this he!' In aboutten minutes, the excitement has passedoff, and the Indian grows calm but ap-pears exhausted."

Since Spruce's time, this drug hasbeen mentioned often by many travelersand explorers, but little has been accom-plished until recently.. In fact, it was notuntil 1969 that, chemical analysis ofSpruce's material, collected for such ex-amination in 1851, was carried out.

Much remains to be learned aboutAyahuasca, Caapi, Yajé. There is littletime before increasing acculturationand even extinction of whole tribes willmake it forever impossible to learnabout these age-old beliefs and uses.



Left: This beautiful engraving on a gran-ite rock at Nyl on the lower Piraparaná

River in Colombia is obviously ancient.

The rapids at this point on the river areat the earth's equator, a zone vertically

related to the rising and setting constel-

lations. It has been suggested that this

turbulent area of the river was the place

where the Sun Father married Earth

Mpther to create the first Tukanoans.

The Indians interpret the triangular face

as a vagina and the stylized human

figure as a winged phallus.

Above: The talented Peruvian artist

Yando, the son of an Ayahuasquero

from Pucallpa, drew this Ayahuasca vi-

sion. Notice that the complexities of the

hallucinations are treated in an imagery

in which microscopic and macroscopic

dimensions are skillfully blended.

133



Rig/il. hung cultivated Chacruna(Psyc/ii'!ria viridis).

A selection of plants used in the preparation of the Ayahuasca drink to give it its desiredhealing powers or specific qualities:

Ayahuma

Batsikawa

Cabalonga

Catahua

Cat's claw

Chiricaspi

Cuchura-caspi

Cumala

Guatillo

Guayusa

Hiporuru

Kana

Kapok tree

Lupuna

Pfaffia

Pichana

Pin pin

Pulma

Rami

Remo caspi

Sanango

Sucuba

Tobacco

Euphorbia sp.

Capsicum frutescens

Erythrina spp.

Brugmansia spp.

Couroupita guianensis

Psychotria sp.

Thevetia sp.

Hura crepitans

Uncaria tomentosa

Brunfelsia spp.

Malouetia tamaquarina

Virola spp.

Iochroma fuchsioides

flex guayusa

Aichornea castanaefolia

Sabicea amazonensis

Ce/ba pentandra

Chorisia insignis

Pfaffia iresinoides

Ocimum micranthum

Cyperus sp.

Calathea veitchiana

Lygodium venustum

Pitheceiobjum /aetum

Tabernaemontana sananho

Himatanthus sucuuba

Nicotiana rustica

for better singing

tonic

purgative

to treat delusions,illnesses caused by magic arrows(chonteado),and enchantment

strengthens the body

for cooling and reduction of visions

protects against spirits

purgative

strengthens;used to treat allergies,kidney problems, stomach ulcer,venereal disease

for fever, rheumatism, and arthritis

to enable a better diagnosis

strengthens the vision


for purification and treatmentof vomiting

to treat diarrhea

"sweetens" the Ayahuasca drink

diarrhea, intestinal problems

to treat intestinal problems

sexual weakness

fever

fright; promotes spiritualdevelopment; for abortions

to stimulate visions

to strengthen the Ayahuasca drink

strengthens the Ayahuasca drink

poor memory;for spiritual development;arthritis, rheumatism

to extract magic arrows

for poisoning


Ayahuasca Ingredients

Ai curo

AjI

Amacisa

Angel's Trumpet

Ahiove:. Farmers toii;jcco (Nicotiana,n,lica) is one of tin most important

plants in America.

/ I The fruit of ;pecies of Theve-to called Cabalong,, blanca is added to,.vthuasca to protoct lie drinker from

licious spirits.

Toe Ipomoea carnea



1: The Chiricaspi bush (Brunfelsiagrand/flora spp. schultesii) is an impor-

tant shaman plant in the northern

regions of South America.

2: Cat's Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is

one of the important medicinal plants for

treating chronic illnesses among the

Peruvian Indians.

7

3: For many Indians, the Kapok tree(Ce/ba pentandra) is the world tree.

4: The bindweed Ipomea carnea con-tains potent psychoactive alkaloids and

is used in the Peruvian Amazon basin

as an ingredient in Ayahuasca.

5: The Sanango leaves (Ta be rnaemon-

lana sananho) strengthen the memory.

6:The Palo de Borracho "tree of drun-kenness" (Choris/a insignis) is a world

tree in the cosmology of the shaman. Its

astringent bark is added to Ayahuasca.

7: A leaf cutting from Psychotria v/rid/s

(gro'Nn in California).

135

1





AYAHUASCA ANALOGS

The pharmacological agent that hasbeen identified in Ayahuasca can be imi-tated in plants with similar active ingre-dients DMT/5-MeO-DMT). Nontraditional combina-tions of plants with these ingredients aretoday known as "Ayahuasca analogs"or Anahuasca. Combinations made ofthe isolated of synthesized ingredientsare called "pharmahuasca."

Jonathan Ott, a chemist specializingin natural substances, writes: "Psycho-nautic pharmahuasca research is so dis-tant from the scientific mainstream thatit took nearly three decades of no onesupporting, or independent scientistsdoing 'underground' research beforethe enzyme inhibitor theory of Aya-huasca pharmacology was put to thetest. Paradoxically, this research canrightfully claim that is stands exactly inthe center of the research on the bio-chemistry of consciousness and the ge-netics of pathological brain functions!

Ayahuasca research is not just onthe vertex of neuro-scientific research,but it is possible that the reversibleMAO-inhibiting effects of Ayahuascacould present a practical, less toxic alter-native to the harmful substances that arefinding medical uses!"

The value of these Ayahuasca analogslies in the entheogenic effects that leadto a deeper spiritual ecology and anall-encompassing mystical insight. Aya-huasca and its analogs bring about—butonly with the right dosage—a shamanicecstasy:

"Shamanic ecstasy is the true ancientreligion, of which modern churches aremerely pale imitations. Our ancestorsdiscovered in many places, and at manytimes, that suffering humanity couldfind in ecstatic entheogenic experiencesthe reconciliation between the cultiva-ted intelligence that separates each hu-man being from other creatures andeven from other humans, and the wild,untamed, magnificent animal physical-

ity that we all possess . . . It is notnecessary to have faith because the ec-static experience in and of itself givesone the belief in the true unity and in-tegrity of the universe, and in ourselvesas an integral part of the whole. Ecstaticexperience is what reveals to us thesublime grandeur of our universe andthe fluctuating, shimmering alchemicalwonder that constitutes our everydayconsciousness. Entheogens such asAyahuasca could be the appropriatemedicine for hypermaterialistic human-ity on the threshold of the new millen-nium, where it will be decided if ourway will be continuing to grow andprogress or if we will be destroyed in amassive biological holocaust unparal-leled by anything that has happened inour realm in the last 65 million yearsThe entheogenic reformation is ourgreatest hope for healing our dearMother Gaia, because it is bringingabout a true religious revival that willhelp to bring in the new millennium."

All formulas for Ayahuasca analogsmust contain an MAO inhibitor and aDMT supplier.

Until now, most experiments havebeen with Banisteriopsis caapi, Banister-iopsis spp., and Peganum harmala. Butthere are other MAO inhibitors in nat-ure, such as caltrop (Tribulus terrestris).Preferred DMT suppliers include Psy-chotria viridis and Mimosa tenuijiora,although there are numerous other pos-sibilities (see tables).

Page 136: The German artist Nana

Nauwald renders her Ayahuasca

visions in this painting, allowing the

viewer a glimpse into the alternate

reality?'

Above: Many species of the North

American plant genus Desmodiumcontain the potent substance DMT in

their root bark, making them suited in

the preparation of drinks similar to

Ayahuasca.

Above: The seeds of the Mimosa scab-

re/Ia contain DMTand are usable in the

preparation of Ayahuasca analogs.

137



I: The leaf of the extremely rare Acacia

phiebophylla is rich with DMT. It grows

Only on one mountain in Australia.

2: The Australian native Acacia maiden/icontains a high concentration of DMT in

its bark.

3: The seeds of the South American

tree Dictyloma incanescens. This tree

contains ample amounts of 5-MeO-DMT.

4: The seeds of the tropical Mucuna

pruriens are preferred by the traditionalpeople to make jewehy In addition they

contain high concentrations of DMTand5-MeO-DMT.

5: A species of the DMT-containinggenus Desmodium.

6: The Turkey Red variety of the grass

P/ia/ar/s arundinacea contains liberalamounts of DMT.

7: The root bark of the Mexican Mimosa

tenuiflora (Mimosa host/I/is) is full of

psychoactive alkaloids. The dried rootbark contains about 1 % DMT. It iswell suited for the production of anAyahuasca analog.

138

Ayahuasca Analogs: Plants that contain DM1

Plant Family Drug Tryptamine

Arundo donaxL. Rhizome DMTPha/aris arundinacea L. Grass, root DM1Phalaris tuberosa L. (Italian strain) Leaves DMTPhragmites australis (Cay.) TR. et ST. Rhizome DM1, 5-MeO-DMT

Leguminosae (Fabaceae)Acacia maideniiF.v. Muell.Acacia phiebophylla F.v. Muell.Acacia simpilcifolia DruceAnadenanthera peregrina (L.) Spag.Desmanthus illinoensis (Michx.) Macm.Desmodium pulchellum Benth. ex. Bak.Desmodiuni spp.Lespedeza capitata Michx.Mimosa scabrella Benth.Mimosa tenuiflora (Wild.) Poir.Mucuna pruriens DC.

BarkLeaves

Leaves, barkBark

Root-barkRoot bark

0.36% DMT0.3% DMT0.81 % DMTDM1, 5-MeO-DMTup to 0.34% DM1DM1

DMTDM1

Root bark 0.57—1 % DM1Seeds DMT, 5-MeO-DMT

MalpighiaceaeDiplopterys cabrerana (Cuatr.) Gates Leaves DM1, 5-MeO-DMT

MyristicaceaeVirola sebifera Aub. Bark DMTVirola theiodora (Spruce ex Benth.) Warb. Flowers 0.44% DM1Virola spp. Bark, resin DMT, 5-MeO-DMT

RubiaceaePsychotria poeppigiana MUELL. -ARG. Leaves DM1Psychotria viridis R. et R Leaves DMT

RutaceaeDictyoloma incanescens DC Bark 0.04% 5-MeO-DMT



Ayahuasca ChurchesIn addition to the true shamanic use of Aya-huasca, recently various syncretic churcheshave been established that also use Aya-huasca as part of their religious rituals. TheSanto Daime cult as well as the Ayahuascachurch, União do Vegatal, hold regularmeetings in which the members—the greatmajority of whom are mestizos from the low-er classes—drink Ayahuasca together andsing pious songs. Led by a priest, the grouptravels to the spirits of the trees as well as tothe Christian holy spirits. Many cult mem-bers discover a new meaning to life and findhealing for the soul. For the members ofthese Brazilian churches, which have alsomade headway in Europe, the use of thismagic potion is just as legal as it is for theshamans of the jungle.

Santo Daime, the ritual drink of a cult, andhoasca, the sacrament of another church,are both made according to an originalIndian recipe in which the Banisteriopsiscaapi vine and the leaves of the charcrunashrub (Psychotria viridis) are boiled to makean extremely psychedelic mixture.

The Santo Daime cult also has mission-aries active in Europe, and this Braziliangroup has been especially successful inGermany and the Netherlands. In Amster-dam, they have their own church. Also inthe Netherlands, the potential use of Aya-huasca to treat addictions is being tested.

7

This Ayahuasca analog is known among people knowledgeable in the field asa preparation that is the most psychoactive and easiest to tolerate. Per per-

son, prepare:3g Peganum harmala, finely ground9g root husk of Mimosa tenuifloraLemon or lime juice

The ground seeds of Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala) are soaked in water andswallowed or taken in a gelatin capsule. Fifteen minutes later, drink the boiledmixture of lemon or lime juice and Mimosa husk.

After 45 to 60 minutes—often after brief nausea or vomiting—the visionsbegin. They often take the form of fireworks or kaleidoscope-like designs,flashing colors, fantastic mandalas, or travels to another world. The effectsare equal to the effects of the Ayahuasca preparations from the Amazon.

Juremahuasca or Mimohuasca

139



BRUGMANSIA AUREAGolden Angel's Trumpet

2 BRUGMANSIA SANGUINEABlood-Red Angel's Trumpet

TRUMPETS OF THE ANGELS

1: The shamanic use of the gold-yellow

flowering Brugmansia occurs primarilyin Colombia and northern Peru.

2: The flowers and leaves are used by

many Indian shamans for medicinalpurposes.

3: The ripe fruit of the Brugmansia

sanguinea. This Angel's Trumpet puts

out far more fruit than does any otherspecies.

4: The flower of Brugmansia sanguinea.

140

The Guambjano of southern Colombiasay of Brugmansia vulcanicola: "Hpleasant is the perfume of the long,bell-like flowers of the Yas, as one in-hales it in the afternoon . . . But the treehas a spirit in the form of an eagle whichhas been seen to come flying throughthe air and then to disappear . . . Thespirit is so evil that if a weak person sta-tions himself at the foot of the tree, hewill forget everything, ... feeling up inthe air as if on wings of the spirit of theYas . . . If a girl . . . sits resting in thetree's shade, she will dream about menof the Paez tribe, and later a figure will

be left in her womb which will be bornesix months later in the form of pips orseeds of the tree."

The species of Brugmansia are nativeto South America. Brugmansia in thepast has usually been considered to re-present a section of the genus Datura.Thorough studies of the biology ofthese plants have shown that they de-serve to be classified in a distinct genus.The behavior of the species—as well astheir location—indicates long associa-tion with man.

The hallucinogenic use of Brugman-sia may have come from knowledge ofthe closely related Datura, knowledgethat proto-Indian Mongoloids broughtto the New World in late Paleolithjcand Mesolithic times. As they migratedsouthward, they encountered other spe-cies of Datura, especially in Mexico,and bent them to shamanic use. Uponarriving in the Andes of South America,they recognized the resemblance of theBrugmansias to Datura and found theirpsychoactive properties very similar. Atany rate, everything about the use ofBrugmansia bespeaks great antiquity.

Little is known, however, of pre-Conquest use of Brugmansia. Thereare, nevertheless, scattered referencesto these hallucinogens. The Frenchscientist de Ia Condamine mentionedits use among the Omagua of the RioMarañon. The explorers von Humboldtand Bonpiand remarked on Tonga, thered-flowered B. sanguinea, as a sacredplant of the priests in the Temple of theSun at Sogamoza in Colombia.

Brugniansia arborea, B. aurea, andB. san guinea usually occur above an al-titude of six thousand feet. The seeds arewidely employed as an additive to chi-cha. The crushed leaves and flowers areprepared in hot or cold water to be ta-ken as a tea. Leaves can be mixed withan infusion of Tobacco. Some Indiansmay scrape off the soft green bark ofthe stems and soak it in water for use.

The Brugmansia intoxication variesbut is always characterized by a violentphase. There is probably no more suc-cinct description than that of JohannJ.Tschudi in 1846, who saw the effects in



Peru. The native "fell into a heavy stu-por, his eyes vacantly fixed on theground, his mouth convulsively closed,and his nostrils dilated. In the course ofa quarter of an hour, his eyes began toroll, foam issued from his mouth, andhis whole body was agitated by frightfulconvulsions. After these violent symp-toms had passed, a profound sleep ofseveral hours' duration followed, andwhen the subject had recovered, he re-lated the particulars of his visit with hisforefathers."

At Tunja, among the Muisca, accord-ing to a report in 1589, a "dead chief wasaccompanied to the tomb by his womenand slaves, who were buried in differentlayers of earth . . . of which none waswithout gold. And so that the womenand poor slaves should not fear theirdeath before they saw the awful tomb,the nobles gave them things to drink ofinebriating Tobacco and other leaves ofthe tree we call Borrachero, all mixed intheir usual drink, so that of their sensesnone is left to foresee the harm soon tobefall them." The species employedwere undoubtedly Brugmansia aureaand B. sanguinea.

Among the JIvaro, recalcitrant chil-dren are given a drink of B. scinguineawith parched maize; when intoxicated,the children are lectured so that the spir-its of the ancestors may admonish them.In the Chocó, Brugmansia seeds putinto magic chicha beer were thought toproduce in children an excitement dur-ing which they could discover gold.

Indians in Peru still call Brugmansiasan guinea by the name Huaca or Hua-cachaca ("plant of the tomb") from thebelief that it reveals treasures ancientlyburied in graves.

In the warmer parts of the westernAmazon, Brugmansia suaveolens, B. ver-sicolor, and B. x insignis are employed ashallucinogens or as an admixture withAyahuasca.

Perhaps no locality can equal the Val-ley of Sibundoy in the Andes of Colom-bia for Brugmansia use. The Kamsá andIngano Indians use several species and anumber of local cultivars as hallucino-gens. The Indians of this region, espe-

cially shamans, have a developedknowledge of the effects of these plantsand grow them as private possessions.

Usually the property of specific sha-mans, these cultivars have native na-mes. The leaves of Buyés (B. aurea) areemployed mainly to relieve rheuma-tism, an effective medicine with its highconcentration of tropane alkaloids.Biangan was employed formerly byhunters: the leaves and flowers weremixed with dogs' food to enable themto find more game. The tongue-shapedleaf of Amarón is valued as a suppurantand in treating rheumatism. The rarest

Above: The seeds of Brugmansia sua-

veolens are used in Peru as an intoxi-

cating additive to corn beer. They aretaken by the shamans in higher doses

and often produce a delirium that can

last for days with the most powerful of

hallucinations.

Below: The Blood-Red Angel's Trumpet

is often planted in sacred places andcemeteries. Here is a large plant grow-

ing with an image of the Madonna in

southern Chile.

The Chemistry of Brugmansia

The solanaceous Brugmansia arborea, B. aurea, B. sanguinea, B. suaveo-lens, and B. versicolor contain the same tropane alkaloids as the Daturas:scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atrbpine, and the various secondary alkaloids ofthe tropane group, such as norscopolamine, aposcopolamine, meteloidine,etc. Scopolamine, responsible for the hallucinogenic effects, is always foundin the largest quantity. The leaves and stems of B. aurea, for example, with atotal alkaloid of 0.3 percent, contain 80 percent scopolamine, which is alsothe main alkaloid in the roots of Brugmansia.

141



Right: The Valley of Sibundoy in south-

ern Colombia is a location of intensive

use of Brugmansia. One of the most

renowned medicine men of the Kamsá

tribe is Salvador Chindoy. Here he is

pictured in his ceremonial garb at the

beginning of a Brugmansia-induced

intoxication for purposes of divination.

Left: A young Kamsá Indian boy of

Sibundoy, Colombia, holds a flower andleaves of Culebra Borrachera prior tobrewing a tea for the purpose of intoxi-cation in preparation for learning the

secrets of use of hallucinogens in magicand medicine.

142

cultivar is Salamán, with bizarrely atro-phied leaves; it is employed both intreating rheumatism and as a hallucino-gen. The extreme in aberration is foundin Quinde and Munchira: these two areused as hallucinogens but also in thetreatment of rheumatism and as emetics,carminatives, vermifuges, and suppur-ants; Munchira likewise is employed totreat erysipelas. Quinde is the mostwidely employed cultivar in Sibundoy;Munchira the most toxic. The rareDientes and Ochre find their most im-portant use in the treatment of rheu-matic pains.

"A spirit so evil, our grandparents tellus, was in these trees with flowers likelong bells, which give off their sweetperfume in the afternoon, that theywere the food of those Indians at whosename people trembled: fierce Pijaos."

Culebra borrachero is thought bysome botanists to be one of those mon-strous cultivars. More potent than any

of the cultivars of Brugmansia, it is usedhallucinogenically for the most difficultcases of divination and as an effectivemedicine for rheumatic or arthriticpains.

The cultivars Quinde and Munchiraare most frequently used for their psy-choactive effects. The juice of thecrushed leaves or flowers is drunk eitheralone in a cold-water preparation orwith aguardiente (an alcoholic distillateof sugar). In Sibundoy only shamansusually take Brugmansia. Most shamans"see" fearful visions of jaguars andpoisonous snakes. Symptoms and un-pleasant aftereffects probably havecontributed to the limitation of Brug-mansia as a hallucinogen.

The JIvaro believe that normal life isan illusion, that the true powers behinddaily life are supernatural. The shaman,with his potent hallucinogenic plants,can cross over into the world of ethere-al wonder and deal with the forces of



evil. A JIvaro boy at the age of six mustacquire an external soul, anwaleani, the vision-producing soul thatcan allow him to communicate with an-cestors. To get his arutam the boy andhis father make a pilgrimage to a sacredwaterfall, bathing, fasting, and drinkingTobacco water. Maikoa or Brugmansiajuice may also be taken to effect contactwith the supernatural during which theboy's arutam appears as jaguars andanacondas and enters his body.

The JIvaro frequently take Natema(Ayahuasca) or Banisteriopsis to acquirethe arutam, since it is a strong intoxi-cant, but Brugniansia must be used ifNatema is not successful. Maikoa intox-ication, the JIvaro assert, may causeinsanity.

From all viewpoints, species of Brug-mansia have had a difficult time of it inspite of their great beauty. They areplants of the gods, but not the agreeablegifts of the gods, like Peyote, the mush-rooms, Ayahuasca. Their powerful andwholly unpleasant effects, leading toperiods of violence and even temporaryinsanity, together with their sickeningaftereffects, have conspired to put themin a place of second category. They areplants of the gods, true, but the gods donot always strive to make life easy forman—so they gave man the Brugman-sias, to which he must on occasion re-pair. The evil eagle hovers over man,and his Borrachero is an ever-presentreminder that it is not always easy toattain an audience with the gods.

Right: The beautiful flowers of the An-

gel's Trumpet inspired the Symbolists

(fabric printed after a design byAlphonse Mucha, Paris 1896; original is

in the Wurttemburg State Museum,

Stuttgart, Germany).

Loft: This drawing by a Guambiano In-

dian of the southern Andes of Colombiadepicts a native woman under a Borra-

chero tree, Brugmansia vulcanicola.

The portrayal of an eagle associated

with an evil spirit indicates the danger-ous toxicity of this tree, which causes aperson tarrying under it to become for-

getful and to feel as if he were flying.

143



LOPHOPHORAPeyote THE TRACKS OF THE LITTLE DEER

Page 145 top: The Peyote crowns take

on many different forms, depending on

age and growing conditions.

Page 145 be/ow: A group of large

Peyote cacti in their native habitat of

southern Texas.

Ever since the arrival of the first Euro-peans in the New World, Peyote hasprovoked controversy, suppression, andpersecution. Condemned by the Span-ish conquerors for its "satanic trickery,"and attacked again and again by localgovernments and religious groups, theplant has nevertheless continued to playa major sacramental role among the In-dians of Mexico, while its use has spreadto the northern tribes in the UnitedStates in the last hundred years. Thepersistence and, growth o.f the Peyotecult constitute a fascinating chapter inthe history of the New World—and achallenge to the anthropologists andpsychologists, botanists and pharmaco-logists who continue to study the plant

lished in native religions, and their ef-forts to stamp out this practice drove itinto hiding in the hills, where its sacra-mental use has persisted to the presenttime.

How old is the Peyote cult? An earlySpanish chronicler, Fray Bernardino deSahagün, estimated on the basis of sev-eral historical events recorded in Indianchronology that Peyote was known tothe Chichimeca and Toltec at least1,890 years before the arrival of the Eur-opeans. This calculation would give the"divine plant" of Mexico an economichistory extending over a period of sometwo millennia. Then Carl Lumholtz, theDanish ethnologist who did pioneerwork among the Indians of Chihuahua,

Right:A Huichol yarn painting showsthe nurturing and fertile gifts of thePeyote cactus.

144

and its constituents in connection withhuman affairs.

We might logically call this needle-less Mexican cactus the prototype ofthe New World hallucinogens. It wasone of the first to be discovered by Eu-ropeans and was unquestionably themost spectacular vision-inducing plantencountered by the Spanish conquer-ors. They found Peyote firmly estab-

Left: The flowering Peyote cactus(Lophophora

I

suggested that the Peyote cult is far old-en He showed that a symbol employedin the Tarahumara Indian Peyote cere-mony appeared in ancient ritualistic car-vings preserved in Mesoamerican lavarocks. More recently, archaeologicaldiscoveries in dry caves and rock shel-ters in Texas have yielded specimens ofPeyote. These specimens, found in acontext suggesting ceremonial use, mdi-



cate that its use is more than seven thou-sand years old.

The earliest European records con-cerning this sacred cactus are those ofSahagün, who lived from 1499 to 1590and who dedicated most of his adult lifeto the Indians of Mexico. His precise,firsthand observations were not pub-lished until the nineteenth century.Consequently, credit for the earliestpublished account must go to JuanCardenas, whose observations on themarvelous secrets of the Indies werepublished as early as 1591.

Sahagiin's writings are among themost important of all the early chroni-clers. He described Peyote use amongthe Chichimeca, of the primitive desertplateau of the north, recording for pos-terity: "There is another herb like tunas[Opuntia spp.] of the earth. It is calledpeiotl. It is white. It is found in thenorth country. Those who eat or drinkit see visions either frightful or laugh-able. This intoxication lasts two or threedays and then ceases. It is a commonfood of the Chichimeca, for it sustainsthem and gives them courage to fightand not feel fear nor hunger nor thirst.And they say that it protects them fromall danger."

It is not known whether or not theChichimeca were the first Indians todiscover the psychoactive properties ofPeyote. Some students believe that theTarahumara Indians, living where Pe-yote grew, were the first to discover itsuse and that it spread from them to theCora, the Huichol, and other tribes.Since the plant grows in many scatteredlocalities in Mexico, it seems probablethat its intoxicating properties were in-dependently discovered by a number oftribes.

Several seventeenth-century SpanishJesuits testified that the Mexican In-dians used Peyote medicinally and cere-monially for many ills and that whenintoxicated with the cactus they saw"horrible visions." Padre Andrea Perezde Ribas, a seventeenth-century Jesuitwho spent sixteen years in Sinaloa, re-ported that Peyote was usually drunkbut that its use, even medicinally, was

The active principle of Lophophora williamsii, the first hallucinogenic plant tobe chemically analyzed, was already identified at the end of the nineteenth

century as a crystallized alkaloid (see page 23). Because the dried cacti from

which the alkaloid was extracted are called mescal buttons, it was named

mescaline. In addition to mescaline, responsible for the visual hallucinogeniceffects, several related alkaloids have been isolated from Peyote and related

cacti.When the chemical structure of mescaline was determined, it could be

produced synthetically. The chemistry is relatively simple: 3,4,5,-trimethoxy-

phenylethylamine. The model of this structure is shown on page 186.Mescaline is chemically related to the neurotransmitter noradrenaline (nor-

epinephrine), a brain hormone, also shown here. The active dose of mesca-

line is 0.5—0.8 gram when applied orally.

145

The Chemistry of Peyote



Right: An old and very large Peyote

cactus that is addressed as "Grand-

father" by the Indians. Notice the youngcrowns.

146

forbidden and punished, since it wasconnected with "heathen rituals andsuperstitions" to contact evil spiritsthrough "diabolic fantasies."

The first full description of the livingcactus was offered by Dr. FranciscoHernández, who as personal physicianof King Philip II of Spain was sent tostudy Aztec medicine. In his ethnobo-tanical study of New Spain, Dr. Her-nández described. peyotl, as the plantwas called in the Nahuati language of.the Aztecs: "The root is of nearly med-ium size, sending forth no branches orleaves above the ground, but with acertain woolliness adhering to it on ac-count of which it could not aptly befigured by me. Both men and womenare said to be harmed by it. It appearsto be of a sweetish taste and moder-ately hot. Ground up and applied topainful joints, it is said to give relief.Wonderful properties are attributed tothis root, if any faith can be given towhat is commonly said among themon this point. It causes those devouringit to be able to foresee and to predictthings . .

In the latter part of the seventeenth

century, a Spanish missionary in Na-yarit recorded the earliest account of aPeyote ritual, Of the Cora tribe, he re-ported: "Close to the musician wasseated the leader of the singing, whosebusiness it was to mark time. Each hadhis assistants to take his place when heshould become fatigued. Nearby wasplaced a tray filled with Peyote, whichis a diabolical root that is ground upand drunk by them so that they maynot become weakened by the exhaust-ing effects of so long a function, whichthey begin by forming as large a circleof men and women as could occupythe space that had been swept off forthis purpose. One after the other, theywent dancing in a ring or marking timewith their feet, keeping in the middlethe musician and choir-master whomthey invited, and singing in the sameunmusical tune that he set them. Theywould dance all night, from fiveo'clock in the evening to seven o'clockin the morning, without stopping norleaving the circle. When the dance wasended, all stood who could hold them-selves on their feet; for the majority,from the Peyote and wine which they

Left: Following visions received during

the Peyote ritual, the Huichol bring

beaded "Peyote snakes" decorated with

designs of the Peyote to remote moun-tam shrines of Earth Mother as anoffering of gratitude.



"In consciousness dwells the wondrous,with it man attains the realm beyond the material,

and the Peyote tells us,where to find it."

—Antonin Artaud, The Tarahzimars (1947)

drank, were unable to utilize theirlegs."

The ceremony among the Cora, Hui-chol, and Tarahumara Indians has prob-ably changed little in content over thecenturies: it still consists, in great part,of dancing.

The modern Huichol Peyote ritualis the closest to the pre-ColumbianMexican ceremonies. Sahagdn's de-scription of the Teochichimeca ritualcould very well be a description ofthe contemporary Huichol ceremony,for these Indians still assemble to-gether in the desert three hundredmiles northeast of their homeland inthe Sierra Madres of western Mexico,still sing all night, all day, still weepexceedingly, and still so esteem Peyoteabove any other psychotropic plantthat the sacred mushrooms, MorningGlories, Datura, and other indigenoushallucinogens are consigned to therealm of sorcerers.

Most of the early records in Mexicowere left by missionaries who opposedthe use of Peyote in religious practice.To them Peyote had no place in Chris-tianity because of its pagan associations.Since the Spanish ecclesiastics were in-tolerant of any cult but their own, fiercepersecution resulted. But the Indianswere reluctant to give up their Peyotecults established on centuries of tradi-tion.

The suppression of Peyote, however,went to great lengths. For example, a

priest near San Antonio, Texas, pub-lished a manual in 1760 containingquestions to be asked of converts. In-cluded were the following: "Have youeaten the flesh of man? Have you ea-ten Peyote?" Another priest, PadreNicolas de Leon, similarly examinedpotential converts: "Art thou a sooth-sayer? Dost thou foretell events byreading omens, interpreting dreams orby tracing circles and figures onwater? Dost thou garnish with flowergarlands the places where idols arekept? Dost thou suck the blood ofothers? Dost thou wander about atnight, calling upon demons to helpthee? Hast thou drunk Peyote or givenit to others to drink, in order to dis-cover secrets or to discover where sto-len or lost articles were?"

During the last decade of the nine-teenth century, the explorer Carl Lum-holtz observed the use of Peyote amongthe Indians of the Sierra Madre Occi-dental of Mexico, primarily the Huicholand Tarahumara, and he reported on thePeyote ceremony and on various kindsof cacti employed with Lophophorawilliamsii or in its stead.

Above: Different cacti that are known in

Mexico as Peyote, Hikuli, Peyotillo, or

False Peyote. They primarily contain

the substance mescaline and other

psychoactive alkaloids.

Above left: Ariocarpus retusus

Above right: Astrophyton asterias

Below left: Aztekium riterll

Below right: Ariocarpus fissuratus

Left: The earliest known botanical illus-

tration of Lophophora williamsii, pub-

lished in 1847. It has been found in

archaeological sites more than seven

thousand years of age. It was probably

the first and most spectacular vision-inducing plant encountered by the

Spanish conquerors of Mexico.

147



"You see how it is when we walk for the Peyote.How we go, not eating, not drinking, with much will.

All of one heart. How one goes being Huichol.That is our unity. That is what we must defend."

—Ramón Medina Silva

Left: In Huichol geography, Wirikuta, the

place of the ancestor-gods, is the local-

ity of the origin of the sacred life of thetribe. Peyote grows here and is col-

lected on the annual pilgrimages madeby small groups of devout Huichols. The

trip to Wirikuta is long and arduous, with

the pilgrims traveling as Ancient Ones.Like the gods, they refrain from food,

sex, and sleep during this extraordinary

trip. When they first enter the domain of

their Paradise, the mara'akame RamónMedina Silva gestures toward Kau-

kayari (power spots) that once werethe living forms of the gods.

148

However, no anthropologist ever par-ticipated in or observed a Peyote huntuntil the 1960s, when anthropologistsand a Mexican writer were permittedby Huichols to accompany several pil-grimages. Once a year, the Huicholsmake a sacred trip to gather Hikuri, asthe sacred cactus is called. The trek isled by an experienced mara'akame orshaman, who is in contact with Tatewari(Our grandfather-fire). Tatewari is theoldest Huichol god, also known as Hi-kuri, the Peyote-god. He is personifiedwith Peyote plants on his hands andfeet, and he interprets all the deities tothe modern shamans, often through vi-sions, sometimes indirectly through

Kauyumari (the Sacred Deer Personand culture hero). Tatewari led the firstPeyote pilgrimage far from the presentarea inhabited by the nine thousandHuichols into Wirikuta, an ancestral re-gion where Peyote abounds. Guided bythe shaman, the participants, usually tento fifteen in number, take on the iden-tity of deified ancestors as they followTatewarj "to find their life."

The Peyote hunt is literally a hunt. Pil-grims carry Tobacco gourds, a necessityfor the journey's ritual. Water gourds areoften taken to transport water backhome from Wirikuta. Often the only

food taken for the stay in Wirikuta iscorn tortillas. The pilgrims, however,eat Peyote while in Wirikuta. They musttravel great distances. Today, much ofthe trek is done by car, but formerly theIndians walked some two hundredmiles.

The preparation for gathering Peyoteinvolves ritual confession and purifica-tion. Public recitation of all sexual en-counters must be made, but no show ofshame, resentment, or jealousy, nor anyexpression of hostility, occurs. For eachoffense, the shaman makes a knot in astring that, at the end of the ritual, isburned. Following the confession, thegroup, preparing to set out for Wirikuta—

an area located in San LuIs PotosI—must be cleansed before journeying toparadise.

Upon arriving within sight of thesacred mountains of Wirikuta, the pil-grims are ritually washed and pray forrain and fertility. Amid the praying andchanting of the shaman, the dangerouscrossing into the Otherworld begins.This passage has two stages: first, theGateway of the Clashing Clouds, andsecond, the opening of the Clouds.These do not represent actual localitiesbut exist only in the "geography of themind"; to the participants the passing



/

Right: A Peyote hunter spreads out his harvest at

home.

Left: The baskets carried to Wirikuta contain only a fewpersonal and ceremonial objects. On the return trip they

are filled with the Peyote buttons collected on the pil-

grimage. The Huichol say that Peyote is "very delicate,"

so the heavily laden baskets are carefully transportedback to the Sierras in order to avoid bruising the cactus.

Leaning against the basket is a Huichol violin, used to

provide music for the Peyote dancing.

Below right: Huichol Indians returning from a

pilgrimage.

Below left: A Peyote hunter with a basketful of Peyote

cacti.

from one to the other is an event filledwith emotion.

Upon arrival at the place where thePeyote is to be hunted, the shaman be-gins ceremonial practices, telling storiesfrom the ancient Peyote tradition andinvoking protection for the events tocome. Those on their first pilgrimageare blindfolded, and the participantsare led by the shaman to the "cosmicthreshold," which only he can see. Allcelebrants stop, light candles, and mur-mur prayers, while the shaman, imbuedwith supernatural forces, chants.

Finally, Peyote is found. The shaman

.,-.

4:-j.

has seen the deer tracks. He draws hisarrow and shoots the cactus. The pil-grims make offerings to this first Hi-kuri. More Peyote is sought, basketfulsof the plant eventually being collected.On the following day, more Peyote iscollected, some of which is to be sharedwith those who remain at home. Therest is to be sold to the Cora and Tara-humara Indians, who use Peyote hut donot have a quest.

The ceremony of distributhig To-bacco is then carried out. Arro'.vs areplaced pointing to the four paints ofthe compass; at midnight a fire built.

Page 148 right: Each pilgrim has

brought offerings to Peyote. After these

gifts are carefully displayed, the pilgrims

raise candles in the direction of the as-

cending sun. They weep and pray that

the gods accept their offering, while

Aamón (second from right) fervently

chants.

149

..c___$.



Page 151 left The Huichol "trinity" ofdeer, maize, and Peyote is a hypersym-

bolic complex, a concept harkeningback to the time of creation. This para-disiacal era antedates the separation ofplants from animals, with Peyote repre-senting the trans-temporal link with the

supernatural. On the annual Peyote

hunt of the Huichol, the pilgrims shootthe first found Peyote with an arrow andthat special Peyote is likened to a dying

deer and accorded particular chants;offerings of maize seeds are likewise

made.

Page 151 right: The Yaqui Indians of

northern Mexico symbolize the Peyotecactus as a buck, as in this wood

carving.

Above: "It is one, it isa unity; it is our-selves:' These words of Huichol

mara'akame Ramón Medina Silva de-scribe the mystical rapport unfolding

among communicants in the Peyote

ceremonies that is such an importantdimension in the lives of these people.In this yarn painting, six peyoteros and

the shaman (on top) achieve that unity

in a field of fire. In the center of the

peyoteros is Tatewari, the First Sha-man, as a five-plumed fire.

150

Right A Huichol sacrificial bowl deco-rated with Peyote designs.

According to the Huichol, Tobaccobelongs to fire.

The shaman prays, placing the offer-ing of Tobacco before the fire, touchingit with feathers, then distributing it toeach pilgrim, who puts it into his gourd,symbolizing the birth of Tobacco.

The Huichol Peyote hunt is seen as areturn to Wirikuta or Paradise, the arche-typal beginning and end of a mythical

past. A modern Huichol mara'akameexpressed it as follows: "'One day allwill be as you have seen it there, in Wir-ikuta. The First People will come back.The fields will be pure and crystalline,all this is not clear to me, but in fivemore years I will know it, through morerevelations. The world will end, and theunity will be here again. But only forpure Huichol."

Among the Tarahumara, the Peyote

cult is less important. Many buy theirsupplies of the cactus, usually fromHuichol. Although the two tribes liveseveral hundred miles apart and are notclosely related, they share the samename for Peyote—Hikuri—and thetwo cults have many points of resem-blance.

The Tarahumara Peyote dance maybe held at any time during the year forhealth, tribal prosperity, or for simpleworship. It is sometimes incorporatedinto other established festivals. Theprincipal part of the ceremony consistsof dances and prayers followed by a dayof feasting. It is held in a cleared area,neatly swept. Oak and pine logs aredragged in for a fire and oriented in aneast-west direction. The Tarahumaraname for the dance means '"movingabout the fire," and except for Peyoteitself, the fire is the most important ele-ment.

The leader has several women assis-tants who prepare the Hikuri plantsfor use, grinding the fresh cacti on ametate, being careful not to lose onedrop of the resulting liquid. An assis-tant catches all liquid in a gourd, eventhe water used to wash the metate.The leader sits west of the fire, and across may be erected opposite hini. Infront of the leader, a small hole is duginto which he may spit. A Peyote maybe set before him on its side or in-serted into a root-shaped hole boredin the ground. He inverts half a gourdover the Peyote, turning it to scratch acircle in the earth around the cactus.Removing the gourd temporarily, hedraws a cross in the dust to representthe world, thereupon replacing thegourd. This apparatus serves as a reso-nator for the rasping stick: Peyote isset under the resonator, since it enjoysthe sound.

Incense from burning copal is thenoffered to the cross. After facing east,kneeling, and crossing themselves, theleader's assistants are given deer-hoofrattles or bells to shake during thedance.



The ground-up Peyote is kept in a potor crock near the cross and is served in agourd by an assistant: he makes threerounds of the fire if carrying the gourdto the leader, one if carrying it to an or-dinary participant. All the songs praisePeyote for its protection of the tribe andfor its "beautiful intoxication."

Healing ceremonies are often carriedout like the Huichol's.

The Tarahumara leader cures at day-break. The first terminates dancing bygiving three raps. He rises, accompaniedby a young assistant, and, circling thepatio, he touches every forehead withwater. He touches the patient thrice,and placing his stick to the patient'shead, he raps three times. The dust pro-duced by the rapping, even though infi-nitesimal, is a powerful health- and life-giver and is saved for medicinal use.

The final ritual sends Peyote home.The leader reaches toward the risingsun and raps thrice. "In the early morn-ing, Hikuli had come from San Ignacioand from Satapolio riding on beautifulgreen doves, to feast with the Tarahu-mara at the end of the dance when thepeople sacrifice food and eat and drink.Having bestowed his blessings, Hikuliforms himself into a ball and flies to hisshelter at the time."

Peyote is employed as a religious sa-crament among more than forty Amer-ican Indian tribes in many parts of theUnited States and western Canada. Be-cause of its wide use, Peyote early at-tracted the attention of scientists and

151

Be/ow: The Huichol shaman Ramón Medina Silva

silently awaits his Peyote visions. Wrapped in his blan-

ket, gazing into the ceremonial fire, he sits motionlessfor many hours as he receives messages from the

gods. He said of the Peyote pilgrimage: "Our sym-

bols—the deer, the Peyote, the maize of five colors—all, all that you have seen, there in Wirikuta, when we

go to hunt the Peyote—these are beautiful. They arebeautiful because they are right' (From Barbara

Myerhoff, Peyote Hunt)

legislators and engendered heated and,unfortunately, often irresponsible op-position to its free use in American In-dian ceremonies.

It was the Kiowa and Comanche In-dians, apparently, who in visits to a na-tive group in northern Mexico firstlearned of this sacred American plant.Indians in the United States had beenrestricted to reservations by the last half



Right: The red Mescal beans (Sophora

secundiflora).

1111

V

q

111111111

Above left: The roadman in the Native

American Church officiates at the

Peyote meeting as a representative of

the Great Spirit. It is his duty to show the

'Peyote road" to the participants. The

roadman in Stephen Mopope's painting

holds traditional ceremonial objects as-

sociated with the religion: the fan, staff,

and rattle. On his cheek is painted the

crown of a Peyote plant. In the center

picture, also by Mopope, chanting parti-

cipants sit inside the sacred tepee, in

the middle of which is Father Fire and

the crescent moon altar. Above the te-pee is the Peyote water drum. The

photograph on the far right depicts the

Sioux medicine man Henry Crow Dog

chanting at a Peyote meeting on theRosebud Reservation.

Above middle: Also by Mopope. This

shows the participant who sits singing in

the interior of his sacred tipi. In the mid-

dle is Father Fire and the sickle shaped

altar. Above the tipi is the water con-tainer.

Above right: Sioux Medicine Man HenryCrow Dog at a Peyote Gathering on theRosebud reservation.

152

of the nineteenth century, and much oftheir cultural heritage was disintegrat-ing and disappearing. Faced with thisdisastrous inevitability, a number of In-dian leaders, especially from tribes relo-cated in Oklahoma, began actively tospread a new kind of Peyote cult adap-ted to the needs of the more advancedIndian groups of the United States.

The Kiowa and Comanche were ap-parently the most active proponents ofthe new religion. Today it is the Kiowa-Comanche type of Peyote ceremonythat, with slight modifications, prevailsnorth of the Mexican border. This cere-mony, to judge from the rapid spread ofthe new Peyote religion, must have ap-pealed strongly to the Plains tribes andlater to other groups.

Success in spreading the new Peyotecult resulted in strong opposition to itspractice from missionary and local gov-ernmental groups. The ferocity of thisopposition often led local governmentsto enact repressive legislation, in spite ofoverwhelming scientific opinion thatIndians should be permitted to usePeyote in religious practices. In an at-tempt to protect their rights to free reli-

gious activity, American Indians orga-nized the Peyote cult into a legallyrecognized religious group, the NativeAmerican Church. This religious move-ment, unknown in the United Statesbefore 1885, numbered 13,300 membersin 1922. In 1993 there were at least300,000 members among seventy differ-ent tribes.

Indians of the United States, living farfrom the natural area of Peyote, mustuse the dried top of the cactus, the so-called mescal button, legally acquiredby either collection or purchase and dis-tribution through the U.S. postal ser-vices. Some American Indians still sendpilgrims to gather the cactus in thefields, following the custom of MexicanIndians, but most tribal groups in theUnited States must procure their sup-plies by purchase and mail.

A member may hold a meeting in gra-titude for the recovery of health, thesafe return from a voyage, or the successof a Peyote pilgrimage; it may be held tocelebrate the birth of a baby, to name achild, on the first four birthdays of achild, for doctoring, or even for generalthanksgiving.



The Kickapoo hold a Peyote servicefor the dead, and the body of the de-ceased is brought into the ceremonialtepee. The Kiowa may have five servicesat Easter, four at Christmas andThanksgiving, six at the New Year.Especially among the Kiowa, meetingsare held only on Saturday night. Any-one who is a member of the Peyote cultmay be a leader or "roadman." Thereare certain taboos that the roadman,and sometimes all participants, mustobserve. The older men refrain fromeating salt the day before and after ameeting, and they may not bathe forseveral days following a Peyote service.There seem to be no sexual taboos, as inthe Mexican tribes, and the ceremony isfree of licentiousness. Women are ad-mitted to meetings to eat Peyote and topray, but they do not usually participatein the singing and drumming. After theage of ten, children may attend meet-ings, but do not take part until they areadults.

Peyote ceremonies differ from tribeto tribe. The typical Plains Indian ser-vice takes place usually in a tepee erectedover a carefully made altar of earth or

clay; the tepee is taken down as soon asthe all-night ceremony is over. Sometribes hold the ceremony in a woodenround-house with a permanent altar ofcement inside, and the Osage and Qua-paw Indians often have electricallylighted round-houses.

The Father Peyote (a large "mescalbutton" or dried top of the Peyoteplant) is placed on a cross or rosette ofsage leaves at the center of the altar. ThiscrescentLshaped altar, symbol of thespirit of Peyote, is never taken from thealtar during the ceremony. As soon asthe Father Peyote has been put in place,all talking stops, and all eyes are direc-ted toward the altar.

Tobacco and corn shucks or black-jack oak leaves are passed around thecircle of worshipers, each making a ci-garette for use during the leader's op en-ing prayer.

The next procedure involves purifica-tion of the bag of mescal buttons in ce-dar incense. Following this blessing, theroadman takes four mescal buttonsfrom the bag, which is then passedaround in a clockwise direction, eachworshiper taking four. More Peyote

Left: The Peyote rattle is an important

instrument for the Peyote ceremony of

the Native American Church.

Aboveright: The photograph portrays

the roadman's feathered staff of author-

ity: two smoking sticks for lighting the

ritual cigarettes, one of which indicates

in the combination of the thunderbird

and the cross the melding of Christian

and Native elements; corn shucks for

cigarettes; a drumstick; several gourd

rattles; two Mescal bean necklaces,

part of the roadman's dress; a bundle of

sagebrush; Peyote buttons; a Peyote

ceremony necktie; a black "Peyote

cloth," an eagle wing-bone flute and

a small pile of "cedar' needles for

incensing.

153



Above:A Huichol shaman(mara'akame) sings with his assistants

in front of the temple in which the Peyote

ceremony will take place.

Page 155 top: The ground Peyote is

mixed with water and given to the parti-

cipants at the intoxicating ceremony.

154

may be called for at any time during theceremony, the amount consumed beingleft to personal discretion. Some peyo-tists eat up to thirty-six buttons a night,and some boast of having ingested up-wards of fifty. An average amount isprobably about twelve.

Singing starts with the roadman, theinitial song always being the same, sungor chanted in a high nasal tone. Trans-lated, the song means: "May the godsbless me, help me, and give me powerand understanding."

Sometimes, the roadman may beasked to treat a patient. This procedurevaries in form. The curing ritual is al-most always simple, consisting of pray-ing and frequent use of the sign of thecross.

Peyote eaten in ceremony has as-sumed the role of a sacrament in partbecause of its biological activity: thesense of well-being that it induces andthe psychological effects (the chief ofwhich is the kaleidoscopic play of richlycolored visions) often experienced bythose who indulge in its use. Peyote is

considered sacred by Native Americans,a divine "messenger" enabling the indi-vidual to communicate with God with-out the medium of a priest. It is anearthly representative of God to manypeyotists. "God told the Delawares todo good even before He sent Christ tothe whites who killed Him . . .," an In-dian explained to an anthropologist."God made Peyote. It is His power. Itis the power of Jesus. Jesus came after-wards on this earth, after PeyoteGod (through Peyote) told the Dela-wares the same things that Jesus toldthe whites."

Correlated with its use as a religioussacrament is its presumed value as amedicine. Some Indians claim that ifPeyote is used correctly, all other medi-cines are superfluous. Its supposed cura-tive properties are responsible probablymore than any other attribute for the ra-pid diffusion of the Peyote cult in theUnited States.

The Peyote religion is a medico-religious cult. In considering NativeAmerican medicines, one must always

Top left: The Peyote Goddess, or Earth

Mother, of the Huichol in a modern de-piction. Her dress is decorated withsymbols of the sacred cactus. The

Peyote is her gift to humans in order that

they may enter into contact with her. By

knowing her, man learns to respect andhonor the earth and use her wisely.

Top right: A Huichol man with the small

Peyote garden he has planted in his vil-lage and which he lovingly cares for.



i,-..

bear in mind the difference betweenthe aboriginal concept of a medicinalagent and that of our modern Westernmedicine. Indigenous societies, in gen-eral, cannot conceive of natural deathor illness but believe that they are dueto supernatural interference. There are

two types of "medicines": those withpurely physical effects (that is, to re-lieve toothache or digestive upsets);and the medicines, par excellence, thatput the medicine man into communica-tion, through a variety of visions, withthe malevolent spirits that cause illnessand death.

The factors responsible for the rapidgrowth and tenacity of the Peyote re-ligion in the United States are manyand interrelated. Among the most ob-vious, however, and those most oftencited, are: the ease of legally obtainingsupplies of the hallucinogen; lack offederal restraint; cessation of intertri-bal warfare; reservation life with con-sequent intermarriage and peacefulexchange of social and religious ideas;ease of transportation and postal com-munication; and the general attitude ofresignation toward encroaching Wes-tern culture.

In the year 1995 the use of peyote bymembers of the Native AmericanChurch was made legal by Bill Clinton!

Above: A modern Peyote bird of the

Navajo.

Left: A Peyote fan (Navajo) made from

peacock feathers is used by the Indians

to induce visions.

155



"There is a world beyond ours, a worldthat is far away, nearby, and invisible.And there is where God lives, wherethe dead live, the spirits and the saints,a world where everything has alreadyhappened and everything is known.That world talks. It has a language ofits own. I report what it says. The sacredmushroom takes me by the hand andbrings me to the world where every-thing is known. It is they, the sacredmushrooms, that speak in a way I canunderstand. I ask them and they answerme. When I return from the trip that Ihave taken with them, I tell what theyhave told me and what they have shownme."

Thus does the famous Mazatec sha-man Maria Sabina reverently describethe god-given powers of the intoxicat-ing mushrooms that she uses in herceremony, which has come down fromages past.

Few plants of the gods have ever beenheld in greater reverence than the sacredmushrooms of Mexico. So hallowedwere these fungi that the Aztecs calledthem Teonanácatl ("divine flesh") andused them only in the most holy of theirceremonies. Even though, as fungi,mushrooms do not blossom, the Aztecsreferred to them as "flower," and the In-dians who still use them in religious ri-tuals have endearing terms for them,such as "little flowers."

When the Spaniards conquered Mex-ico, they. were aghast to find the nativesworshiping their deities with the help ofinebriating plants: Peyotl, Ololiuqui,Teonanácatl. The mushrooms were es-

pecially offensive to the European ec-clesiastical authorities, and they set outto eradicate their use in religious prac-tices.

"They possessed another method ofintoxication, which sharpened theircruelty; for if they used certain smalltoadstools ... they would see a thou-sand visions and especially snakesThey called these mushrooms in theirlanguage which means'God's flesh,' or of the Devil whom theyworshiped, and in this wise with thatbitter victual by their cruel God werethey houseled."

In 1656, a guide for missionaries ar-gued against Indian idolatries, includingmushroom ingestion, and recommen-ded their extirpation. Not only do re-ports condemn Teonanácatl, but actualillustrations also denounce it. One de-picts the devil enticing an Indian to eatthe fungus; another has the devil per-forming a dance upon a mushroom.

"But before explaining this [idola-try]," one of the clerics said, "I wish toexplain the nature of the said mush-rooms [that] were small and yellowish,and to collect them the priests and oldmen, appointed as ministers for theseimpostures, went to the hills and re-mained almost the whole night in sermo-nizing and in superstitious praying. Atdawn, when a certain little breeze whichthey know begins to blow, they wouldgather them, attributing to them deity.When they are eaten or drunk, they in-toxicate, depriving those who partake ofthem of their senses and making thembelieve a thousand absurdities."

1. Psilocybe mexicana2. Psilocybe somperviva

3. Psilocybe yungensis

F

4. Psilocybe caerulescens var. mazatecorum5. Psilocybe caerulescens var. nigripes

LITTLE FLOWERS OF THE GODS22 CONOCYBE

PANAEOLUS CYANESCENS'" Blue Meanies

PANAEOLUS SPHINCTRINUSHoop-petticoat

PANAEOLUS SUBBALTEATUSUs.) Dark-rimmed Mottlegill

PSILOCYBE CUBENSISIU San Isidro

PSILOCYBE CYANESCENS' ' WavyCap

PSILOCYBE MEXICANA° Teonanácatl

PSILOCYBE SEMILANCEATALiberty Cap

Above: One of the largest fruiting bodies

of Psiocybe azurescens ever found.



Dr. Francisco Hernández, personalphysician to the king of Spain, wrotethat three kinds of intoxicating mush-rooms were worshiped. After describ-ing a lethal species, he stated that"others when eaten cause not death butmadness that on occasion is lasting, ofwhich the symptom is a kind of uncon-trolled laughter. Usually called teyhuin-tli, these are deep yellow, acrid and of anot displeasing freshness. There areothers again which, without inducinglaughter, bring before the eyes all kindsof visions, such as wars and the likenessof demons. Yet others are there not lessdesired by princes for their fiestas andbanquets, of great price. With night-long vigils are they sought, awesomeand terrifying. This kind is tawny andsomewhat acrid."

For four centuries nothing wasknown of the mushroom cult; and itwas even doubted that mushrooms wereused hallucinogenically in ceremony.The Church fathers had done such asuccessful job of driving the cult intohiding through persecution that noanthropologist or botanist had ever un-covered the religious use of these mush-rooms until this century.

In 1916 an American botanist finallyproposed a "solution" to the identifica-tion of Teonanácatl, concluding thatTeonanácatl and the Peyote were thesame drug. Motivated by distrust of thechroniclers and Indians, he intimatedthat the natives, to protect Peyote, wereindicating mushrooms to the authori-ties. He argued that the dried, brownish,disklike crown of Peyote resembles a

Below: In 1979 the largest and most potent mushroom

in the Psilocybe genus was found in Astoria, Oregon.

Psilocybe azurescens contains the highest concentra-

tion of psilocybine of all mushrooms.

6. Psilocybe cubensis

7. Psilocybe wassonhi

8. Psiocybe hoogshagenll

9. Psiocybe siligineoides

10. Panaeolus sphinctrinus



Be/ow: In Europe and North America

there are countless modern artifacts

that reflect the contemporary mush-

room cult.

Above: Mushrooms with psychoactive

properties are found around the world.In many places T-shirts with mushroom

motifs are available for the travelingmushroom lover. Embroidery fromKathmandu, Nepal.

Above right: The Psiocybe pel/iculosais a relatively weak moderately active

mushroom from the Pacific North West.

158

dried mushroom—so remarkably that itwill even deceive a mycologist. It wasnot until the 1930s that an understand-ing of the role of hallucinogenic mush-rooms in Mexico and a knowledge oftheir botanical identification and chemi-cal composition started to becomeavailable. In the late 1930s the first twoof the many species of sacred Mexicanmushrooms were collected and asso-ciated with a modern mushroom cere-mony. Subsequent field research hasresulted in the discovery of some twodozen species. The most important be-long to the genus Psilocybe, twelve ofwhich have been reported, not includ-ing Strop haria cubensis, sometimes con-

sidered a Psilocybe. The most importantspecies appear to be Psilocybe mexicana,P. cub ensis, and P caerulescens.

These various mushrooms are nowknown to be employed in divinatoryand religious rites among the Mazatec,Chinantec, Chatino, Mixe, Zapotec,and Mixtec of Oaxaca; the Nahua andpossibly the Otomi of Puebla; and theTarascans of Michoacan. The presentcenter of intensive use of the sacredmushrooms is among the Mazatec.

Mushrooms vary in abundance fromyear to year and at different seasons.There may be years when one or morespecies are rare or absent—they varyin their distribution and are not ubi-



quitous. Furthermore, each shamanhas his own favorite mushrooms andmay forgo others; Maria Sabina, forexample, will not use Psilocybe cuben-sis. And certain mushrooms are usedfor specific purposes. This means thateach ethnobotanical expedition maynot expect to find the same assortmentof species employed at one time, evenin the same locality and by the samepeople.

Chemical studies have indicated thatpsilocybine and, to a lesser extent, psi-locine are present in many of the speciesof the several genera associated with theMexican ceremony. In fact, these com-pounds have been isolated from manyspecies of Psilocybe and other genera inwidely separated parts of the world,although the evidence available suggeststhat only in Mexico are psilocybine-containing mushrooms at present uti-lized in native ceremonies.

The modern mushroom ceremony isan all-night seance that may include acuring ritual. Chants accompany themain part of the ceremony. The intoxi-cation is characterized by fantasticallycolored visions in kaleidoscopic move-ment and sometimes by auditory hallu-cinations, and the partaker loses himselfin unearthly flights of fancy.

The mushrooms are collected in theforests at the time of the new moon bya virgin girl, then taken to a church toremain briefly on the altar. They arenever sold in the marketplace. The Ma-zatec call the mushrooms Nti-si-tho, inwhich "Nd" is a particle of reverenceand endearment; the rest of the namemeans "that which springs forth." AMazatec explained this thought poeti-cally: "The little mushroom comes of it-self, no one knows whence, like thewind that comes we know not whencenor why."

The male or female shaman chants forhours, with frequent clapping or percus-sive slaps on the thighs in rhythm withthe chant. Maria Sabina's chanting,which has been recorded, studied, andtranslated, in great part proclaims hum-bly her qualifications to cure and to inter-pret divine power through the mush-

The Chemistry of Teonanácatl

"Woman who thunders am I, womanwho sounds am I.Spiderwoman am I, hummingbirdwoman am I...Eagle woman am I, important eaglewoman am I.Whirling woman of the whirlwindam I, woman of a sacred, enchantedplace am I, -

Woman of the shooting stars am I."

R. Gordon Wasson, the first non-Indian fully to witness the Mazatec

Left: The sixteenth-century Spanish

friar Bernardino de SahagCin

denounced the Aztec's sacramental

use of Teonanácatl, the "wondrous

mushroom." This drawing, which

appears in famous chronicle,

Codex Florentino, depicts a demonlike

spirit over crudely drawn mushrooms.

Teonanácatl, the sacred mushrooms of Mexico, owe their hallucinogenic ef-fects to two alkaloids known as psilocybine and psilocine.

The main component, psilocybine, is the phosphoric acid ester of psilocine,which occurs usually only in trace elements. Psilocybine and psilocine, beingtryptamine derivatives, belong to the class of indole alkaloids. Their crystalsare shown on page 23; their chemical structure on page 186. The chemicalrelationship of these hallucinogens to the physiological compound serotonineis especially significant. Serotonine, the molecular model of which is shownon page 187, is a neurotransmitter and, therefore, important in the biochem-istry of psychic functions. Both psilocybine and psilocine can be producedsynthetically. The active dose in man is 6—12mg. Twenty to 30mg inducestrong visions.

rooms. Excerpts from her chant, all inthe beautiful tonal Mazatec language,give an idea of her many "qualifications."

Above left; In Mexico an unusual saint

named El Niño is worshiped in the

Catholic Church. The Mexican Indians

understand him as an embodiment ofthe sacred mushroom, which they also

call Niño. (Altar in San Cristóbal de Las

Casas, Chiapas)

Above right: The tropical Magic Mush-

room Psiocybe cubensis (Strophariacubensis) was first gathered in Cuba

and mycologically ascertained, It grows

in all tropical zones, preferring cow

manure.

159



In 1958, the famous Mazatec shaman

Maria Sabina performed a Velada (night

vigil) on behalf of a seventeen-year-old

youth, Pefecto José Garcia, who wasseriously ill.

Left to right: Pefecto awaits the com-

mencement of the Velada.

Pefecto stands up at the beginning of

the ceremony, and Maria Sabina turns

her head to gaze at him.

The shaman has incensed pairs of

sacred mushrooms and hands Pefecto

the intoxicating plant for ingestion.

Pefecto has heard the unfavorable

diagnosis, which Maria Sabina has

learned through the help of the mush-

rooms—that there is no hope for his

recovery. Re collapses in terror anddespair.

The shaman and her daughter, adverse

diagnosis notwithstanding, continue to

chant, hoping for more insight—even

though she has learned that Pefecto's

soul has been irrevocably lost.

160

ceremony, wrote the following under-standing thoughts about this use of themushrooms:

"Here let me say a word about thenature of the psychic disturbance thatthe eating of the mushroom causes. Thisdisturbance is wholly different from theeffect of alcohol, as different as nightfrom day. We are entering upon a dis-cussion in which the vocabulary of theEnglish language, of any European lan-guage, is seriously deficient.

"There are no apt words in it to char-acterize one's state when one is, shall wesay, 'bemushroomed.' For hundreds,even thousands, of years, we havethought about these things in terms ofalcohol, and we now have to break thebounds imposed on us by our alcoholicobsession. We are all, willy-nilly, con-fined within the prison walls of oureveryday vocabulary. With skill in ourchoice of words, we may stretch ac-cepted meanings to cover slightly newfeelings and thoughts, but when a stateof mind is utterly distinct, wholly novel,then all our old words fail. How do you

tell a man who has been born blind whatseeing is like? In the present case this isan especially apt analogy, because su-perficially the bemushroomed manshows a few of the objective symptomsof one who is intoxicated, drunk. Nowvirtually all the words describing thestate of drunkenness, from 'intoxicated'(which literally means 'poisoned')through the scores of current vulgar-isms, are contemptuous, belittling, pe-jorative. How curious it is that moderncivilized man finds surcease from care ina drug for which he seems to have norespect! If we use by analogy the termssuitable for alcohol, we prejudice themushroom, and since there are fewamong us who have been bemush-roomed, there is danger that the experi-ence will not be fairly judged. What weneed is a vocabulary to describe all themodalities of a divine inebriant. .

Upon receiving six pairs of mush-rooms in the ceremony, Wasson atethem. He experienced the sensation ofhis soul being removed from his bodyand floating in space. He saw "geometric



patterns, angular, in richest colors,which grew into architectural struc-tures, the stonework in brilliant colors,gold and onyx and ebony, extendingbeyond the reach of sight, in vistas mea-sureless to man. The architecturalvisions seemed to be oriented, seemedto belong to the . . . architecture de-scribed by the visionaries of the Bible."In the faint moonlight, "the bouquet onthe table assumed the dimensions andshape of an imperial conveyance, a tri-umphant car, drawn by ... creaturesknown only to mythology."

Mushrooms have apparently beenceremonially employed in Mesoamericafor many centuries. Several early sourceshave suggested that Mayan languages inGuatemala had mushrooms named forthe underworld. Miniature mushroomstones, 2,200 years of age, have beenfound in archaeological sites near Gua-temala City, and it has been postulatedthat stone mushroom effigies buriedwith a Mayan dignitary suggested aconnection with the Nine Lords of theXibalba, described in the sacred book

Popol Vuh. Actually, more than twohundred mushroom stone effigies havebeen discovered, the oldest dating fromthe first millennium B. c. Although themajority are Guatemalan, some havebeen unearthed in El Salvador and Hon-duras and others as far north as Vera-cruz and Guerrero in Mexico. It is nowclear that whatever the use of these"mushroom stones," they indicate thegreat antiquity of a sophisticated sacreduse of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

A superb statue of Xochipilli, AztecPrince of Flowers, from the early six-teenth century, was recently discoveredon the slopes of the volcano Mt. Popo-catepetl (see illustration, p. 62). His faceis in ecstasy, as though seeing visions inan intoxication; his head is slightlytilted, as though hearing voices. Hisbody is engraved with stylized flowersthat have been identified as sacred, mostof them inebriating, plants. The pedestalon which he sits is decorated with a de-sign representing cross-sections of thecaps of Psilocybe aztecorum, a halluci-nogenic mushroom known only from

"The niños santos (Psilo-cybe mexicana) heal.They lower fevers, curecolds, and give freedomfrom toothaches. Theypull the evil spirits out ofthe body or free the spiritof the sick."—Maria Sabina

161



Right: A celebrant depicted in the

sixteenth-century MagliabecChiaflO

Codexis ingesting a pair of hallucino-genic mushrooms during a sacred rite.

Behind him is the Lord of the Under-world, Mictlantlcuhtli. The three jade

green mushrooms in front of the cele-

brant undoubtedly were painted in this

color to indicate their great value as

sacred objects.

Above: Albert Hofmann visited the sha-

man Maria Sabina in 1962 and took

many portraits of her.

Page 163: The sincerity and absolute

faith in the revelatory power of the

mushrooms is evident in these photo-

graphs of Maria Sabina, who, during the

nightlong chanting and clapping cere-

mony, feels herself fully in contact with

the other world, which the mushrooms

have allowed her to visit.

162

this volcano. Thus Xochipilli undoubt-edly represents not simply the Prince ofFlowers but more specifically the Princeof Inebriating Flowers, including themushrooms that, in Nahuatl poetry;were called "flowers" and "flowers thatintoxicate."

Have psilocybine-containing mush-rooms ever been employed as magico-religious hallucinogens in the NewWorld? The answer is probably yes.

A species of Psilocybe and possiblyalso Panaeolus are used today near theclassic Maya ceremonial center ofPalenque, and hallucinogenic mush-rooms have been reported in use alongthe border between Chiapas in Mexicoand Guatemala. Whether these mod-ern mushroom practices in the Mayaregion represent vestiges of formeruse or have been recently introducedfrom Oaxaca it is not possible as yetto say.

Nevertheless, evidence is now accu-mulating to indicate that a mushroomcult flourished in prehistoric times—from 100 B.C. to about A.D. 300—400 innorthwestern Mexico: in Colima, Jalis-co, and Nayarit. Funerary effigies, withtwo "horns" protruding from the head,are believed to represent male and fe-male "deities" or priests associated withmushrooms. Traditions among contem-porary Huichol Indians in Jalisco alsosuggest the former religious use of thesefungi "in ancient times."

What about South America, wherethese psychoactive mushrooms abound?There is no evidence of such use today,but indications of their apparent formeremployment are many. The YurimaguaIndians of the Peruvian Amazon werereported in the late seventeenth andearly eighteenth centuries to be drinkinga potently inebriating beverage madefrom a "tree fungus." The Jesuit reportstated that the Indians "mix mushroomsthat grow on fallen trees with a kind ofreddish film that is found usually at-tached to rotting trunks. This film is

very hot to the taste. No person whodrinks this brew fails to fall under its ef-fects after three draughts of it, since it isso strong, or more correctly, so toxic." Ithas been suggested that the tree mush-room might have been the psychoactivePsilocybe yungensis, which occurs in thisregion.

In Colombia, many anthropomor-phic gold pectorals with two domelikeornaments on the head have been found.They are in the so-called Darien style,and the majority of them have been un-earthed in the Sing area of northwesternColombia and in the Calima region onthe Pacific coast. For lack of a betterterm, they have been called "telephone-bell gods," since the hollow semi-spherical ornaments resemble the bellsof old-fashioned telephones. It has beensuggested that they represent mush-room effigies. The discovery of similarartifacts in Panama and Costa Rica andone in Yucatan might be interpreted tosuggest a prehistoric continuum of asacred mushroom cult from Mexico toSouth America.

Farther to the south in South America,there is archaeological evidence thatmay suggest the religious importanceof mushrooms. Moche effigy stirrupvessels from Peru, for example, havemushroomlike cephalic ornaments.

While the archaeological evidence isconvincing, the almost complete lack ofreference in colonial literature to suchuse of mushrooms, and the absence ofany known modern hallucinogenic useof mushrooms among aboriginal groupsof South America, gives cause for cau-tion in the interpretation of what other-wise might easily be interpreted asancient mushroom effigies from southof Panama. If, however, it becomes evi-dent that the various archaeologicalartifacts from South America men-tioned above do represent hallucino-genic mushrooms, then the area fortheir significance in America will begreatly amplified.



"I take the 'little one who springs up out of the earth'(Psilocybe caerulescens) and I see God.

I see him springing upout of the earth."

—Maria Sabina

-4

163



02SALVIA DIVINORUM

o Hierba de Ia PastoraDIVINER'S SAGE

Page 165 top left: Painted nettle is used

by the Mazatecs as a replacement for

Salvia divinorum.

Page 165 top right: Coleus pumilus is

considered by the Mazatecs to be re-

lated to Salvia divinorum.

Page 165 middle: Salvia divinorum in

the Mexican rain forest.

164

pastora (leaf of the shepherd) or pas-tora, in rituals associated with divina-tion or healing, generally as a substitutefor the otherwise preferred psychoac-tive mushrooms. Maria Sabina remar-ked: "When I am in the time that thereare no mushrooms and want to healsomeone who is sick, then I must fallback on the leaves of pastora. Whenyou grind them up and eat them, theywork just like the niños. But, of course,pastora has nowhere near as much po-wer as the mushrooms."

The ritual use is remarkably similar tothe use of mushrooms. Salvinia divi-norurn rituals take place at night incomplete darkness and stillness. Eitherthe healer is alone with the patient orthere are also other patients and possi-bly some healthy participants present.Before the shaman chews and sucks onthe leaves, they are held over some

burning Copal incense, and someprayers are said to consecrate the leaves.After chewing the leaves, the partici-pants lie down and remain as still andsilent as possible. Salvia rituals lastbarely longer than one to two hours, asthe effects of the leaves last a signifi-cantly shorter time than those of mush-rooms. If the visions are strong enough,the healer finds the cause of the illness,or some other problem. He or she givesthe patient appropriate advice and endsthe meeting.

Salvia divinoruni, which is also knownas Aztec sage, is native to the Mazatecareas of the Sierra Madre Oriental inthe Mexican state of Oaxaca. It growsnaturally in tropical rain forests in analtitude of three hundred to eighteenhundred meters. Salvia divinoruni, be-cause of its limited geographic habitat,belongs to the rarest of psychoactive

Right: Salvia diviriorum is easy to Closely associated with the Indianrecognize by its square stem. mushroom cults is the use of another

psychoactive plant, Hierba de la PastoraBelow:A paste made of the fresh leaves Salvia divinorum). It is not entirelyof Salvia divinorum is chewed slowly, clear if it was used in the pre—Spanish

times. It is possible that it was thePipiltzintzintli of the Aztecs.

The male or female shamans of theMazatecs of Oaxaca use Salvia divinor-urn, which is also known as hoja de la



plants, but is cultivated by plant loversall over the world. This reproduction isachieved with cuttings.

The Mazatecs take thirteen pairs offresh leaves (twenty-six leaves alto-gether) and twist them into a kind of ci-gar or chaw, which is put into the mouthand sucked or chewed. The juice is notswallowed, but the active ingredientsare absorbed through the mucous mem-branes in the side of the mouth. For oneof these cigars, it takes at least six freshleaves, but one can use eight or tenleaves for a stronger effect. The effectswith the chewing method begin in al-most exactly ten minutes and last ap-proximately forty-five minutes.

The dried leaves can also be smoked.With this method, half of a fairly largeleaf (two or three deep inhalations) in-duces a strong psychoactive reaction.Generally, one or two leaves are smoked.

Most people who have smoked,chewed, or taken a tincture of Salvia di-vinorum report very bizarre, unusualpsychoactive effects, which are not verycomparable with euphoric or psychede-lic substances. There is often perceivedto be a "bending" of space; and a feelingdf swaying or out-of-body experiencesis also typical.

In the traditional taxonomy of theMazatecs, Salvia divinorum is relatedto two forms of labiates. Salvia is knownas the "mother" (la hembra), Coleuspu-milus is considered to be the "father" (elmacho), and Coleus blumei is known asel nene (the child) and el ahiajado, thegodchild. The fresh leaves are used justas those of Salvia divinorum—that is,they are chewed like chewing tobacco.This connection gives the Coleus the re-putation of being psychoactive plants. The leaves contain the neocerodan-diterpenes salvinorin A and salvinorin B

(also known as divinorin A and divinorin B), as well as two other, similar sub-

stances that have not yet been precisely identified. The main ingredient is

salvinorin A (chemical formula: C23H2805), which has extreme conscious-

ness-altering effects with amounts as small as 150—500mg. Salvinorin is not

an alkaloid. It was first described by Ortega et al. by the name of salvinorin

(1982). Later, Valdes et al. described it under the name of divinorin A (1984).

The neurochemistry of salvinorin is still an unsolved puzzle. The ingredients

have not bound to any receptors in any receptor tests (the NovaScreen meth-

od). The plant also contains loliolid.

165

What Was Pipiltzintzintli?

The ancient Aztecs knew and used a plant called Pipiltzintzintli (the purestlittle prince) very similarly to the use of Psilocybe mexicana in entheogenicrituals. There are masculine and feminine forms of this plant, macho andhembra. in the National Archives in Mexico City, there are Inquisition filesfrom the years 1696, 1698, and 1706 that mention Pipiltzintzin and hint at itsintoxicating effects. Various authors have taken this to be Salvia divinorum.

The Chemistry of Salvia divinorum



flA TRICHOCEREUSSan Pedro CACTUS OF THE FOUR WINDS

Above left: Pieces of San Pedro piled upfor sale in the "witches' market" in

Chiclayo in northern Peru.

Above right: The fast-growing San

Pedro cactus develops few, if any,thorns when cultivated.

166

""San Pedro has a special symbolism incuranderismo [folk healing] for a rea-son: San Pedro is always in tune with• . . the powers of animals, of strong per-sonages or beings, of serious beings, ofbeings that have supernatural power. .

The San Pedro cactus, Trichocereuspachanoi, represents undoubtedly oneof the most ancient of the magic plantsof South America. The oldest archaeo-logical evidence, a ChavIn stone carvingin a temple in northern Peru, goes backto 1300 B.C. Almost equally old textilesfrom ChavIn depict the cactus with ja-guar and hummingbird figures. Peru-vian ceramics made between 1000 and700 B.C. show the plant in associationwith the deer; and others, several hun-dred years later, have the cactus withthe jaguar and stylized spirals illustrat-ing the hallucinogenic experiences in-duced by the plant. On the southerncoast of Peru, large ceramic urns of theNazca culture, dated 100 B. C.—A.D. 500,depict San Pedro.

The use of Trichocereus was wide-spread in Peru when the Spanish ar-rived. One ecclesiastical report said thatshamans ""drink a beverage they callAchuma which is a water they makefrom the sap of some thick and smooth

cacti . . ." and ""as it is very strong, afterthey drink it they remain without judg-ment and deprived of their senses, andthey see visions that the devil representsto them. . ." As with Peyote in Mexico,the Roman Church fought against theSan Pedro cactus: ""This is the plant withwhich the devil deceived the Indians...in their paganism, using it for their liesand superstitions ... those who drinklose consciousness and remain as ifdead; and it has even been seen thatsome have died because of the great fri-gidity to the brain. Transported by thedrink, the Indians dreamed a thousandabsurdities and believed them as if theywere true. .

The modern use of the San Pedro cac-tus, along the coastal regions of Peruand in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia,has been greatly affected by Christianinfluence—influences even in the nameapplied to the plant, originating possi-bly in the Christian belief that St. Peterholds the keys to heaven. But the overallcontext of the moon-oriented ritual sur-rounding its use indicates that it is trulyan amalgan of pagan and Christian ele-ments.

San Pedro is now employed to curesickness, including alcoholism and in-



The Chemistry of San Pedro

Trichocereus contains as its main alkaloid mescaline, responsible for the vi-sual hallucinogenic effects. From dried specimens of San Pedro, 2 percentmescaline has been isolated. In addition, hordenine has also been detected.

sanity, for divination, to undo lovewitchcraft, to counter all kinds of sor-cery, and to ensure success in personalventures. It is only one—but the princi-pal one—of many "magical" plantsknown to and used by shamans and col-lected near sacred lagoons high in theAndes.

At these lagoons, shamans go annu-ally for purification and to visit specialindividuals, experts in sorcery and"owners" of divine plants capable ofawaking, with San Pedro, supernaturalspiritual powers. Even the sick exertthemselves to make pilgrimages to theseremote holy places. It is thought thatthe penitent may undergo a metamor-phosis in these lagoons and that theplants, especially San Pedro, from theseareas possess extraordinarily powerfulproperties to cure illness and to influ-ence witchcraft.

Shamans specify four "kinds" of thecactus, distinguished by the number ofribs: those with four ribs are rare andconsidered to be the most potent, withvery special supernatural powers, sincethe four ribs represent the "four winds"and the "four roads."

The cactus is known in northern coast-al Peru as San Pedro, in the northern

Top: The San Pedro cactus

(Trichocereus pachanol).

Above left: The flowers of San Pedro

remain closed during the daytime.

Above right: In the early evening the

large flowers of the San Pedro blossom

in sumptuous splendor.

Far left: A species from the Trichocer-

eus genus that has not yet been

botanically categorized. It grows in

northwestern Argentina, where it is also

called San Pedro and used psycho-

actively.

167



Top left: A ceramic pot from the ChimO

culture, A.D. 1200. The owl-faced

female depicted on this vessel is prob-

ably an herbalist and shaman; she holds

Huachuma (Trichocereus). Even today

in native markets, the women who sell

the hallucinogenic are usuallyboth herbalists and shamans, and

according to native beliefs, the owl isassociated with these women.

Top right: There are many herbs called

"conduro' that belong to different gen-era (for example, Lycopodium) and are

traditionally used as ingredients in theSan Pedro drink.

Middle: A north Peruvian curandero

(healer) sets up his 'mesa" for the SanPedro ritual on the banks of ShimbeLake.

Below right: The mesa is surrounded by

magical staves. They are either from

pre-Columbian graves or modern repli-cas made from the Amazonian ChontaPalm.

168

Andean area as Huachuma, and in Boli-via as Achuma; the Bolivian term c/rn-marse ("to get drunk") is derived fromAchuma. Aguacolla and Gigantón are itsEcuadorean names.

The stems of the cactus, normallypurchased in the market, are sliced likebread and boiled for up to seven hoursin water. After the drinking of San Ped-ro, other medicinal herbs, the help ofwhich is frequently sought, begin to talkto the shaman, activating his own "innerpower." San Pedro may be taken alone,but often other plants, separately boi-led, are added and the drink is thencalled Cimora. Among the numerousplant additives employed are the An-dean cactus Neoraimondia macrostibas,a species of the amaranthaceous Iresine,the euphorbiaceous Pedilanthus tithy-maloides, and Isotoma Ion giflora of theCampanulaceae. All of these plants, ex-cept Iresine, may have biodynamicprinciples. Iresine has the reputation ofcuring "insanity." Brugmansia aureaand B. san guinea, two potent hallucino-gens in their own right, are frequentlyadded.

Only in recent years has San Pedrobeen correctly identified. In early che-mical and psychiatric studies in Peru,the cactus was misidentified as Opuntiacylindrica. Only recently have studiesindicated the great significance of thevegetal additives, an investigation thatdeserves more attention. On occasion,magic demands that other additives beemployed; powdered bones and ceme-tery dust are commonly used to ensurethe effectiveness of the brew. As one ob-server has stated: San Pedro is "the cat-alyst that activates all the complexforces at work in a folk healing session,especially the visionary and divinatorypowers" of the shaman, who can makehimself the owner of another man'sidentity. But the magic of San Pedrogoes far beyond curing and divination,for it is believed to guard houses like adog, whistling in an unearthly fashionand forcing intruders to flee in terror.

The principal effects of Trichocereuspachanoi have been described by a sha-man: ". . . the drug first producesdrowsiness or a dreamy state and a feel-ing of lethargy. .. a slight dizzinessthen a great 'vision,' a clearing of all thefaculties . . . It produces a light numb-



ness in the body and afterward a tran-quillity. And then comes detachment, atype of visual force . . . inclusive of allthe senses . . . including the sixth sense,the telepathic sense of transmitting one-self across time and matter . . . like a

kind of removal of one's thought to adistant dimension."

"Four-ribbed cacti . . . are consideredto be very rare and very lucky... tohave special propertiesbecause they correspondto the 'four winds' and the 'fourroads,supernatural powers associated withthe cardinal points—Douglas Sharon

During the ritual, participants are"set free from matter" and engage inflight through cosmic regions. It wasprobably shamans who used the SanPedro cactus that a Spanish officer inCuzco, Peru, described in the sixteenthcentury: "Among the Indians, therewas another class of wizards, permittedby the Incas to a certain degree, whoare like sorcerers. They take the formthey want and go a long distancethrough the air in a short time; andthey see what is happening, they speakwith the devil, who answers them incertain stones or in other things thatthey venerate . . ." Ecstatic magicalflight is still characteristic of the con-temporary San Pedro ceremony: "SanPedro is an aid which one uses to ren-der the spirit more pleasant, more man-ageable . . . One is transported acrosstime, matter, and distance in a rapidand safe fashion . .

The shaman may take the drug him-self or give it only to the patient, or bothmay take it. The aim of this shamaniccuring ritual is to make the patient"bloom" during the night ceremony, tomake his subconscious "open like aflower," even like the night-bloomingTrichocereus itself. Patients sometimesare contemplative and calm, sometimesbreak into dancing or even throw them-selves writhing on the ground.

As with so many other hallucinogens,here is a plant given by the gods to manto help him experience an ecstasy—separation of the soul from the body—"in a very tenuous, simple fashion andalmost instantaneously." This ecstasyprovides preparations for the sacredflight that enables man to experiencemediation between his mortal existenceand the supernatural forces—an activityestablishing direct contact through thisplant of the gods.

Top left: Harvested and stored pieces

of San Pedro continue living and often

begin growing again after months, even

years.

Top right: The Wolf's Milk plant (Pedi-

lanthus tithymaloides) is sometimes

added to the San Pedro drink in order to

strengthen its effects. Sometimes is has

been said that Pedilanthus is hallucino-

genic, but this has not been proved.

Above: The view of the mesa gives a

clear impression of the syncretic cos-mology of the modern healer. Gods and

deities from different cultures lay next to

snail shells, archaeological objects, and

perfume bottles.

169



IPOMOEAMorning Glory

05 TURBINA" Ololiuqui

VINES OF THE SERPENT

Top right: Flying Saucers are a favorite

cultivated strain of the enchanting

Morning Glory, lpomoea violacea.

Above: An early painting of Ololiuqui

from Sahagün's Historia de las Cosas

qe Nueva España, written in the second

half of the sixteenth century, clearly de-

picts the plant as a Morning Glory.

170

Four centuries ago, a Spanish mission-ary in Mexico wrote: "Ololiuqui. . . de-prives all who use it of their reasonThe natives communicate in this waywith the devil, for they usually talkwhen they become intoxicated withOloliuqui, and they are deceived by var-ious hallucinations which they attributeto the deity which they say resides inthe seeds . .

A recent report indicates that Ololiu-qui has not lost its association with thedeity in Oaxaca: "Throughout these re-ferences we see two cultures in a duel todeath [the Spanish and the Indians][with] the tenacity and wiles of the In-dians defending their cherished Ololiu-qui. The Indians seem to have won out.Today in almost all the villages of Oax-aca one finds the seeds still serving thenatives as an ever present help in time oftrouble." As with the sacred mush-rooms, the use of the hallucinogenicMorning Glories, so significant in thelife of pre-Hispanic Mexico, hid in thehinterlands until the present century.

A Spanish report written shortly afterthe Conquest stated that the Aztecs have"an herb called coatl-xoxo uhqui [greensnake], and it bears a seed called Ololiu—qui." An early drawing depicts it as aMorning Glory with congested fruits,cordate leaves, a tuberous root, and a

twining habit. In 1651, the physician ofthe king of Spain, Francisco Hernández,identified Ololiuqui as a Morning Gloryand professionally reported: "Ololiu-qui, which some call Coaxihuitl or snakeplant, is a twining herb with thin, green,cordate leaves; slender, green, teretestems; and long, white flowers. The seedis round and very much like coriander,whence the name [in Nahuatl, the termOloliuqui means 'round thing'] of theplant. The roots are fibrous and slender.The plant is hot in the fourth degree. Itcures syphilis and mitigates pain whichis caused by chills. It relieves flatulencyand removes tumors. If mixed with a lit-tle resin, it banishes chills and stimulatesand aids in a remarkable degree in casesof dislocations, fractures, and pelvictroubles in women. The seed has somemedicinal use. If pulverized or taken ina decoction Or used as a poultice on thehead or forehead with milk and chili, it issaid to cure eye troubles. When drunk, itacts as an aphrodisiac. It has a sharp tasteand is very hot. Formerly, when thepriests wanted to commune with theirgods and to receive a message fromthem, they ate this plant to induce a de-lirium. A thousand visions and satanichallucinations appeared to them. In itsmanner of action, this plant can be com-pared with Solanum maniacum of

Top left The Ololiuqui vine Turbina

corymbosa.



Dioscorides. It grows in warm places inthe fields."

Other early references stated that"Ololiuqui is a kind of seed like the len-til . . . produced by a species of ivy...;when it is drunk, this seed deprives ofhis senses him who has taken it, for it isvery powerful" and that "it will not bewrong to refrain from telling where itgroes, for it matters little that this plantbe here described or the Spaniards bemade acquainted with it." Another wri-ter marveled: "It is remarkable howmuch faith these natives have in theseed, for... they consult it as an oracleto learn many things. . . especially those

beyond the power of the human

mind to penetrate . . . They consult itthrough one of their deceiving doctors,some of whom practice Ololiuquidrinking as a profession . . . If a doctorwho does not drink Ololiuqui wishes tofree a patient of some trouble, he advisesthe patient himself to partake . . . Thedoctor appoints the day and hour whenthe drink must be taken and establishesthe reason for the patient's drinking it.Finally, the one drinking Ololiuquimust seclude himself in his room. . . Noone must enter during his divination...He . . . believes the Ololiuqui . . . isrevealing what he wants to know. Whenthe delirium is passed, the doctor comesout of seclusion reciting a thousand

Above left: The very woody trunk of the

Ololiuqui vine.

Above right: The capsules and seeds of

Ipomoea violacea are characteristic.

Below: The European bindweedConvolvulus tricolor also contains

psychoactive alkaloids, although there

is no knowledge of any traditional use.

The Chemistry of the

Lysergic acid alkaloids are the hallucinogenic compounds of Ololiuqul. Theyare indole alkaloids that have also been isolated from Ergot. Lysergic acidamide, also known as ergine, and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide are themain components of the alkaloid mixture in Ololiuqui. Their molecular ar-rangement is shown on page 187. The tryptamine radical in the ring structureof lysergic acid establishes its relationship with these ergoline alkaloids aswell as with the active principles of Psilocybe and of the brain hormone ser-otonine.

LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide, a semi-synthetic compound, is the mostpotent hallucinogen known today. It differs from lysergic acid amide only byreplacement of two hydrogen atoms for two ethyl groups (p. 187). The activeprinciple of Ololiuqui (hallucinogenic dose 2—5mg), however, is about 100times less potent than LSD (hallucinogenic dose 0.05 mg).

171



Above: An ancient Indian Mother God-

dess and her priestly attendants with a

highly stylized vine of Ololiuqui, in one

of the murals from Teotihuacán, Mexico,

dated about A. D. 500. Hallucinogenic

nectar appears to flow from the blos-

soms of the plant, and disembodiedeyes" and birds are other stylistic fea-

tures associated with hallucinogenicintoxication.

172

fabrications. . . thus keeping the patientdeceived." The confession of an Aztecpenitent illustrates the Ololiuqui asso-ciation with witchcraft: "I have believedin dreams, in magic herbs, in Peyote, inOloliuqui, in the owi. .

The Aztecs prepared a salve that theyemployed in making sacrifices: "Theytook poisonous insects. . . burned themand beat the ashes together with thefoot of the ocoti, Tobacco, Ololiuquiand some live insects. They presentedthis diabolical mixture to their godsand rubbed their bodies with it. Whenthus anointed, they became fearless toevery danger." Another reference as-serted that "they place the mixture be-

fore their gods, saying that it is the foodof the gods . . . and with it they becomewitch-doctors and commune with thedevil."

In 1916, an American botanist sus-pected erroneously that Ololiuqui wasa species of Datura. His reasons wereseveral: Datura; was a well-known in-toxicant; its flower resembled a Morn-ing Glory; no psychoactive principlewas known from the Morning Gloryfamily; the symptoms of Ololiuqui in-toxication resembled those caused byDatura; and "a knowledge of botanyhas been attributed to the Aztecs whichthey were far from possessing . - . Thebotanical knowledge of the early Span-

Right: In South America the bindweedIpomoea carnea is used as an inebriant.

It also has the psychoactive alkaloid

ergotine.



Left: The Morning Glory Ipomoea viola-

cea as a wildflower in southern Mexico.

ish writers . . . was perhaps not much Above: Depiction of Morning Glories

more extensive." This misidentification and visionary eyes on an ancient Indian

was widely accepted. wall painting in Tepantitla (Teotihuacán).

Only in 1939 was identifiable mate-rial of Turbina coryrr.zbosa collected Left: Xtabentun, "the Jewel Cordial" as it

among the Chinantec and Zapotec of is called, is made out of honey from the

Oaxaca, where it was cultivated for hal-Ololiuqui flower.

lucinogenic use. The Chinantec nameA-mu-kia means "medicine for divina-tion." Thirteen seeds are usually groundup and drunk with water or in an alco-holic beverage. Intoxication rapidly be-gins and leads to visual hallucinations.There may be an intervening stage ofgiddiness, followed by lassitude, eu-phoria, and drowsiness and a somnam-bulistic narcosis. The Indian may be

173



174

dimly aware of what is going on and issusceptible to suggestions. The visionsare often grotesque, portraying peopleor events. The natives say that the intox-ication lasts three hours and seldom hasunpleasant aftereffects. Ololiuqui is ta-ken at night and, in contrast to Peyoteand the mushrooms, is administered to asingle individual alone in a quiet, se-cluded place.

The use of seeds of Turbina corymbo-sa has been recorded for the Chinantec,Mazatec, and others in Oaxaca. Theyare known in Oaxaca as Piule, althougheach tribe has its own name for theseeds.

The name Ololiuqui seems to havebeen applied to several plants by theAztecs, but only one was psychoactive.Of one, an early report states: "There isan herb called Ololiuqui or Xixicamaticwhich has leaves like miltomate [Physa-us sp.] and thin, yellow flowers. Theroot is round and as large as a cabbage."This plant could not be Turbina corym-bosa, but its identity remains a mystery.The third Ololiuqui, also called Hu-eyytzontecon, was used medicinally as apurgative, a characteristic suggestingthe Morning Glory family, but the plantis not convolvulaceous.

Another Morning Glory, Ipomoeaviolacea, was valued as a sacred halluci-nogen among the Aztecs, who calledthe seeds Tlitliltzin, from the Nahuatiterm for "black" with a reverential suf-fix. The seeds of this Morning Gloryare elongate, angular, and black,whereas those of Turbina corymbosaare round and brown. One ancient re-port mentions both, asserting thatPeyote, Ololiuqui, and Tlitliltzin areall psychoactive. Ipomoea violacea isused especially in the Zapotec andChatin area of Oaxaca, where it isknown as Badoh Negro or, in Zapotec,Badungás. In some Zapotec villagesboth Turbina coryn'zbosa and Iponioeaviolacea are known; in others, only thelatter is used. The black seeds are often

Below: A Zapotec shaman in San Bar-tolo Yautepec, Mexico, preparing an in-

fusion of seeds of Ipomoca violacea.



called macho ("male") and men takethem; the brown seeds, called hembra("female"), are ingested by women.The black seeds are more potent thanthe brown, according to the Indians,an assertion borne out by chemical stu-dies. The dose is frequently seven or amultiple of seven; at other times, thefamiliar thirteen is the dose.

As with Turbina, Badoh Negro seedsare ground and placed in a gourd withwater. The solid particles are strainedout, and the liquid is drunk. Revelationsof the cause of illness or divinations areprovided during the intoxication by"intermediaries"—the fantastical badu-win, or two little girls in white who ap-pear during the séance.

A recent report of the use of seeds ofIpomoea violacea among the Zapotecindicates that Badoh Negro is indeed asignificant element in the life of theseIndians: ". . . Divination about recoveryin sickness is also practiced by means ofa plant which is described as a narcotic.This plant. . . grows in the yard.. . of afamily who sells its leaves and seedsto administer to patients . . . The pa-tient, who must be alone with the curerif not in a solitary place where he cannothear even a cock's crow, falls into a sleepduring which the little ones, male andfemale, the plant children [baclor], comeand talk. These plant spirits will alsogive information about lost objects."The modern ritual with Morning Gloryseeds now has incorporated Christianelements. Some of the names—Semillade la Virgen ("seed of the Virgin") andHierba Maria ("Mary's herb ")—showunion of the Christian with the pagan,and clearly an indication that Turbinacorymbosa and Ipomoea violacea areconsidered gifts from the gods.

Top: Left are the ocher-colored, some-

what round seeds of Turbina corym-bosa. On the right are the black, angular

seeds of the Ipomoea violacea.

Above: The shaman administers the in-

fusion to a patient, assisted by a young

girl. The brew must be taken at night in a

secluded and quiet place. The patient's

problems will be diagnosed by the sha-

man from interpretation of what he sayswhile under the influence of the plants.

175

Page 174 top: The Cuban stamp on the

left of Turbina corymbosa was issued at

Christmastime. T corymbosa is very

abundant in the western part of the

island and flowers in December. The

Hungarian stamp on the right indicates

the horticultural importance of lpomoea

violacea and its varieties.



VIROLAEpená SEMEN OF THE SUN

Above: The seeds of Virola surinamen-sis, called Ucuba, are used ethnome-dicinally.

Below right: The most important spe-cies of Virola in hallucinogenic prepara-

tions is V theiodora, of the north-

western Amazon. Virola is an Americangenus related to the Old World genus of

the Nutmeg. The tiny flowers of Virolahave a highly pungent fragrance.

176

At the beginning of time, Father Sunpracticed incest with his daughter, whoacquired Viho by scratching her father'spenis. Thus the Tukano received thissacred snuff from the sun's semen, andsince it is still hallowed, it is kept in con-tainers called muhipu-nuri, or "penis ofthe sun." This hallucinogen enables theTukano to consult the spirit world, espe-cially Viho-mahse, the "snuff-person,"who, from his dwelling in the MilkyWay, tends all human affairs. Shamansmay not contact other spiritual forcesdirectly but only through the goodgraces of Viho-mahse. Consequently,the snuff represents one of the mostimportant tools of the payé or shamans.

Although the sixty species of Virolaare spread throughout tropical forestsof the New World and psychoactiveprinciples have been found in at least adozen species, it is only in the westernAmazon and adjacent parts of the On-noco basin that this genus has been usedas the source of a sacred inebriant.

The species most important as sour-ces of the intoxicating snuff are V Ca-lophylla, V calophylloidea, V elongata,and V theiodora, the last being withoutdoubt the most frequently employed.Yet locally, V rufula, V cuspidata, andother species may supply the drug.There are Indians—the primitive noma-dic Makü of the Rio Piraparaná of Co-lombia, for example—who ingest thered "bark-resin" directly, with no pre-paration, using V elongata. Other tri-bes, especially the Bora and Witoto,swallow pellets made from the paste ofthe "resin," valuing for this purposeV peruviana, V surinamensis, V theio-dora, and possibly V loretensia. Thereis vague evidence that shamans in Vene-zuela may smoke the bark of V sebifera"at dances when curing fevers" or thatthey may boil the barkand drink theliquor "to drive away evil spirits."

"Sometimes when they travel or gohunting, they say:'I must carry my Epená against thosespirits,so that they do not persecute us.'They take Epená in the night

if they hear the noises of those spiritsof the forest.They inhale it to drive them away

—Ettore Biocca

Although the mythological signifi-cance and magico-religious use of Epe-ná snuff is indicative of a great age, thedrug was not known until very recently.

Perspicacious plant-explorer thoughhe was, Spruce failed to discover thisfundamental psychoactive use of Virola,notwithstanding his special study of thegroup that resulted in the discovery of anumber of species new to science. Theearliest reference to this hallucinogendates from the beginning of this cen-tury, when a German ethnologist re-ported on the Yekwana of the upperOrinoco area.

It was not, however, until 1938 and1939 that the botanical association ofVirola with the snuff was made. TheBrazilian botanist Ducke reported thatthe leaves of V theiodora and V cuspi-data represented the source. The leaves,of course, are never used, but this reportfirst focused attention on Virola, which,until then, had never been suspected as ahallucinogen.



The first detailed description and spe-cific identification of the drug, however,was published in 1954 when its prepara-tion and use among medicine men ofColombian Indians was described. Ta-ken mainly by shamans among the Bar-asana, Makuna, Tukano, Kabuyaré,Kuripako, Puinave, and other tribes ineastern Colombia, the drug was em-ployed ritualistically for diagnosis andtreatment of disease, prophecy, divina-tion, and other magico-religious pur-poses. At that time, V calophylla andV calophylloiclea were indicated as thespecies most valued, but later work inBrazil and elsewhere has establishedthe primacy of V theiodora.

Recent field studies have shown thatthe psychoactive snuff is used amongmany Indian groups in Amazonian Co-lombia, the uppermost Orinoco basinof Colombia and Venezuela, the RioNegro, and other areas of the westernAmazon of Brazil. The southernmostlocality of its known use is among thePaumaré Indians of the Rio Purds inthe southwestern Amazon of Brazil.

The snuff is apparently most highlyprized and most deeply involved inaboriginal life among the sundry Indiantribes collectively called Waiká in theupper Orinoco of Venezuela and thenorthern affluents of the Rio Negro ofBrazil. These groups are variouslynamed, but are most commonly knownto anthropologists as the Kirishaná,Shirianá, Karauetaré, Karimé, Parahuré,Surará, Pakidái, and Yanomamo. Theygenerally refer to the snuff as Epená,

Ebena, Nyakwana, or some variant ofthese terms. In northwestern Brazil, thissnuff and others are often genericallyknown as Paricá.

Unlike the Colombian Indians, amongwhom the use of the snuff is usually re-stricted to shamans, these tribes may of-ten take the drug in daily life. All malemembers of the group above the ages ofthirteen or fourteen may participate.The hallucinogen is often snuffed infrighteningly excessive amounts and, inat least one annual ceremony, constantlyover a two- or three-day period.

The powder is prepared in a varietyof ways. Among the Colombian In-dians, the bark is stripped from the treesin the early morning and the soft innerlayers are scraped. The shavings arekneaded in cold water for twenty min-utes. The brownish liquid is then fil-tered and boiled down to a thick syrupthat, when dried, is pulverized andmixed with ashes of the bark of a wildcacao tree.

The various groups of Waiká have sev-eral other methods of preparation.Those living in the Orinoco area fre-quently rasp the cambial layer of thebark and trunk and gently dry theings over a fire so that they may be storedfor future use. When a supply of the drugis needed, the shavings are wetted andboiled for half an hour or more, the re-sulting liquid being reduced to a syrupthat, after drying, is ground to a powderand finely sifted. This dust is then mixedwith equal amounts of a powder pre-pared from the dried, aromatic leaves of

Above left: Leaf, flowers, and young fruit

of the rain forest tree Virola calophylla.

Above right: A branch of Virola theio-

dora with flowers.

177



• -:

...•.;4-.-

:4

I

Once a year, Waiká Indians in north-

eastern Brazil come together from miles

around for an endocannibalistic cere-

mony for which a huge quantity of Virola

snuff is made and consumed. The

ceremony held in typical round houses

commemorates the dead of the pre-vious year.

178

a small plant, Justicia pectoralis var. ste-nophylla, cultivated for this purpose. Fi-nally, a third ingredient is added: theashes of the bark of an Ama or Amasita,a beautiful and rare leguminous tree, Eli-zabetha princeps. The hard outer bark,cut into small pieces, is placed in glowingembers, then removed and allowed tosmolder to ashes.

In more eastern areas of Waiká coun-try in Brazil, the preparation of thesnuff takes place mainly in the forest.Trees are felled and long strips of barkare peeled from the trunk. A copiousflow of liquid that rapidly turns a bloodred accumulates on the inner surface ofthe bark. After gently heating the strips,the shaman gathers the "resin" into anearthenware pot that is set on the fire.When the pot of red liquid is reducedto a thick syrup, it is sun-dried, crystal-lizing into a beautiful amber-red- solidthat is meticulously ground to an extre-mely fine dustlike consistency. Thispowder—Nyakwana snuff—may beemployed directly, but usually the pul-verized leaves of Justicia are added "tomake it smell better."

The Bora, Muinane, and Witoto In-dians of Amazonian Colombia and ad-

jacent Peru use Virola not as a snuff,but by oral administration. They ingestsmall pellets or pills made from the re-sin to induce an intoxication duringwhich the medicine men communicatewith the "little people." These Indiansutilize several species: V theioa!ora,V pavonis, and V elongata, as well aspossibly V surinanzensis and loreten—sis. The Bora of Peru indicate that theyhave used a related myristicaceous ge-nus, Iryanthera mac-rophylla, as thesource of a narcotic paste for makingthe pellets.

The Witoto of Colombia completelydecorticate the trunk of a Virola tree.The shiny cambial layer on the innersurface of the bark and adhering to thebare trunk is rasped off with the backof a machete, and the raspings are care-fully collected in a gourd. This materialgradually darkens to a brownish red.The still moist raspings are kneaded,squeezed repeatedly, and pressed overa wicker sieve. The liquid that oozesthrough, primarily of cambial sap, hasa light "coffee and milk" hue. Withoutfurther preparation, this liquid isquickly boiled, possibly to inactivateenzymes that might destroy the active



Waikb Indians consume incredible

amounts of Virola powder, using large

snuffing tubes made of the stems of

maranthaceous plants. The tubes are

filled with three to six teaspoonfuls of

snuff for each inhalation.

After a stage of hyperactivity and stimulation dur-

ing which the participants who have inhaled the

snuff engage the hekula spirits, a period of dis-

turbed sornnolescence sets in during which night-

marish visual hallucinations continue (left).Waiká shamans frequently employ Virola snuff

or Epená in ritual curing (below left). The intricate

relationship between magico-religious and "med-

icinal" practices of these peoples makes it difficult

to distinguish the boundaries of the supernatural

and the pragmatic. In fact, the Indian himself does

not make a distinction between these two areas.

Application of the snuff is a vigorous

process, the powder being blown far

into the nostrils and sinuses. It causes

an immediate lacrimation and excessive

discharge of mucus from the nose.

principles, and is then allowed to sim-mer, with frequent stirring, until itsvolume is reduced. When the liquidfinally becomes pasty, the vessel is

taken from the fire, and the paste isrolled into pellets for immediate use.These pellets may keep their potency,according to the natives, for about twomonths.

When the pellets are not for imme-diate consumption, they are usuallycoated with a "salt," as the natives saysprepared from any of numerous plants.The "salt" is always made by the sameprocess. The plant material is firstburned and the ashes are placed in acrude funnel made of leaves or bark.Water seeps slowly through the ashes,dripping out through a hole at the bot-tom to be collected beneath. The filtrateis then boiled down until a gray-whiteresidue or "salt" remains. The pellets ofsticky resin are rolled in this powder.There is apparently a large assortmentof plants employed for this "salt,"which the Witoto call Le-sa. The le-cythidaceous Gustavia poeppigiana is acommon source of the ashes for the fil-tration. In the same family, the bark ofthe huge tree Eschweiiera itayensis is

lued. An unidentified tree of this family,known to the natives as Cha-pe--na, isused. The woody stump of a species ofCarludovica or Sphaeradenia of the Cy-clanthaceae is reduced to ashes for thispurpose. The leaves and fragrant inflor-escence of the aroid Spathiphyllum can-naefoliwin give an ash that leaches out ahigh-quality "salt." The bark of a wildspecies of Theobroma, or several smallpalms, probably species of Geonomaand Bactris, are similarly used.

The Bora of Peru strip pieces ofbark, only from the lower four toeightft (1.5—2.5m) of the trunk. The

The Chemistry of Epená

A Mahekototen shaman (above) strug-

gling against death, an ever-present

threat. The Waiká believe that commu-

nication with the spirit world occurringduring Virola intoxication enables the

shaman to stave off death, which they

explain as the result of the activity of

malevolent spirits.

The chemical analysis of various Virola snuffs revealed about a half-dozenclosely related indole alkaloids belonging to the simple, open-chained orclosed-ring tryptamine derivatives with a system. The

main constituents of these snuffs are 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamineand Dimethyltryptamine. monomethyt-

tryptamine, and 2-methyl- and 1line usually occur only in trace amounts. The alkaloid mixtures are almostidentical to those isolated from the Anadenanthera snuff powders.

179



hard, brittle outer layer of bark ischipped off, leaving only the softer in-ner phloem. This layer quickly turnsbrown from congealed oxidized "resin"and is vigorously pounded on a logwith a mallet until it is shredded. Theseshredded sections are soaked in waterwith occasional kneading for half anhour or more, when the pot is broughtto a vigorous boil for another half hour.The bark material, squeezed dry, isthen removed, and the remaining liquidis boiled with constant stirring untilonly a thick paste remains. Small pel]etsfor ingestion are then made from thispaste.

Fewer plants are used by the Bora forpreparing the "salt" for coating the pel-lets: the leaves and stump of a species of

a palm of the genusScheclea.

The hallucinogenic principles appear

to be present mainly in the almost col-orless exudate from the inner surface ofthe bark, which appears as soon as thebark is stripped from the tree. This re-sinlike substance quickly turns reddishin a typical oxidase-type reaction andthen darkens, drying to a hard, glossymass: In specimens dried for chemicalstudy, it appears as a sticky, dark reddishbrown gummy material. This materialin many species contains tryptaminesand other indolic hallucinogens. Obser-vation of the process indicates that thereason for scraping the surface of thebark is to obtain all traces of the cambiallayer that adhere to it. The drug is pre-pared from the cambial sap, which isquickly boiled, causing coagulation ofprotein and possibly polysaccharides,and then simmered slowly to reducethe volume to near dryness.

The whole process resembles that

"This is a magical snuff. . prepared from the bark of a certain tree .the sorcerer blows a little . . . through a reed. . . into the air.

Next he snuffs, whilst . . . he absorbs the powderinto each nostril successively. .

immediately the witch doctor begins singing and yelling wildlyall the while pitching the upper part of his body

backwards and forwards."—Thcodor Koch-Griinberg (1923)

180



used for isolation of natural productsfrom the cambium of other trees, con-iferine from gymnosperms, for exam-ple, except that ethyl alcohol or acetoneis now used, rather than heat, to de-stroy enzyme activity, which mightotherwise act adversely on the desiredproduct.

The "resin" of Virola plays an impor-tant role in everyday native medicine:several species are valued as antifungalmedicines. The resin is spread over in-fected areas of the skin to cure ringwormand similar dermatological problems offungal origin that are so prevalent in thehumid tropical rain forests. Only certainspecies are chosen for this therapeuticuse—and the choice seems not to haveany relationship to the hallucinogenicproperties of the species.

Indians who are familiar with Virolatrees from the point of view of their

hallucinogenic potency exhibit uncannyknowledge of different "kinds "—whichto a botanist appear to be indistinguish-able as to species. Before stripping thebark from a trunk, they are able to pre-dict how long the exudate will take toturn red, whether it will be mild orpeppery to the tongue when tasted,how long it will retain its potencywhen made into snuff, and many otherhidden characteristics. Whether thesesubtle differences are due to age of thetree, season of the year, ecological si-tuations, conditions of flowering orfruiting, or other environmental orphysiological factors it is at present im-possible to say—but there is no doubtabout the Indian's expertness in recog-nizing these differences, for which heoften has a terminology, so significantin his hallucinogenic and medicinal useof the trees.

Page 180 left, top to bottom: The Waiká

carefully pick over the leaves of Justicia

before drying them as an additive to the

Virola snuff.

One method of preparing Virola snuff

starts with the accumulation of the red,

resinlike liquid on the inner bark and its

solidification by heat (as shown in thephotograph of a Waiká Indian).

A Witoto Indian beats the syrup leftafter boiling down Virola resin.

Page 180 middle and right: Justicia

leaves are highly aromatic when dried

and are, on occasion, added to Virola

snuff. They may, however, also be the

source of a hallucinogenic snuff.

Among the Waikb, the invariable ashes

mixed with Virola powder come from the

burning of the bark of a beautiful but rare

tree, Eliza bet ha princeps.

Above left: Indians under Virola intoxi-

cation characteristically have faraway,

dreamlike expressions that are, of

course, due to the active principles of

the drug, but which the natives believeare associated with the temporary ab-

sence of the shamans' souls as they

travel to distant places. The chants dur-

ing the incessant dancing performed by

shamans may at times reflect conver-

sations with spirit forces. This transpor-

tation of the soul to other realms repre-

sents to the Waikb one of the most

significant values of the effects of this

hallucinogen.

Above right: The leaves of Justicia pec-

toralis var. stenophylla are an important

ingredient in the snuff that is made from

the Virola.

181



DUBOISIAPituri Bush GATEWAY TO DREAMTIME

182

The psychoactive use of Pituri is prob-ably the longest continuous use of apsychoactive substance in the historyof humanity. The Australian Aborigineshave the longest continuous culture ofthe world. The ancestors of today'sAborigines chewed Pituri 40,000 to60,000 years ago.

Pituri refers in the broadest sense to allplants or plant materials with additionalingredients that are used for hedonisticor magical purposes by the AustralianAborigines. Generally, the term Piturirefers to a plant from the nightshadefamily, Duboisia hopwoodii.

Usually, the Pituri leaves are mixedwith alkaline plant ashes and chewedlike chewing tobacco. Pituri removeshunger and thirst and induces intensedreams, which is probably why theAborigines use Pituri as a magic sub-stance. In the Aboriginal magic, enter-ing the dream state, the transcendent

Above: Pituri bushes are represented by

the gray dots on this painting by Abori-

ginal artist Walangari Karntawarra Ja-

kamarra (detail from oil painting, 1994).

Below: The trunk of the Pituri bush.



The Chemistry of Pituri

Duboisia hopwoodil contains various strongly stimulating but also toxic alka-loids (piturin, D-nor-nicotine and D-nor-nicotine seems to be themain active substance, and myosimin, N-formylnornicotine, cotinin, N-acetyl-nornicotine, anabasine, anabatin, anatalline, and bipyridyl are also present.

The hallucinogenic tropanalkaloid hyoscyamine has been discovered in theroots, as well as traces of scopalamine, nicotine, nornicotine, metanicotine,myosmine, and N-formylnornicotine. Duboisia myoporoides contains largequantities of scopolamine.

Plants Whose Ashes Are Added to Pituri

ProtaceaeGrevillea striata R. BR. (Ijinyja)

Mimosaceae (Leguminosae)Acacia aneura F. Muell. ex Benth. (Mulga)Acacia coriacea DC. (Awintha)Acacia kempeana F. Muell. (Witchitty bush)Acacia lingulata A. Cunn. ex. Benth.Acacia pruinocarpaAcacia sailcina Lindley

Caesalpiniaceae (Leguminosae)Cassiaspp.

RhamnaceaeVenti/ago viminalls Hook. (Atnyira)

MyrtaceaeEucalyptus microtheca F. Muell. (Angkirra)Eucalyptus spp. (Gums)Eucalyptussp. (Red gum)Melaleuca sp.

primal condition of being is an essentialconcept. This dream state is an alteredstate of consciousness.

In this dream state, all magicalprocesses and acts affect the "normalconsciousness." It seems as if there arevarious types of Pituri for various usesand each of these varieties is linked withvarious songs, totems, and appropriate"dream songs" or "songlines." Thereare some songlines that are sung as"Pituri-songs." Pituri has a connectionto the place that it grows. There is evena Pituri clan. Pituri carries with it the"dream of the place" where it growsand can instill it into humans.

The Pituri bush (Duboisia hopwoo-dii) was described by the German-Australian botanist Ferdinand J. H.von Muller (1825—1896). The plants, aswell as the dried or fermented leaves,play a significant role in the domestic

economy as a valuable good for barter.Although Duboisia hopwoodii is wide-spread in Australia, some areas are bet-ter for collection and harvesting thanothers. The leaves are filled with thepower of the land in which they grow.Before the Aborigines had contact withEuropeans, there was a far-reachingtrading system in the central desert,which gave rise to the so-called Pituriroads and paths.

Various additives are mixed with thedried or fermented leaves and chewed.One will use plant ashes, another usesanimal hair to hold the material to-gether: plant fibers, yellow ochre, euca-lyptus resin, and, most recently, sugar.The effects of the various Pituri pre-parations differ markedly. Some arearousing, while others are weak stimu-lants; some are euphoric, while otherscan induce visions.

Top: The Pituri bush.

Middle:The fermented Pituri leaves.

Bottom: The Goodenia is a Pituri repla-

cement for the leaves of Duboisiahopwoodii Plants of the genus Goode-

nia are ethnobotanically significantmedicinal and nutritional plants for the

Aborigines.

183



CHEMICAL STRUCTURES OF HALLUCINOGENS

Chemical determination of the molecular struc-ture of the hallucinogenic principles in sacredplants has led to remarkable results.

Almost all plant hallucinogens contain the ele-ment nitrogen and therefore belong to the largeclass of chemical compounds known as alkaloids.

The term alkaloid is used by chemists for the ni-trogenous metabolic products of plants that havealkaline properties and are therefore "alkali-like"(alkaloid). Among the more important plants withpsychoactive properties, only Hemp and Salvia

184

divinoruin are the most significant examples thatdo not contain nitrogen. The main active principleof Cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),while the main active principle of Salvia divinor-urn is salvinorin.

The principal plant hallucinogens are closely

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

related in their chemical structure to hormonespresent in the brain—that is, to physiologicalagents that play a role in the biochemistry of men-tal functions.

The active principle in the Peyote cactus is thealkaloid mescaline, a compound closely relatedto the brain-hormone norepinephrine (noradre-naline). Norepinephrine belongs to the groupof physiological agents known as neurotransmit-ters because they function in the chemical trans-mission of impulses between neurons (nerve



The molecular models of hallucinogens on pages 186—87 show the che-

mical elements of which these substances consist and the manner in

which the atoms of these elements are related to one another in the

molecules. The black balls mean carbon atoms, the white hydrogen, the

red oxygen, the green nitrogen, and the yellow ball in the psilocybinemolecule indicates a phosphoric atom. There is, in fact, no space be-

tween atoms connected with each other; they touch. Moreover, atoms of

various elements are of different sizes. Only the especially small size of

the hydrogen atoms has been indicated in these models.

It is hardly possible to imagine the real dimension of atoms and

molecules: 0.1 mg (a tenth of a thousandth of a gram) of a hallucinogen,

barely visible, consists of about 2 x 1017 (= 200,000,000,000,000,000)

molecules.

cells). Mescaline and- norepinephrine have thesame basic chemical structure. Both are deri-vatives of a substance known to chemists asphenylethylamine. Another derivative of pheny-lethylamine is the essential amino acid phenyla-

Recent studies show differences in the internal structure of wood between

Cannabis sativa (far left) and C. indica. As shown in these microscopic cross-

sections, one of the most significant differences is the usually single condu-

cive vessels in the former species as contrasted with the consistently grouped

vessels in the latter.

THC, found only in Cannabis, is concentrated in the resin and is absent

from the woody tissue, which for this reason is specifically exempted from

control in American Cannabis legislation.

lanine, which is widely distributed in the humanorganism.

The models of mescaline and noradrenalinemolecules on page 186 clearly show the close re-lationship in chemical structure of these twoagents.

Psilocybine and psilocine, the active principlesof Teonanácatl, the hallucinogenic Mexican mush-rooms, are derived from the same basic compoundas the brain hormone serotonine: tryptamine.Tryptamine also is the basic compound of an es-sential amino acid, which is tryptophane. The re-lationship can be clearly seen in the molecularmodels shown on page 186.

There is another Mexican sacred plant, Ololiu-qui (Morning Glory), the hallucinogenic princi-ples of which are derivatives of tryptamine. Inthis case, tryptamine is incorporated in a complexring structure that has been called ergolin. Themolecular models on page 187 show the structur-al relationship between lysergic acid amide andlysergic acid hydroxyethylamide (the two prin-cipal active constituents of Ololiuqui), therotransmitter serotonine, and psilocybine andpsilocine.

That the important plant hallucinogens and thebrain hormones serotonine and noradrenalinehave the same basic structure cannot be due tomere chance. This astounding relationship mayexplain the psychotropic potency of these halluci-nogens. Having the same basic structure, thesehallucinogens may act at the same sites in the ner-vous system as the above-mentioned brain hor-mones, like similar keys fitting the same lock. Asa result, the psychophysiological functions asso-ciated with those brain sites are altered, sup-pressed, stimulated, or otherwise modified.

The ability of hallucinogens to produce changesin brain function is due not only to their having aparticular chemical composition, but also to thepeculiar spatial arrangement of the atoms in theirmolecules. This can be seen very clearly in the caseof the most powerful hallucinogen known today,lysergic acid diethylamide. LSD may be regardedas a chemically modified form of an active princi-ple in Ololiuqui. The only difference between thesemi-synthetic drug lysergic acid diethylamideand the natural Ololiuqui hallucinogen lysergicacid amide is that two hydrogen atoms of the

185



amide have been replaced in the diethylamide bytwo ethyl groups. With LSD, a dose of 0.05 milli-gram will produce a deep hallucinogenic intoxica-tion of some hours' duration. With iso-LSD,which differs from LSD only in the spatial ar-rangement of the atoms, ten times that dose hasno effect whatsoever.

The molecular models of LSD and iso-LSD onpage 187 show that, while the atoms are linked toeach other in the same way, their spatial arrange-ment is different.

Molecules differing only in spatial arrangementare known as stereQisomers. Stereoisomers canexist only with molecules that are asymmetricalin structure, and one of the theoretically possiblespatial arrangements is in general more active.

Next to chemical composition, spatial configura-tion plays the most crucial role in determining notonly hallucinogenic but also general pharmacolo-gical activity.

186

Peyotl (Lophophora williamsii)-I'-

Psilocine

(hallucinogenic principle of TeonanLcatl)

4'

Psilocybine

(hallucinogenic principle of Teonanácatl)

Noradrenaline

(a brain hormone)

Mescaline

(vision-causing hallucinogenic principle ofPeyote)



Dr. Albert Hofmann, born 1906, discoverer of

LSD and the hallucinogenic principles of Teona-

nácatl and of Ololiuqui, is shown here with the

molecular model of LSD in his pharmaceutic-

chemical research laboratory, Sandoz, Basel,

Switzerland, 1943.

Page 186: The comparison between Mescaline

and Noradrenaline and between Psilocybine and

Psilocine with Serotonine shows the relationship

in the chemical structure between the hallucino-

gens and brain hormones.

The close chemical relationship between the

active principles of Ololiuqui and LSD, the most

potent hallucinogen known today, is evident

when comparing the molecular models of Lyser-

gic Acid Amide and Lysergic Acid Hydroxyethy-

lamide with Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.

The active properties of hallucinogens are due

not only to their composition with certain atoms;

the spatial arrangement of the atoms in the

molecule is equally important in determiningthe hallucinogenic effects. As an example, LSD

and iso-LSD (at right) consist of the same ele-

ments, but they differ in the spatial arrangement

of the diethylamide group. In comparison to

LSD, iso-LSD is practically without hallucino-

genic effect.

LSD

(semi-synthetic hallucinogen)

iso-LSD

(semi-synthetic compound)

Lysergic acid amide Lysergic Acid Hydroxyethylamide

(hallucinogenic principle of (hallucinogenic principle of

Ololiuqui) Ololiuqui)

4Serotonine

(a brain hormone)



USES OF HALLUCINOGENS IN MEDICINE

The use of pure hallucinogenic compouiids inmedicine has the same basis as the use of thesource plants in magico-religious ceremonies.The effects in both cases consist of profound psy-chic alterations in the experience of reality. Notonly is perception of the outside world affected,

but perception of the subject's own personality isalso transformed. The changes in sensory experi-ence of the outside world are due to a shift in sen-sitivity of the sense organs. Sensory perception,particularly with regard to vision and hearing, isstimulated by hallucinogens. These changes inself-awareness indicate the profound influence ofthe drugs, which affect the very core of our being:consciousness.

Our experience of reality is incomprehensible

188

without a subject, an ego, that perceives this rea-lity. The subjective experience of so-called objec-tive reality is the result of interactions betweenexternal sensory signals, mediated by the sense or-gans, and the ego, which brings this informationto the level of conscious awareness. In this situa-tion, one can think of the external world as a sen-der of information or signals and the deep self as areceiver. The translator in this case is the ego. Inthe absence of one of these—either the sender orthe receiver—reality does not exist. There is nomusic on the radio, and the screen is blank. If weadhere to this concept of reality as the product ofthe interaction between sender and receiver, theperception of a different reality under the influ-ence of hallucinogens may be explained by thefact that the brain, which is the site of conscious-ness, undergoes dramatic biochemical changes.The receiver is thus set for wavelengths other thanthose associated with normal, everyday reality.From this perspective, the subjective experienceof reality is infinite, depending on the capacity ofthe receiver, which can be greatly changedthrough biochemical modification of the brainfield.

In general, we experience life from a rather lim-ited point of view. This is the so-called normalstate. through hallucinogens the per-ception of reality can be strongly changed and ex-panded. These different aspects or levels of oneand the same reality are not mutually exclusive.They form an all-encompassing, timeless, trans-cendental reality.

The possibility of changing the wavelengthsetting on the "ego receiver," and, with this, toproduce changes in the awareness of reality, con-stitutes the real significance of hallucinogens. Thisability to create new and different images of theworld is why hallucinogenic plants were, and stillare, regarded as sacred.

What is the essential, characteristic differencebetween everyday reality and the images seenduring hallucinogenic inebriation? In normalstates of consciousness—in everyday reality—ego and outside world are separated; one standsface to face with the outside world; it has becomean object. Under the influence of hallucinogens,the borderline between the experiencing ego andthe outside world disappears or becomes blurred,

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Page 188: The first treatise on inebriants is apparently the doctoral thesis of

Alander, a student of Linnaeus, who is the father of modern botany. Thisthesis, defended in 1762 at Uppsala, was a mixture of scientific and pseudo-scientific information. An observer present at the thesis defense may have

doodled these profiles, possibly depicting the academic examiners.

depending on the degree of inebriation. A feed-back mechanism is set up between receiver andsender. Part of the ego reaches out to the externalworld, into the objects around us; they begin tocome to life, acquiring a deeper and differentmeaning. This may be a joyful experience or a

demonic one, involving the loss of the trustedego. The new ego feels linked in bliss with out-side objects in a special way and also with otherhuman beings. The experience of deep communi-cation with the outside world may even culmi-nate in the sensation of being at one with thewhole of creation.

This state of cosmic consciousness that underfavorable circumstances may be attained with hal-lucinogens is related to the spontaneous religious

Below: Visionary experiences produced by hallucinogens are a source of in-

spiration for painters. These two watercolors by Christian Rätsch emergedafter taking LSD and show the mystical character of the experience.

ecstasy known as the unio mystica or, in the ex- -

perience of Eastern religious life, as samadhi orsatori. In both of these states, a reality is experi-enced that is illuminated by that transcendentalreality in which creation and ego, sender and re-ceiver, are One.

The changes in consciousness and perceptionthat may be experimentally produced with hallu-cinogens have found a number of different appli-cations in medicine. The pure substances mostcommonly used in this field are mescaline, psi-locybine, and LSD. Recent research has beenconcerned mainly with the most powerful halluci-nogen known so far, LSD, a substance that is achemically modified form of the active principlein Ololiuqui.

189



Below left: LSD is usually distributed on printed and perforated paper. Thedesigns often have mystical references and use icons of Eastern religions.

In psychoanalysis, breaking the habitual ex-perience of the world can help patients caughtin an ego-centered problem cycle to escape fromtheir fixation and isolation. With the I-Thoubarrier relaxed or even removed under the influ-ence of a hallucinogen, better contact may beestablished with the psychiatrist, and the patientmay become more open to psychotherapeuticsuggestion.

Hallucinogenic stimulation also often causesforgotten or repressed past experiences to beclearly recalled. It can be of crucial importance inpsychotherapy to bring back to conscious aware-ness events that led to a psychological distur-bance. Numerous reports have been published onhow the influence of hallucinogens used during

190

Below right and page 191: These drawings were done in 1972. The two on top

(p. 191) were done before and after the LSD session. The three drawings

below (pp. 190—191) were done before, during, and after the session with thesame hallucinogen.

psychoanalysis revived memories of past events,even those from very early childhood. This is notthe usual form of remembering, but involves actu-ally going through the experience again: it is notreminiscence but réviviscence, as the French psy-chiatrist Jean Delay put it.

The hallucinogen does not in itself effect acure but rather plays the role of a medicinal aidto be used in the total context of psychoanalysisor psychotherapy, to make these more effectiveand to reduce the period of treatment required.There are two different ways of using it for thispurpose.

One method, developed in European hospitals,is known as psycholysis. It consists of giving med-ium doses of the hallucinogen on a number of

successive occasions at specific intervals. Thepatient's experiences under the influence of thehallucinogen are discussed in a group session thatfollows and are expressed through painting,drawing, and the like. The term psycholysis wasinvented by Ronald A. Sandison, an English psy-chotherapist of the Jungian school. The "-lysis"component indicates the dissolving of psychologi-cal tensions and conflicts.



The second method is the one generally pre-ferred in the United States. After intensive psycho-logical preparation appropriate to each indivi-dual, the patient is given a single very high doseof the hallucinogen. This "psychedelic therapy" isintended to produce a mystic, religious state ofecstasy that should provide a starting point forrestructuring the patient's personality. The termpsychedelic means "mind manifesting." It wascoined by the psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond.

The use of hallucinogens as an aid to psycho-analysis and psychotherapy is based on effects

that are the opposite of those psychotropic drugsknown as tranquilizers. These drugs tend rather tosuppress the patient's problems and conflicts,making them appear less serious and no longer soimportant, whereas the hallucinogens bring con-flicts to the surface and make them more intense,so that they may be more clearly recognizable andopen to psychotherapy.

Hallucinogenic drugs, as an adjunct to psycho-

analysis and psychotherapy, are still the subject ofdispute in medical circles. However, this appliesalso to other techniques, such as electroshock, in-sulin treatment, and psychosurgery all of whichcarry far greater danger than the use of hallucino-gens, which, in expert hands, may be regarded asvirtually without risk.

Some psychiatrists hold the view that the fasterretrieval of forgotten or repressed traumatic ex-periences frequently seen with these drugs andthe shorter period of treatment are not advanta-geous. They believe that this method does not al-low sufficient time for the full psychotherapeuticutilization and integration of the material madeconscious, and that the beneficial effects are ofshorter duration than if traumatic experiences are

brought back to conscious awareness more gradu-ally and dealt with in stages.

Psycholysis and psychedelic therapy both re-quire very careful preparation of the patient be-

the hallucinogen is given. If there is to be areally positive gain from the experience, patientsmust not be frightened by the unusual effectsproduced by the drug. Careful selection of pa-tients to be treated is also important, for not

191



L

I



Page 192: In the 1 960s, many artists in the United States and Europe ex-perimented with hallucinogens in order to enhance the creative process. The

painting on the left is an example of this genre.

every type of psychic disorder responds equallywell to this form of therapy. To be successful,therefore, hallucinogen-assisted psychoanalysisor psychotherapy requires special knowledgeand experience.

One of the most important aspects of the clin-ical training of a psychotherapist working with

Below: Only a few artists are capable of expressing the visionary realms while

directly under the influence of hallucinogens. The two paintings by Fred

Weictmann were executed while under the influence of Psilocybe

cyanescens. Both are acrylic on marbled paper.

Left: Slipping and Sliding I (There exists another painting from the same day.)

Right: The Garden of Pan

could be considered a "model of psychosis," butmajor differences have in fact been found betweenpsychotic states and hallucinogenic inebriation.However, hallucinogenic intoxication can serveas a model for studying the biochemical and elec-trophysiological changes that occur with abnor-mal mental states.

hallucinogens is self-experimentation with thesesubstances. Through these experiences, therapistscan gain direct knowledge of the worlds that theirpatients enter and, thereby, have much greater un-derstanding of the dynamics of the unconscious.

Hallucinogens may also be used in experimen-tal studies to determine the nature of mental dis-orders. Certain abnormal mental states producedby hallucinogens in normal subjects are, in somerespects, similar to the symptoms of schizophre-nia and other mental At one time it waseven thought that hallucinogenic intoxication

One area where the medical use of hallucino-gens, and particularly LSD, touches on seriousethical questions is in the care of the dying. Doc-tors in American hospitals observed that the verysevere pain suffered by cancer patients, which nolonger responded to conventional painkillers,could be partly or completely relieved by LSD.This action is probably not analgesic in the usualsense. What is thought to happen is that the per-ception of pain disappears; under the influence ofthe drug, the patient's mind becomes separatedfrom his body to such an extent that physical pain

193



Below: During visionary experiences, many people see spirals, whirlpools,

and milky ways. The artist Nana Nauwald depicted such an experience in herpainting The Middle Is Everywhere.



no longer reaches it. If the use of hallucinogens inthis type of case is to be effective, it is again abso-lutely necessary to prepare the patient mentallyand to explain the kind of experience and thechanges that he may undergo. Great benefitderives also from guiding the patient's thoughts

toward religious aspects, which can be done by aclergyman or by a psychotherapist. There havebeen numerous reports of how dying individuals,free from pain in LSD ecstasy, have come to per-ceive the meaning of life and death, and have diedin peace, reconciled to their fate and free fromfear.

The medical use of hallucinogenic drugs differsfrom the shamanistic use of hallucinogenic sacredplants by medicine men and healer-priests in thatthe latter usually themselves eat the plant, or drink

Below left: The painting Spirit and Matter Are Indivisible documents a recur-ring hallucinogen-influenced experience.

Below right: Many people recognize the Will to Live when they have tasted theplants of the gods. Nana Nauwald expresses this artistically.

a decoction made from it; whereas in conventionalmedicine, the hallucinogenic substance is givenonly to the patient. In both instances, however,the same psychological effects are utilized, forthe same drug actions that serve as an aid to psy-choanalysis and psychotherapy also give the sha-man unusual powers of divination and healing.They consist of the loosening or even dissolutionof the I-Thou barrier, with the result that objec-tive everyday consciousness dissolves into themystic experience of One-ness.

195



EPILOGUE

One of the leading lights of the interdisciplinaryinvestigations of hallucinogens was Louis Lewin,the famous Berlin toxicologist. More than a half acentury ago, he captured the all-pervading signi-ficance of hallucinogens to the cultural evolutionof the human race when he wrote in his bookPhantastica:

"From the beginning of our knowledge of man,we find him consuming substances of no nutritivevalue but taken for the sole purpose of producingfor a certain time a feeling of contentment, ease,and comfort...

"Their potential energy has covered the wholeearth and established communication betweenvarious races, in spite of dividing mountains andsundering seas. These substances have formed abond of union between men of opposite hemi-spheres, the uncivilized and the civilized; theyhave forced passages which, once open, proved ofuse for other purposes: they produced in ancientraces characteristics which have endured to thepresent day, evidencing the marvelous degree ofintercourse that existed between different peoplejust as certainly and as exactly as a chemist canjudge the relations of two substances by theirreactions. Hundreds or thousands of years werenecessary to establish contact between wholenations by these means...

"The motives for the occasional or habitual useof these drugs are of greater interest than collec-tion of facts concerning them. Here all kinds ofhuman contrasts meet: barbarism and civilization,with all their various degrees of material posses-sions, social status, knowledge, belief, age andgifts of body, mind, and soul.

"On this plane meet artisan and sybarite, rulerand subject; the savage from some distant islandor from the Kalahari Desert associates with poet,philosophers, scientists, misanthropes, and phi-lanthropists; the man of peace rubs shoulders withthe man of war, the devotee with the atheist.

"The physical impulses which bring under theirspell such diverse classes of mankind must be ex-traordinary and far-reaching. Many have ex-pressed opinions about them, but have probedand understood their intrinsic properties, andfewer still perceived the inner-most significanceand the motives for the use of substances in whichsuch energies are stored."

196

Above: In Huichol, the term nierika refers to a portway between so-called

ordinary and non-ordinary realities. It isa passageway and, at the same time,a barrier between worlds. Nierika, a decorated ceremonial disk, is also said to

mean "mirror" as well as "face of the deity." This nierika shows the four cardi-

nal directions and the sacred center. The coordinating axis is placed in a field

of fire.

Several early scientific investigators can becredited with beginning the interdisciplinary re-search on hallucinogenic plants and psychoactivesubstances. In 1855, Ernst Freiherr von Bibrapublished Die narleotischen Genussmittel undder Mensch, in which he considered some seven-teen psychoactive plants. He urged chemists tostudy diligently an area so promising and so fullof enigmas. Mordecai Cooke, a British mycolo-gist, published a number of specialized papers onfungi. His only popular, nontechnical publica-tion, The Seven Sisters of Sleep, was an interdisci-plinary study of psychoactive plants, publishedin 1860.

Half a century after von Bibra's work and un-doubtedly sparked by it, another outstandingbook appeared. Carl Hartwich's extensive Diemenschlichen Genzissmittel, published in 1911,considered at length and with an interdisciplinary



emphasis about thirty psychoactive plants, and hementioned a number of others in passing. Point-ing out that von Bibra's pioneering book was da-ted, that chemical and botanical research on thesecuriously active plants had scarcely begun in 1855,he optimistically maintained that by 1911, suchstudies were either well under way or had alreadybeen completed.

Thirteen years later, in 1924, perhaps the mostinfluential figure in psychopharmacology, LouisLewin, published his Phantastica, a book oftraordinary interdisciplinary depth. It presenteda total story of some twenty-eight plants and afew synthetic compounds that are used aroundthe world for their stimulating or inebriating ef-fects, emphasizing their importance to scientificresearch, especially in the fields of botany, eth-nobotany, chemistry, pharmacology, medicine,psychology, and psychiatry, as well as to ethnol-ogy, history, and sociology. Lewin wrote that"the contents of this book will provide a start-ing point from which original research in theabove-mentioned departments of science maybepursued."

From the 1930s to today, interdisciplinary ac-tivity in psychopharmacology, botany, and an-thropology began uninterruptedly to increase.Many amplifications and clarifications of olderknowledge have been made and new discoveriesin sundry fields have followed one another inclose succession. In spite of the pharmaceutical,phytochemical, and ethnobotanical advances thathave been made in the past 150 years, there stillremains a tremendous amount of work to be doneon these "plants of the gods."

LOUIS LEWIN

1850—1929

197

ERNST FREIHERR VON BIBRA

1806—1878

CARL HARTWICH

1851—1917



PHOTO CREDITS

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Barberini Lat. 241 fol. 29r): 111 leftBiblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence: 159

above (Photo: Dr. G. B. Pineider)Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence:

162 above (Photo: G. Sansoni)Biedermann, H., Lexikon der Felsblldkunst, Graz

1976: 83 aboveBildarchiv Bucher, Lucerne: 17 below rightBiocca, E., Yanoàma, Ban 1965 (Photo: Padre L.

Cocco): 178 middle, 178/179, 179 middle, right,181 left

Black Star, New York: 96 middle, left and right (PhotoC. Henning)

Bouvier, N., Cologny-Geneve: 82Brill, D., College Park, Georgia: 168 above leftCarroll, L., Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, New

York 1946:101 below leftColeman Collection, Uxbridge: 17 above, center leftCurtis Botanical Magazine, vol. III, third series, Lon-

don 1847:147 belowEditions Delcourt, Paris: 89 above leftEMB Archives, Lucerne: 5. 13 above, centerright, 28/

29, 36 (9, 10), 38 (14,15), 40 (22, 25 below), 43(35), 44 (38, 39), 46 (46) and below, 48 (52, 53)and below, 49 (55, 56), 53 (70, 72) and below, 56(84) and below, 58(89,90), 59(93), 60(96), 62, 88,118, 119, 122 above, 132, 133 right, 145 above,177,187 above

Emboden, W., California State University, Northridge:95 right

Erdoes, R., New York and Santa Fe: 152 rightETH-Bibliothek, Zurich: 197 center leftForman, W., Archive, London: 62 rightFröh!ich, A., Lucerne: 186 aboveFuchs, L., New Kreuterbuch, Base! 1543: 31 leftFurst, P. T., New York State University, Albany, New

York: 172 belowGoodman, Mill Valley, California: 96 center leftHalifax Collection, Ojai, California: 150 below, 190/

191 middle, 191 above, 196Harvard Botanical Museum, Cambridge, Mass.: 31

center left, 98 above, 152 left, 153 above right, 170below, 185 above, 197 above

Hernández de Alba, G., Nuestra Gente Namuy Mis-ag, Bogota: 143 left

Hofmann, Dr. A., Burg. L.: 23, 162 leftHolford, M., Loughton: 105 belowHolmstedt, B., Karolinska Institute, Stockholm: 197

belowHunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie-

Mellon University, Pittsburgh: 188

198

Kaufmann, P. B., Department of Botany, University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor: 99

Kobel, H., Sandoz Research Laboratories, Basel: 103below right

Koch-Grunberg, 1., Zwei Jahre unter den Indianern,Berlin, 1910: 127 left

Köhler, Medizinal-Pflanzenatlas, vol. I, Gera-Unterm-haus 1887:21 below, 31 center left

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Mentale, Paris 1845: 100 belowMuseo del Oro, Bogota: 64Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Gift of Mrs. W. Scott

Fritz: 108 leftMuseum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation,

New York: 152 middleMuseum Rietberg, Zurich: 2 (Photo: Kammerer/

Wolfsberger), 10/11 Sammlung von der Heydt(Photo: Wettstein & Kauf)

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151 above left

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mann)

Petersen, W.: Mecki bel den 7 Zwergen, KbIn (© forthe Mecki-character: Diehl-FiIm, Munich): 84 centerright

Photoarchiv Emil Schulthess Erben, Zurich: 24Radio Times Hulton Picture Library, London: 4R&tsch, C., Hamburg: 7, 8, 13 center, right, 17 below,

center left, 18, 19,21 above, 22, 24/25, 27, 30, 34,35, 36, 37 (8), 38 (16, 17), 39, 40, (23, 24), 42, 43(34, 36, 37), 44(40,41), 45,46(45,47,48), 47,48(53), 49(57), 50,51,52,53, (69, 71), 54,55(77,78,

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above right



ACKNOWLED GMENTS

Should this book succeed in giving its readers a betterunderstanding of the role of hallucinogenic plants inthe cultural development of man through the centu-ries, we must thank the patience and friendliness ofshamans and other native peoples with whom wehave had the happy opportunity of working.

The debt that we owe for the faithful cooperationand encouragement of our many professional collea-gues over the years can be neither easily nor ade-quately put into words, but nonetheless it is deeplyappreciated.

To the sundry scientific institutions and manylibraries that have freely and fully helped us in somany ways, both before and during the preparation ofthe book, we express our heartfelt thanks. Withoutthis support, the book never could have been born inits present form.

The generosity of the many individuals and institu-tions that have made available, often at great expenseof time and research, the extensive illustrative mate-rial for this volume—much of it hitherto unpublished—has heartened us during the frequent frustrations that

we have met in our efforts to produce a book con-ceived with a fresh and forward-looking overview ofone of the fundamental elements of human culture—the hallucinogens.

Christian Râtsch thanks Claudia MUller-Ebeling,Nana Nauwald, Stacy Schaefer, Arno Adelaars, FelixHasler, Jonathan Ott, Giorgio Samorini, and PaulStamets for comments on the revision.

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203PDF compression, OCR, web-optimization with CVISION's PdfCompressor


Index(prepared byChristian Rãtsch)

Italics of numbers refer to cap-lions.

1 ,2-dimethyl-6-methoxytetra-hydro4l-carboline 117, 179

2-methyl-6-methoxytetrahy-dro-fI-carboline 117, 179

3,4-dimethoxyphenylethyla-mine 59

3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphe-nethylamine 42

3-methoxy-tyramine 39, 59, 774-hydroxy-3-methoxypheny-

lethylamine 51, 67, 694-tetrahydroisoquinoline alka-

loids 515-hydroxydimethyltryptamine

1175-hydroxy-tryptophane 525-hydroxycarnegine 39, 775-MeO-DMT 22, 35, 50, 54,

60, 69, 77, 137, 138, 1385-MeO-MMT 1205-methoxy(—N,N)-dimethyl-

tryptamine 69, 1795-OH-DMT-N-oxide 1206-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryp-

tamine 179a-asarone 34, 77A-mu-k/a 173Aborigines 42, 73, 75, 182,

183, 183Acacia 34. 72Acacia resin 73, 75Acacias 72, 73, 75Acacia aneura 183Acacia coriacea 183Acacia kempeana 183Acacia lingulata 183Acacia maidenll34, 72, 73,

138, 138Acacia phlebophyl/a 34, 67,

72, 73, 138Acacia pruinocarpa 183Acacia sal/c/na 183Acacia simplicifo/la 34, 72, 73,

138Accultaration 65Achuma 166, 168Acorus 34Acorus calamus 16, 34, 76Afghanistan 41, 68, 73, 88, 99Aflotoxins 19Africa 26, 34, 39, 40, 41, 46,

49, 50, 52, 60, 64, 73, 76,78, 88, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99,109, 110, 111, 115

Agara 26,43, 66, 69Agave 109Age of Herbals 16Agriculture 20Aguacolla 27, 30, 76, 168Aguardiente 143Ahijado 39Ahnishinaubeg 85Ahriman 102Ai curo 134Au 134Ajuca 70, 71AjUwri-kahi-má 126Alan 114Alander 189Albertus the Great 87Albornoz, Cristobal de 120Alcohol 10, 23,82, 160Alcoholic drinks 69A/cornea castanaefo//a 134A/cornea floribunda 98, 114Algae 17, 18, 19Algonquin 78, 79, 110Alice in Wonderland 101

204

Alkaline plant ash(es) 67, 75,182, 183

Alkaloid(s) 23, 34, 38, 39, 40,42, 43, 47, 50, 52, 53, 54,56, 59, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75,77,79, 105, 120, 184

Allergies 46Alpen nomads 72Altai 82Alternanthera lehman/i 124Ama 178Amacisa 134Amanita 34, 64, 82—85Aman/ta muscaria 17, 29, 34,

70,81,82—85, 82Amaringo, Pablo 12Amaryllis family 26Amasita 69, 178Amazon 24, 30,36,49, 59, 60,

81, 117,124—135,139,141,162, 176, 177, 178

Amazon Valley 66Amazonia 12, 37, 55, 58, 68,

119,139Amazonian Brazil 72, 74, 177Amazonian folk medicine 69Amazonian Peru 79America(s) 20, 34, 74, 76, 84,

110,144,162American basil 124American Southwest 78, 107Amitabha Buddha 108Amphibians 90Amrita 92Amsterdam 139Amulets 68, 90Anabasine 75, 179, 183Anabatin 183Anadenanthera34, 81, 116—

119, 117,179Anadenanthera colubrina 29,

34, 66, 120, 122, 123Anadenanthera colubrina var.

Ceb1166, 120—1 23, 120Anadenanthera peregrina 29,

35,66,116—119, 116—118,138

Anadenanthera peregrina var.fa/cata 66

Anahuasca 137Analgesics 13Anandatandava 10Anatalline 183Ancestor-communication ritual

112—115,129Ancestors 67, 112—115

Andean Indians 78Andes 30, 33, 34, 40, 42, 45,

53, 59, 66, 74,76,81, 116,117,140,141,142,143,143, 168

Andromedotoxin 53Aneglakya 106Anesthetic 107Anger's trumpet(s) 66, 107,

134, 140—143Angelitos 84Angiosperms 16, 17, 18Angler's Weed 96Anglo-Saxon period 95Angro Maynes 102Animal Kingdom 14,117Ant/ar/s tox/caria 46Antibiotics 19Antiquity 26, 36, 44, 48, 66, 76Antilles 116Anxiety 73Apasmärapurusa 10Aperitif 79Aphrodisiac 46, 57, 60, 69, 71,

73, 75, 77, 78, 79, 109, 170Aphrodite 90Apollo 44, 90Apollo's plant 44Apollo's temple 91Apomorphine 50, 67Aposcopolamine 141Apples of Love 90Aquatic plants 65

Arabian physician 68Arabian territory 98Arabs 74Arapaho 74Arbol de Campanhlla 74Arbol de los Brujos 27, 30, 72Archichlamydeae 17Argemone mex/cana 98Argentina 30, 43, 66, 67, 81,

120, 122, 167Argyre/a 35-Argyreia nervosa 35, 78, 103Ar/ocarpus 35, 42, 71Ar/ocarpus f/ssuratus 35, 70,

147Ariocarpusretusus35, 70, 147Arizonine 39, 77Aromo 122Arrow poisons 10Artaud, Antonin 8, 147Artemis/a ludoviciana 153Artemisia mexicana 98Arum family 26Arundo donax 138Arutam wakani 143Aryans 70, 82Asarones 34Asia 26, 34, 36, 39, 40, 41, 44,

49, 50, 52, 53, 64, 82, 82,84, 88, 95, 108

Asia Minor 72, 76, 97, 98Assassin 72Assyrians 94, 98, 99, 102Astoria 157Astrophyton aster/as 147Atacama 120, 123Atanga tree 112Athabaskan peoples 70Atropa 36, 86—91Atropa belladonna 17; 29, 36,

68,69,86—91,86,90Atropa beliadonna var. lutea

36, 86Atropa caucasia 36Atropa komarovli 36Atropine 36, 37, 39, 41,46, 48,

73, 86, 87, 141Atropos 88Auditory hallucinations 77, 79Australia 26,34,42,43,72, 74,

81, 138,183Avicenna68, 107Axocatzin 57, 72Ayahuasca 12, 19, 30, 36, 55,

59, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 69,81, 124—135, 124—137; 139,141,143

Ayahuasca additive(s) 37, 58,124, 134, 138

Ayahuasca analogs 34, 54, 55,69, 73, 77, 131, 137—1 39

Ayahuasca Churches 139

Ayahuasca patterns 129, 130,131

Ayahuasca vine 36, /25Ayahuasca Vision(s) 133, 137Ayahuasquero 133Ayahuma 134Ayan-beyem 115AyurVedic medicine 68, 78, 79Aztec Codex 63Aztec Dream Grass 78Aztec(s) 26, 27,41, 43,45, 56,

60, 62, 63, 66, 70, 72, 74,78, 79, 81, 109,146,156,159, 164, 165,170, 172,173, 174

Aztec Sage 164Aztekium r/ter// 147jI-asarone 77

alkaloids 52, 59,67, 69, 77, 127

13-carbolines 67, 81, 127, 13113-phenethylamine 40, 57Bacchanals 89Bactr/s species 179

Badianus Manuscipt 107Badoh 74

Badoh Negro 45, 66, 175

Baeocystine 52, 55, 73Bakana 40, 56, 66

Bakanawa 66

Balche' 34Bali 51,68,69Banisterine 127Banister/opsis (app.) 36, 67, 69,

81,124—135,137, 137,143Banister/opals caap/29, 36, 66,124,125,126,129,137,139

Banister/opals inebrians 36,66, 124, 129

Banister/opsis muricata 131Banisteriopsis qu/tensis 124Banister/opals rusbyana 66, 67Banzie 113

Barasana 132, 177, 177Batsikawa 134Baudelaire, Charles 101, 101Bauhin 104

Bedouins 88Beer7l,74,75, 109,122,130,

141Belgian 114Belgium 104Belladonna 26, 68, 88, 107Benares 97Beni-Tengu-Dake 85Ben-ben 95Bering Strait 84Bern 96Betel 73Betel chew mixture 69Beyama 114Bhang 72, 73, 97

Bharaorakasha 95Biak-Biak 72Biangan 141

Bible 97, 161Bibra, Ernst Freiherr Von 196,

197, 197Big Raven 82Bindweed(s) 103, 135, 171Biocca, Ettore 176Bipyridyl 183Black Henbane 44Blake, William 88Blood-red Angel's Trumpet 33,

37, 140—143, 140Blue Meanies 51, 146-1 63Blue Water Lily 66Bogota 117Bo/etus 36, 75Bo/etus kumeus 74Boletus manicus 36, 74Bo/etus nirgoviolaceus 74Boletus reayi 36, 74Bolivia 18, 76, 166, 168

Bonplant, Aimé 140Bora 176, 178, 179, 180

Borrachero 27, 66, 68, 74, 76,124, 143, 143

Botswana 26, 72Bovista 48Brazil 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77,

117,118,119,139,177,178, 178

British Guyana 119Brugmansia (app.) 29, 37, 64,

67,73,77,81, 124,140-143Brugmansia arborea 66, 140,

141

Brugmansia aurea 37, 66,

140-1 43

Brugmansia x insignia 66, 141

Brugmansia sanguinea 33, 37,

66, 140—143

Brugmansia suaveolens 66,124, 141

Brugmansia versico/or 66, 141

Brugmansia vu/can/cola 66,140, 143

Brunfelsia 30, 37, 68, 69, 124Brunfelsia chiricaspi 37, 68,

124

Brun fe/s/a grandiflora 37, 68,

124

Brun fe/s/a grand/flora sap.schu/tesli68, 135

Bryophyta 16Buddha 97, 107, 108Buddhism 97, 98Bufo a/var/us 22Bufotenine 69, 120, 120Bush people 73Bushmen 26, 72, 99Buyés 141Bwiti cult 26,71, 112—115,

112—1 15

Caapi 30, 66, 62, 67, 124, 126Caapi-Pinima 59, 66Cabalonga 134

Cabalonga blanca 134Cacalia 38Cacalia cordifolia 38, 74Cacao tree 177

Cachiri 131

Cactus 67, 71, 75, 124Caesalpinia 38

decapetala 78Caesafpinia sep/aria 38, 78Cahua 66

Caji 132

Calamus 76Calathea veitch/ana 124Calea 38

Ca/es zacatech/chi 38, 78, 98California 72

Calima region 162Caltrop 137Cameroon 114Camps 127Campanilla 26Canada 26, 74, 76, 85, 151

Canary Islands 70Canava//a mar/tima 98Cannabidiolic acids 73Cannabinol(s) 93Cannabinotic compounds 73Cannabis 12,38,72,73,81,

98, 92—1 01, 92—101, 107,108, 184, 185

Cannabis cakes 72Cannabis cigarettes 69Cannabis/nd/ca 72, 92, 92—

101, 185Cannabis md/ca x sat/va 92Cannabis ruderalis 93Cannabis sat/va 17; 29, 38, 72,

114, 185Cannabis substitute 77Caribbean Islands 26

v/ca 179, 180Carnegia 39, 77Carnegia gigantea 76Carnegine 77Carroll, Lewis 101Cassiaspp. 183Cat's claw 134, 135Catahua 134Catharanthus roseus 98Catholic Church 159Catholicism 115Catnip 98Cawe5l, 66Caza 89

CeblI 30, 34,66, 120—123, 120Ceboletta 66Cecropia mexicans 98Ce/ba pentandra 135Ceremonial intoxication 69

Cestrum 39Cestrum /aevigatum 68, 98Cestrum parqui3g, 68, 98Cha-pe-na 179

Chancarro 98Chacruna 55,66,124-135, 134Chacruna Bush 66, 139Chacs 84Chalice Vine 57Chamico 109Channa7OChanoclavin-l 79Charas 26, 72, 73Charms 68Chatin area 174Chatino 158Chautle 70



Chavin de Huantar 122, 166 Costa Rica 78, 118, 162 Diagnosis 69, 75, 77, 177 Epithelantha micromeris 42, 70 Golden Angel's Trumpet 37,

Chiapas 77, 159, 162 Cotinin 183 Diarrhea 73,79 Ereriba 26,44, 68 140—143

Chibcha 66, 67, 116 Coumarines 71, 77 Dicotyledoneae 17 Ergine (LSA) 79, 103, 171 Goodenia 183

Chicha 67, 140, 141 Cowhage 68 Dictyloma incanescenS 138, Ergoline alkaloids 69, 171 Gramine 69,77

Chichibe72 Cree Indians 76 138 Ergonovine79, 105 Gramineae 138

Chichimeca 144, 145 Crow Dog, Henry 152 Dictyonema 19 Ergot 26, 39, 68, 69, 102—105, Grasses 65

Chiclayo 166 Crusades 103 Dietnes 142 171 Greece 13,26,68,70,74,81,

Chihuahua 70, 74, 144 Cryogenine 77 Digitalis 10 Ergot alkaloids 69, 103 86, 97, 102

Childbirth 96, 104 Cuba 40, 60, 159, 175 Dihydroharmine 127 Ergotamine 105 Greek physician 72, 95

Chile 66,68,69,72,76,78,95, Culebra borrachero 142 Dimethyltryptamine 69, 77, Ergotine 172 Grevillea striata 183

123, 141 Cumala (Tree) 60, 134 117, 179 Ergotism 68, 103 Guaianas 78

Chilicote 68 Cuna 97 Dionysus 88 ErgotoXifle 103 Guahibo 117, 119

ChimO culture 168 Curanderismo 166 Dioscorides 16,87,96,107,171 Eroga 114 Guambiano 140, 143

China 66, 70, 71, 76, 77,78, Curandero 109, 168 Diplopterys cabrerana 66, 67, Ervatamia pandacaqui76 Guaraná 29

94, 107, 108 Curare 69, 126 124, 126, 129, 138 Erythran type alkaloids 69 Guatemala 62,81,84, 161, 162

Chinantec 66, 75, 78, 158, Curare-like activity 75 Diterpenes 77 Erythrina42, 69 Guatillo 134

173, 174 Cuscohygrine 73 Divination 75,77, 109, 124, Erythrina americana 42, 68 Guayusa 29, 134

Chindoy, Salvador 142 Cuzco 129, 169 142, 164, 171, 175, 177 Erythrina coralloides 68 Guerrero 73

Chinese medicine 76, 77 ' Cyanogenesis 73 Divinatory plant 69 Erythrina flabelliformis 42, 68 Gulf Coast of Mexico 72

Chinese shamanism 94 Cymbopogon 40 Diviner's sage 27, 56, 164—165 Esakuna 70 Gumilla 118

Chinese writings 68, 72, 79, Cymbopogon densiflorus 40, Divinorin A, B 165 Eschwei!era itayensis 171 Gums 183

94, 107 70, 98 DMT 67, 69, 72,73,77, 117, Escobilla 98 Gustavia poeppigiana 179

Chiric-Sanango 68 Cyperus 124 120, 127, 137, 137, 138, 138 Essential oil(s) 19, 34, 40,46, Guttiferae 124

Chiricaspi 30, 68, 69, 134, 135 Cytisine 69,71,75 DMT-N-oxide 120 47,57,58,71,75,77 Guyana 116

Chocb 141 Cytisus4l,71 DOB14 Eucalyptus microthecal83 Gymnospermae 17,181

Chonta Palm 168 Cytisus canariensis 41, 70 Dobe 72 Eucalyptus app. 183 Hades 105

Chontal Indians 78, 79 Dodart 104 Eugenol 75 Haiti 118

Chorisia insignis 135 binol 73, 98 Dog Grass 38 Eugster 83 Hallucinations 12, 69, 71, 73,

Chou dynasty 94 D-nbr-nicotine 183 Dogbane family 26 Euphoria 71, 101 75, 86, 88, 103, 112, 141

Christian holy spirits 139 Dacha 72 Dogrib Athabascan peoples 85 Euphorics 13 Hallucinogen(s) 10-14, 28, 62,

Christianity 70, 79, 115, 122, Daggha 26 Doré, Gustave 100 Europe 13, 13, 26, 64, 68, 69, 64, 67, 69, 70, 71,73, 74,

147 Dagga 72, 98 Dryopteris filix-mas 16 72,74, 81,88, 139, 158, 193 75,76,77,78,79,94, 102,

Chuchu-caspi 134 Dama da Noite 68 Duboisia 42, 182—183 European folklore 73 107, 140, 141, 142, 142,

Cigars 165 Damiana 98 Duboisia hopwoodii42, 74, European peoples 68 147, 176, 196

Cigarette 71, 73, 79, 93 Dápa 124 182—183, 183 Everlasting 98 Hallucinogen-asSisted psy-

Cimora 168 Dark Ages 91 Duboisia myoporoides 183 Fabaceae 138 choanalysis 193

Claviceps 39, 102—105, 102— Dark-rimmed Mottlegill 52, Duboisia app. 29 False peyote 35, 70, 74, 78 Hallucinogenic dreams 69

105 156—163 Dog Grass 98 Fang 112 Hallucinogenic drugs 191, 195

ClavicepspaspalilO2 Datura 10,26,27,41,64,68, Dragon doll 91 Fang-K'uei 53, 70,71 Hallucinogenic effects 73,75,

ClavicepS purpurea 29, 39, 68, 73, 79, 81, 93, 97, 106—111, Dreamtime 182—183 Farmer's tobacco 134 77, 78

102—105, 102—1 05 140, 141, 147, 172 Ducke 176 Febrifuge 79 Hallucinogenic intoxication 67,

Clinton, Bill 155 Datura ceratoca u/a 111 Dutch 70, 102 Fermented drink 67 71, 75, 77,79, 193

Clusiaceae 124 Datura discolor 78 Dutra 68 Fern 16 Hallucinogenic mushrooms 69

Coatl-xoxo uhqui 170 Datura fastuosa 110 Dwale 88 Fetish plants 114 Hallucinogenic smoke 72

Coaxihuitl 170 Datura ferox68, (109) Dwaleberry 88 Fig family 93 Hardwicke 108

Coca 13,29,64, 117 Datura innoxia 18,41,73,78, Eagle 63, 110 Finno-Ugrian peoples 70,82 Harmal77

Cocaine 12,113 79, 106—111 Earth Goddess 6, 63 Fish 14 Harmalol 127

Codeine 12 Datura kymatocarpa 78 Earth Mother 133, 146, 154 Flag Root 76 Harmahne 77, 127, 129, 137

CodexBerberiniLatina 241, 107 Datura mete! 13, 41, 68, 106- East Indies 69, 109 Flavonglycosides 77 Harmane 127

CodexFlorentino 159 111, 106 Eastern Europe74 Floripondio27, 66 Harmine77, 127, 129,137

Cohoba 26, 116 Datura meteloides 78 Eastern Hemisphere 28, 30 Fly Agaric 16, 17, 26, 34, 62, Harrison Narcotic Act 12

Cold tree 68, 69 Datura pruinosa 78 Ebena 177 70, 81 Hartwich, Carl 196, 197

Coleus 39, 69 Datura reburra 78 Ebers Papyrus 86 Flying Saucers 170 Hashish 5,72,74, 92—1 01

Coleus blumei 39, 68, 165 Datura app. 29, 106—111 Eboka 112 Folk medicine 71, 73, 76, 77, Hashish-snuffing cults 99

Coleus pumllus39, 68, 164,165 Datura stramonium 31, 41, 78, Echinocereus 42 79 Hash/shins 72

Colima 162 106—111 Echinocereus salmdyckianus France 103 Hawaiian Wood Rose 35, 78

Collenia 18, 18 Datura stramonium var. ferox 42, 74 French 102, 114 Hawk 110

Colombia 30, 65, 67, 68, 69, 109 Echinocereus triglochidiatus French Academy 104 Hawkweed 98

74, 76, 116, 116, 117, 118, Datura stramonium var. tatula 42,74, 75 Frijoles 74 Hayo 117

119, 126, 133, 140, 140, 106 Echinopsis pachanol 76 Frijolillo 27 Heath family 27

141, 142,162,176,177,178 Datura wrightii78 Ecuador 27, 30, 68, 69,76,77, Frogs 14, 90 Hecate 88

Colombian ChocS 73 Dauphiné 103 126 Fuchs, Leonard 31 Heimia 43

Colombian Indiana 68 De Candolle, A. P. 105 Ecuador/an Andes 66, 76 Fungi 18, 65, 65, 71, 156, 196 Heimia salicifolia 43, 76,77

Colombian Vaupés 69, 124 Dead Sea 90 Egypt 54, 74, 88, 103 Furocoumarinea 71 Heimia species 76

Colorado RiverToad 22 Deadly Nightshade 16, 17,36, Egyptian culture 66,86 Gabon 26,70,81, 112—115 Hekula 116—119, 118, 179

Colorines 68, 74 68, 81, 86—91 Egyptian Henbane 88 Galanga 46, 70 Helichrysum 43

Comanche 151, 152 Death 75 Egyptian sites 72 Galbulimima 43 Helichrysum foetidum43, 76,

Common Reed 54, 68 Deer 63, 144-1 55 Eidetics 12 Galbulimima belgraveana 43, 98

Common Wireweed 98 Delaware 154 El Ahijado 68, 165 66, 69 Helichrysum stenopterum 76,

Conduro 168 Delay, Jean 190 El Macho 68, 164 Galen 72,95,96 98

Congo 26, 70, 81, 97, 99 Delhi 85 El Nene 68, 165 Galileo 90 HelicostyliS 44

Conibo-Shipibo 126, 129, 130 Deliranta 12 El Nino 159 Gallows man 91 Heilcostylis pedunczilata 44,

Conocybe 40, 156-163 Delirium 73, 75, 86, 103 Elaeophorbia drupifera 115 Ganja 26, 72,73, 97 78

Conocybe siigineoides 40, 78 Delphi 70, 86, 91 Eleusia 102, 104 Ganoderma lucidum 17 Helicostylis tomentosa 44, 78

Convolvulus tricolor 171 Deltgen, Florian 132 Eleusinian mysteries 68,81,102 Garden of Eden 91 Hemp 12, 16, 17, 26, 38, 72,

Cooke, Mordecai 196, 197 Delusionogens 12 Elizabetha princeps 69, 178, Gaston 103 92—101, 92—10 1, 184

Copal 150, 164 Demeter 81, 104 181 Geniata 27, 41, 70 Henbane 13, 26,70, 81, 86—

Copelandia 68 Depression 73 Enema 122 Genullmittel 10 91, 86, 107

Cope/and/a cyanescens 68, 69 Desfontapia 42 England 74, 95, 96, 104 Gerard 91, 109 Henry VIII 95

Cora Indiana 97, 145, 146, Desfontainia spinosa 27, 42, Entheogens 12 German(s) 102, 114 Herb of the Shepherdess 70

147, 149 76,77 Epená 68, 69, 73, 176—181 Germany 95, 139, 143 Herbs 65,75

Coral Bean 74 Desgranges of Lyons 104 Ephedra 84 Ghangi 97 HernándeZ, Dr. FranciscO 72,

Coral Tree 43 Desmanthus illinoensis 138 Ephedra gerardiana 84 Gi'-i-Sa-Wa 70 109, 146, 157, 170

Coriaria 40 Desmodium 137, 138 Ephedrine 19, 73 Gi'-i-Wa 27, 70 Herodotua 94

Coriaria thymifolia 40, 76 Desmodium pulchellum 138 Epilepsy 103 Gigantón 76, 168 Heroin 12, 113

Coryphanta 40, 67 Desmodium app. 138 Epilobium angustifolium 71 Ginger 71 Heuresia 87

Coryphanta compacta 40, 66 Devil'S Herb 88 Epinephrine 145 Ginger family 26 Hexing Herbs 86—91

Coryphanta pa!merii4O Dhatura 107 Epiphyllum 124 Ginseng 91, 94 Hidalgo 99

Coryphanta app. 66 Di-shi-tjo-le-rra-Ja 78 Epithelantha 42 God-narcotic 73 HieraciUm pilosella 98

205



Hierba de Ia Pastora 27, 70,164—i 65

Hierba de Ia Virgen 70Hierba Loca 27, 53, 76Hierba Maria 175Highland Maya 62Hikuli 66, 70, 74, 151Hikuli Mulato 42, 70, 71Hikuli Rosapara 70, 78Hikuli Sunamé 70Hlkuri 74,78, 148, 150Hikuri Orchid 50Himalayas 30, 98, 97, 106Hindu 13, 93, 97Hiporuru 134Hippornanes 109Hispaniola 116Hoa-Glio 95Hoasca 139Hofferl3Hofmann, Albert 13,22, 162,

187Hoja de Ia pastors 164Holy Fire 103Homalomena lauterbachil 44Hornalomena sp. 44, 67, 68Homer 86Hongo de San Isidro 78, 156Hoop-petticoat 51, 1S6—163Hops 71,93Hottentots 26, 70, 96, 99Huaca 141Huacacachu 27, 66Huacachaca 141Huachuma 168, 168Huanto 27, 66Huedhued 76Hueipatl 72I-tueyytzontecon 174Huichol 6,8,62, 63,70,71,72,

73, 74,78, 144, 145, 146,147, 148, 149, 150,150,151, 151, 154,162, 196

Huilca 66, 74, 122Humbold, Baron Alexander

von 116,118,119,140Hummingbird 166Humulus 93Hungarian stamp 175Huskanawing ceremony 110Hyoscyamine 69, 71, 73, 75,

79, 86Hyoscyamus 44, 86—91Hyoscyamus albus 13, 44, 70,

86—91

Hyoscyamus niger44, 70, 86—91,86

Hyoscyamus app. 29,86—91Hypnotics 13lboga58, 64, 70, 71,81,112—

115, 112—115Iboga cult 112lbogaine7l, 79,113

Ibogaine-like alkaloids 77

Ibotenic acid 71, 83Ice Plant family 26//exdrinks 64Incense 150India 26,62, 66,68,69, 70,72,

82, 88, 92, 95, 97, 97 107,108, 108, 109

Indian Henbane 88Indian peoples 69Indian writings 74, 98Indians 66,67,69,72, 73,74,79Indochina 108Indole alkaloids 71, 77, 79,

103,113Indolic alkaloids 79Indonesia 26Indra 82, 83, 92Indus Valley 82Inebriation 88Ingano Indians 141Initiation ritual 67, 71,79,81,

110, 110Insanity 73, 77, 86,168Inspiration 100Intoxicant 73, 74, 76, 79

206

Intoxicating 31Intoxicating drink 77Intoxication 10, 67, 69, 71,72,

75, 77,79,108,112,145,172, 174

Intoxicator 68lochroma 45Iochroma fuchsioides 45, 74Iowa tribes 74Ipomoea45, 170—175, 170—175Ipornoea carnea 134, 135, 172Ipomoea rubrocaerulea 45Ipornoea violacea 29, 45, 66,

103, 170—175, 170—175Ireland 104Iresine 124, 168

Iryanthera macrophylla 178Iso-lysergic acid amide (iso-

LSD) 79, 186, 187Isoharmine 127Isoleosibirine 77Isotoma long/flora 168Islam 70, 98, 115Jaguar(s) 119,126,130,142Jalisco 162Jambur 68Japan 83, 85Jesuit(s) 145, 162Jesus 154Jibaro 64, 69, 141, 142, 143Jimsonweed 78Jopa 117

Josephus Flavius 90Jouzmathal 107Juliana Codex 87Jungianschooll9oJurema 70Jurema Tree 49Juremahuasca 139Just ic/a 45, 69, 72, 73, 181

Justicia pectoral/s var. steno-

phylla45,72,178, 181Kabuyare 177

Kaemferia 46Kaempferia galanga 46, 70Kaffirs 99Kahi 124, 126Kakuljá-ikox 84Kalahari desert 196Kalamota 70Kalinchok 30Kamsá74, 77,141, 142tKamtchatka 85Kana 134Kandahar 99Kanna 26, 70, 71Kapoktree 134, 135

Karauetaré 177Karimé 177Karitiana Indians 72Karuka madness 77Kasai 99Kashmir 97Kathmandu 93, 158Kauyumari 63, 148Kava-kava 13, 26, 64Kechwa 62Khursu 98

Kickapoo 153

Kieli 72, 73Kielitsa 73Kieri 72Kit 72, 98Kiowa 151,152,153Kirishaná 177Koch-GrOnberg, Theodor 180Koch/a scoparia 127Koffln 126

Korea 91

Koribo 59, 72Koryak 64, 82, 83Kougoed 56, 98

Krasnojarsk District 82Kratom 49, 72Kuluene River 24Kuma7S, 111Kuma Mushroom 36Kung 97Kuripako 177

Kwashi 26, 52, 72Kykeon 104La Barre, Weston 64Lady of the Night 39, 68, 98Lagochiline 79Lagochilus 26, 46Lagochilus inebrians26, 46, 78Lake Victoria 99Latua 46Latua pub/flora 46, 72LatUe 27,46, 72, 73Latuy 76Latvia 75Le-sa 179Lecythus 81Leguminosae 138Lemon 139

Lemongrass 40, 98Leon, Padre Nicolas de 147Leonotis 47Leonotis leonurus 47, 72, 98Leonurus 47Leonurus sibir/cus 47, 76, 98

Leosibiricine 77Leosibirine 77Lespedeza capitals 138Levitation 77Lewin, Louis 13, 196, 197, 197Li Shih-chen 107Lianas 65Lichens 18, 19Libation 91Liberty Cap(s) 55, 72, 156—

163Li//urn cand/durn 16Lily-like plants 65Lindley, John 16Linnaeus, Carolus 16, 107, 189LinnO, Carl von 16Lion's Tail 46, 72Liquor 109Lithuania 75Llanos 116Lobelamidine 79Lobelia 47Lobelia tupa 47,78Lobeline 79Lolium 102Lornar/opsisjapurensis 124Lonicer of Frankfurt 104Lophophora47, 70, 74, 75,

144—155

Lophophora diffusa 47, 74Lophophora wil//amsii 6, 22,

29, 47, 74, 75, 144—155, 186Love potion 75LSA 79LSD 14,69,75,77, 171, 185,

186, 187,189, 189, 190,193LSD ecstasy 195Lucillus 95Lumholtz, Carl 144, 147Lupuna 134Lycoperdon 48

Lycoperdon marginaturn 48, 70Lycoperdon mixtecorurn 48, 70Lycoperdon sp. 70Lycopodiurn77, 168Lygod/urn venustum 124Lysergic acid 69, 103,171

Lysergic acid amide 75, 103,171,185, 187

Lysergic acid diethylamide(LSD) 69, 171. 187

Lysergic acid hydroxyethy!a-mide75, 103,171,185, 187

Ma 94

Ma-fen 94Maa-jun 97Mace 74Macedonia 102Mackenzie Mountains 85Maconha 26, 68, 73Maconha Brava 98Macropsia 67, 71, 133Madagascar Periwinkle 98Madonna Lily 16Maenads 88Magic ceremonies 71, 72

Magic infusions 71Magic Mushrooms 14,22, 159Magic plant 73Magic potion 74Magliabecchiano Codex 162Mahayana 97Mahekototen shaman 179Maicoa 27, 66Maikoa 143Maiden's Acacia 34, 72Maize beer79, 109,122,141,

141, 150Majun 73

MakQ Indians 66. 69, 176Makuna 177Malaria 95Malaya 98Malaysia 72Malva Colorada 72Maloca 130, 132Malouetia tamaquar/na 124Malpighia family 30

Malpighiaceae 138Mammillaria 48, 78Mamm/llar/a craig/i 48, 78, 79Mammillaria graharni/48, 78,79Mammillaria heyder/i48, 79Mammilaria s/nil/s 78Man-to-b 107

Manaka 68

Mandragora48, 81,86-91Mandragora offic/narurn 48,

72, 81, 86—91

Mandragorine 73Mandrake 26, 48, 72, 73, 74,

81, 81,86,86-91,87,88,89, 90, 91, 107

Mandrake root 91MAO inhibitor 127, 131, 137Mapuche 27, 66, 69, 72, 78Maquira4g, 74Maquira sclerophylla 49, 74,75

Mara'akame 148, 148, 150,150, 154

Maraba 26, 70

Maria Sabina 14,156-163

Marijuana 12, 13, 17,72,73,79, 92—1 01

Marijuana substitute 69, 73,76, 98

Marijuanillo 76Mascagan/a glandu/ifera 124Mascagania psiophylla var.

ant/febrilis 124Mash, Deborah 113

Mashihiri 45, 72Massachusetts 104, 105

Mataco Indians 120, 122, 122

MatwCi 38, 74Maya66, 109,162

Maypure Indians 118, 119

Mazatec(s) 14,66,68,70,71,75, 78, 156-1 63, 164, 164,

165, 174

Mecki and the Dwarfes 84Medina Silva, Ramón 148,

148, 149, 150k 151Melaleuca sp. 183

Méne-kahi-mfl 124

Merian, Matthflus 81Mesa 168

Mescal Bean 26, 27, 57, 68,74, 152

Mescal Button 74Mescaline 22, 23, 75, 77, 145,

167, 185, 186, 187, 189Mesembrenine 71

Mesembrine 71Mesembryanthenurn 71Mesembryanthenum expan-

sum 70Mesembryanthenum tortuo-

sum 70Mesoamerica 84, 161

Mesolithic 140Mestizos 139

Metachlamydeae 17Metanicotine 183

Metate 71, 75,150

Metel nut 107

Meteloidine 107, 141

Mexican Indians 74Mexican Mugwort 98Mexico 6,22, 26, 27, 62, 64,

66, 68, 70, 71, 72, 74, 78,81,97,99,107, 107,109,

110,111,111,144,145,

147, 147, 150,151,156,158, 159, 159, 162, 166,

172, 173, 174Mexico City 165

Mfeng 96Miamill3Michigan 85Michoacan 158Mictlantlcuhtli 162Middle Ages 14, 68, 69, 70,74,

81, 102, 104Middle America 78Midwives 69Mihi 124Milky Way 176Miltomate 174Mimohuasca 139

Mimosa49Mimosa host/l/s49, 70,71, 138Mimosa scabrella 137, 138Mimosa tenu/fiora 49, 70, 137,

138, 138, 139Mimosa verrucosa 70Ming dynasty 107Minoan culture 66Mint 64Misperceptinogens 12Mistletoe family 124

Mitra 82

Mitragyna 49

Mitragyna speciosa 49, 72Mitragynine 73

Mixe 158Mixtec(s) 27, 70, 75, 158

MMT 77Moche 162

Mojas 117

Mongolian shamans 12Mongoloids 140

Monocotyledonea 16

Monomethylthryptamine 179Mopope, Stepehn 152Moraceae 93

Morning Glory 26, 45, 63, 74,75, 81,103,147,170-175,

170—175, 185Morpheus2oMorphine 12, 20, 21Mother Gala 173Mucha, Alphonse 143Mucuna5o, 69Mucuna prur/ens 50,68, 138,

138

MQIler, Ferdinand J.H. von 183Münchhausen 105Muhipu-nuri 176Muinane 178Muisca 117, 141

Munchira 142

Murderer's Berry 88

Muscarine 83

Muscazone 71

Muscimole7l, 83Mushroom madness 75Mushroom cap 63Mushroom stones 161Mushrooms 14, 17, 23, 62, 69,

70, 71, 73,78,79,81, 156—163, 164, 174

Muslim 73Mutterkorn 102

Myosmine 183

Myristica 50

Myristica fragrans 50, 74Myristicaceae 50, 138Myristicine 50, 75Mysticomimetics 12Mythology 63, 68,72, 88, 124

N-acethylnornicotine 183N-formylnornicotine 183



N-methyl-3,4-di-methoxyphe- Oklahoma 152 Persephone 81, 105 Protestantism 115 Red Canary Grass 54

nylethylamine 79 Old World 30, 64, 67, 68, 72, Persia 98 Pseudo-hallucinationS 14 Red Tengu mushroom 85

N,N-dimethyltryptamine 71 78, 90, 92, 97, 107,176 Peru 66, 67, 68, 76, 81, 95, Psilocine 23, 23, 69, 73, 79, Reed Grass 76, 77

N,N-DMT 67, 69, 71, 77 Ololiuqui 26, 60, 64,66,71,74, 109, 122, 127, 129, 140, 159, 185, 186, 187 Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo

Naeher, Karl 113 103,111,156,170—175, 141, 162,166, 166,167, Psilocybe 54, 55,156—163, 62,126,131, 132

Nahua 158 170—175,185, 187,189 169, 178 171 Reindeer milk 71,82

Nahuatl 109, 146, 162, 170, Omagua 140 Peruvian Amazon 135, 162, Psilocybe acutissima78 Remo caspi 134

174 Oncidium 50 178 Psiocybe aztecorum 63,78 Reserpine 13

Nandi 109 Oncidium ceboletta 50, 66, 67 Peruvian Indians 66, 67, 135 Psiocybe azurenscens 156, Resin 69, 75, 176, 178, 181

Naranjo, Claudio 113 Opiate addict 113 Peruvian shaman 12 157 Rheumatism 77

Narcosis 174 Opium (poppy) 12, 13, 20, 21, Petunia 27, 53, 76, 77 Psilocybe caerulescens 78, Rhizomes 67

Narcotic(s) 10, 26, 31, 72, 73, 100, 104 Petunia violacea 53, 76 163 Rhynchosia 56, 75

75, 107 Opium substitute 72 Peucedanum 53, 71 Psilocybe caeru/escens var. Rhynchosia longeracemosa

Narcotic fruit 74 Opium-like effects 72 Peucedanumjaponicum 53, albida 78 74

Natema 30, 124, 143 Opuntia 124, 145 70, 71 Psilocybe caerulescens var. Rhynchosia phaseoloides 56,

Native American Church 74, Oracle of Delphi 86, 91 Peyote 6, 8, 12, 13, 26, 47, 62, mazatecorum 78, 156 74, 75

152, 152, 153, 155 Orchid, orchids 65, 66 63, 64, 66, 70,74, 75, 81, Psiocybe caerulescens var. Rhynchosia pyramidal/s 74

Native American tribes 71 Oregon 157 99,143,144—155,157,166, n/gripes 78, 156 Riamba cult 99

Nauwald, Nana 122,137, 194, Orgies 88 172, 174, 184, 186 Psilocybe caerulescens var. Ribas, Padre Andrea Perez de

195 Orinoco 26, 27, 72, 81, 116, Peyote bird 155 ombroph/la 78 145

Navajo 110, 155 118. 119, 176, 177 Peyote Cimarrón 70 Psilocybe cubensis 54, 78, Rig-Veda' 82, 83

Nayarit 146, 162 Orinoco basin 66, 119, 176, Peyote cult 63, 75, 144 156-163, 157, 159 Rio Branco 119

Nazca culture 166 177 . Peyote de San Pedro 78 Psilocybe cyanescens 55, Rio Grande 74

Ndzi-eboka 115 Ortega 165 Peyote fan 155 156-1 63 Rio Madeira 72, 119

Near East 68 Osage 153 Peyote festival 6 Psilocybe hoogshageni/ 157 Rio Marahon 140

Necromancers 87, 94 Osca 117 Peyote surrogate 67,70, 147 Psilocybe mex/cana 22, 55, Rio Negro 177

Neocerdan-diterpenes 165 Oshtimisk Wajashkwedo 85 Peyotillo 53, 74, 147 78, 79, 156-163, 156 Rio Purüs 177

Neolithic 94 Osmond, Humphrey 13, 191 Peyotl 146, 156, 186 Psilocybe mixaeensis 78 Rio Tikié 66

Neoraimondia macrostibas Otomac 118 Pfaffla 134 Psilocybe pell/culosa 158 Rio Vaupés 66, 126

168 Otomi 158 Pfaffla iresinoides 134 Psilocybe semilanceata 55,72 Ritualistic significance 67

Nepal 27, 30, 78, 84, 93, 106, Out-of-body experiences 165 Phalaris 54 Psilocybe semperviva 78, 156 R/vea corymbosa 74

107, 158 PachycereuS 51 Phalaris arundinacea 54, 76, Psiocybe sil/gineoides 157 Roman priests 89

Nepeta cataria 98 Pachycereus pecten-aborigi- 138, 138 Psilocybe species (= spp.) 29, Romans 95

Nerval, Gerard de 100 num 51, 66 Phalaris tuberosa 138, 138 79, 156-163 Rome 70, 74

Netherlands 139 Pacific 64, 162 Phanerothymes 12 Psilocybe wassonii78, 157 Root Beer Plant 98

Nettle family 93 Pacific North West 158 Phantastica 13, 196, 197 Psi/ocybe yungensis 78, 156, Rosa Maria 99

New England 95, 104 Paéz 140 Phantasticants 12 162 Rosa spinosiss/ma 17

New Guinea 26, 70, 74, 76, 77 Paguando 45, 74 Pharmahuasca 137 Psilocybe zapotecorum 78 Rosebud Reservation 152

New Orleans 99 Painted Nettle 39, 164 Phenethylamine(s) 67, 71, 75 Psilocybin(e) 23, 23, 69, 73, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

New Spain 122,146 Pakidái 177 Phenylalanine 185 79, 157,159, 185, 186, 187, 117, 126

New World 26, 30, 62, 64, 66, Pakistan 68,73 Phenylethylamin(s) 185 189 Rubiaceae 138

67, 73,78, 90,99, 105, 107, Paleolithic 140 Philip II of Spain 146 Psychedelic dose 73 Ruiz, Fortunato 120

107, 109, 144, 176 Palm wine 71 Philippine Islands 68 Psychedelic therapy 191 Russel, F. 110

New Years's Eve 84, 153 Palo de borracho 135 Phragmites austral/s68, 138 Psychedelic(s) 13, 191 Russians 82

Niando 98 Palqui 68, 69,98 Phrygylanthus eugeno/des Psychoanalysis 191 Rutaceae 138

N/cot lana rust/ca 79, 134, 134 Panacea 73 124 Psychodysleptics 13 Rye 68, 102, 102

Nicotiana fabacum 17 Panaeolus 51,52, 156—1 63 Physa/is sp. 174 Psychogens 12 Sabbat 69

Nicotine 75, 183 Panaeolus cyanescens 68 Phytolacca 54 Psycholyws 190, 191 Sacred mushroom(s) 14,78,

Nierika 63, 196 Panaeolus sph/nctrinus 51, 78, Phytolacca acinosa 54, 76, 77 Psychoses 12 79, 147, 159

Nightshade 74,89 156—163, 157 Pichana 134 Psychosomimetics 12 Sacred tree 78

Nightshade family 26, 27, 30, Panaeolus subbalteafus 52, Pijaos 142 Psychotaraxics 13 Sadhu 93

75, 86, 88, 89 156-163 Pima 110 Psychotica 12 Sat rol 75

Nightshades 5 Panama 97, 162 Pincushion Cactus 40, 48 Psychoticants 12 Saguaro 39, 76, 77

Ninfa 66 Panax ginseng 91 Pindé 30, 124 Psychotomimetic(s) 12, 13 SahagUn, Fray Bernardino de

Niños (santos) 14, 161, 164 Pancratium 52 Pinus strobus 17 Psychotria 55, 124—135 111, 144, 145, 147, 159, 170

Niopo 27, 119 Pancratium trianthum 52, 72 Piper aur/tum 98 Psychotr/a carthag/nens/s 124 Salamén 142

Nonda 74 Pandanus sp. 52, 76, 77 Piper methyst/cum 64 Psychotr/a poeppig/ana 138 Salem 104

Nor-lobelamidine 79 Papaversomniferum 21 Pipiltzin 165 Psychotr/a vir/dis 55, 66, 67, Salta 120

Noradrenaline 145, 184, 186, Papua 26, 66, 68 Pipiltzintzintli 27, 70, 164—165 124—135, 134, 135, 137, Salves 74

187 Paracelsus 10, 20 Piptaden/a peregr/na 116 138, 139 Salvia 56, 68, 164—165

Norcarnegine 77 Parahuré 177 Piraparaná 133, 176 Pteridophyta 16 Salvia d/vinorum 14, 56, 70,

Norepinephrine 184, 185 Pariana region 74 Pin pin 134 Pucallpa 133 71, 164—165, 164—165, 184

Norharmine 127 Paricé 68, 69, 177 Pitallito (cactus) 42, 74, 75 Puebla 99, 158 Salvinorin A 71, 165

Norman times 95 Paris 102 Pituri 73, 74, 75, 81, 182—183 Puff balls 27 Salvinorin B 165

Nornicotine75, 183 Parjanya82 Pituri Bush 42, 74,182—183, Puinave 177 Samadhi 189

Nornuciferine 67 Parsees 102 182, 183 Pulma 134 San Antonio 147

Norscopolamine 141 Pashupatinath 27, 93, 107 Piturin(e) 75, 183 Puna region 120, 123 San Bartolo Yautepec 174

Nortropine 73 Paspalum grass 104 Piule 27, 56, 66,74, 174 Putumayo 126 San Critobal de Las Casas 159

North Africa 97 Pass/flora involucrata 127 Plains tribes 152 Pygmy 97, 112 San Isidro 54, 156—1 63

North America 26, 70, 84, 95, Pass/flora spp. 127, 129 Plant Kindom 16-19 Pythagoras 90 San Luis Potosi 148

158 Passionf lower 129 Pliny the Elder 95 Pythia 91 San Pedro (cactus) 27, 59, 76,

Nti-si-tho 159 Paste 67, 69,178 Plutoniuon 104 Quapaw Indians 153 166-1 69, 166—1 69

Nuciferine 67 Paumaré Indians 177 Poison 73, 86 Quechua 124 Sananco 134, 135

Nutmeg 26, 50, 74,75, 176 Pastora 164 Poison Bush 74 Quetzalaxochiacatl 66 Sanango 58,76

Nyakwana68, 69, 177,178 Paye(s) 117,176 Pokeberrys4 Quiche-(Maya)84 Sandison, Ronald A. 190

Nyl 133 Ped//anthus t/thyma/oides 168, Polynesian Islanders 64 Quinde 142 Sandoz 187

Nyiba-eboka 115 169 Polyporales 17 Quinolizidine type alkaloids 77 Sanskrit 68, 107, 108

Nymphaea 50, 67 Peganum 52, 124, 137—139 Polytrichum commune 16 Quinta essentia 20 Santo Daime 139

Nymphaea arnpla 50, 66, 67 Peganum harms/a 52, 69, 73, Pombe 109 Ratsch, Christian 27, 189 Saponines 69, 73, 77

Nymphaeacaerulea50, 66 76,77,124,127, 129,137, Popocatepetl 63,161 Rahner, Hugo 88 Satori 189

Oaxaca 66, 70, 75, 78, 158, 139 Popol Vuh 161 Rain priests 79, 110 Saxon times 95

162, 164, 170, 173, 174 Pelecyphora 53 Poppy 20, 21,24 Rajaw Kakuljá 84 Scandinavia 88, 102

Obstetrics 69 Pelecyphora asefilformis 53, Ports 90 Rami 134 Sceletium 56, 71

Ochre 142 74 Prescott 105 Rape dos Indios 49,74 Sce/etium expansum56

Ocimum micranthum 124 Pen Tsao Ching 94 Prickly Poppy 98 Rasping stick 150 Scelet/um tortuosum 56, 70,

Oco-yajé 126 Pernambuco 70 Prisoners 75 Raven 91 98

Ocotl 172 Pernetlya 53, 77 Prophecy 75, 124, 177 Recreation 69 Sc/rpus atrovirens 56

Ointments 70 Pernettya furens 53, 76, 77 Prophesy 86 Red Bean 26, 74, 75 Scirpus sp. 56, 66, 67

Ojibwa 85 Pernetfya parvifolia 53, 76, 77 Protector 71 Red Bean Dance 75 Screw Pine 52, 76

207



Scopine 73Scopolamine 67, 69, 71, 73,

75, 79, 86, 87, 107, 141,183

Scopoletine 69, 75Scopolia 57Scopolia carniollca 57, 74Scotch Rose 17Scythians 72, 94, 95, 97Sea Bean 98Seaweeds 17Secale cereale 102Sedatives 13Sedges 65Semilla de Ia Virgen 175SeminarcosiS 75Sen Indians 77Serotonin(e) 22, 120, 159,

171, 185, 187SertOrner, Friedrich 20Sesquiterpene-lactone 79Shaman(s) 8, 30, 62, 67, 69,

72, 75, 82, 82, 120, 126,134, 139, 142, 148, 149,156, 164, 168, 175, 176,178

Shamanic medicine 76, 117Shamanic significance 67, 71Shamanism 64, 85Shang-la 76, 77Shanin 53, 76Shanshi 27, 40, 76Sharon, Douglas 169She-to 78Scheelea 180Shen-Nung 94, 95, 95Shimbe Lake 168Shipibo Indians 125, 126,

129, 130, 131Shirianá 177Shiva 10, 13, 92, 93, 97,

108, 108, 109Shiva Lingam 107Shrubs 65Siberia 26, 64, 70, 71, 82Siberian Lion's Tail 76Siberian Motherwort 47, 76,

98Sibundoy Valley 67, 74, 141,

142, 142Sibyl 91Sierra Madre Occidental 97,

147Sierra Madre Oriental 164Sida 57, 72, 73Sida acute 57, 72, 98Sida rhombifolia 57, 72, 98Sinaloa 145Sinicuiche 27, 43, 63, 76, 77SinO culture 65Siona 126Sioux medicine man 152Srnokehaouse 71Snail shell lime 67, 118, 119Snuff(s) 27,67,68,73,75,81,

116—119, 116,120—123,176—181

Sogamoza 140Solanaceous 71Solandra 72, 73Solandra brevicalyx 72Solandra guerrerensis 72, 73Solanum maniacum 170Soma 62, 62, 70, 82—85, 97Somalata 84Sonora 77Soothsayer 122Sophora secundiflora 68, 69,

74, 75, 152Sorcerers7l,77, 112,147

Cherry 88Sorcery 73, 124Sotho 96South Africa 70,71,72,76, 97South America 19, 26, 27, 30,

62, 65, 66, 76. 77, 81, 95,118, 118, 134, 135, 140,162, 166, 172

South American Indian 33

208

Southeast Asia 26, 73Southwest 26, 109Spain 157Spaniards 156, 171Spanish cronicles 74, 144,

173Spathiphyllum canaefolium

179Species Plantarum 16Spermatophyta 17Sphaeradenia 179Spruce, Richard 24, 24, 65,

117,119, 126,132,176Sri Lanka 77St. Anthony 103, 104St. Anthony's fire 26, 68, 102—

105St. Peter 166Stearns, John 105Stimulant 71, 73, 75, 79Straw Flower 43, 76Stopharia cubensis 158, 159Strychnos usambarensis 127Stupor 67, 141Succulents 65Sucuba 134Sui period 108Sun Father 63, 106,117,131,

133, 176Sun God 91Sung dynasty 107Surarfl 177Sushrata 95Sweet Calomel 76Sweet Flag 16, 26, 34, 76Switzerland 96Syrian Rue 52, 76, 77,124,

127, 129, 139Syphilis 170TaMa72Tabaco del Diablo 47, 78Tabernaemontana 58, 76Tabernaemontana coffeoides

58, 76Ta be rnaemontana crassa 58,

76, 77Tabernaemontana dichotoma

76, 77Tabernaemontana pandaca-

qui76Ta be rnaemontana sananho

58, 134, 135Ta be rnaemontana spp. 58Tabernanthe 58, 112—115Tabernanthe iboga 29, 58, 70,

112—115, 112—115Tagetes 58, 78, 79Tagetes lucida 58, 78, 79TagIli 27, 76Iamb 116Taique 27, 42, 76Tajik tribesmen 78Takemoto 83Takini 44, 78Tamu 78Tanaecium 59Tanaecium nocturnum 59, 72,

73Tanayin 110Tannins 73Tanzania 70, 109Tantric practices 93, 97Taoist 94, 107Tarahumara 8, 66, 69, 70, 71,

74,75,78,79, 144, 147,149, 150, 151

Tarascans 158Tatar 78Tatewari 62, 148, 150Taxine 19Telepathine 126, 127Teliostachya lanceolata var.

crispa 124Tengu 85

Teochichimeca ritual 147Teonanácatl 55, 62, 71, 78,.

81, 156—163, 185, 186,

187Teotihuacán 172, 173

Tepantitla 173Tepecano Indians 99Tepescohuite 70Tesguino 109Tetrahydrocannabinol 184,

184Tetrahydroharmine 77, 127Terahydroharmol 127Tetrahydroisoquinoline alka-

loids 67, 75, 77Tetrapteris 59, 124—135Tetra pier/s methystica 59, 66,

67, 124

Telra p/er/s mucronata 66, 124Teuile 67

Teunamacatlth 156Teyhuintli 157Texas 74, 81,144, 144,147

Tha-na-sa 78Thallophyta 17THC 96,98, 184, 184, 185Thailand 72Thebes 72, 97Theobroma 179Theocritus 109

Thiophene derivatives 79ThIe-Pelakano 78Thorn Apple 13, 26, 31, 41,

79, 106—111, 109Thornapple 78Thrace 102Tiahuanaco 120, 122Tibet 78, 97, 98Tlamanalco 63TlapatlTlililtzin 66, 174TMA 14To-shka 78

Toad(s) 14,66

Tobacco 10, 17,29, 63,64,69, 73, 79, 97, 108, 116,117,120,124,127,

130,134,134,140,143,148,149,150,153,165,172, 182

Toe 27, 66

Toe negra 124

Toloache 27, 41, 69, 78, 79,

106-111

Toloatzin 78, 109Tolohuaxihuitl 109Toltecs 144Tonga66, 140

Tongo 27

Tonic 79Torna Loco 111

Torres, C. Manuel 120Torres, Donna 123Totubjansush 74Toxicon 10Trance, claivoyant 71Trance, visionary 75Trance(s) 77, 88Tranquilizers 13, 191Tree of Knowledge 88, 122Trees 65Tribu/us terrestris 127, 137

Trichocereus 59, 166-169

Trichocereus pachanoi 59, 76,77,81, 166—169, 166—169

Trimethoxyphenylethylamine75

Trinidadian ferns 19Triptolemus 81Triterpenes 71Tropine 73Tropane alkaloids 69, 71, 73,

75, 79, 141Tryptamine derivatives 67, 75,

159, 179, 185

Tryptamine(s) 73, 81, 117,120,129,138,171,180

Tryptophane 117,185

Tschudi, Johann J. 140Tsuwiri 70Tubatulobal tribe 110Tukano(an) Indians 67, 124,

126,127,131, 133,176,177

Tukche 106

Tunas 145

Tunja 117, 141Tupa 78

Turbina 60, 170—175, 170—175

Turbina corymbosa 29, 60,74,75, 170-1 75, 170—175

Turkestan 26, 78

Turkestan Mint 46, 78Turkoman tribesmen 78Turkey Red variety 138Turner 91Turnera diffusa 98Twiners 65Tzompanquahuitl 68Ucuba 176

U.S. Pharmacopoeia 99Ukraine 104Umu 122Uncaria fomentosa 134, 135

Uniäo do Vegetal 139

Unio mystica 189United Staates 13, 74, 75, 99,

144,151,152,154,155,191, 193

Uppsalal6, 189

Urticaceae 93Usbek tribesmen 78Vaccin/um ol/ginorum 71Vahiyinmn 82Valdes 165

Valdivia 72Varanasi 97Varuna 82

Vasoconstrictor 69Vaupés 131Vaya (Vayu) 82, 83

Velada 14, 160Venezuela 64, 68, 118, 119,

176, 177

Vent//ago vim/na/is 183Veracruz 99Vertine 77Viho-mahse 176Vikings 95Villca3O, 34, 66,120,122,

122VilIca camayo 122VilIca Coto 122Vine of the Soul 124

Vines 65

Vinho de Jurema 71Virginia 95, 110Virola (spp.) 29, 60, 73, 81,

138, 176-1 81

V/rota ca/ophylla 68, 176,177,177

V/role ca/ophy/loidea 68, 176,177

V/rota cusp/data 176Viro/aelongata68, 176,178Virola loretensis 176, 178

V/role pavonis 178Virola peruvians 176Virola rufula 176Virola sebifera 138, 176V/role surimanensis 176, 176,

178V/role the/odors 60, 68, 138,

176, 176, 177, 178Vision-inducing quality 73, 77Vision-seeking dance 74Vision-quest 75Visions 14,26,27, 64, 67, 69,

71, 75, 77, 79, 109, 110,122, 122, 148, 159

Voacanga 60, 78, 79

Voacanga africans 78Voacanga bra cteata 78Voacanga dregei78Voacanga grand/flora 60, 78

Voacangaspp. 60Voacangine 77, 79

Voccamine 79

Waiká72, 118,177, 178, 179,181

Walangari Karntawarra Jaka-marra 182

Wapaq 82

Warao 64Wasson, B. Gordon 82, 159Water Lilies 50, 66Wattisham 104Wavy Cap 55Weidmann, Fred 193West Africa 77West Indies 66, 116Western Hemipshere 28, 29,

30Western society 62, 75, 79,

81,115Whale 82White Pine 17Wichi 120Wichowaka 66Wichuri 66Wichuriki 78Wild Dagga 72, 98WilIca 122Wine 69, 108

Winemaking 77Wirikuta62, 148, 148,150,

151

Witch(es) 89Witch's Berry 88Witchcraft 71, 7289Witches market 166Witches' brews 68,69, 70,71,

73, 78, 79, 86—91Witches' ointments 74Witches' salves 74Witoto 176, 178Wolf's Milk plant 169Wood Rose 78, 79World tree 135Wysoccan 79, 110Xerophytes 65Xibalba 161Xing0 24

Xixicamatic 174Xochipilli 63, 161Xtabentum 74, 173Xtohk'uh 109Yage67, 124—135Yajé 30,66,69, 124—1 35

Yakee 68, 69

Yams 114

Yando 133

Yanomamo 177

Yaqul Indians 27, 70, 71, 109,

150

Yarinacocha 129Yas 140

Yato 68Yauhtli 58, 78Yekwana 126, 176Yellow Henbae 44Yoco 29Yogis 27Yogurt 97Yohimbine 73Yokut Indians 79, 110Yop 117

Yopa 116

Ybpb27, 30, 35, 65,66,116—

119

Yucatan 162

Yuman tribes 110Yupa 118

Yurimagua Indians 79, 162Yurupari ceremony 67, 129,

131Yün-Shih 78Zacatechichi 27, 78, 79Zaire 112

Zambesi Valley 99ZameyeMebege 112Zapbtec 66, 75, 173, 174,

174, 175Zaparo 129

Tend-Avesta 94Zornia diphylla 98Zornia let/to/ia 98Zululand 76Zuni Indians (= Zuñi) 79, 106,

110



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Plants of the Gods - Their Sacred Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers