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Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers
World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers.
� Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text.
� Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world.
� Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents.
Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.
� Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text.
� Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world.
� Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents.
Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
120 people are currently reading
7,453 people want to read
About the author
Richard Evans Schultes
50Ìýbooks114ÌýfollowersRichard Evans Schultes (SHULL-tees) (January 12, 1915 â€� April 10, 2001) may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' (especially the indigenous peoples of the Americas) uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants (particularly in Mexico and the Amazon), for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and for his charismatic influence as an educator at Harvard University on a number of students and colleagues who went on to write popular books and assume influential positions in museums, botanical gardens, and popular culture.
His book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers (1979), co-authored with chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, is considered his greatest popular work: it has never been out of print and was revised into an expanded second edition, based on a German translation by Christian Rätsch (1998), in 2001.[1]
His book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers (1979), co-authored with chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, is considered his greatest popular work: it has never been out of print and was revised into an expanded second edition, based on a German translation by Christian Rätsch (1998), in 2001.[1]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
July 9, 2013
Years and years ago, when I was tiny, I made a short film for the BBC about Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which was in those days gaining some notoriety as a legal high. Imagining myself, with youthful hubris, as a sort of latter-day Aldous Huxley circa Doors of Perception, I pitched it to my editor by saying that I'd only make the film if I was allowed to get off my tits on the stuff personally in front of the camera. Since my editor rarely bothered to even look up when I went into his office, and since I did all my own filming anyway, he basically just waved his hands at me until I went away, which I decided to interpret as carte blanche to go ahead.
You can see the results on a young, beardless me . During the long research period while I was setting up various aspects of the filming, this book became my Bible. I actually read quite a few works on hallucinogenics and legal highs, but most were either obscurely medical or uncritically new-agey � this one is the perfect balance, giving excellent ethnographic details of the different peoples or tribes that have used the substances concerned, with comments on mythology or folklorish import where relevant, but also providing details on the chemistry at work and the neurological effects produced (where known).
To take salvia as an example: we have an interview with a ‘shamanic healer�, details of where the plant grows, how the leaves are prepared for use, some background on the Aztec drug pipiltzintzintli which may have been the same thing, several beautiful illustrative photos, and a sidebar on the chemical composition of active ingredient salvinorin-A (C₂₃H₂₈O�).
The original authors are the grand-daddies of hallucinogenic research: Richard Evans Schultes more or less invented the field of ethnobotany single-handed, while Albert Hofmann was the main discoverer of LSD and the first to identify (and synthesise) psilocybin. Their original work came out in 1979; this gorgeous 1998 version has been brought up to date by the German ‘ethnopharmacologist� Christian Rätsch. It's so good-looking it's practically a coffee-table book.
As for the mind-altering chemicals themselves, truthfully I've never had any kind of transcendent experience with them. However, I am grateful to have had the unusual pleasure of being able to charge a bong to BBC expenses.
You can see the results on a young, beardless me . During the long research period while I was setting up various aspects of the filming, this book became my Bible. I actually read quite a few works on hallucinogenics and legal highs, but most were either obscurely medical or uncritically new-agey � this one is the perfect balance, giving excellent ethnographic details of the different peoples or tribes that have used the substances concerned, with comments on mythology or folklorish import where relevant, but also providing details on the chemistry at work and the neurological effects produced (where known).
To take salvia as an example: we have an interview with a ‘shamanic healer�, details of where the plant grows, how the leaves are prepared for use, some background on the Aztec drug pipiltzintzintli which may have been the same thing, several beautiful illustrative photos, and a sidebar on the chemical composition of active ingredient salvinorin-A (C₂₃H₂₈O�).
The original authors are the grand-daddies of hallucinogenic research: Richard Evans Schultes more or less invented the field of ethnobotany single-handed, while Albert Hofmann was the main discoverer of LSD and the first to identify (and synthesise) psilocybin. Their original work came out in 1979; this gorgeous 1998 version has been brought up to date by the German ‘ethnopharmacologist� Christian Rätsch. It's so good-looking it's practically a coffee-table book.
As for the mind-altering chemicals themselves, truthfully I've never had any kind of transcendent experience with them. However, I am grateful to have had the unusual pleasure of being able to charge a bong to BBC expenses.
July 29, 2018
This is an excellent go to resource on the use of psychotropic compounds by pre-industrial societies.
A fascinating topic in it's own right, detailed in full, and marvelously illustrated.
Some of the images in this book remind me strongly of experiences I've had just sitting around doing nothing. Pretty amazing stuff and worth a read by anyone with a curious mind.
A fascinating topic in it's own right, detailed in full, and marvelously illustrated.
Some of the images in this book remind me strongly of experiences I've had just sitting around doing nothing. Pretty amazing stuff and worth a read by anyone with a curious mind.
March 15, 2009
As a worker who studies altered states of consciousness, I found this text to give needed background and context to the use of psychodelics in our culture. Are all trips flowers and sunshine? A well-photographed healing session with the shaman Maria Sabina as presented in this book would tell us no. Maria proclaims her patient's disease to be fatal, and his reaction is profound; working with psilocybin and cancer patients, our preliminary data presents some tearful, anxious reactions. However, Maria continues to provide the boy with prayer and benediction; this may be of great effect, as we have seen the psychological aftermath of a soundly-conducted psilocybin session to provide a new outlook on death and life.
This CBC clip is a good example:
Our study website has more clips, as well:
This book is worth the cash you will lay down for it: the production value is high; the pictures are large and crisp; the image descriptors are thoughtful, leading you into the text; and the sheer volume of botanical knowledge you can take away from it is outstanding. Reading this book is reading notes from one of the most talented ethnobotanists ever to grace our western science. The descriptions of the indigenous use of the "plants of the gods" should give the modern reader a sense of how integral the use of psychodelics is to other cultures; this book also illustrates how ritual was used to screen for people who could benefit from the experience (the right psychological "set") and provide them with a supportive environment to explore or be explored (the right psychodelic "setting"). I think the former gift to be this book's contribution to reasoned discussion of psychodelics, and the latter to be its' contribution to the study of the safety issues surrounding psychodelics; both are essential, and this book serves both purposes admirably.
This CBC clip is a good example:
Our study website has more clips, as well:
This book is worth the cash you will lay down for it: the production value is high; the pictures are large and crisp; the image descriptors are thoughtful, leading you into the text; and the sheer volume of botanical knowledge you can take away from it is outstanding. Reading this book is reading notes from one of the most talented ethnobotanists ever to grace our western science. The descriptions of the indigenous use of the "plants of the gods" should give the modern reader a sense of how integral the use of psychodelics is to other cultures; this book also illustrates how ritual was used to screen for people who could benefit from the experience (the right psychological "set") and provide them with a supportive environment to explore or be explored (the right psychodelic "setting"). I think the former gift to be this book's contribution to reasoned discussion of psychodelics, and the latter to be its' contribution to the study of the safety issues surrounding psychodelics; both are essential, and this book serves both purposes admirably.
August 2, 2007
Plants of the Gods is a collaborative work by ethnobotany greats , , and . It is an overview of various psychoactive plants and their uses in cultures of the past and present. It goes into detail on many of these plants, such as the morning glory vine Ololuiqui, the Peyote cactus, the Ayahausca brew, and DMT-containing snuff powders made from the Yopo.
The book also discusses the roles of psychoactive plants in modern psychotherapy and medicine. It is well sourced and referenced. A definite addition to any ethnobotany collection.
The book also discusses the roles of psychoactive plants in modern psychotherapy and medicine. It is well sourced and referenced. A definite addition to any ethnobotany collection.
August 27, 2020
This book was certainly very informative, and I would like to address some its aspects:
- it was very good, because when possible, the active substances were identified, and they were compared with neurotransmitters occurring in the brain;
- it was excellent when more details were provided about some well-known plants;
- sadly, there was no information about cases of accidental overdoses (after all, we are talking about toxins here and only the dosage makes it a toxin).
Fun fact 1:
Atropa belladona L. played a major role in the war of the Scots under Duncan I against the Norwegian king Sven Canute about A.D. 1035. The Scots destroyed the Scandinavian army by sending them food and drink laced with 'sleepy nightshade'.
Fun fact 2:
When fly agaric (Amanita mushroom) was used for intoxication, its psychoactive substances pass through the body unmetabolised. It led to culture of urine drinking, so the poor could get intoxicated 'second-hand'.
- it was very good, because when possible, the active substances were identified, and they were compared with neurotransmitters occurring in the brain;
- it was excellent when more details were provided about some well-known plants;
- sadly, there was no information about cases of accidental overdoses (after all, we are talking about toxins here and only the dosage makes it a toxin).
Fun fact 1:
Atropa belladona L. played a major role in the war of the Scots under Duncan I against the Norwegian king Sven Canute about A.D. 1035. The Scots destroyed the Scandinavian army by sending them food and drink laced with 'sleepy nightshade'.
Fun fact 2:
When fly agaric (Amanita mushroom) was used for intoxication, its psychoactive substances pass through the body unmetabolised. It led to culture of urine drinking, so the poor could get intoxicated 'second-hand'.
August 7, 2020
This book was a curious blend of a reference guide for hallucinogen plants the world over, anthropological case studies of their traditional use in indigenous societies, and a small discussion on their chemistry and psychiatric potential. While the case studies were interesting at first, their similarity and sheer number made a big part of the book feel quite redundant. Honestly, it was only the small part on the chemistry and psychiatric potential of these plants that held my interest and even this part seemed superficial.
January 2, 2019
A must have for the study of ethnobotany and entheogens. It gives a detailed description of how hallucinogens work, and the context of their ritualistic use. It also covers a broad range of psychoactives in detail, and has a list of more unknown hallucinogenic plants. It does this in a fairly condensed fashion too.
January 17, 2023
A very well put together and beautifully illustrated book that looks at a wide range of hallucinogenic plants, their social, religious and political role in tribal societies. I can't pretend that I understood all that was read. There is a lot of complex chemical issues discussed which went right over my head but the history and sociological aspects were fascinating. Even if you just have a passing interest in this topic or anthropology, sociology etc. it is well worth the read.
May 29, 2019
This book was a bit more specific than I am interested in learning - I love Schultes' work as an anthropologist, but this book is mainly for botanist who are interested in the specific powers of plants. So a bit too much for me, but a respectful work nonethless.
January 2, 2023
Introduction
Hoffer and Osmond: "Hallucinogens are chemicals which, in non-toxic doses, produce changes in perception, in thought and in mood, but which seldom produce mental confusion, memory loss, or disorientation for person, place, and time."
Hoffman classification:
- Analgesics and euphorics (opium, coca)
- Sedatives and tranquilizers (reserpine)
- Hypnotics (kava-kava)
- Hallucinogenics / psychomimetics (peyote, marijuana)
"Age of Herbals" - 1470 to 1670
Geography of Usage
- As of 1976, 150 out of 500k flora species known to be hallucinogenic
- Africa is low. 1 paragraph
â—� Iboga
â—� Kanna (from iceplant family)
â—� Thorn apple/henbane
- Asia is low. 1 paragraph. Attributes to an early adoption of pastoralism
â—� Home of hemp (central Asia)
â—� Fly agaric from Siberia
â—� Datura in India
â—� Rhizome of Maraba, Ereriba of Arum family, Agara tree bark in Papua New Guinea
â—� Nutmeg in India
â—� Lagochilus leaves (mint) in Turkestan
â—� Nothing in Australia/NZ - only kava-kava (hypnotic, not hallucinogenic)
- Europe - used more for witchcraft
â—� Thorn apple, mandrake, henbane, belladona (nightshade family)
â—� Ergot - caused the plague known as st. Anthony's Fire
- West Indies
â—� Cohoba snuff
- North America
â—� Mescal bean
â—� Seed of mexican buckeyes
â—� Roots of Sweet flag used by Canadian Indians
- Mexico is the richest area of diversity, followed by South America
â—� Attributes disparity to American Indian cultures remaining as hunter societies
â—� What about African tribes?
Overview of Plant Use (5/91 in China)
- 59 Blue Water Lily - Nymphaea ampla (Solisb. DC) or N. caerulea (Sav) - more India
- 27 Dhatura - more India
- 69 Fang K'uei - Peucedanum japonicum (Thunb), unknown if hallucinogenic
â—�
â—� Umbelliferae
â—� Roots are used as a sedative
- 79 Feng Feng - Siler divaricatum (Turcz. Benth et Hook
â—� Umbelliferae
â—� Antidte to aconite poisoning, cure for rheumatism
â—� T'ao Hung-Ching (AD 510) reports that the root causes madness
- 58 Lung Li - Nephelium topengii (Merr H.S. Lo) - 12th century literature, not hallucinogenic
â—�
â—� Sapindaceae
â—� Fang-Cheng-ta wrote in AD 1175 it grows like Longan, fruit can be eaten when steamed
â—� Whean eaten raw, causes one to go mad or see devils
- 72 Shiu-Lang - Ranunculus acris L. - buttercup relative, dangerous
â—� Ranunculaceae
â—� Mao Ken species, reported in AD 320 by Li Shih-chen citing Kohung
â—� Shui Lang type causes delirium
- 11 Yun-Shih - Caesalpinia sepiaria Roxb. - enables to see spirits, levitate, communicate with spirits
â—�
â—� Leguminosae
â—� Pen-ts'ao ching (herbalist) stated that the flower enable to see spirits, and if consumed over a long time produce levitation and communication with spirits
Mainstay of the heavens
- Amanita, believed to be Soma in India. A deity in and of itself to the Aryans of 2000 BC
- Recorded in Rig-Veda that Parjanya, god of thunder, was the father of Soma
â—� 120 holy hymns out of 1000 in Rig-Veda are devoted to Soma
- Out of body, senses deranged, great animation / deep depression, convulsions
â—� muscinol
Hexing Herbs
- Tools of medieval witches
- Hyoscyamus (henbane) - used as painkiller
- Atropa (deadly nightshade, belladonna) - lowest in scopolamine
- Mandragora (mandrake) - strongest in scopolamine
â—� Tropane alkaloids: atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine (hallucinogenic)
â—� Scopolamine is extremely topic, loss of memory / sense of reality, deep sleep
Nectar of delight
- Cannabis - Indian tradition of sexual delight, use goes back 10k years
â—� Shiva and Indra's favorite drink (named vijaya "victory")
â—� First documented in 2737 BC by Chinese emperor Shen Nung
â—� Recommended for malaria, constipation, rheumatoid, analgesic
â—� Also written about by Hoa-Glio (another well known herbalist)
- Chou dynasty 700BC calls cannabis "Ma" - taken to excess will "see devils"
â—� If taken over the long term, can communicate with spirits and ligthen body
â—� By 500 BC, use as a fiber overtook use for inebriation
â—�
St. Anthony’s fire (poisoning from too much consumption of ergot)
- Claviceps (ergot) - lysergic acid
Holy flower of the north star
- Datura (dhatura, thorn apple, toloache, torna loco) - scopolamine, hyoscyamine, metelodine
- Long associated with Shiva, holds in his hand. Also loved by Avicenna
â—� Called "metel nut" - sacred in China and India
â—� Anesthesia together with cannabis
â—� Causes a drunken state
-
Guide to ancestors
- Tabernanthe (iboga) - ibogaine
- Critical to the Bwiti cult - intimately associated with death, seeing ancestors/god
Beans of the Hekula spirit
- Anadenanthera (yopo) - DMT, 5-hydroxymethyl-tryptamine (butofenine)
- from the Andean region around Orinoco
- Hallucinogenic seizure, sounds like 5-MeO-DMT but does not contain it
Vine of the soul
- Banisteriopsis
Tree of the evil eagle
- Brugmansia (floripondio) - scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine
- similar to Dhatura, characterized by a violent seizure phase
- From the paper written in 2021 by the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine
â—� "angel's trumpet" from South America
â—� Brugmansia suaveolens mixed with Banisteriopsis Caapi, Psychotria viridis, Calliandra angustifolia (5-MeO-DMT), P. Alba, Tovomita aff. Stylosa, Couroupita guianensis, and Zygia longifolia for curing Lumbago
â—� 81 alkaloids, 40% are tropanes (atropine, scopolamine)
Tracks of the Little Deer
- Peyote - mescaline, similar to noradrenaline
Little flowers of the gods
- conocybe, panaeolus, psilocybe, stropharia (teonanacatl) - psilocin/psilocybin
Cactus of the four winds
- Trichocerues (san pedro) - mescaline
Vines of the Serpent
- Turbina, Ipomoea (Morning Glory: ololiuqui, badoh negro) - also lysergic acid
Semen of the sun
- Virola (epena) - 5-MeO-DMT
- also from the Orinoco
- Also characterized by violent seizures
Use of hallucinogens in medicine
- Subjective experience of objective reality is sensorial
â—� External world = sender of information
â—� Ego = translator of information
- Schultes describes ability to break habitual experiences of the world and enable through psychoanalysis to escape ego-centered problems
â—� Psycholysis - European, coined by Ronald Sandison from the Jungian school. Medium dose + therapy
â—� Psychedelic Therapy - American very high dose and let the patient sit, coined by Humphrey Osmond
Hoffer and Osmond: "Hallucinogens are chemicals which, in non-toxic doses, produce changes in perception, in thought and in mood, but which seldom produce mental confusion, memory loss, or disorientation for person, place, and time."
Hoffman classification:
- Analgesics and euphorics (opium, coca)
- Sedatives and tranquilizers (reserpine)
- Hypnotics (kava-kava)
- Hallucinogenics / psychomimetics (peyote, marijuana)
"Age of Herbals" - 1470 to 1670
Geography of Usage
- As of 1976, 150 out of 500k flora species known to be hallucinogenic
- Africa is low. 1 paragraph
â—� Iboga
â—� Kanna (from iceplant family)
â—� Thorn apple/henbane
- Asia is low. 1 paragraph. Attributes to an early adoption of pastoralism
â—� Home of hemp (central Asia)
â—� Fly agaric from Siberia
â—� Datura in India
â—� Rhizome of Maraba, Ereriba of Arum family, Agara tree bark in Papua New Guinea
â—� Nutmeg in India
â—� Lagochilus leaves (mint) in Turkestan
â—� Nothing in Australia/NZ - only kava-kava (hypnotic, not hallucinogenic)
- Europe - used more for witchcraft
â—� Thorn apple, mandrake, henbane, belladona (nightshade family)
â—� Ergot - caused the plague known as st. Anthony's Fire
- West Indies
â—� Cohoba snuff
- North America
â—� Mescal bean
â—� Seed of mexican buckeyes
â—� Roots of Sweet flag used by Canadian Indians
- Mexico is the richest area of diversity, followed by South America
â—� Attributes disparity to American Indian cultures remaining as hunter societies
â—� What about African tribes?
Overview of Plant Use (5/91 in China)
- 59 Blue Water Lily - Nymphaea ampla (Solisb. DC) or N. caerulea (Sav) - more India
- 27 Dhatura - more India
- 69 Fang K'uei - Peucedanum japonicum (Thunb), unknown if hallucinogenic
â—�
â—� Umbelliferae
â—� Roots are used as a sedative
- 79 Feng Feng - Siler divaricatum (Turcz. Benth et Hook
â—� Umbelliferae
â—� Antidte to aconite poisoning, cure for rheumatism
â—� T'ao Hung-Ching (AD 510) reports that the root causes madness
- 58 Lung Li - Nephelium topengii (Merr H.S. Lo) - 12th century literature, not hallucinogenic
â—�
â—� Sapindaceae
â—� Fang-Cheng-ta wrote in AD 1175 it grows like Longan, fruit can be eaten when steamed
â—� Whean eaten raw, causes one to go mad or see devils
- 72 Shiu-Lang - Ranunculus acris L. - buttercup relative, dangerous
â—� Ranunculaceae
â—� Mao Ken species, reported in AD 320 by Li Shih-chen citing Kohung
â—� Shui Lang type causes delirium
- 11 Yun-Shih - Caesalpinia sepiaria Roxb. - enables to see spirits, levitate, communicate with spirits
â—�
â—� Leguminosae
â—� Pen-ts'ao ching (herbalist) stated that the flower enable to see spirits, and if consumed over a long time produce levitation and communication with spirits
Mainstay of the heavens
- Amanita, believed to be Soma in India. A deity in and of itself to the Aryans of 2000 BC
- Recorded in Rig-Veda that Parjanya, god of thunder, was the father of Soma
â—� 120 holy hymns out of 1000 in Rig-Veda are devoted to Soma
- Out of body, senses deranged, great animation / deep depression, convulsions
â—� muscinol
Hexing Herbs
- Tools of medieval witches
- Hyoscyamus (henbane) - used as painkiller
- Atropa (deadly nightshade, belladonna) - lowest in scopolamine
- Mandragora (mandrake) - strongest in scopolamine
â—� Tropane alkaloids: atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine (hallucinogenic)
â—� Scopolamine is extremely topic, loss of memory / sense of reality, deep sleep
Nectar of delight
- Cannabis - Indian tradition of sexual delight, use goes back 10k years
â—� Shiva and Indra's favorite drink (named vijaya "victory")
â—� First documented in 2737 BC by Chinese emperor Shen Nung
â—� Recommended for malaria, constipation, rheumatoid, analgesic
â—� Also written about by Hoa-Glio (another well known herbalist)
- Chou dynasty 700BC calls cannabis "Ma" - taken to excess will "see devils"
â—� If taken over the long term, can communicate with spirits and ligthen body
â—� By 500 BC, use as a fiber overtook use for inebriation
â—�
St. Anthony’s fire (poisoning from too much consumption of ergot)
- Claviceps (ergot) - lysergic acid
Holy flower of the north star
- Datura (dhatura, thorn apple, toloache, torna loco) - scopolamine, hyoscyamine, metelodine
- Long associated with Shiva, holds in his hand. Also loved by Avicenna
â—� Called "metel nut" - sacred in China and India
â—� Anesthesia together with cannabis
â—� Causes a drunken state
-
Guide to ancestors
- Tabernanthe (iboga) - ibogaine
- Critical to the Bwiti cult - intimately associated with death, seeing ancestors/god
Beans of the Hekula spirit
- Anadenanthera (yopo) - DMT, 5-hydroxymethyl-tryptamine (butofenine)
- from the Andean region around Orinoco
- Hallucinogenic seizure, sounds like 5-MeO-DMT but does not contain it
Vine of the soul
- Banisteriopsis
Tree of the evil eagle
- Brugmansia (floripondio) - scopolamine, hyoscyamine, atropine
- similar to Dhatura, characterized by a violent seizure phase
- From the paper written in 2021 by the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine
â—� "angel's trumpet" from South America
â—� Brugmansia suaveolens mixed with Banisteriopsis Caapi, Psychotria viridis, Calliandra angustifolia (5-MeO-DMT), P. Alba, Tovomita aff. Stylosa, Couroupita guianensis, and Zygia longifolia for curing Lumbago
â—� 81 alkaloids, 40% are tropanes (atropine, scopolamine)
Tracks of the Little Deer
- Peyote - mescaline, similar to noradrenaline
Little flowers of the gods
- conocybe, panaeolus, psilocybe, stropharia (teonanacatl) - psilocin/psilocybin
Cactus of the four winds
- Trichocerues (san pedro) - mescaline
Vines of the Serpent
- Turbina, Ipomoea (Morning Glory: ololiuqui, badoh negro) - also lysergic acid
Semen of the sun
- Virola (epena) - 5-MeO-DMT
- also from the Orinoco
- Also characterized by violent seizures
Use of hallucinogens in medicine
- Subjective experience of objective reality is sensorial
â—� External world = sender of information
â—� Ego = translator of information
- Schultes describes ability to break habitual experiences of the world and enable through psychoanalysis to escape ego-centered problems
â—� Psycholysis - European, coined by Ronald Sandison from the Jungian school. Medium dose + therapy
â—� Psychedelic Therapy - American very high dose and let the patient sit, coined by Humphrey Osmond
March 29, 2021
This book was a big disappointment. I found it a very difficult read due to the sexist and colonial language that was used throughout. I understand that it was originally written in 1979 but updated more recently, I am left wondering why it wasn’t reviewed to make it more palatable for the modern reader.
The lack of academic rigour was astounding. It was impossible to determine where the authors got their information from as the text is not referenced and quotes appear out of nowhere without the reader being informed what source the authors are referring to.
I would not recommend this text
The lack of academic rigour was astounding. It was impossible to determine where the authors got their information from as the text is not referenced and quotes appear out of nowhere without the reader being informed what source the authors are referring to.
I would not recommend this text
October 11, 2010
You could call this a reference book for psychoactive plants but its awful fun and interesting to read compared to most of the dry reference books of all sorts I've read. Plants of the Gods is also full of nice illustrations and photographs. Schultes deserves a lot of credit for doing the leg work going into the Amazon back in the 1940s and collecting and learning about the uses of these plants long before the days of Ayahuasca tourism.
March 20, 2014
Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers by Richard Evans Schultes (Healing Arts Press 1992) ( 394) appears to be the bible of natural hallucinogens. It's a wonderful encyclopedia of the plants that have historically led humans to believe in gods and other worlds. It's a catalog with historical perspectives supplied and a very important book. My rating: 9/10, finished 3/20/14.
January 12, 2015
Bonito manual de divulgación para gente interesada en plantas enteogénicas. Valioso por lo accesible de los datos técnicos, pero invaluable por resaltar la importancia étnica y religiosa de cada planta de los dioses.
Como habitante de la vieja mesoamérica, me quedo con la sensación de estar rodeado de dioses. Ahora, no sólo quiero probar cada una de ellas, sino arañar el objetivo religioso de su consumo: la unidad.
Como habitante de la vieja mesoamérica, me quedo con la sensación de estar rodeado de dioses. Ahora, no sólo quiero probar cada una de ellas, sino arañar el objetivo religioso de su consumo: la unidad.
July 12, 2008
Very informative and interesting book. In depth about the subject matter, and amazing how many cultures apply properties of plants in their society. Makes me wonder why we now discontinue this type of practice. How is criminalization and punishment for use of plants address any issues of their possible downfalls?
April 27, 2014
Some points are still outdated. It states for example that there are no known receptors in the human brain for Salvinorin A... Also, some other minor ones such as Trichocereus spp. which years ago moved to the Echinopsis genus. In general it's a good book with lots of ethnographic and ethnobotanical information.
June 15, 2016
"Entheogens ... could be the appropriate medicine for hyper-materialistic humanity."
Beautifully illustrated with art, poetry, and hundreds of photos, this book is a respectful study of the biology, chemistry, anthropology, history, and culture of the use and cultivation of entheogens. Fascinating revelations about how plants & humans co-evolved.
Beautifully illustrated with art, poetry, and hundreds of photos, this book is a respectful study of the biology, chemistry, anthropology, history, and culture of the use and cultivation of entheogens. Fascinating revelations about how plants & humans co-evolved.
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September 24, 2012Schultes was the original Indiana Jones of the hallucinogenic plant. he was Terence McKenna 30 years before McKenna was born. in terms of identifying & cataloging the sacred plants used by tribal peoples, Schultes was (and is) THE GUY. this is where it all begins.
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January 31, 2008very informantive. lots of great pictures and maps. these plants are all around us!
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May 11, 2009Un excelente viaje através de la botanica que existe a lo largo de Estados Unidos, Mexico y Sudamerica.
September 26, 2013
La guia oficial junkie por excelencia
August 17, 2018
Enorme compendio y catálogo tanto del uso como de las cosmogonÃas. Leer con responsabilidad.
September 14, 2018
Must read book to understand the history, cultural practices with psychedelics use across the world in pre-industrial times. It is fascinating to know there are close to 100 psychedelic plants (found so far) and all are documented in this book. There is also good collection of drawings and paintings people received during their visions.
July 9, 2023
Un manual sobre la historia de las plantas alucinógenas, con cientos de fotos. Es muy interesante. Se tratan las principales plantas mágicas del mundo, usadas para curar, embrujar o visitar otros mundos; algunas como la temida Datura, el Peyote, la Mariguana, etc. Para mi sorpresa, México es el lugar donde el mundo con más tradición al respecto.
March 12, 2018
A great work of ethnobotany and anthropology. Humans have the capacity for a variety of altered states of consciousness, and a major question is how to integrate this into our contemporary society; a task which has failed unfortunately, I would say.
November 28, 2019
A good overall view. Definitely interested in things like Salvia and Iboga. Some of it was just boring reference stuff that I had to skim. Much of the last chapter was devoted to experiments with hallucinogens and psychoanalysis in the West. Pretty heady stuff.
March 22, 2020
Outstanding work of anthropology, often going to direct sources in aboriginal cultures for research. The science is a little outdated, but the book is almost 30 years old, and none of it is inaccurate—just limited compared to what we know now.
January 3, 2024
Este libro es muy informativo y te abre la mente, por decirlo que una forma. Es un libro que realmente lo necesita tener conocimientos previos sobre plantas para entenderlo asà que cualquiera lo puede leer a pesar de que en algunas partes si es un poco pesado de leer.
May 7, 2017
Wonderfull, surely an asset to all interested.
November 29, 2017
Love this book! Amazing information from around the world!
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