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. • First edition sold 33,000 copies. 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. The Use Of Hallucinogenic Plants Has Been A Part Of Human Experience For Millennia, Yet Modern Western Societies Have Only Recently Become Aware Of The Significance That These Plants Have Had In Shaping The History Of Diverse Cultures. Capable Of Bringing Human Beings In Closer Touch With The Spirit Worlds, Hallucinogenic Plants Have Long Been Venerated As Aids To Mental Health And As The Sacred Connection To The Mystical. The Authors Of This Definitive Book Examine The Cross-cultural Ceremonial And Ritual Use Of Many Hallucinogenic Substances. Profusely Illustrated, This Book Contains An Extensively Researched Plant Lexicon, Providing Common And Botanical Names, History, Ethnography, Preparation, Chemical Components, Usage In Healing, And Effects For 91 Hallucinogenic Plants. What Are Plant Hallucinogens? -- The Plant Kingdom -- Phytochemical Research On Sacred Plants -- Geography Of Usage And Botanical Range -- Plant Lexicon -- Who Uses Hallucinogenic Plants? -- Overview Of Plant Use -- The Most Important Hallucinogenic Plants -- Mainstay Of The Heavens -- Amanita (fly Agaric) -- The Hexing Herbs -- Atropa (deadly Nightshade) -- Hyoscyamus Albus (yellow Henbane) -- Hyoscyamus Niger (black Henbane) -- Mandragora (mandrake) -- The Nectar Of Delight -- Cannabis (hemp, Marijuana, Hashish) -- St. Anthony's Fire -- Claviceps (ergot) -- Holy Flower Of The North Star -- Datura Innoxia (toloache) -- Datura Metel (datura) -- Datura Stramonium (thorn Apple) -- Guide To The Ancestors -- Tabernanthe (iboga) -- Beans Of The Hekula Spirit -- Anadenanthera Peregrina (yopo) -- Seeds Of Civilization -- Anadenanthera Colubrina (cebíl) -- The Magic Drink Of The Amazon -- Banisteriopsis (ayahuasca) -- Psychotria (chacruna) -- Peganum (syrian Rue) -- Tetrapteris (yagé) -- Ayahuasca Analogs -- Trumpets Of The Angels -- Brugmansia (golden Angel's Trumpet) -- Brugmansia (blood-red Angel's Trumpet) -- The Tracks Of The Little Deer -- Lophophora (peyote) -- Little Flowers Of The Gods -- Conocybe -- Panaeolus Cyanescens (blue Meanies) -- Panaeolus Sphinctrinus (hoop-petticoat) -- Panaeolus Subbalteatus (dark-rimmed Mottlegill) -- Psilocybe Cubenis (san Isidro) -- Psilocybe Cyanescens (wavy Cap) -- Psilocybe Mexicana (teonanácatl) -- Psilocybe Semilanceata (liberty Cap) -- Diviner's Sage -- Salvia Divinorum -- Cactus Of The Four Winds (trichocereus (san Pedro) -- Vines Of The Serpent -- Ipomoea (morning Glory) -- Turbina (ololiugui) -- Semen Of The Sun -- Virola (epená) -- Gateway To Dreamtime -- Duboisia (pituri Bush) -- Chemical Structures Of Hallucinogens -- Uses Of Hallucinogens In Medicine. Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann, Christian Rätsch. A Duplicate Copy Of This Title Was Part Of The Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection, But Was Not Retained. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 199-203) And Index.