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Plants and Human Cosmologies
Areas where special plants are used to enter another world
Wysoccan – Datura sp.
Native Virginians - 1673
A priest and a conjurer
Black Elk’s Vision Quest
Wysoccan - Datura stramonium
• Given to boys in adolescent rites lasting 1820 days - after which they were considered
to be adults
• From it comes stramonium a drug used in
the treatment of asthma - hallocinogenic
agents are tropane alkaloids hyoscamine
and hyoscine
Marijuana – Cannabis sativa
Ancient Use of Cannabis
• 2000 BCE – Writings of
Shen Nung mention
Cannabis as an important
plant for the treatment of
various illnesses including
beri-beri, malaria, and
forgetfulness. He also
described the plant as
freeing the psyche: “If
taken over a long term, it
makes one communicate
with spirits and lighten
one’s body.”
Ancient Use of Cannabis
• Writers in China warned that Cannabis was
a “liberator of sin.” ~ 2000 BCE
• By 1500 BCE the plant known as “ma” was
reported as useful for shamanistic purposes
• 2nd Century AD Chinese physicians mixed
it with wine and used it as an anaesthetic
during surgery
Ancient Use of Cannabis
• 500 – 300 BCE - ancient Scythians in the
Near East used Cannabis as a psychotropic
drug
• Herodotus reported that Scythians delighted
in vapor baths scented by Cannabis seeds
placed on heated stones
• 4th Century BCE - discovered with skeleton
in tomb in Jerusalem
Al-Hasan ibn al-Sabbah
• By 1090 had
established fortress on
trade routes to China
and India – ruled army
of thieves whom he
supplied with hashish
and women in return
for their loyalty
Introduction to Europe
• Europeans were introduced to Cannabis as a
psychoactive plant by Napoleon’s soldiers after
the conquest of Egypt in 1800. They began by
consuming resin of Cannabis flowers and leaves
(hashish). At first the resin was used to treat
mentally ill, but soon it was used recreationally
too. By 1844 so many fashionable Parisians were
enjoying their visions from use of hashish that
they formed a club, Le Club des Haschischins, and
held monthly meetings at the Hotel Pimodan on
the Ile Saint-Louis.
The Hotel Pimodan
Modern Water Pipe and Hashish
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Album Cover - 1973
Cannabis smoker – Southeast Asia
Coca plant – Erythroxylum coca
Growing coca plant
Use of Coca Plant
• Coca was domesticated in Pre-Columbian
times - it may have been domesticated as
long ago as 7000 years ago
• The first Spanish explorers reported the
natives of the Andes chewing coca leaves
with mineral lime, a substance that helps
the mucous membranes of the mouth absorb
the alkaloids from the leaves
• This practice probably dates back at least
5000 years and is still done today
Clay vessel depicting Coca chewer –
from Peru – 400-600 AD
Medicinal and Dietary Properties of Coca
• Chewing coca leaf helps relieve the headache,
nausea, and weakness of altitude sickness and
helps relieve the general fatigue of travel
• Coca leaves also contain an assortment of vitamins
and minerals that make a valuable contribution to
the often impoverished Andean diet
• One hundred grams of coca leaves contains more
calcium, iron, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin B2,
and vitamin E than called for by the US
recommended daily allowance
Coca leaves for sale in market in
La Paz, Bolivia
John Styth Pemberton and Coca Cola
Advertisement for French “Tonic” Wine
made of red bordeaux and coca leaves
Plants for Dyes and Decorations
Woad – Isatis tinctoria
Woad Dyes
• Woad produces a substance in its leaves
called isatan B which, when exposed to the
air, forms the blue compound indigo.
• This compound can easily be removed from
the leaves by boiling them in water and an
alkaline solution, a process used by home
dyers today to make indigo today
Woad Dye and Woad Dyed Wool
Woad Body Decoration
Source of Henna – Lawsonia inermis
Henna Dye
• Henna, Lawsonia inermis, produces a red-orange
dye molecule lawsone. This molecule has an
affinity for bonding with protein, and thus has
been used to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather,
silk and wool.
• Henna body art is made by applying henna paste
to the skin: the lawsone in the paste migrates into
the outermost layer of the skin and makes a redbrown stain.
• Products sold as "black henna" or "neutral henna"
are not made from henna, but may be derived from
indigo (in the plant Indigofera tinctoria) or Cassia
obovata
Henna Preparation
• Dried ground, sifted henna leaves are easily
worked into a paste that can used to make intricate
body art.
• Commercially available henna powder is made by
drying the henna leaves and milling them to
powder, then the powder is sifted.
• This powder is mixed with lemon juice, strong tea,
or other mildly acidic liquids. Essential oils with
high levels of monoterpene alcohols such as tea
tree, eucalyptus, cajeput, or lavender will improve
skin staining characteristics.
Mehndi – traditional Indian bridal
henna art
Modern body art with Henna
Traditional tattoo on
resident of Nuka
Hiva- late 1700’s
Candlenut tree – Aleurites moluccana
Traditional Samoan Tattooing
• The pigments used in traditional Samoan
tattooing comes from the nuts of the
candlenut tree Aleurites moluccana
(Euphorbiaceae) - called lama in Samoan
• The seeds are burned to produce soot which
is collected on banana leaves and stored in
coconut shells
Candlenut seeds ready to be burned
to produce soot
Samoan Tattooing Technique
• Tattooing is done by grinding the soot with
a mortar and pestle
• A serrated comb of pig bone is used to
penetrate the skin, and a mallet pounds the
comb and pigment into the skin
• A towel of bark cloth is used to wipe away
the blood
Traditional Samoan tattoo process
as done today
Completed modern
version of traditional
Samoan tattoo