Includes coffees, teas, Amanita, Datura, coca, opium,
Cannabis, khat, tobacco, betel, and others. Best scientific
book of the time; also discusses social and economic issues.
New translation. Extensive technical notes and references by
Jonathan Ott. Index. Great.
Most of the substances discussed are psychedelics. Chapters
cover stone-age drugs, early Cannabis and Amanita use, the
Haoma/Soma question, New World hallucinogens, witches and the
Solanaceae, and the stimulant plants. Bibliography and index.
Plant (and animal) sources of many poisons, hallucinogens,
and medicines. History and neuropharmacology. Some on older
psychedelics: Amanita, Cannabis, Solanaceae, Ipomoea,
Psilocybe, Peyotl, ayahuasca, snuffs, tobacco, nutmeg, Iboga.
Nice illustrations. Short bibliography and index.
Broad overview, by plant, for many cultures, of
hallucinogen use. Includes tobacco, Cannabis, ibogaine,
ayahuasca, lysergic acids, psilocybin and muscimole mushrooms,
Peyote, Datura, the Virola snuffs, toads, and other flora and
fauna, all presented in their cultural context. Good
introduction to the field; recommended. References and index.
Extensive, excellent, many faceted study of Huichol Indian
development, culture, art, spirit, mythology, and other
topics. These eighteen papers from around the world, both
scholarly and sensitive, include material from decades of
anthropology and directly from Huichols. Schaefer relates the
meaning of peyote to Huichols, and describes their temple and
its solar geometry. Also Huichol medicine, minority use of a
Solanaceae plant, deer-maize-peyote trinity, wolf power, land
of the dead, and current political and ecological challenges.
Glossary, bibliography, index. Recommended.
Rich collection of 36 new essays by masters in the study of
people and their plants, edited by father of the field.
Sections on anthropology, medicine, psychology, religion, and
other elements. Ethnopharmacology section with papers on
hallucinogens and more by Albert Hofmann, Bo Holmstedt, Dennis
McKenna, Gordon Wasson, and others. Scientific name index.
Best on beliefs and world-views of native shamans. Much on
their mind-states and hallucinogens. How symbols, metaphor,
and language define and describe alterations of consciousness.
Psychotropic Universe, Ritual Drug Complex, Botanic
Experience. Good references and bibliography.
Exploration of shaman's inner world, rituals and healing
techniques, journeys of the soul out of the body to other
geographies, shamanic initiation rites (including sacred
drugs), connections to the underworld and heaven,
transformative symbols, altered states, and other territories
of the mind. Bibliography and index.
Shamans talk directly about their visions and work. Many
plant shamans speak: Maria Sabina about mushrooms, Manuel
Cordova-Rios about ayahuasca, several Huichol about Peyote.
Stories of journeys to other worlds, healing, and personal
transformation, References and bibliography (no index).
Colorful, illustrated introduction to world of the shaman.
Sections on initiation, healing methods, and shamanic mental
states and use of plants. Sources, bibliography, index. Great
color photos!
Interesting comparison of traditional tribal ayahuasca use;
Peyote and ayahuasca use in cultures becoming Westernized;
hallucinogens in European witchcraft; and trans-cultural
comparisons. "The Mushrooms of Language" explores
what shaman's speech patterns tell us about their experience.
Chapters by Marlene Dobkin de Rios and Claudio Naranjo.
Bibliography and index.
Earlier book on ethnobotany of South American tribes.
Covers wider ground, more in photographs than text. If you
liked Vine of the Soul, adds background and flavor.
Tells of his nine ethnobotanical trips to the North Amazon.
Techniques for plant collection and learning plant lore from
native shamans, not always easy. He also tries epena snuff.
Includes bibliography and plant glossary (but no index).
Case study of the cultural anthropology of a native tribe
of the Amazon; their lifestyle, beliefs, social structure, and
use of epena snuff. More descriptive of daily life and
beliefs; not as much plant shamanism as Plotkin, not as
personal as Donner. Discusses recent politics and danger of
extinction.
Best introduction to the Peyote plant itself. Use in Mexico
by the Huichol; use in the United States; Native American
Peyote rituals (including Navajo variations); the Peyote
user's experience; some medical uses; pharmacology (with doses
and toxicity); chemistry of mescaline and other alkaloids
(with structures of 57); botany (with cultivation); legal
status; good bibliography and index. Recommended.
Very good on ethnobotany (cultural use) of Peyote.
Scholarly history of ritual and other uses by many peoples;
Huichol, Tarahumari, Apache, and Kiowa-Comanche. Interesting
appendices: Peyote and the Mescal Bean, Christian Elements in
the Peyote Cult, others. Also Peyote botany and chemistry, and
summarizes many other studies.
Great history of Native American Church. Background on
Peyote and use in 19th century. Start and spread of Peyotism,
1885 to 1918. Later 20th century developments. Appendices
describe variations in ritual in great detail, and one
church's canon. Large bibliography. Very readable.
Specific study of Navaho use of Peyote. Gives a history of
the Navaho, their Peyote rituals and beliefs, the internal
controversy over its use, and research into causes and effects
of Peyote use. Scholarly, detailed, and sympathetic.
