Perhaps the most mysterious and most poorly understood of the sacred plants are those of the genus Datura and its close relatives. The daturas are a fascinating, yet frighteningly powerful group of plants that have been commonly associated with vague accounts of sorcery and witchcraft from early Sanskrit texts to modern ethnographic accounts. Like other evil-seeming plants of poison like the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Datura bestows the potential for many medicinal uses.
The name Datura derives from the Sanskrit dhatura or dutra although daturas have been variously known as pricklyburr, thorn- apple, jimsonweed, and devil's weed. The most common Mexican name for the various daturas is toloache or some form thereof, derived from the Nahuatl (Aztec) toloatzin from the word meaning "to incline the head," a characteristic of the seed capsules of several Mexican varieties [Bye et al 1991]. Back to top
The daturas are members of the botanical family Solanaceae which also contains such common foods as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tobacco [Schultes and Raffauf 1990]. Many solanaceous plants contain tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine (hyoscine), atropine, and others. Besides the daturas, the most infamous solanaceous plants are the so-called hexing herbs used in medieval witchcraft. These include Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), and Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), all of which were used as poisons and as constituents of "flying ointments" which reportedly allowed witches to travel to the Sabbat and commune with the horned god [Harner 1973].
The daturas are herbaceous herbs, some perennial and some annual, with fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers and usually spiny seed pods. They grow most often in disturbed soil in waste areas such as abandoned fields, ditches, trash heaps, and roadsides in the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa. Datura's particular habitat assumes a close contact with humans from the start, and some have speculated that its success is entirely dependent on dispersal by man [Litzinger 1981].
Though the exact taxonomy is poorly understood, there are at least fifteen species, two originally from Eurasia, D. metel and D. ferox, and about a dozen from the New World, most common in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (e.g. D. inoxia, D. wrightii (D.meteloides)) although some have a much wider distribution throughout most of North America (e.g D. stramonium). It has been shown through genetic studies of D. stramonium that morphological variation and hence speciation are readily accomplished in the daturas since they have an extra chromosome which is very susceptible to mutation [Blakeslee 1931]. Back to top
In addition to the aforementioned hexing herbs, there are two other genuses which are important to the examination of the daturas. Genus Brugmansia, the tree daturas of South America, were once considered to be part of the genus Datura. Now, however, most botanists postulate that the trees are all cultigens, deliberately planted and bred by man. There are many varieties and species names, though some acknowledge only four distinct species with the rest being varieties or hybrids since many Brugmansia trees cross-breed very easily [Schultes and Hofmann 1992]. Brugmansia trees are used extensively in South American shamanism as intoxicants and medicines, and trees are individually "owned" or cared for by specific shamans [Schultes and Raffauf 1990]. The trees are probably selectively bred for high tropane alkaloid content (notably higher than in Datura) similarly to the way modern florists hybridize Brugmansia for color and fragrance. These beautiful trees such as B. aurea (angel's trumpet) are often raised as ornamentals in the United States for their very large fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers.
Genus Solandra, which also produces tropane alkaloids and flowers very similar to those of Datura, plays an interesting role in the mythology of the Huichol of northern Mexico renowned for their peyote pilgrimages [Martinez 1966]. The Huichol speak of a mythic battle between the culture hero Kauyumarie, who is both deer and peyote, and Crazy Kieri (Kieri-xra: false/bad/crazy kieri) who is the white- flowered D. inoxia. The god Kieri turns out to have two "sides" or aspects: the good Kieri represented by Solandra species and the "evil" Kieri represented by D. inoxia. Whereas the Crazy Kieri plant is thought to be used only by sorcerers, the Good Kieri is highly revered through offerings and prayers but rarely ingested. On the other hand, Kieri as a whole is said to be the same as Kauyumarie, and Kieri-xra is first cousin to Kauyumarie, possibly indicating a mythological antecedent for a takeover of the peyote cult from an older Datura cult1 [Furst 1989].
There are several possible explanations for the splitting of Kieri into two aspects. First of all, the range of D. inoxia lies outside the sacred goegraphy of the Huichol and for this reason is perhaps mistrusted [Furst 1989]. Also, there is a similar dichotomy of "true" peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and "false" peyote (Ariocarpus retusus) described by the Huichol [Furst 1971]. Although the nearby Tarahumara recognize many hikuri (divine cacti) which are effective, some are to be avoided because they cause insanity and some are used primarily by sorcerers for evil ends [Bye 1979]. On the other hand, the choice of Solandra as "good" over D. inoxia could be purely aesthetic. Solandra flowers are more brilliantly colored, and they are sometimes known to change color strikingly over several days, indicating to the Huichol that these plants had more inherent power than the plain white-flowered D. inoxia [Furst 1989]. Back to top
There is archaeological evidence in the form of botanical remains and petroglyphs that Datura has been in use in the southwest since at least 4000 years ago in association with other hallucinogenic plants including peyote, Texas mountain laurel (mescal beans; Sophora secundiflora), and Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa). The southwestern area of Texas around the Pecos River contains numerous pictographs dating from 2200 to 950 B.C. which depict many shaman figures, over half of which are holding Datura staffs [Boyd and Dering 1996]. In addition, spiked ceramic vessels which are believed by some to represent Datura seed pods, have been found in the Anasazi and Hohokam areas of the southwest as well as in Mesoamerica in El Salvador, Guatemala, and many parts of Mexico including Oaxaca, the Yucatan peninsula, and the central highlands2 [Litzinger 1981]. Iconographic depictions of Datura come from the early Olmec civilization (c. 2500 B.C.) on the Gulf coast of Mexico [Joralemon 1976] and various Maya sites including Copan in Honduras (c. A.D. 750) and Yaxchilan in Mexico (c. A.D. 720) [Stross and Kerr 1990]. Datura has been considered as one of the ingredients of the notorious intoxicating enema of the Classic Maya elite since the flower is present in depictions of the Vision Serpent [Stross and Kerr 1990]. In addition, Datura was mentioned historically in association with sorcery in pre-11th century Vedic texts and was a mainstay in early Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Arabic herbals [Siklos 1993, Schultes and Hofmann 1992].
The most widespread modern use of daturas is in the American southwest among such groups as the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, and others, and in northern Mexico among the Huichol, Tarahumara, and Yaqui, where Datura is used as an access to the spirit world and as a medicine. Elsewhere in the Americas, the Algonquin of Michigan employ an infusion of D. stramonium for divination [Safford 1922], and Hatian voodoo witchdoctors have been reported to employ Datura stramonium upon raising zombies from the stupor of tetrodotoxin poisoning [Davis 1985, 1988]. Also, several African groups in Tanzanyika and Mozambique still use Datura in initiation and puberty rituals [Johnston 1972, Schultes and Hofmann 1992]. In India, the seeds of D. metel are sometimes added to the Cannabis-based bhang drink for added intoxication [Schultes and Hofmann 1992]. Back to top
There are several traditional contexts of use of Datura species as medicines, poisons, or intoxicants [summarized in Litzinger 1981]. Datura has been used medicinally as an anesthetic for setting bones, for treating bruises and wounds, skin ulcers, hemorrhoids, dizziness, and rheumatism, and asthma [Bye et al 1991, Litzinger 1994]. Many of these uses have been corroborated as effective by modern science based on the presence of certain tropane alkaloids, notably scopolamine and atropine [Baker 1994]. Datura has been used by sorcerers to cause illness or death or to cast a spell of love through manipulation of the spirit world [Baker 1994, Applegate 1975, Castaneda 1968]. A shaman who has the power to cure implicitly also has the power to kill, the fine line mediating this power being intent.
Far from being limited to shamans and sorcerers, Datura is often used by many members of certain societies in puberty initiation rituals and as an aid to acquiring a dream helper/guardian [Johnston 1972, Applegate 1975]. In these contexts the powerful effects of the plant are often aided by the other means of attaining altered states of consciousness such as fasting or special diets, abstaining from sex, performing sweat lodges, dancing, and drumming or rattling in order to achieve a liminal state of hypersuggestibility crucial for the reprogramming of an initiation ritual [Johnston 1972]. Datura is also used in divination of lost objects and as a general means of aquiring personal power [Applegate 1975, Castaneda 1968]. Back to top
The chemistry of Datura and other Solanaceous plants is primarily composed of active tropane alkaloids including scopolomine (hyoscine), atropine, aposcopolamine (apohyocine), hyoscamine, apoatropine, tropine, meteloidine, and over twenty others [Vitale et al 1995, Bye et al 1991]. Tropane alkaloids are muscarinic antagonists that block neurotransmission across muscarinic cholinergic receptors. Characteristics of muscarinic antagoism, depending on dosage, include dry mouth and skin, flushing or rashes, hypertension, tachycardia, bronchodilation, blurred vision, dizziness or vertigo, sedation, and amnesia [Baker 1994]. Modern western medicine has taken cues from traditional uses and the known effects of tropane alkaloids using scopolamine to treat motion sickness, as a bronchiodilator for asthma relief, and in cold remedies to dry out the mucous membranes.
Alkaloid content is known to vary significantly among species,3 within a species depending on season or time of day, and even within a particular plant. Often roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds have differing suites of alkaloids in differing concentrations. For this reason, preparation for medicinal versus divinatory use is often accomplished using different species or different parts of the plant [Litzinger 1994]. Traditional preparations include adding roots, leaves, or seeds to a fermented drink; drinking an infusion of the leaves or other parts; smoking the leaves; chewing the fruit; or preparing an unguent of the ground seeds or leaves to spread on the body [Bye et al 1991, Schultes and Hofmann 1992]. Preparation methods often depend on whether the plant will be used for curing, divining, or accessing personal power such as bodily flight [Castaneda 1968]. Back to top
Accounts of the entity associated with the Datura species are fascinating yet somewhat disconcerting. In the Huichol view, Crazy Kieri is a powerful yet not necessarily malevolent entity, a trickster, and a jealous ally [Knab 1977]. Perhaps the most nortorious account of Datura use comes from Carlos Castaneda [1968] in his chronicled apprenticeship to the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan. Whether Castaneda's accounts are taken to be pure fiction or, as Castaneda states himself "both enthnography and allegory" is left for the reader to judge. According to Don Juan, an ally (Spanish alliado) is neither a guardian nor a spirit, but an aid to be tamed or aquired. The ally has rules which must be handed down in an apprenticeship and followed impeccably in ordinary and non- ordinary realities. If approached correctly, the ally will take one out of the boundries of ones-self and give one power.4
Don Juan describes Datura's ally as woman-like, and the myths of the
now-extinct Chumash of south central California describe Datura as the
powerful old woman Momoy who gave birth to the trickster and sorcerer
Coyote from her sweat [Applegate 1975]. The yerba del diablo is possessive,
violent, and unpredictable, and has a deleterious affect on the
character of its followers [Castaneda 1968]. The Chumash ascribe
similar characteristics to Datura:
"Repeated use of the Datura brought on pronounced changes in character,
the user became more and more antisocial. Those with great shamanistic
power aquired through years of Datura drinking frequently lived apart
from other people" [Applegate 1975].
For this profound sacrifice, however, Datura traded the man of strong
and violent nature easily accessible superfluous power, a characteristic
that was often enticing to those who wished to rapidly acquire power
such as divination and bodily flight [Castaneda 1968]. According
to the Chumash:
"[Datura] enabled a man to see beyond surface appearances into the true
nature of things, to see, 'the other world' beyond 'this world'....
But if a man had not prepared himself, then he perceived only illusion
--exaggerated reflections of his own fears and weaknesses"
[Applegate 1975].
Before beginning to learn the secrets of Datura, a shaman or sorcerer must cultivate his own plant through the entire life cycle from root to seed [Castaneda 1968].5 Don Juan stresses that no one should know the location of Castaneda's plants, because such knowledge could render Castaneda's life in danger should another sorcerer kill or manipulate his plants.6 Similarly, in the Yucatan where D. stramonium is abundant and D. inoxia is rare, the latter tends to be found only in secret gardens of herbalists as it is preferred for medicinal preparations [Litzinger 1994]. These accounts would seem to support the idea of the propagation of the genus Datura by direct intervention of man and the breaking off of genus Brugmansia as specific cultivars or clones to be used by individuals.7 Back to top
The daturas are a group of plants that have had intimate association with man from time immemorial. They have been used as poisons, medicines, and ritual intoxicants. Few choose to repeat a recreational experience as it is often long, frightening, completely unpredictable, and followed by a great deal of amnesia coupled with a sense of touching a very powerful but dark force. Any experimentation with Datura is dangerous and should be undertaken with the utmost of caution under appropriate supervision. Dosage recommendations cannot be made since alkaloid content varies so much between species and parts of the plant, but in general seeds are the most potent and leaves the least potent. If one must experiment with Datura, monitor dosages carefully and start small until the desired level of effects have been achieved. You have been warned. Back to top
1. Castaneda's Don Juan makes a clear distinction between the ally of
Datura who is sought only for power and Mescalito (peyote) who is a
protector and teacher but not an ally to be tamed [Castaneda 1968].
Back
2. Others argue that the vessels represent the stems of the Ceiba tree
[de Smet and Hellmuth 1986:251].
Back
3. For example, D. stramonium contains mainly hyoscamine while D. ferox
and most southwestern daturas contain primarily scopolamine [Vitale
et al 1995, Bye et al 1991].
Back
4. For the specific rituals, rules, and stipulations set by Don Juan,
the reader is referred to the original work The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, 1968.
Back
5. In the case of Don Juan, the root was given to Castaneda from one
of Don Juan's own plants. Don Juan never tamed the devil's weed and yet
could still offer what little teaching he knew as well as the root from
his own plant as a start for Castaneda's. It is possible that the plant
itself could teach the would-be explorer if grown from seed without
the mentorship of an experienced voyager.
Back
6. A similar situation may exist with Salvia divinorum. Shamans in Oaxaca
refused to let botanists see the location of their growing plants and
only provided cuttings for botanical identification. All plants in the
entheogenic community are clones of two individual cuttings. Salvia divinorum
is virtually unknown in the wild and there is evidence that the
local Mexican plants may be cultivars as well [see Ott 1995]. It is
interesting to note that many shamanic plants traditionally seem to be
propagated from cuttings, thus retaining genetic connection to the mother
plant and hence the other shamans (for example Banisteriopsis caapi,
Salvia divinorum, Datura root cuttings, etc.)
Back
7. One shamanistically-used South American tree, Methystocodendron amesianum,
is thought to be a highly atrophied Brugmansia aurea and is known only
from cultivation in an isolated area of Columbia [Schultes and Raffauf 1990].
Back
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The taxonomy of Datura has a rather confusing history as most botanists
cannot agree on the characteristics of some of the species or even the
exact number. Such is a problem in all taxonomic classifications, though
Datura seems to be unusually difficult because of its long history
of cultivation and selection. There is still some debate as to the Old
or New World origins of the genus with some favoring and origin
somewhere around India with D. metel based on pre-11th century Vedic
descriptions and linguistic evidence [Siklos 1993] but most favoring a
New World origin, since most of the species are present there. The only
two Old World species, D. metel and D. ferox, have now been introduced
into the New World and grow wild. D. stramonium and D. inoxia, the
most common New World species, grow in nearly of the United States and
northern and central Mexico. The rest of the New World species have
smaller distributions around the southwestern U.S. and northwest Mexico.
The one aquatic species D. ceratocaula, was known in Mexico as torna
loca (maddening weed) and has been identified as the Aztec "sister of
ololiuhqui" [Safford 1922. Note: Safford incorrectly identified
ololiuhqui as D. meteloides. It has now been generally accepted that
ololiuhqui was the entheogenic morning glory Rivea/Turbina corymbosa].
In the future there will be a link to a comprehensive taxonomy here.
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Applegate, R.B.
1975 The Datura Cult Among the Chumash. Journal of California Anthropology 2 (1) :6-17.
Baker, J.R.
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1931 Extra chromosomes, a source of variation in the Jimson weed.
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ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES FOR FURTHER READING