Many people believe they can achieve mystic or religious experience by taking hallucinogens, not realizing that they are reverting to the age-old practices of primitive societies.
Hallucinogenic plants have been used by man for thousands of years, probably since he began gathering plants for food. Some of the plants he found were nourishing, some were medicinal and a few had bizarre effects on his mind and body. Man has shown great resourcefulness in his utilisation of hallucinogenic plants. Plants can eaten fresh or dried or juice from crushed leaves or beverages can be drunk. Resins are licked; some are smoked or taken through the nose as snuff while others are occasionally taken rectally.
Cannabis
It was made into a drink, in ancient times, with opium-like effects. Indian medical writing, compiled before 1000 B.C., reports therapeutic uses of cannabis; the early Hindus called it "a heavenly guide" and soother of grief”. The Scythians - people who lived in the area that covers present-day Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia - grew cannabis along the Volga 3,000 years ago and threw the seeds and leaves on hot stones in steam baths to produce an intoxicating smoke. The Chinese tradition of using cannabis dates even further back to 4,800 years ago and was referred to as the "liberator of sin" and "delight giver."
Datura
A member of the deadly nightshade family, solanaceae was used by the Thuggee cult in India to drug sacrificial victims to Kali. It was held sacred in China, where people believed that when Buddha preached, heaven sprinkled the plant with dew. All parts of the plant, especially the brownish-black seeds, are toxic. Datura is believed to have been the chief ingredient of wysoccon, used by the Algonquin Indians of eastern North America before the ritual of initiation into manhood. The Jivaros are a headhunting tribe from the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon and the only group known for the ancient practice of shrinking human heads. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors reprimand disobedient children during hallucinations induced by datura. The ancient Chibchas of Bogota used Datura aurea seeds to induce coma in the wives and slaves of dead warriors and chieftains before they were buried alive to accompany husbands and masters on the last trip.
Belladonna
Another member of the deadly nightshade, induces all sorts of hallucinations. It entered into the folklore and mythology of virtually all European peoples who feared its deadly power. It was one of the ingredients of the truly hallucinogenic brews and ointments concocted by the so-called witches of medieval Europe. The name belladonna, meaning beautiful lady, comes from the practice of medieval Italian women dropping the sap of the plant into their eyes to simulate the dilation of a woman's pupils during sex. Witches flying ointment consisted of belladonna or mandrake, poplar leaves and soot and to hold it all together fat or clove oil. This ointment would be rubbed on the forehead, wrists, hands or feet. There are written accounts of witches rubbing broomsticks with the ointment and inserting it in into their vaginas. This is probably where the idea came from of witches flying on broomsticks. A fifteenth-century source reads, "They anoint a staff and ride on it or anoint themselves under the arms and in other hairy places". If it was applied this way it was to insure the hallucinogen was quickly absorbed through the membranes.
Mandrake
It was an active hallucinogenic ingredient of many of the witches' brews of Europe; in fact, it was one of the most potent ingredients in their complex concoctions. Mandrake was believed to have magic properties. The root of mandrake was likened to the form of a man or woman and, according to superstition, if pulled from the earth its unearthly shrieks could drive its collector mad. In many regions, the people claimed strong aphrodisiac properties for mandrake. Shakespeare more than once alludes to this plant, Cleopatra asks for the drug to help her sleep while Antony is away. "Give me to drink mandragora." The notion that the plant shrieked when touched is referred to in Romeo and Juliet: "And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth.”
Morning Glory
Or ololiuqui, it was of major importance to the Aztecs and was presumed to have pain-killing properties. Before making sacrifices, Aztec priests rubbed themselves with an ointment of the ashes of insects, tobacco, and ololiuqui to benumb the flesh and lose all fear. Hernández, physician to the King of Spain, wrote "when the priests wanted to commune with their gods and receive messages from them, they ate this plant to induce a delirium, and a thousand visions . . . appeared to them."
Iboga
It is native to Gabon and the Congo and is the only member of the dogbane family known to be used as a hallucinogen. The yellowish root of the iboga plant is used in the initiation rites of the Bwiti cult. The right of entry into the cult is subject to having "seen" the god plant Bwiti, which is made possible by the use of iboga. The drug has a reputation as a powerful stimulant and aphrodisiac and is used by hunters to stay awake all night. Large doses induce unworldly visions, and sorcerers take the drug to seek information from ancestors and the spirit world.
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