http://www.entheology.org/ The United States leads the world in rates of experimenting with marijuana and cocaine despite strict drug laws, World Health Organization researchers said on Tuesday. Countries with looser drug laws have lower rates of abuse, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=338 This year and the next, the United Nations will evaluate the War on Drugs. Since its official start in 1998 we have been bombed with official statistics on drug use, drug addiction, drug trafficking, street prices, courtcases and all the like. But what does this information tell us? Drugs are bad, drugs are expensive, drugs are addictive, drugs equal crime. These numbers obviously show us that drugs, despite of their bad reputation, are undeniably part of our society. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=337 Two recent U.S. studies, one at Harvard and another at UCLA, have concluded that marijuana smoking, even when regular and heavy, does not cause cancer, and that the active ingredient in marijuana may turn out to be an excellent treatment for lung cancer. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=334 At the end of March, a Brazilian appeals court in São Paulo declared that possession of drugs for personal use is not a criminal offense. Several lower courts had previously ruled in the same way, but the ruling from the São Paulo Justice Court's 6th Criminal Chamber marked the first time an appeals court there had found Brazil's drug law unconstitutional as it pertains to simple drug possession. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=332 Magic mushrooms are on the verge of being outlawed by the Dutch government for the usual sensationalized reasons as everywhere else. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=329 Author Daniel Pinchbeck discusses the 2008 World Psychedelic Forum held recently in Switzerland, and the potential for studying psychedelic therapies in the shifting world political climate. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=312 A new Swiss research study of LSD as a therapy is the first in 36 years. The clinical trials are to determine its usefulness in easing anxiety and relieving pain in patients suffering from illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=306 A comprehensive overview of the life and work of Albert Hoffman, the bicycling Swiss chemist who created LSD - it explores the trailblazing, mind-altering legacy he left behind after his death on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, at the age of 102. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=305 U.S. Department of Energy is conducting new brain-imaging studies on animals, documenting the effects of Salvia divinorum on the brain. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=302 The hallucinogenic herb Salvia divinorum can be purchased online or at a local head shop. While the DEA and others want to limit its use, scientists say making it a controlled substance would hinder research. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=301 Researchers in India are studying the effects of Ayurveda herbal medicines for treatment of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=298 Interview with artist Alex Grey explores his use of psychotropic drugs and their influence on his art, his spirituality, and his life. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=295 Clinical research begins to demonstrate a link between Cannabinoids and halting the spread of a wide range of cancers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=293 Doctors and researchers in the US and across Europe are studying legitimate therapeutic applications of psychedelic drugs with new science set to prove their case. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=292 Cultural anthropologist and author, Dr. John Broomfield, studies ancient shamanic cultures and applies ancient wisdom to modern-day solutions. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=291 Journalist Lawrence Downes goes down Mexico way in an attempt to conjure the trail blazed by Ken Kesey, novelist, psychedelic prophet and hero of “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, along with his band of Merry Pranksters in the 1960s. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=290 A new religion is spreading to Britain - its central sacrament the consumption of a hallucinogenic ayahuasca. This report is from inside the faith's heartland, the rainforests of the Amazon. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=287 Thanks to a carefully-crafted initiative campaign by the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP), Massachusetts may be the next state to take the step to decriminalize marijuana. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=286 Widely used back in Mesopotamia for its medicinal and narcotic properties, this member of the Nightshade Family, was well known in ancient Egypt and characterized and classified as a sakrân intoxicant in Old Arabic. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=285 In addition to its sexual stimulant and aphrodisiac qualities, the bark of the yohimbe tree has been reported to also be hallucinogenic when smoked. The psychoactive effects are primarily due to the main active constituent yohimbine. Yohimbine has sympatholytic and local anesthetic properties. It also has vasodilating effects, especially on the sex organs. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=284 The psychoactive properties of the Passiflora genus as a whole is still awaiting thorough ethnopharmacological study, however there are several species that have a rich history as entheogens. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=283 The effects of the flower when prepared as a tea or decoction and ingested are said to be much like the opiate apomorphine. White lotus actually contains aporphine, which is closely related to apomorphine, differing only in the lack of two hydroxyl groups. It is very likely that is can be transformed into apomorphine through processing, storage or through one’s own metabolism. There are many who report feelings of floating and euphoric sensations after ingesting a potion made from the white water lily. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=282 Florida follows the lead of eight other states and considers ban on Salvia divinorum. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=280 Tagetes lucida, widely identified as a powerfully psychoactive strain of the marigold flower, was first documented by the Aztecs. They used Tagetes lucida in their ritual incense they referred to as yyauhtl. This name was derived from the Aztecan word ujana, meaning “to offer incense in sacrifices.” http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=279 Peyote (Lophophora williamsii grows in South-Eastern America and in northern regions of Mexico. In Mexico, peyote has been used for divination in shamanic rituals and in the treatment of ailments for at least 10,000 years. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=278 Headlines suggested a study proved pot is a greater cancer risk than tobacco -- but the media didn't even wait for the report to be released. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=277 In a culturally insensitive and irrational move, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has called for the governments of Bolivia and Peru to abolish all uses of the coca leaf, including coca leaf chewing. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=276 William F. Buckley, Jr., conservative intellectual--and supporter of drug policy reform--passed away February 27, 2008. He is remembered by Ira Glasser, president of DPA's board and former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=275 New study examines the possible use of psychoactive plants by Moses on Mt. Sanai, and in the religious rites of biblical times. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=274 Changing public opinion about pot isn't easy. Changing America's anti-pot laws is even harder -- here's a blueprint to get it done. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=273 Workplace Safety is made key issue in Northwest States' Medical Marijuana Initiatives http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=272 The City of Berkley, CA, resolves to guarantee continued access to medical marijuana, under increasing pressure from the DEA. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=271 Pot isn't illegal because the paper industry is afraid of competing with hemp -- it's because of racism and the culture wars. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=270 Celebrate the lifting of the 100-year ban on absinthe, and discover why this drink has become so infamous the world-over, and find out for yourself why this plant was the favorite of so many artists througout history. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=269 Students are becoming more open-minded in their beliefs, leaving organized religions, but growing more spiritual in their search for meaning in the world around them. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=268 An historical overview of the politicizing and criminalization of spiritual psychotropic substances. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=267 Clinical trials study the therapeutic benefits of the use of MDMA in the treatment of military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=266 A comprehensive article on therapeutic experimentation with Ayahuasca, a psychotropic plant common to South America. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=265 The DEA puts pressure on building landlords of Medical Marijuana facilities in a maneuver to shut down legal clinics. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=264 Chileans are rediscovering ancient herbal remedies of the Mapuche indigenous tribe. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=263 Calamus was originally noted to have hallucinogenic properties through ethnobotanical research dating back to the 1960s. However, sweet flag, also known as muskrat root or “sinke tawote” (Lakota for “food of the muskrat”), has been held in high esteem by North American Indians for hundreds of years. An important ethnobotanical, calamus served as a powerful shamanic libation, a panacea, health tonic and detoxifier, and as talisman against evil – saturated with spiritual magic and universal connectivity. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=261 Ancient peoples considered this a sacred medicinal plant and a source of powerful shamanic potions. The opium poppy was a magical ritual plant among the Germanic tribes. The opium poppy is one of the most significant plants in history, having had considerable impact on the human condition and quality of life; both for good and bad. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=259 The Drug Enforcement Administration's six-month-old surge against medical marijuana in California continues to ramp up with new threats to northern California dispensaries. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=258 On Tuesday, agents of the Pecos Valley Drug Taskforce in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched the home of a registered medical marijuana patient who has lost the use of his legs and suffers chronic pain and muscle spasms due to a spinal cord injury. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=257 Some historians are rethinking the role of trial-and-error alchemy in the development of chemistry as a science. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=256 After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan’s history, American officials have renewed efforts to persuade the government here to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies, and they have found some supporters within President Hamid Karzai’s administration, officials of both countries said. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=255 Prahlad Jani, a holy man, or fakir, who is over 70 years old, has just spent 10 days under constant observation in Sterling Hospital, and during that time, he did not consume anything and "neither did he pass urine or stool", according to the hospital's deputy superintendent, Dr Dinesh Desai. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=254 Tourists threaten natural habitats in Hawaii, where kava and lotus are sacred plants revered for ages. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=253 Mike Milne, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection agency in Seattle, said, "If you are or have ever been a drug user, that's one of the many things that can make you inadmissible to the United States. Mr. Feldmar said, "I should warn people that the electronic footprint you leave on the Net will be used against you; it cannot be erased.” http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=251 Four masked men burst into the Pittsburg home of Rex Farrance, 59, about 9 p.m. Tuesday, fatally shooting him and pistol-whipping his wife after demanding money, police said. No arrests have been made. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=250 A San Diego Superior Court this week handed a critical victory to medical marijuana patients nationwide, affirming the ability of states to exempt qualified patients from criminal penalties, despite federal policy that prohibits all marijuana use. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=249 The results were clear: Sixty percent of the psilocybin group elicited behaviors consistent with a "full mystical experience" as measured by psychological scales. Two months later, about 79 percent of the group reported "moderately to greatly increased" well-being or life satisfaction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=248 The new law, which makes it a crime to possess any amount of marijuana in the privacy of one’s home, directly contradicts a September 2004 Alaska Supreme Court ruling allowing adults aged 21 and older to use and possess up to four ounces of marijuana in the privacy of their homes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=247 People who smoke marijuana do not appear to be at increased risk for developing lung cancer, new research suggests. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=246 The House passed a bill on Tuesday to expand federal financing for embryonic stem cell research, defying a veto threat from President Bush, who appeared at the White House with babies and toddlers born of test-tube embryos and warned the measure "would take us across a critical ethical line." http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=245 Recently, and rather mysteriously, a group of nearly 80 wandered out of the wilderness, half-naked, a gaggle of children and pet monkeys in tow, and declared themselves ready to join the modern world. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=244 In the United States, possession and distribution of marijuana is nominally illegal. But you don't have to be Tommy Chong to know that pot's legal status is cloudy and confused. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=243 72% of Americans age 45 and over think marijuana should be legal for medicinal purposes with a doctor's recommendation, according to a poll commissioned by AARP, the nation's leading organization advocating on behalf of older people. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=242 In a UNANIMOUS RULING Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided that O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal (UDV), a religious congregation based in New Mexico, can use ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea, in its ceremonies. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=241 A decision by Nevada's elections officials illegally disqualified thousands of signatures from people who filled out voter registration forms on the same day they signed petitions. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=240 Various reports indicate that young people who use cannabis tend to experience psychological and social problems. However, there is no evidence that marijuana use is directly linked with such problems, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=239 In one survey, more than 70 percent of American cancer specialists said they would prescribe marijuana if it was legal. A poll of the British Medical Association yielded similar results. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=238 The FDA’s claim, of course, is patently false. Numerous credible scientific studies document marijuana’s medical benefits, most notably a 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report commissioned by the White House drug czar’s office. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=237 Last Friday, 24 members of Congress demanded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) account for its disingenuous April 20 statement claiming that “no sound scientific studies” support the medical use of marijuana. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=236 Mexican lawmakers passed a sweeping new drug law early Friday that would crack down on small-time dealers, legalize the possession of small quantities of drugs and mandate treatment for addicts. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=234 Missouri becomes first state in the U.S. to specifically schedule Salvia divinorum and its active chemical. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=233 The penalty for possession is imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than 5 years and, in addition, a possible fine of up to $5,000. The penalty for manufacture or distribution is imprisonment with or without hard labor for not less than 2 years nor more than 10 years and, in addition, a possible fine of up to $20,000. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=232 The department's annual drug-trafficking report, released in March, warned that Afghanistan was "on the verge of becoming a narcotics state." This year's heroin crop will likely be the 2nd largest ever in Afganistan's history, notedly HIGHER than when the Taliban were in power. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=231 Even aside from his arguments that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that St. Paul was a self-hating gay, the new book by a former Episcopal bishop of Newark is explosive. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=230 Sixty-three percent (63%) of Americans believe the Bible is literally true and the Word of God. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 24% disagree and say it is not. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=229 We're in the fight of our lives in Washington, DC. High-ranking members of Congress want to take the war on drugs to a whole new level. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=228 The Ethnobotanical Superstore www.IAmShaman.com has purchased Kona Kava Farm in Hawaii as a way to expand their product line into standard and unique Kava Kava products that the market has never seen before. With the recent lift of the ban by the FDA, and FDA approval for their farm and manufacturing facility, they have been developing unique products such as cordials, instant Kava drinks, and Kava concentrates, which come in the form of liquefied chocolate. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=227 Canada became the first nation Tuesday to approve a pharmaceutical prescription spray derived from the cannabis plant, a move that could shift the medical marijuana debate in the U.S. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=226 Five years and $3 billion into the most aggressive counternarcotics operation ever here, American and Colombian officials say they have eradicated a record-breaking million acres of coca plants, yet cocaine remains as available as ever on American streets, perhaps more so. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=225 PRINCE Charles is hopeful that the export ban on Fiji's traditional drink will be lifted in the near future. This was relayed by Foreign Affairs Minister Kaliopate Tavola after a brief conversation with the Prince of Wales on Thursday. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=224 There are plenty of herbal plants, such as Saint-John's-wort or morning glory, that contain emotion-altering compounds. But Salvia divinorum, known in the streets as Sally D, is making bigger legal waves on account of its short-term side effects, which some have described to be hallucinogenic, unpredictable and sometimes disturbing, when smoked, chewed or boiled as a tea. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=223 The Church, "Soga del Alma" - "Vine of the Soul" - organizes a Conference for those interested in Amazonian shamanism and ceremonies managed by authentic Amazonian curandero(a)s will also be made available. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=222 The active ingredient of cannabis may protect against heart disease and strokes. In fact, marijuana's ability to relieve the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and AIDS, among other diseases, is pretty well agreed by patients, if not by the medical establishment. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=221 The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether the federal government must allow the U.S. branch of a Brazilian-based religion to import a hallucinogenic tea for use as a sacrament. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=220 It's California pot patients' second effort to break the legal yoke that the federal Controlled Substances Act holds around state laws that let sick people use cannabis if they have a valid recommendation for it from their doctor. In the first case, U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative in 2001, patients argued that "medical necessity" trumped the federal law, much as ambulances are allowed to break the speed limit. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=219 At 1:44 pm Eastern Standard Time today, December 10th 2004, the entire Supreme Court of The United States convened and determined to deny the Department of Justice’s request for that Court’s further intervention in the UDV’s legal case. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=218 Last year there was an outrageous abuse of power in Racine, Wisconsin, where hundreds of music fans were ticketed for being in a crowded nightclub where a few people used drugs. Those ticketed had no drugs on them. The police didn’t even have any evidence that they had ever used drugs. Their only “crime” was dancing at a nightclub where other people who used drugs were arrested. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=216 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Utah Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that non-American Indian members of the Native American Church can use peyote in religious ceremonies. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=215 Catholics from more than 25 countries are in Rome this week to hammer out a strategy for combating the threat posed to Christianity by "New Age" religions and fads. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=214 The Dalai Lama said on Thursday his special envoys could return to China within months to continue building contacts with Beijing but he said a political solution to the Tibet question was still far off. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=213 Conservationists say the rate at which Indonesia is losing its forests has doubled since the 1980s. They say the lowland forests, the richest in the country, will not survive for long on some of the biggest islands. They blame corruption for driving "an epidemic of illegal logging". http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=212 A short list of useful links to information regarding fredom of speech and freedom of religion in the United States. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=211 "Freedom of speech and religion have not yet been oppressed by Bill C-250, and we remain optimistic . . . If the Prime Minister calls an election before [April 20], the bill would die. But we need to continue the pressure until we win this fully." http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=210 The Bush administration had asked the court, for the Ninth Circuit, to hold a new hearing on that ruling, issued by a three-judge panel in December on a lawsuit filed by two women with chronic illnesses. But in an order issued Wednesday and made public on Thursday, the court denied the request. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=209 The hemp food industry has just won a major victory, defeating the DEA's attempts to ban all foods with even trace, insignificant quantities of THC. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=208 Two Bush administration agencies are proposing new regulations to prevent the Alliance and other advocacy groups from telling our supporters about the political actions of federal officials who are up for re-election. Our First Amendment rights - and yours - are at stake! Help us put a stop to the dangerous proposals that could bring an end to free speech and political activism. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=207 No sooner had God created Adam and put him in Eden than God began to contradict himself. He told Adam that he could eat from all the trees of the garden. ALL the trees. Then God said, “Nevertheless, you can’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you will die that very day.” It appears that God was still making his mind up about things. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=206 On December 13, when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein, President George W. Bush not only celebrated with his national security team, but also pulled out his pen and signed into law a bill that grants the FBI sweeping new powers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=205 Government-funded researchers and private companies are working on a new breed of pharmaceuticals designed to police your blood, identify illegal drugs, and block them from entering your brain. The CCLE is concerned that some courts may require use of these new "anti-drug" drugs as a condition of receiving probation in drug possession cases. One such drug, known only as SR141716 targets marijuana inside the body. If SR141716 is imposed as a probation condition it, alone, could affect nearly 700,000 people each year who are arrested for marijuana-related offenses. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=204 Terrifying reports from Afganistan point to an even more dismal possibility for the future of Iraq, all at the hands of the administration that has stepped up the dismally failed War on Drugs now targeting the sick and the dying. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=203 In the latest round of contradictions, in addition to causeing the destruction of our rainforests and the rest of the planet, the ONDCP now says that marijuana use both prevents AND causes teen pregnancy simultaneously! - WOW! http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=202 There has been rioting in Bolivia for nearly four weeks now. News reports say that the riots have been over the construction of a pipeline to ship natural gas to the United States. That's true, but there's a deeper anger at work: anger toward the United States and its war against a traditional Bolivian crop, coca. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=201 For hundreds of years, marijuana has been used to treat a wide variety of illnesses. But the herb has been illegal throughout the modern era of scientific medical research. Patients swear the drug works to relieve pain, prevent seizures, and counteract the nausea-inducing effects of cancer chemotherapy. But by today's standards, there's no definitive proof that this is so. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=200 Such a policy, which has been criticized by human rights groups, was suspended in Colombia and Peru after a Peruvian jet fighter mistakenly shot down a private plane carrying American missionaries, killing two people, one an infant, in 2001. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=199 Long-term and even daily marijuana use doesn't appear to cause permanent brain damage, adding to evidence that it can be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of diseases, say researchers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=198 In the case of salvia divinorum, the plant has been used for hundreds of years in specific ceremonies and for explicit reasons. It has, like the blends used in First Nations ceremonial pipes or sweat lodges, long been used with knowledge and reverence. In Lewis' opinion, doling out salvia to everyone who simply wanted to try a puff would feel almost sacrilegious. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=197 For hundreds of years, salvia divinorum, also known as diviner's sage and magic mint, has been part of the culture of the ancient peoples of the Sierra Mazateca. In a manner similar to peyote, it has been used by local indigenous peoples to induce an altered state for spiritual or meditative purposes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=196 (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act of 2003. The Democrats on the committee did not rubberstamp this bill; instead, they used the hearing as an opportunity to attack not only the Bush administration's medical marijuana policy, but also the war on drugs in its entirety. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=195 The Bush administration, pressing its campaign against state medical marijuana laws, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let federal authorities punish California doctors who recommend pot to their patients. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=194 More than 23 million acres of the world's forests - enough to cover the whole of Scotland - are disappearing each year because of logging, mining and land clearance for agriculture. The scale of deforestation is so great that some countries, such as Indonesia, could lose entire rainforests in the next 10 years. The appetite for wood for furniture, floors and building in Europe and North America is shrinking the world's forests at a rate of 2.4 per cent every 10 years, official figures show. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=193 The War on Drugs has had a profound effect on me. I used to be a proud Republican, but the more I listened to law-and-order Republicans chatter about the dire need for ever more enforcement of the controlled-substance laws, the more Libertarian I became... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=192 New York's medical marijuana bill, A. 5796, scored its third big committee win of the legislative session yesterday, passing the Assembly Ways and Means Committee with a bipartisan vote of 24 to 8. The bill passed the Health Committee April 8 by 16 to 6 and the Codes Committee June 11 by 13 to 2. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=191 Last Thursday, June 5, the Marijuana Policy Project, working in conjunction with the Drug Policy Alliance, scored a remarkable victory in Congress when the House Government Reform Committee placed strong (and new) restrictions on the use of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign for political purposes. Please take two minutes to send a fax to your U.S. representative, urging him or her to support three important amendments when the bill reaches the House floor as early as next week. These amendments are detailed in the following article. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=190 Racism, of course, was originally a form of anti-tribalism, driven by the economic value of enslavement. We are no longer overtly racist, in our public laws at least, but we are still politically driven by industrial power centers, still brutally anti-tribal, structurally violent, to millions of our children, our tribal primitives, and to our shamanic adults. Our contemporary slaver war, our Drug War, is a direct descendant, via the Inquisition, of Roman slave law, called Prohibitio by the Romans, Prohibition. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=189 Shamanism is a very important part of the essence of the wisdom of the Indian. If we truly want to understand what it consists of to know our indigenous peoples we should learn to look beyond the simple phenomena that is produced by the customs, artistic expressions and cultures of a people that belong to another time and that are desperately fighting to survive and to avoid extinction and the acculturation that threatens their beliefs and natural way of life. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=187 Conservative Republican watchdog analysts are upset with the government's incessant wasting of our tax dollars, namely the ones spent on a drug War that has only increased drug use among teenagers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=186 Refusing to bend to pressure from the Bush administration, Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that reduces criminal penalties for seriously ill people who smoke marijuana. Ehrlich is the first GOP governor to sign a bill protecting medical marijuana patients from jail. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=185 GW Pharmaceuticals plc (“GW”) and Bayer AG (“Bayer”) have entered into an exclusive marketing agreement for GW’s cannabis-based medicinal extract product, to be marketed under the Sativex® brand name. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=184 Renowned anthropologist Wade Davis shows us how preserving the diversity of the world's cultures and spiritual beliefs is just as important as preserving our endangered plants, insects, and animals. This essay focuses on an ayahuasca ceremony. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=183 s effects include pleasant drowsiness, skeletal muscle relaxation, slowing of heartbeat, dilation of coronary vessels, inhibition of acetylcholine, enhancement of epinephrine, slight reduction of blood pressure, cooling of body, mild intoxication and giddiness, darkening of vision, auditory hallucinations (sounds seem distant), and increased memory function. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=182 A meta-analysis of all clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of Kava, supports Kava’s beneficial effects in treating anxiety, without any reported cases of liver toxicity. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=181 Cannabis, the third most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco, could win a new role as the aspirin of the 21st century, with growing evidence that its compounds may protect the brain against the damaging effects of ageing. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=180 The Court granted the hemp industry's Motion to Stay the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) "Final Rule," which was issued March 21, 2003 and would have banned the sale of nutritious hemp foods containing harmless trace amounts of naturally-occurring THC under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=179 Biotechnology firms, pharmaceutical corporations, laboratories and university researchers are scouring the Amazon rainforest in a profit-driven pursuit. Seeking the Amazon’s “green gold,” they are turning to local indigenous groups to gain access to thousands of years of accumulated secret potions and traditional remedies. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=178 Blue Lily extracts best into alcohol. Wine is traditional. However, any other alcohol would work, and certainly an ethanolic sublingual or ingestible tincture could be made from larger amounts. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=177 This speech is derived from The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An Inquiry into the Legal History of American Marijuana Prohibition by Professor Richard J. Bonnie & Professor Charles H. Whitebread, II http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=176 Important information for anyone concerned with the botanical properties of different strains of DMT-containing grasses. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=175 The "fog of war" obscures more than just news from the battlefield. It also provides cover for radical domestic legislation, especially ill-considered liberty-for-security swaps, which have been historically popular at the onset of major conflicts. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=174 The new medical marijuana affirmative defense bill in Congress is a reality! On Friday, March 21, three members of the California delegation sent a letter to all U.S. House members, informing them about the new bill and asking them to cosponsor it. YOU CAN HELP! - It's so simple... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=173 An Inquiry into the Ideas and Forces that Link the Thought of Our Time with our Religious Past. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=172 There are many mythological figures who came long before Jesus, yet the mythological story of Jesus is strikingly similar to these... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=171 Tobacco in the South American Indian Tradition is used for purification, connection with the divine, and recreation. It plays a major role in many shamanistic traditions, and is an integral part of many of their cultures. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=170 A federal judge has refused to block the U.S. government from potentially prosecuting two pot-smoking women whose doctors say marijuana is their only medical solace. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=169 A new study shows that premature deaths from tobacco, alcohol, and other illegal drugs are rising worldwide, Reuters reported February 25th, 2003. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=168 ...many educated, thinking people have left the Age of Faith behind them. They no longer trust ecclesiastical dogma and authority to provide them with adequate evidence of the realms of the spirit or, indeed, with evidence that there IS spirit. Secondhand or "...third hand anecdotes in competing and culture bound religious texts other times and places are not convincing enough to provide paradigms for their personal existence. They require higher standards of evidence." http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=167 The Hopi smoked the dried resin, or sap, obtained from the plant. The Hopi believe that induced dream states contain more information about reality than the conscious waking state. Wild lettuce, aka lettuce opium, is said to enhances the vividness of dreams when smoked prior to sleep. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=166 Since the late 1950s, when psychedelics became more potent and more easily available, many studies and interviews focused on the influence of hallucinogen on the creative process. Most interest was placed on understanding how the mind works under the influence of hallucinogens. Is it possible for these altered states to modify cognition so that a higher level of creativity is reached? http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=165 Wormwood is an ancient plant who’s roots can be traced back to ancient times. Most don’t think about this one fact, but the Greek goddess; Artemis is where this plant gets its name from. Most scholars believe that this was a name attributed to all Artemisia species, and not just Artemisia absinthium, but that’s quite a testament to this plant, rich in historical value, and one of the most infamous psychoactive plants known today. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=164 Peyote is not a dangerous drug that victimizes Native Americans as alcohol as done. Rather, it is a sacred plant having a history of use of more than 6000 years. It is only used ceremonially and as medicine. It is not addicting, nor does it cause harmful effects. It is one of the most important medicines to Native Americans. Their religion, in which peyote is used as the sacrament, is highly moral and serious. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=163 Growing her in itself is a magical experience. Yet there is probably no other plant that instills such an utter fear in beginner cultivators. When I went to bring her home from the greenhouse I bought her at, I almost expected to see her in some specially controlled atmospheric chamber with tubes and misting nozzles everywhere, and the dull whine of compressors and life support systems. Instead I was handed this tough looking little plant with a thick stem and yellowish green leaves that was sitting on the table by the door of the greenhouse. In awe of this little plant I brought her home and started to grow her. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=162 For the non-professional cactus lover starting cacti from seed can be a daunting task, especially for those without a greenhouse and experience. But growing these beautiful specimens of the plant kingdom should not be limited to those who are mass producers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=161 The Yanomami comprise a society of hunter-agriculturists of the tropical rainforest of Northern Amazonia, whose contact with non-indigenous society over the most part of their territory has been relatively recent. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=160 Survival International ('Survival') is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. It stands for their right to decide their own future and helps them protect their lives, lands and human rights. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=159 THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS refer to two plants used by some of the autochthonous peoples of Madagascar and are based on an article by a French researcher, Pierre Boiteau. The article is unmentioned in the specialist literature on psychoactive plants. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=158 Fresh seeds germinate very easily, but seeds sold for entheogenic purposes are likely be too old and are unlikely to germinate. It is important to buy only seeds sold as 'viable' if you intend to grow this species. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=157 During the mid-1980’s I participated in a caving expedition in the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, Mexico. Our group intended to explore and map the lower reaches of the Sotano de San Agustin, which at that time was the deepest known vertical cave in the western hemisphere. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=156 This is an extraodinarily interesting psychoactive plant, which is just now being rediscovered by psychonauts everywhere. Rich in history with the Aztecs, this poppy plant is presently legal worldwide. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=155 The Matses are a small, seminomadic, hunting-gathering tribe who live in the remote jungle along the Rio Yavari, on the border of Peru and Brazil. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=154 A case which pits the US government against the vine and leaves used to make ayahuasca, the South American visionary tea used for physical, emotional and spiritual healing, is nearing the trial phase and funds are urgently needed for the defense. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=153 It is suggested that art and artifact have been sources often overlooked in determining the ethnobotanical content of any early civilization. The suggestion is made that early civilizations in the area of the Fertile Crescent employed Datura, Cannabis, Claviceps, Mandragora, Nymphaea, Vitis, and possibly Papaver as medicaments and ritual entheogens. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=152 Humans have been decorating their bodies with the beauty of natural objects for thousands of years. Primitive man wore necklaces made from the bones, claws and teeth of slain animals. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=151 Psychotria is distributed in the warm and tropical regions of both hemispheres. They are low to tall shrubs or small trees, sometimes epiphytic. Approximately 1,200 species are described, of which about 800 are valid taxa. Classification of Psychotria species is very difficult, even for trained botanists. Skilled shamans often recognize "kinds" of chacruna which are indistinguishable to botanists. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=150 In our penetration into the study of known hallucinogens and in our search for new ones, we have much to do and little time in which to do it. Civilization is closing in on many, if not on most, parts of the world still sacred to the less advanced cultures. It has long been pressing in, but its pace is now greatly accelerated, with the consequent lessening of man's dependence upon his immediate environment. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=149 This paper is based upon the author's "SOMA, Divine Mushroom of Immortality ", published in 1969 in New York by Harcourt Brace & World Inc., and in The Hague by Mouton. This work is referred to in the following pages as " Soma". http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=148 In the city of Iquitos and its vicinity there is even today a rich tradition of folk medicine. Practitioners, some of whom qualify as shamans, make an important contribution to the psychosomatic health of the inhabitants of this area. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=147 Article concerning the use of Solandra among the Huichol and the true identity of Kieri. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=146 A review of psychoactive plants known from archaeological contexts and artistic representations shows that their use has spanned centuries, continuing in places in Mexico and South America to the present day. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=145 We have come to recognize two main types of religious practitioners, the shaman and the priest. The shaman is found typically in tribal cultures, the priest in state formations and so, presumably, later in appearance, although some overlap between the two may occur. The picture we derive from the literature on this subject presents a sharp contrast between shaman and priest: we conceive of them as qualitatively different. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=144 Article on Tibetean Shamanism of the Bon Tradition. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=143 St. Peters is poised to limit the sale of an herb that has been reported by a Web site to have LSD-like effects, and in so doing could become the first city in the nation to restrict the substance. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=142 The appropriation of yage by outsiders threatens to further undermine the fragile culture of the Putumayo region, already devastated by 37 years of civil war. Colombia's billion-dollar U.S.-backed campaign to rid the country of its coca fields and end narco-terrorism has already wreaked enormous havoc on the Indians' lives. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=141 Taíno culture was the most highly developed in the Caribbean when Columbus reached Hispaniola in 1492. Islands throughout the Greater Antilles were dotted with Taíno communities nestled in valleys and along the rivers and coastlines, some of which were inhabited by thousands of people. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=140 Living in harmony with the environment and the laws of Nature is one of the central ideas of Rastafarianism. To live in accordance with the Earth is to live in accordance with Jah; it is incorporated into the morality that is Rastafarian consciousness. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=139 Criminalizing peaceful people who use psychoactive drugs to deepen their spiritual life is criminal itself, some groups are arguing http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=138 The term “shaman” is used to describe individuals who are able to bridge the physical and spiritual realms through their ability to enter into, and induce, profound states of trance. Shamanism is less of a specific methodology than it is a cosmovision which holds as a central tenet that the spirit world is interacting with, and upon, the physical world all the time. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=137 The mission of Pachamama that has grown out of that partnership is two-fold: to halt the destruction of the Earth's rainforests and the loss of its indigenous cultures and wisdom; and to discover workable ways in which the knowledge and wisdom inherent in both traditional cultures and the modern world can blend into a new global vision of sustainability for us all. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=136 DCC's mission is to inspire sustainability and earth-honoring changes in consciousness; to conserve rainforests and the world's natural places; to apply indigenous wisdom in ways that foster environmental, economic, and social balance; and to facilitate access to expanded levels of awareness. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=135 Among the peoples of North America, the Tarahumara are considered to be the most primitive, the least touched by modern civilization. They are also the most unmixed of any of the Indian tribes of Mexico. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=134 If land owners, governments and those living in the rainforest today were given a viable economic reason NOT to destroy the rainforest, it could and would be saved. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=133 The mission of the Dance of the Deer Foundation Center for Shamanic Studies is to preserve the Huichol culture and its shamanic practices and traditions. The foundation was established in 1979 by Brant Secunda to carry on the vision of his grandfather and teacher, don José Matsuwa, the renowned Huichol shaman. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=132 The Huichol Indians of Mexico call themselves "the healers." Isolated high in the Sierra Madre mountains of northwestern Mexico, these indigenous people have preserved the purest preColombian culture in our hemisphere. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=131 EDA is an organization dedicated to conserving forests, inspiring earth-honoring changes in consciousness and applying indigenous wisdom in ways that foster environmental and social balance. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=130 We support groups and individuals whose innovative projects reflect these concepts; whose work exemplifies a global vision, demonstrates a spirit of inclusiveness, and fosters transformative action in a changing world. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=129 The Amazon Conservation Team works in partnership with indigenous people in conserving biodiversity, health and culture in tropical America. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=128 Barquinha, a split off the Santo Daime and the smallest of the three established Brazilian churches who use 'huasca', as its called in Brazil. As with the others, the religion incorporates beliefs from Spiritism, Christianity and the native jungle tribes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=127 Today the Native American Church of North America has eighty chapters and members belonging to some seventy Native American Nations. In the continental United States, every state west of the Mississippi has at least one chapter. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=126 Maria Sabina, Mazatec healer, curandera, and Shaman. A native of Huautla de Jimenez, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, passed away in 1985 at the age of 91. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=125 Like the Santo Daime in Mapia, Brazil, Gnostisismo Revolutionario de la Concienca de Krishna is an example of a spiritual community based around the use of a psychoactive sacrament as an inspiration and teacher. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=124 The Temple of the True Inner Light was formed in 1980 by Alan Birnbaum as an offshoot of the New York City branch of the Native American Church. The Temple uses Di-Propyl Tryptamine (DPT) as its sacrament which Temple followers regard as the actual manifestation of God, rather than a means to access God. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=123 Tobacco FactFile, a new Internet database unveiled by the British Medical Association (BMA), contains worldwide facts and figures about smoking, the Associated Press reported February 27, 2003. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=122 A member of an American Indian tribe wants to be able to give peyote to his 4-year-old son during spiritual ceremonies. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=121 Is the Secret to Alcoholism and Other Addictions Locked Up in the Hallucinogenic Drugs? http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=120 This paper is the fruit of a twenty day stay in four different villages of the Hupda population, known as the Maku, located in the region between the Japu and Uaupés rivers in the northwest Amazon. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=119 The Mazatec Indians, who have a long tradition of using the mushrooms, inhabit a range of mountains called the Sierra Mazateca in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Properly speaking they are Huautecans; but since the language they speak has been called Mazatec and they have been referred to in the previous anthropological literature as Mazatecs, I have retained that name. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=118 Description of a Peyote ceremony as practiced by the Ute indians of Colorado. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=117 Recent ethnobotanical investigations in Colombia have greatly added to our knowledge of the plants which are used in divination and medicine by the Indians of these areas. The discovery, in the high and geographically isolated Indian village of Sibundoy, of a tree, representing a new genus and belonging apparently to the Solanaceae, may have significant consequences in several different fields of study. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=116 From very remote times, the indigenous inabitants of various parts of South America have been aware of the hallucinogenic properties of diverse species of the genus Piptadenia. The purpose of the present study is to bring out the salient facts concerning this botanical genus. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=115 The last decade has been secretly psychedelic. And we have all been primed and ready for an explosion of consciousness. To get to that point, we must have an idea of where to direct our energies. The best way to do this is through a common goal of cognitive liberty. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=114 A powerful hallucinogenic drug that has been linked to dozens of deaths around the world is becoming increasingly popular among Britain's heroin and crack users, who believe it can offer an instant, painless cure for their addictions. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=113 Jesus was almost certainly a cannabis user and an early proponent of the medicinal properties of the drug, according to a study of scriptural texts published this month. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=111 My wish is that these images will encourage the viewer to find out more about indigenous people and to support their struggle to survive in a world that they generally find incomprehensible and insane. Increasingly, the survival of these people and of their environment is tied to our own survival. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=110 In a volume devoted to the study of shamanism and hallucinogenic drugs it is important to include data concerning a group whose experiences with the hallucinogenic peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) in shamanistic rituals resulted in serious conflict and, ultimately, proscription of the ceremonial use of the drug. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=109 Though it's legal for anyone to buy and sell Salvia Divinorum – an organic substance St. Peters police are referring to as "chewable marijuana" – police, along with at least one store in the city, are trying to keep it out of the hands of minors. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=108 Besides running a seed-distribution business, the peace and pot activist Marc Emery has started a new project that he's especially passionate about, one he says can cure cocaine and heroin addiction at a low price. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=107 Canadian activists for the medicinal use of marijuana celebrated a court victory on Thursday by launching an Internet site offering home delivery of cannabis for seriously ill people. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=106 Widely hailed as the "Father of Ethnobotany," he carried out pioneering research on the relationship between people and plants in the Americas for many decades. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=105 Plotkin has learned from shamanic teachings, has participated in indigenous ceremonies complete with their hallucinogenic brews, and has been a tireless master of diplomacy. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=104 One notable feature of the Pre-Columbian San Pedro culture is the high incidence of snuffing implements. The most common of the snuffing kits found in San Pedro de Atacama consists of a woolen bag containing a wooden rectangular snuff tray, a snuffing tube made usually of wood or bone... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=103 Serge is doing his part to save the shaman traditions of his culture when he formed Aloha International; a world-wide network of people studying and practicing the Hawaiian shamanic traditions. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=102 Kava Kava is also known by the names Ava, Ava Pepper, Intoxicating Pepper, Kawa Awa, Kawa Kawa, Wati, Yogona, and Waka. This herb, a member of the pepper family, grows as a bush in the South Pacific. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=101 Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva-M. is one of the vision-inducing plants used by the Mazatec Indians of central Mexico. The present status of research is summarized. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=100 This is a powerful MAO inhibitor, and should be treated VERY carefully! http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=99 The use of vegetable hallucinogens by humans for religious purposes is very ancient, probably even older than its use for healing, magic or teaching purposes. The profound alterations in one's state of consciousness brought about by the use of a hallucinogen has served as a founding axis for religious systems, and in the development of established religions throughout the history of humanity. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=98 In the name of science, the United States Forest Service has proposed the experimental logging of half a million acres in two forests in the Sierra Nevada... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=97 Great article from a great online seed vender; Alchemy Works. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=96 Voacanga africana is one of the well guarded secrets of the African Magic Healers. Little is know about the actual use of the seeds and the bark of several Voacanga species (including V.africana), other than that the plant is held in high esteem for ritual purposes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=95 Most, if not all, species of Virola have a copious red "resin" in the inner bark. The resin from a number of species is prepared as an hallucinogenic snuff or small pellets. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=94 Ololiuqui is the Aztec name for the seeds of certain convolvulaceous plants which have been used since prehispanic times by the Aztecs and related tribes, just as the sacred mushrooms and the cactus peyotl have been used in their religious ceremonies for magic and religious purposes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=93 The San Pedro Cactus, or Trichocereus pachanoi, was in use at the very beginning of Andean civilization when it was highly prized as the “materia prima” (raw material) of the shamans of that era. In the central Andes district of Peru, as well as in the surrounding desert regions, the cactus has been an important ritual plant for thousands of years. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=92 ANOTHER KIND OF CAAPI is prepared from Tetrapteris methistica, a forest vine also belonging to the family Malpighioceae. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=91 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=90 Iboga is basic to the Bwiti cult and other secret societies in Gabon and the Congo. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=89 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=88 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=87 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=86 One of the most powerful herbs of the Tarahumara of Mexico is apparently a species of Scirpus. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=85 The family Mesembryanthemaceae contains many pharmacologically active species. One of the most utilized by native peoples in South Africa was the genus Sceletium(Kanna), for which whole tribes would travel hundreds of miles to pick a years supply. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=84 Salvia divinorum is a perennial labiate used for curing and divination by the Mazatec Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico. The psychotropic effects the plant produces are compared to those of the other hallucinogens employed by the Mazatecs, the morning glory, Rivea corymbosa L., Hallier F. and the psilocybin-containing mushrooms. A discussion of the role of ska María Pastora in the "native pharmacopoeia" is based on previous reports and fieldwork by the authors with a Mazatec shaman. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=83 The beautiful red and black beans of several species of Rhynchosia may have been eployed in ancient Mexico as an hallucinogenic. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=82 The classical principle admixtures of Ayahuasca and Yagè commonly employed throughout Amazonian Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. Related to the coffee plant in a large genus of over 700 species, Psychotria viridis is a small glabrous tree or shrub reaching 14 foot. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=81 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=80 Few plants of the gods have ever been held in greater reverence than the sacred mushrooms of Mexico. So hallowed were these fungi that the Aztecs called them Teonancatl ("divine flesh") and used them only in the most holy of their ceremonies. Even though, as fungi, mushrooms do not blossom, the Aztecs referred to them as "flowers," and the Indians who still use them in religious rituals have endearing terms for them, such as "little flowers." http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=79 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=78 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=77 A perenniel grass with a long association with humans, the common reed is native to Eurasia and Africa but has spread all over the world with people, even though it has practically never been cultivated. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=76 The plant contains DMT, beta-carbolines, 5-MEO-demethyltryptamine, and trace amounts of bufotenine. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=75 SHANIN (Petunia violacea) is one of the most recently reported hallucinogens. It is taken by the Indians in Ecuador to induce the sensation of flight. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=74 The fruit of tagili, of Ecuador, is well recognized as poisonous, capable of inducing hallucinations and other psychic alterations as well as affecting the motor nerves. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=73 P. aselliformis is a well known medicinal peyote sold in the markets of San Luís Potosí, Mexico, and is used as a remedy for fevers and rheumatic pains. Extracts have also been shown to have antibiotic activity. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=72 The seeds, as well as the roots, of P. harmala contain a mixture of the harmala alkaloids, armine and harmaline. When admnstered to humans, the harmala alkaloids are serotonin antagonists, CNS stimulants, hallucinogens and extemely potent, short term MAO inhibitors. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=71 Natives of New Guinea employ the fruit of an unidentified species of Pandanus for hallucinogenic purposes, unfortunately little is known of this use. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=70 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=69 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=68 This subspecies from the New Zealand mainland is the variety used by the Maori in their medicines and rituals and belongs to the kava family. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=67 Oncidium longifolium is known as a peyote replacement among the Tarahumara. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=66 Creating a feeling of well being, euphoria and ecstasy, Nymphaea caerulea (blue lotus) is a water plant growing on the shores of lakes and rivers. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=65 M. pruriens is a leguminous climbing plant, with long, slender branches, alternate, lanceolate leaves on hairy petioles, 6 to 12 inches long, with large, white flowers, growing in clusters of two or three, with a bluish-purple, butterfly-shaped corolla. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=64 Kratom is traditionally only used in Thailand, although some use in Malaysia has been reported. Use dates far enough back that its beginning can't be determined. It is often used as a substitute for opium when opium is unavailable, or to moderate opium addiction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=63 The preparation of the brew from fresh Jurema root bark for trance possession rituals, is, in itself, a complex ritual of the Atikum tribe. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=62 In the Pariana region of the central Amazon in Brazil, the indians formerly prepared a hallucinogenic snuff of the dried fruits. The snuff was taken in tribal ceremonials, but encroachment of civilization has obliterated it's use. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=61 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=60 PUFFBALLS (Lycoperdon mixtecorum and L. marginotum) are used by the Mixtec Indicins Of Oaxaca, Mexico as auditory hallucinogens. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=59 The peyote cactus is a flowering plant of the family Cactaceae, which is a group of fleshy, spiny plants found primarily in the dry regions of the New World. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=58 Under construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=57 Smoked by the Hottentot tribes smoke the resinous flowering tops and leaves from this plant as a euphoriant. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=56 Beyond the high content of essential oil in the rhizome, little is known of the chemistry of the plant. Hallucinogenic activity might possibly be due to constituents of the essential oils. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=55 Regardless of what you’ve read anywhere else; Morning Glory has a rich place in the history of psychedelic and visionary use in historical traditions across multiple cultures, including the Chontal Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the highly evolved Aztec Culture. These seeds, without question, have been utilized throughout history as a means of communicating with the gods of each culture. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=54 Black Henbane was used as a ritual plant by the pre-Indo-European peoples of central Europe. In Australia, handfuls of henbane seeds were discovered in a ceremonial urn along with bones and snail shells, dating back to the early Bronze Age. During the Paleolithic period, it has been speculated that henbane was used for ritual and shamanic purposes throughout Eurasia. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=53 The natives believe that sinicuichi has sacred or supernatural qualities, since they hold that it helps them recall events which took place many years earlier as if they had happened yesterday; others assert that they are able, with sinicuichi, to remember pre-natal events. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=51 The use of Galbulimima belgraveana in Papua New Guinea has been reported in several popular books on psychoactive plants. The chewing of Galbulimima belgraveana bark and Homalomena sp. leaves (ereriba) has been reported to induce visions and a dream-like state. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=50 Considered a "false peyote" which is often called "hikuli mulato," the "dark skinned peyote". http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=48 The pituri plant had enormous economic value to the Aborigines. Pituri roads existed with extensive trade networks that extended from northern to southern desert areas, which permitted Aborigines to trade the plant. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=47 Desfontainia spinosa, a beautiful shrub 1-6 feet in height, has glossy dark green leaves, resembling those of Christmas holly, and tubular red flowers with a yellow tip. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=46 Mapacho is considered very sacred by Amazonian shamans and is employed alone (by tabaqueros) or in combination with other plants in shamanic practices. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=45 The Indian Thorn Apple - Datura metel - was first documented in Sanskrit literature. The Arabic physician Avicenna touted the importance of its medicinal applications as well as prescribed the exact amount of dosage to the Arabs, who categorized the plant as “mokederrat narcotica.” Ingesting too much Datura metel can be dangerous. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=44 Damiana is a small shrub with aromatic leaves found throughout Mexico, Central and South America and the West Indies. The botanical name of the plant describes its use as an aphrodisiac. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=43 GENISTA (Cytisus canariensis) is employed as an hallucinogen in the magic practices of Yaqui medicine men in northern Mexico. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=42 In Tanganyika the native medicine men smoke the flowers of Cymbopogon densiflorus alone or with tobacco to cause dreams which they believe foretell the future. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=41 C. compacta is believed to be the Tarahumara híkuri known as "bakánawa." Bakánawa, like most híkuri, is both respected and feared as a god, and considered to have a soul and human emotions. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=40 COLEUS (Coleus pumas and C. blumei) is cultivated by the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico, who reputedly employ the leaves in the some way as they use the leaves of Salvia divinorum http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=39 Conocybe Siligineoides is a sacred fungus endemic only to Mexico. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=38 Ergot: A Fungus Disease Of Rye That Contains LSD http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=37 Betel nuts have been used as a drug for thousands of years. The practiced is thought to have started in south-east Asia and there is archaeological evidence to support this view. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=36 The original home of Cannabis is thought to be central Asia, but it has spread around the globe with the exception of Arctic regions and areas of wet tropical forests. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=35 Calea zacatechichi is a plant used by the Chontal Indians of Mexico to obtain divinatory messages during dreaming. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=34 This plant was reputedly used in China as hallucinogen, this is nearly all we know about this plant. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=33 Under Construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=32 Under Construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=31 Under Construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=30 Used in the western half of the Amazon Valley and by isolated tribes on the Pacific slopes of the Columbian and Ecuadorian Andes. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=29 Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds are perhaps one of the least understood of modern-day entheogens and exotic botanicals. There is much controversy in regards to its true place in Shamanic and traditional history outside of its native culture and home; India. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=28 Under Construction. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=27 YOPO or PARICA (Anadenanthera peregrina or Piptadenia peregrina) is a South American tree of the bean family, Leguminosae. A potent hallucinogenic snuff is prepared from the seeds of this tree. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=26 This mushroom could very well be human's oldest hallucinogen, as it has been identified as Soma of ancient India. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=25 Brief discussion on active components of plants and whether they were traditionally extracted into alcohol, water, or other solvents. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=23 The Liberal government is preparing to move ahead in the new year with legislation to decriminalize marijuana, Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said yesterday. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=22 John has done a lot to honor and preserve the indigenous teachings and the ethnobotanical environment. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=21 John has done a lot to honor and preserve the indigenous teachings and the ethnobotanical environment. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=20 Covering a groundbreaking psychedelic substance that is actually found in human cerebrospinal fluid, Rick Strassman tells a first-person story of his research on the profoundly mysterious substance dimethltryptamine (DMT). http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=19 Anything with the name Ralph Metzner even remotely attached to it is a safe buy. An elder statesman responsible for dramatic shifts in consciousness within this nation and throughout the world... http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=18 Freedom of Religion versus the Psychotropic Substance Treaty - The Verdict http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=17 In this paper, the reader will be introduced to the sect of Santo Daime, a Brazilian religion which combines Christianity with the indigenous practice of using ayahuasca, a native entheogenic plant. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=16 The term ayahuasca comes from the Quechua, meaning literally "the vine of souls," although it is also called "the visionary vine" or the "vine of death." The folk term refers to the botanical species of liana known as Banisteriopsis Caapi , which is also known as Yage among the Indians of Brazil. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=15 The Tukanoans are one of the most known cultures that utilize ayahuasca as their sacrament. They are one of about 70 tribes who share this practice. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=14 The book should prove to be a welcome complement to other serious studies in mysticism (including those that take a fundamentally different tack). http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=13 Ethnobotanists share two decades of experience living with the indigenous peoples of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=12 In this article I wish to draw attention to a strange property of DMT which sets it apart from other psychedelics, namely, it's ability to place users in touch with a realm that is apparently inhabited by discarnate entities of an intelligent nature. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=11 Calea zacatechichi is a plant of extensive popular medicinal use in Mexico. An infusion of the plant is has been reported to have psychotropic properties that have been clinically-proven to induce dreaming, and increase the frequency of dreams as well. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=10 Exhaustive case study regarding Bufotenine, 5-MEO-DMT, and related substances. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=9 Information regarding the traditional praparation of Salvia divinorum for divination by the Mazatecs. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=8 Extremely important information regarding MAOI's, complete with Diet Card. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=7 This is a concise extraction method for educational purposes only. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=4 The REAL truth is the most sobering statistic. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=3 Absolute essential read for anyone interested in sacred entheogens. Includes detailed history and preparation of 97 psychoactive and/or sacred plants. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=2 Our simple and concise mission statement including information regarding submissions. We pay you for reprint rights on any research paper we'd like to include here at Edoto...just click for details. http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=1