#psychoactive plants

[the-poisongarden]

Atropa belladonna berries freshly picked from my poison garden. So sweet, so juicy, so deadly. I’ll be drying them and saving the seeds as belladonna seeds and live plants can be pricy.

[inspofromancientworld]

Roman 'Drug Stash'

Source: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/romans-drug-henbane-rep/

While it is known that various plants were used for healing and other medical uses for as far back as we've been able to find plant remains associated with humans. The presence of plants around human settlements, however doesn't necessarily mean that they were used by humans, however, as plants have ranges that they grow wild in, so finding plants deliberately placed into containers is firmer evidence that they were used by people in the area.

Source: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/romans-drug-henbane-rep/

A recently found hollowed out goat or sheep femur sealed with birch bark tar that contained thousands of black henbane seeds at a Roman fortress hospital near modern day Neuss, German dates back to between 70-100 CE. It was found near a partial cow skeleton and a hand-grinding stone tool known as a quern-stone that is made of two round stones, a lower, stationary stone known as a 'saddle quern' and an upper, mobile stone known as a 'rotary quern' with a central hole known as an 'eye' in a depression known as a hopper where grains can be dropped in to be ground between the two as they top one is rotated by use of a handle placed in the rotary quern. This collection led archaeologists to think that this was part of an 'abandonment offering', part of a ritual that decommissioned the site.

By Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen - List of Koehler Images, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=255348

Black henbane is a member of the nightshade family and like many members of that family is quite toxic and potentially deadly. It was recorded by Pliny the Elder as being 'of the nature of wine and therefore offensive to the understanding' though he also wrote about its medical uses while Dioscorides, the 'father of pharmacognosy', which is the 'study of natural drugs and bioactive compounds from plants, animals, and minerals', recorded that it could be used as a sedative or analgesic. Black henbane contains alkaloids like hyoscyamine, which can treat muscle spasms and chronic pain, and scopolamine, which can treat nausea, but have very narrow ranges where they can be theraputic. It is also psychoactive and can cause 'altered states of consciousness, hallucinogenic experiences, and typically, delirium [a specific state of acute confusion attributable to a medical condition]'. Because it can become toxic and potentially lethal so easily, it is most often applied topically, which limits which alkaloids and how much reach the bloodstream, reducing the chances of death.

[bzyblu]

Datura Wrightii

[mass-mind-control]

Finally started the San Pedro extraction, hopefully it all goes well. Starting with a small test batch (~100g) using the traditional method, and then will scale up and extract the bulk of what I've collected, dried, and roughly powdered (approx 450g of cactus powder).

Side note: I'm glad I didn't try to run a test batch through the soxhlet extractor setup because it appears that even the dried cactus reconstitutes into the viscous snotty-phase when hydrated+heated.

Assuming the project goes well, it would be kinda neat for collectable purposes to have a vial of the isolate.

[the-lab-rat-falls-into-the-void]

[appleandelder]

Witch Tip for 4/20: cultivate a relationship with a psychotropic plant, their access to the liminal is highly coveted.

Ps... for those concerned psychotropic doesn't necessarily mean an illegal plant....there are many...some more gentle than others.

[blackthornwren]

Henbane Beer

40 g dried, chopped henbane herbage (herbae hyoscyamus niger conc.)

5 g bayberry or another Myrica species (this aromatic ingredient is optional)

approx. 23 liters of water

1 liter (approx. 1.2 kg) brewing malt (barley malt)

900 g honey (e.g., spruce or pine honey)

approx. 5 g dried top-fermenting yease

brown sugar

Boil the henbane and bayberry (if desired) in 1 liter of water (to ensure the necessary sterility). Leave the henbane in the water until it has cooled.

Sterilize the brewing vessel (plastic bucket) with boiling water. Then add the liquid malt to the bucket along with 2 liters of hot water and the honey. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly dissolved. Add the henbane water together with the herbage and the bayberry. Stir thoroughly. Add cold water to make a total of approx. 25 liters of liquid. Pitch the yeast into the mixture and cover. 

In order for the top-fermenting yeast to be effective, the wort should be allowed to stand in a warm location (20 ° to 25 ° C or 68 ° to 77 °F). Fermentation will begin slowly because the tropane alkaloids will initially inhibit the yeast. The main fermentation will be over in four to five days, and the after-fermentation will then begin. The yeast will slowly settle and form a layer at the bottom of the bucket. 

The beer can now be poured into bottles. A heaping teaspoon of brown sugar can be added to each (0.7 liter) bottle to promote an additional after-fermentation. Henbane beer tastes best when stored before use in a cool place for two to three months.

-From The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants, Christian Rätsch, pg. 279

[botanicalguides]

Anise is a culinary and medicinal herb used for treating colic, rheumatism, and digestive health. The herb is backed by science as chemist h