plants of the gods pt. 2

8/3/2019 Plants of the Gods Pt. 2

1/6

Scanning Electron Microscopy

Ash residues of Cannabis sativashowing persistent hairs Thisphoto technique is a valuable helpfor t he identification of Marihuana

Left Cystolith hair of Cannabrssativa prepared from the adaxialsurfaceof a leaf Note thenu mbero fbasal cells which generally tend tobe greater in number here than inHops the closest relative of Hemp

97

mindedness, and female disorders. Hoa-Glio, another ancient Chinese herbaIist,recommended a mixture of Hemp resin

and wine as an analgesic during surgery.

I t was in ancient India tha t this gift of the

gods found excessive use in folk medicine.

I t was believed to quicken the mind, pro-

long life, improve judgment, lower fevers,

induce sleep, cure dysentery. Because of its

psychoactive properties it was more highlyvalued than medicines with only physical

activity. Several systems of Indian medicine

esteemed Cannabis. The medical workSiishriica claimed that it cured leprosy. TheBharaprakasha of about A.D. 1600 describedit as antiphlegmatic, digestive, bile affect-

ing, pungent, and astringent, prescribing it

to stimulate the appetite, improve diges-

tion, and better the voice. Th e spectrum of

medicinal uses in India covered control of

dandruff and relief of headache, mania,

insomnia, venereal disease, whooping

cough, earaches, and tuberculosis!

The fame ofCanrzaOis as a medicine spreadwith the plant. In parts of Africa, it was

valued in treating dysentery, malaria,

anthrax, and fevers. Even today the Hot -tentots and Mfengu claim its eficacy intreating snake bites, and Sotho womeninduce partial stupefaction by smokingHemp before childbirth.

Although Carirrabis seems not to have beenemploycd in medieval Europe as an hallu-cinogen, it was highly valued in medicineand its therapeutic uses can be traced back

to early classical physicians such as Diosco-rides and Galcn. Medieval herbalists distin-

guished manured hempe (cultivatcd)from bastard hcnlpe (weedy), recom-mending the latter against nodes andwennes and other hard tumors, thc form-er for a host of uses from curing cough to

Above Cystolith hair of Hops, Hu-mulus lupulus, on adaxial leaf sur-face Note warty projections basalcells, and cuticular ridges It is ob-vious that they differ greatly fromthose of Cannabis(leff)

Belowlerr C ativa Well developedhairs of glandular and non-g landu arkinds in various stages of develop-ment

Different types of glandular hairs ofCannabis Capitate gland with aprominent pseudo-stalk on the sur-face of the anther wall that faces thecenter of the flower (below)Bulbous gland from adaxial leafsurface (borrom) The stalk andhead are made up of tw o cells eachThe tip of the gland possesses asm a1 d is k-s ha ped region belowwhich resin accumulates in the ex-tended membrane


2/6


3/6

The Cuna Indians of Panama useCannabis as a sacred herb Thismola of applique work depicts aCuna council meeting An orator isshown addressing two headmen,who lounge in their hammocks andlisten judiciously. one smokes apipe as he s y i n g s Spectators wan-der in and out. and one man ts seennapping on a bench

during sowing, weeding, and harvesting of

the hol) plant. Knowledge and use of theintoxicating properties eventually spread to

A m Minor. Hemp was employed as anincense In Assyria in the first millenniumB.c., suggesting it s use as an inebriant.

While there is no direct mention of Hemp

in the Bible, several obscure passages inay

refer tangentially to the cffects ofCanna(rlsresin or Hashish.

I t is perhaps in the Himalayas of India and

the Tibetan plateau that Cannabis prepara-

tions assumed their greatest hallucinogenicimportance in religious contexts. Bhang is a

mild preparation: dried leaves or flowering

shoots are pounded with spices into a paste

and consumed as candy-known as maa-p - o r in tea form. Ganja is made fromthe resin-rich dned pistillate flowenng tops

ofcultivated plants which are pressed into

a compacted mass and kept under pressure

cor several days to induce chemicalchanges; most Ganja 15smoked, often withTobacco. Charas consistsofthe resin itself, abrownish mass which 1s employed general-ly in smoking mixtures.

The Tibetans considered Cannabis sacred.A Mahayana Buddhist tradition maintains

that during the six steps ofasceticEm lead-ing to his enlightenment, Buddha lived on

one Hemp seed a day. He is often depicted

w7i-h ci!r;a ~ C : ~ V CC bi: k c g & :.:.,$1

and the mysterious god-narcotic Sonia has

occasionally been identified with Hemp. In

Tantric Buddhism of the Himalayas of

Tibet, Caririabi$ plays a vc q significant rolein the meditative ritual used to facilitate

deep iiieditation and heighten awareness.Both medicinal and recreational secular use

ofHenip is likewise so coninion now in thisregion that the plant is taken for granted asan everyday necessity.

Folklore maintains that the use of Hemp

was introdxed to Persia by an Indianpilgrim during the reign of Khursu (A.D.531-579), but it is known that the Assy-rians used Hemp as an incense during the

first millennium B.C. Although at first

prohibited among Islamic peoples, Hashish

spread widely west throughout AsiaMinor. In 1378, authorities tried to extir-

pate Hemp from Arabian territory by the

imposition ofharsh punishments. As early

as 1271, the eating ofHemp was so well

known that Marco Polo described its con-

sumption in the secret order ofHashishins,who used the narcotic to cxperience therewards in store for them in the afterlife.

Canizabiv extended early and widely fromAsia Minor into Africa, partly under the

pressure ofIslamic influence, but the use ofHemp transcends Mohammedan areas. It is widely believed that Hem p was introduced

als 2 \.?;it5! ?.re .! -q fro:-1 Malaya. Commonly

TheCora lndiansof thes ierra MadreOccidental of Mexico smoke Can-nabs in the course of their sacredceremonies Rarely is an introducedforeign plant adopted and used inindigenous religious ceremoniesbut it seems that the Cora of Mexicoand the Cuna of Panama have takenup the ritual smoking of Cannabnnotwithstanding the fact that. inboth areas it was brought in by theearly Europeans

THE CHEMISTRY OF MARIHUANA

Whereas the psychoactive principles ofmost hallucinogenic plants are alkaloids,the active constituents of Cannabis arenon-nitrogenou s and occur in a res inous oil.The hallucinogenic properties are due tocannabinoides. of which the most effective

is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC-

chemic-

ally: (-)A1-3,4-t ranstetrahydrocannabinol.The highest concentration is found in theresin of the unfenilized pistillate inflores-cence. Even though less potent, the driedleaves are also employed for their psycho-active effects.Following the elucidation of the chemicalstructure (see molecular model on page172). it has recently been possible tosynthesize THC.

99


4/6


5/6


6/6

Caution: This bookis not intended as a guide to the use of hallucinogenic

plants. Its purpose is to offer scientific, historical, and culmral documentationconcerning a group of plants, whi ch are or have been of importance to manysocieties. Ingestion ofso me ofthe se plants or plant products may be dangerous.

H e d i n g Arts PressOne Park Street

Rochester, Vermont 05767

Finr published by Healing Arts Press in 1992A production ofEMB-Service for Publishers, Lucerne, SwitzerlandCopyright 0 1992 EMB-Service for Publishers, Lucerne, Switzerland

AU rights reserved. No part oft h s book may be reproduced or uthzed inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical. including photocopy-

ing, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without

permission in writing from th e publisher.Note to th e reader: This book is intended as an informational guide. The

Pictureon tidegage:Mayan "mushroom stone" from ElSalvador,late formarive period (300 B.c.-A.D. 200); height 13 !4 in.(33.3 cm).

Original conceptand design: Emil M. BUhrer,Joan Halifax, andRobert Tobler

Editors: Joan Halifax and David Baker

Captions: Joan Halifix Managing editor:Francine Peeters

Acture research: Joan Halifax and Robert ToblerPicture procuration: Rosaria Pasquaricklo and Tina CrormanRooduction manager: Franz GislerCrnphic artisu: Franz Coray and E.W. SmithCompostion: EDV + Filmsatz AG, Thun, Switzerland

Photolithography: Pesavento AG, Zurich, Switzerland

Data

Plants ofthe gods : their sacred, heahng, and hallucinogemc yo :.in /h c h a r d Evans Schultes, A lb ert H o h a n n

p. cm.

Orignally pubhshed : New York : McGraw-Hill, 0 1979.Includes bibliographical referencesISBN 0-89281-406-3

a.nd index.

Healing Arts Press is a division of Inner Traditions International, Ltd.

Distributed to the book trade in the United States by American International ADistribution Corporation (AIDC) :

plants of the gods pt. 2

Documents