PLANT POWERS, POISONS, AND HERB CRAFT BY DALE PENDELL Foreword by Gary Snyde, $21.95 US In 'Pharmako/Poeia, Dale Pendell offers a mesmerizing guide to psychoactive Alternative plants, from their pharmacological roots to the literary offshoots. "This is a Health/ book," writes Gary Snyder, "about danger: dangerous knowledge, even more Literature dangerous ignorance." Against the greater danger, ignorance, Pendell strikes a formidable blow, as he proves himself a wise and witty guide to our plant teach- ers, their powers and their poisons. "Dale Pendell reactivates the ancient connection between the bardic poet and the shaman. His Pharmako/Poeia is a litany to the secret plant allies that have always accompanied us along the alchemical trajectory that leads to a new and yet authentically archaic future." — Terence McKenna, author of True Hallucinations "Much of our life-force calls upon the plant world for support, in medicines and in foods, as both allies and teachers. Pendell provides a beautifully crafted bridge between these two worlds. The magic he shares is that the voices are spoken and heard both ways; we communicate with plants and they with us. This book is a moving and poetic presentation of this dialogue." — Dr. Alexander T. Shulgin, University of California at Berkeley, Department of Public Health "Pharmako/Poeia is an epic poem on plant humours, an abstruse alchemic treatise, an experiential narrative jigsaw puzzle, a hip and learned wild-nature reference text, a comic paean to cosmic consciousness, an ecological handbook, a dried-herb pastiche, a countercultural encyclopedia of ancient fact and lore that cuts through the present 'conservative' war-on-drugs psychobabble." - Allen Ginsberg, poet Cover design "Dale PendelFs remarkable book will make it impossible to and color work ever again underestimate the most unprepossessing plant. by Sharon This compendium of how-to-get-high-by-eating-your-lawn Smith ethnological data is mind-boggling, useful, and serves as a fine end run around the guardians of 'official' consciousness." Spine — Peter Coyote, actor illustration by Jacqueline ISBN 1-56279-069-2 Bellon 781562 790691 hAercury House o San Francisco V I 3 O a o V n v H d P H A R M Plant Vowers, A Poisons, and Werb craft K by DALE PENDELL O foreword by Gary Snyder P O E I A Copyright © 1995 by Dale Pendell. Foreword copyright © 1995 by Gary Snyder. Manufactured and published in the United States of America by Mercury House, San Francisco, California, a nonprofit publishing company devoted to the free exchange of ideas and guided by a dedication to literary values. Mercury House and colophon are the registered trademarks of Mercury House, Incorporated. All rights reserved, including, without limitation, the right of the publisher to sell directly to end users of this and other Mercury House books. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. United States Constitution, First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peace- ably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge those who have give permis- sion to reproduce their work in this volume. Please see the credits section, be- ginning p. 282, which constitutes an extension of this copyright page. Interior design (in Adobe Bembo with Adobe Garamond Titling), art direction, and typesetting by fl Thomas Christensen. Printed by R.R. Donnelley on acid- free paper. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Pendell, Dale, 1947 - Pharmako/poeia : plant powers, poisons, and herbcraft / by Dale Pendell : fore- word by Gary Snyder. — 1st ed. p. CM. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-56279-069-2 I. Materia medica, Vegetable. 2. Medicinal plants. I. Snyder, Gary, 1930— II. Title. III. Title: plant powers, poisons, and herbcraft. RS164.P447 1995 94-48573 CIP Cover illustration from Charta Lusoria by Jost Amman, 1588. 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 FIRST EDITION PUBLISHER'S NOTE: A manuscript draft of Pharmako/Poeia caused us some con- cern. The author of this remarkable work was clearly exploring perilous terrain along his "Poison Path." This is a route we strongly advise others not to follow (except through this book, and through other approaches that lead in the direc- tion of wisdom without dangerous self-experimentation). Did we detect a tongue-in-cheek quality in the manuscript? We could see the depth of botanical knowledge, the extensive scholarly research, the learning, the results of years of alchemical practice and dedicated experience, the poetic beauty, the ingenuity of subtly shifting interior dialogues, the peculiar fascination of strange, beguiling perspectives,the dark wizardry of its authorial persona (wise, but not without a hint of menace) ... Pharmako/Poeia makes a contribution to modern poetics and cross-disciplinary study, in the distinguished tradition of the botanical herbal (the tradition launched by Dioscorides in classical times, which reached perhaps its finest flourishing in the early Renaissance); this tradition has influenced our physical presentation of the material. A companion volume, forthcoming, will explore the remaining hemisphere of the Pharmako/Poeia mandala, including plants in the categories phantastica and exdtantia. CAUTION: This book is an exploration of the "Poison Path." All of the plant substances described in it act on the human body as drugs and thereby as poisons. In many cases there are known and there may also be unknown health hazards involved in their use. The publisher and the author recommend that dangerous or illegal practices be avoided. This is a literary work that takes as its subject the relation that has existed throughout the world since ancient times between "power plants" and sha- manic and literary creation. The authorial voice that appears in it should be considered a fictional persona. The inclusion of recipes, preparations, or dosages are an expression of that fictional voice, and should not be regarded as actual recommendations for usage. Neither the publisher nor the author assume any liability for unwise or unsafe actions by readers of this book. This book is dedicated to Isaac Black Elk Goodkind 1Q70-1993 his friends and his generation CONTENTS FOREWORD BY GARY SNYDER xiii POWE R PLANTS green allies Bring Them On, the Power Plants 3 On the Nature of Poison I 4 Plant People 6 Plants As Teachers 8 On the Nature of the Ally 10 13 TheThe MacMad River Plant: Prunus emarginata The Great Work 15 Sun Medicine / Moon Medicine 18 21 Bulrush: Methodology I 23 Ground State Calibration 25 Methodology II 26 THANATOPATHIA tasting of death Thanatopathia 29 31 Tobacco: Nicotiana tabacum Phenomenological Taxonomy of Psychotropes 42 46 Pituri: Duboisia hopwoodii Killing Time 48 INEBRIANTIA relating to drunkenness Inebriantia 51 53 Yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae 5 8 Wine: Vitis vinifera viii CONTENTS 65 Beer: Hordeum vulgare 70 Aqua Vitae The Alcoholic Muse 78 The Poison Path I 81 83 JEther 89 Fossil Fuel Mead and the Divine Madness 93 RHAPSODICA where seeds of song are sown On the Seduction of Angels 99 103 Absinthe: Artemisia absinthium 114 Calea zacatechichi EUPHORICA plants bearing pleasure Euphorica 117 119 Opium: Pap aver somnijerum Heroin and the Nature of Addiction 137 PACIFICA the peacemakers The Perfume of Poison 145 146 Kava kava: Piper methysticum EXISTENTIA the stance oj the pre-essential On Poisoning Wells 155 156 Ska Pastora: Salvia divinorum EVAESTHETICA sensually pleasing On Wildness in Plants 177 On Camp Followers 178 IX Contents 179 Marijuana: Cannabis sativa Die Giftkuche 208 METAPHYSICA intimations on the nature of things Reveries on the Green Man 211 226 Nitrous Oxide The Poison Path II 236 GLOSSARY 241 REFERENCES 248 CREDITS 282 x CONTENTS CONTENTS,VOLUME TWO PLANT ALLIES a poet's guide On the Nature of Poison II Divination, Chance, and the Nature of Power PHANTASTICA visionary plants Phantastica Das Mutterkorn Ayahuasca: Banisteriopsis, Psychotria viridis Teonanacatl: Psilocybe cubensis Reflections: Lunar Medicine Peganum harmala Tryptamines and the Spagyric Art The Topology of the Between DMT Phalaris arundinaceae Arundo donax Desmanthus illinoensis The Luminosity of Sentient Dimensions Lysergic acid amide: Claviceps purpurea Ololiuqui: Ipomoea, Rivea spp. Stipa robusta The Great Psychedelic Baseball Experiment Peyote: Lophophora williamsii San Pedro Cactus: Trichocereus pachanoi The Great Stone and the Bodhisattva of Excess The Athanor xi Contents The Vision Quest: Plant Teachers and Song The Great Toad Mother: Bufo aharius, B. marianus The Divine Signature EMPATHOGENICA entering the suffering The Gift of Venery: Neurotransmitters, Love, and Strife Terpenes and the kin: Nutmeg, MDMA The Garden of Poison: Bias and Evolution DAIMONICA here there be dragons On Goddesses and Consorts Tropane alkaloids: Datura, Brugmansia, Solandra Flying ointments: Henbane, Belladonna Coriaria thymifolia Mescal Bean: Sophora secundiflora On the Ground State HYPNOTICA hungers of sleep The Poison of Dreaming Rauwolfia serpentaria CHARISMATICA yearning for grace The Solar Medicine Betel: Areca catechu/Piper hetle Reddening /Yellowing Xll CONTENTS EXCITANTIA provokers