The Ethnobotanist and the Shaman

The Ethnobotanist and the Shaman
An ethnobotanist by profession and idealist by avocation, Dr. Mark Plotkin has enough credentials and media appearances to boost anybody’s ego. Plotkin is president of the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT), Research Associate for the Smithsonian Institution’s...

Annual Causes of Death in America

Annual Causes of Death in America
A quick look at the leading causes of death in America illustrates a critical truth: Something truly is amiss with what we’ve been led to believe regarding the dangers of licit and illicit drugs.  Of you, the reader, I ask only this: Before you cling tightly to...

Schultes – The Father of Ethnobotany

Schultes – The Father of Ethnobotany
Director Emeritus of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University, died on April 10 at the age of 86. Schultes was born in Boston and obtained his undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degree at Harvard. Widely hailed as the “Father of Ethnobotany,” he...

Fabiana imbricata – Pichi Pichi

Fabiana imbricata – Pichi Pichi
FAMILY: Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)GENUS: FabianaSPECIES: ImbricataCOMMON NAMES: Coa, Fabiana Bush, K’oa Santiago, Monte Derecho (Spanish, ‘right mountain’), Monte Negro (Spanish, ‘black mountain’), Peru False Heath, Peta, Pichi-Pichi,...

Traditional Salvia Divinorum Quid Preparation

Traditional Salvia Divinorum Quid Preparation
TRADITIONAL MAZATEC METHOD The two traditional Mazatec methods are quite inefficient in that they require many more leaves than do the other methods, but they are very safe! Traditionally the leaves are taken in a semi-darkened place as part of a healing or religious...