Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and Conservation podcast

Opium – Perhaps the most ancient of the “Plants of the Gods,” plant remains in Europe clearly indicate that opium was being used by people more than 10,000 years ago. And not only was opium the first effective painkiller, it was also employed as an inspiration by composers and poets. Only in the 19th century did it become widely realized as a highly addictive substance. Some have suggested that this “Plant of the God” might also be termed a “Plant of the Devil.” Sources: Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. Plants, People, and Culture the Science of Ethnobotany. CRC Press, 2020.  Booth, M. Opium: A History. MacMillan, 1999. Emboden, William A. Narcotic Plants. Collier Books, 1980.  Grinspoon, Lester, and James B. Bakalar. Cocaine: a Drug and Its Social Evolution. Basic Books, 1985. Jay, Mike. High Society: the Central Role of Mind-Altering Drugs in History, Science, and Culture. Park Street Press, 2010. Levetin, E. and K McMahon. Plants and Society. McGraw-Hill, 2002 Majno, Guido. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, 1975.  Mann, J. Chasms of Delight: How Mind-Expanding Drugs Helped to Change the World. Memoirs Books, 2012. Marks, Geoffrey, and William K. Beatty. The Medical Garden: Illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.  Muraresku, Brian. The Immortality Key: the Secret History of the Religion with No Name. St. Martin's Press, 2020.  Simpson, Beryl Brintnall., and Molly Conner-Ogorzaly. Economic Botany: Plants in Our World. McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Curare – Once known as the “flying death of the Amazon,” curare is a mixture of rainforest plants that indigenous peoples smear on the tips of their arrows or blowdarts to give them a deadly effectiveness. In the hands of western physicians, however, curare has been converted into a life-sustaining medication, a muscle relaxant in abdominal surgery.  Sources: Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. Plants, People, and Culture the Science of Ethnobotany. CRC Press, 2020.   Marks, Geoffrey, and William K. Beatty. The Medical Garden: Illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.  Plotkin, Mark J. Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Oxford University Press, 2020.  Plotkin, Mark J. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: an Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest. Viking, 1993.  Prance, Ghillean T., et al. Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs. Synergetic Press, in Association with Heffter Research Institute, 2018.  Schultes, Richard Evans., and Albert Hofmann. Plants of the Gods. Vandermarck, 1979. 

Discover the fascinating journey of wine as an ancient medicine, tracing its roots from the Transcaucasia region to ancient Greece and Rome. Hear about the medicinal marvels of early wines, their crucial role in trade, and how they shaped civilizations. Explore wine's integration into healing practices and religious rituals across cultures, including those of the Phoenicians and Egyptians. Plus, dive into the importance of biodiversity in grape cultivation and its impact on agriculture. Wine isn’t just a drink; it's a pivotal part of human history!

Coca – not to be confused with coconuts or with cacao, the source of chocolate - is a large bush or small tree native to northwestern South America. Cocaine extracted from the leaves found favor among personages as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Ulysses S. Grant as it was once used as a component of various tonics, patent medicines and even a popular wine. Coca leaves are still widely used in this corner of South America for a variety of purposes by the indigenous tribes of the region.  Sources: Plotkin, Mark J. Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Oxford University Press, 2020.  Plowman, Timothy. “The Ethnobotany of Coca.” Advances in Economic Botany, Volume 1, Sept. 1984, pp. 62–111.  Prance, Ghillean T., et al. Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs. Synergetic Press, in Association with Heffter Research Institute, 2018.  Schultes, Richard Evans., and Albert Hofmann. Plants of the Gods. Vandermarck, 1979. 

Exploring the hallucinogenic snuffs used by indigenous peoples of the Northern Amazon, focusing on burola and genus adhenantra. The podcast delves into the botanical and ethnobotanical aspects of snuffs, shamanic traditions in the Amazon rainforest, the historical use of hallucinogenic snuffs in battle, the cultural significance and threats to shamanic cultures, and the impact of the rubber boom on the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.

Ayahuasca – From Argentina to Australia, from Israel to Indonesia, a once-obscure Amazonian vine, admixed with a few other plants is now celebrated – and even venerated – as a plant of power knowledge and healing. Ayahuasca – also known as “the vine of the soul.” Native to the northwest Amazon and employed by indigenous shamans for therapeutic purposes, this plant has played a fundamental role in the ongoing mainstreaming of hallucinogenic plants into western therapeutic practices.  Sources: Luna, Luis Eduardo, and Steven F. White. Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon's Sacred Vine. Synergetic Press, 2016.  Plotkin, Mark J. Amazon: What Everyone Needs to Know®. Oxford University Press, 2020.   Plotkin, Mark J. Medicine Quest: in Search of Nature's Healing Secrets. Penguin Books, 2001. Schultes, Richard Evans, and Robert F. Raffauf. Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia. Synergetic Press, 2004. Schultes, Richard Evans., and Albert Hofmann. Plants of the Gods. Vandermarck, 1979.  

“Plants of the Gods” is a new and unique podcast focusing on the hallucinogenic plants and fungi whose impact on world culture and religion – and healing potential - is only now beginning to be appreciated as never before. Unlike other podcasts relating to these issues, “Plants of the Gods” is hosted by renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin, a Harvard and Yale-trained scientist who has been studying the healing plants and shamans of the Amazon rainforest for almost four decades. An award-winning scientist and best selling author, Dr, Plotkin is a spellbinding storyteller who will be speaking from personal experience and will be joined by other leaders in the field.