19) F02

THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW
The Journal of Unauthorized Research on Visionary Plants and Drugs
Volume XI, Number 3
Autumnal Equinox 2002
ISSN 1066-1913
CONTENTS
The Entheogen Review

The Journal of Unauthorized Research
on Visionary Plants and Drugs
Editor:
David Aardvark
Technical Editor: K. Trout

Copy Editor: E.V. Love
Contributors
Jay Fikes, Ph.D.
Thomas Lyttle
Tao Jones
Infinite Ayes
N.B., New York Botanical Garden
Anonymous, WI
M.H., TN
K. Trout
O.H., Sweden
Alexander Shulgin, Ph.D.
B.N.
R.G., WA
P.H., NM
R.K., WA
Jon Hanna
Jay Yasgur, RPh., MSc.
Design & Layout

Soma Graphics
Address
POB 19820, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA
Jay Fikes Speaks

Lilly and Lotus
Journey into the Realm of Ibogaine
Network Feedback
Kaempferia galanga, MAOI assay, Mirabilis multifora
Anadenanthera & Mimosa
Destructive Distillation, Cactus Tea Success
Medical MAOI, Iboganie Extract
Storage, Shelf-life, MAOI Activity, Tolerance, TMA-2
Even More Scorpion Tales
Growing Peganum harmala
More on Mushrooms
Foreign Data
Events Calendar
Sources
Book Review
Bibliography
81
94
98
101
101
102
103
104
105
107
108
108
108
109
110
114
116
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Just My Opinion
Remembering Bob Wallace (19492002)
I first met Bob Wallace at a party, although we had conversed for some time prior to this meeting via e-mail. Bob
had plans to open up Mind Booksa specialty book vending
business geared towards psychedelicsan idea that was suggested to him by Jonathan Ott at one of the now legendary
Botanical Preservation Corps seminars that were held in
Palenque for many years. Bob had not
yet opened this business, but as I was
at the time working on the first edition of my book Psychedelic Resource
List, it seemed like he was someone
whom I should get to know.
We later partied together on the playa
at Burning Man. I loved to talk with
Bob about these gatherings, and hear
him excitedly describe his latest
thoughts on flaming whips, shade
structures, flame throwers, or the
transportation art that he was cooking up. (In searching for a photo to
use for this remembrance, I came
across several that had been taken of
Bob over the years at Burning Man,
scantily-clad in various costumes that
seemed perhaps less than appropriate. I finally located the sole fullyclothed picture that I snapped in
Mxico of Bob peaking through the
jungle foliage, and recalled the time
there that we spent smoking too
much Cannabis into the wee hours of
the night, discussing plans for the
1997 Mind States conference.)
Burning Man became increasingly important to Bob over the
years, as did many aspects of the psychedelic community. Bob
recently started hosting the monthly Friday Night Dinners
in the Bay Area. His new digs were the perfect spot for such
gatherings, where folks in attendance could feed their heads
in his extensive library, or their hedonism in his large pool
that he had heated to 100 for night-time naked swimming.
As well as such flesh meets, Bob was very active in the online community. While sometimes I dont read all of the emailing lists that I belong to, due to lack of time, I would
eagerly crack into a thread at the point when I noticed that
Bob had chimed in. (I suspect that I am not the only busy
person who did this.) Bobs comments always reflected his
thoughtful nature and intelligence. His frequently was the
voice of reason that calmed flame wars. He even began to
sign off his e-mails with the line just my opiniona quip
to deflate any conception that he was attempting to provide
the authoritative voice on a given subject.
Bob was hugely supportive of my own projects, and I always

appreciated his ideas about these. At the 2001 Mind States
conference that I produced, Bob stated that he felt that it was
the best such event that he had ever attendedhigh praise,
since I knew that he went to most of these sort of gatherings.
He backed up these words by actually paying me more than
the agreed-upon booth-rental fee for
his book vending table, because he
had had such a good time. This was
typical of his generous spirit, and he
later helped me out financially with
some other psychedelic projects. He
was a source of funding for MAPS,
the Center for Cognitive Liberty,
the Heffter Research Institute,
Erowid, and other worthy organizations. (See www.promind.org for recent donations.) One of Bobs main
concerns was harm reduction in the
psychedelic community, and he was
the primary funder for the pill testing project at www.ecstasydata.org.
Bob planned on attending the Mind
States Jamaica conference that I just
produced. He would have had a blast.
At the event, his friends Earth and
Fire Erowid led a remembrance for
him. A group of ussome of whom I
had only recently met at Bobs
housejoined hands in a squashed
oval, stepping slowly to the left so
that each of us for a moment faced
each other. Bob had developed this ritual as an opening ceremony for the trance-dance parties that he frequented, and
for the first time it sunk in how meaningful this ceremony
can be and the care that Bob had taken in creating something
simple yet powerful.
Apparently stricken with pneumonia, Bob died in his home
on September 20. Mainstream press obituaries noted that he
was a computer programmer, an early Microsoft employee,
one of the first to make shareware software commercially
available, and that his fortune was largely gained through the
stock he retained upon leaving Microsoft to start his own
business. Yet none of this bespeaks the riches that he offered
the psychedelic community that he loved. While his financial
generosity was great, his generosity of mind and spirit was
greater. Bob had the heart of a little boy and the wisdom of an
elder. He was largely soft-spoken (occasionally not so), had
keen insight, a great sense of humor, and the determination
that it takes to bring dreams into reality. Well miss you Bob.
Jon Hanna
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002
Jay C. Fikes Speaks

interviewed by Thomas Lyttle
Dr. J AY C. FIKES is an anthropologist who has published

extensively on Native American
shamanism and entheogenic
ceremonies. He has lectured and
taught at several universities, and
his books include Step Inside the
Sacred Circle, co-authored with
NELLEKE NIX (WYNDHAM H ALL
PRESS, 1989), Carlos Castaneda:
Academic Opportunism and the
Psychedelic Sixties (M ILLENNIA
PRESS, 1993), Reuben Snake, Your
Humble Serpent (CLEAR L IGHT ,
1996), and Huichol Mythology (a
collection of R OBERT Z INGG S
myths, in press 2003 for the
U NIVERSITY OF A RIZONA ). He
exploded onto the psychedelic
landscape with research claiming
that several scholarsincluding
CARLOS CASTANEDAfaked data
about the Huichol Indians (and
other tribes) and misled the
American public about psychedelic rituals, especially peyote
rituals. An impeccable scholar, Dr.
FIKES search for truth in anthropology led him to record neverbefore-seen shamanic rituals, and
print narratives relating to the
nagual, a were-body inhabited
by Indian shamans and sorcerers.
Dr. FIKES and I spoke in Spring of
2002, when he took time from his
teaching position in Turkey.
Thomas Lyttle: Dr. Fikes, can you tell us a little about your childhood? What were
your first exposures to Native American culture?
Jay Fikes: I grew up near the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA. I played
baseball with my friends and did well in school. Most of all I loved roaming the
fields of the vast Irvine Ranch in search of snakes and the animals necessary to
feed them. I kept several species of snakes as pets. My mother did not mind my
having them around the house because she had worked during her college years
in Kansas for Dr. Burt, who shipped snakes and other animals to schools and
collectors. As a boy I was surprised that people other than my mother and my
friendswho also had snakes as petswere scared of snakes. Didnt they know
the difference between harmless and poisonous species? My friends, my mother,
and I did.
When I turned ten years old my parents gave me a .22 rifle. From then until 1975
I frequently hunted quail, mourning doves, and rabbits. I often hunted alone and
I believe that my 14 years of experience as a hunter gave me a profound emotional
connection to the Huichol and other traditional Native Americans. I remember
being around eleven years old and having a rattler strike at me (but miss) when I
was on a hike with other boys. I remember shooting as many as ten rattlesnakes
during my many years of hunting. I ate the last rattlesnake I shot and kept its skin
in my freezer, thinking I might make a belt or something with it. But I began having nightmares. Rattlers were attacking me. Perhaps two years passed before I
finally decided to take the skin back to the same place where I had shot that particular rattler in 1975. After I took it back, my nightmares stoppedand I stopped
hunting rattlers.
TL: These dreams bothered you enough to talk to shamans about it, later on in your life.
JF: There is more to tell about my hunting experiences, but suffice it to say that
after talking with Huichol shamans about the specifics of my nightmares I realized that snakes and other animals have spirits. This insight, one that I gained
from first-hand experience, is fundamental to American Indian hunting rituals.
Performing those rituals shows proper respect for the animals spirit and thereby
prevents hunters and their families from illness sent by angered spirits (see my
interpretation of Huichol deer hunting in my 1985 doctoral dissertation). Orthodox anthropologists evidently dont know, or dont want to admit, that there is a
spirit world.
TL: Your teaching and writing focuses on truth and the search for truth in anthropology.
Where did this come from?
THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW, POB 19820, SACRAMENTO, CA 95819-0820, USA
81
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
JF: I should probably mention receiving corporeal punishment as a child. I remember being spanked twice as a punishment by my father and twiceI thinkby my junior and
senior high school coach, Mr. John Blair, who was a Mormon. The first spanking I can remember happened when I
was five or six years old. My father spanked me for lying about
stealing some pop bottles in concert with another boy. What
a vivid memory. I suspect the condemnation of misrepresentation and fraud expressed in Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic
Sixties is, in part, based on my
being punished the first time
I lied. My criticism is also
consistent with the fact that
I respect Indian spirituality
more than anthropological
theories. Although my parents were strict they also allowed me great freedom.
They praised and rewarded
me for reading books and
getting good grades. More
importantly, my father used
to drop me off at roads end
to hunt by myself for hours,
once or twice every weekend
during my high school years.
rose bush thorns to draw blood so we could smear our bloody

fingers together.
TL: When did you actually meet real Indians?
JF: My first contacts with real American Indians came when
I was a teenager. That summer when I was 13 years old my
family took a vacation trip through a few southwestern states.
Somewhere along the highway north of Santa Fe, New
Mexico, our car broke down or had a flat tire. A Native American man kindly repaired it
and we took him to Santa
Fe. I clearly remember having dinner with him at a
Santa Fe restaurant. When
I was in high school my father began working with a
Lakota named Captain
Flynn. He came to our
house a few times and made
a positive impression on me.
TL: Tell us about your first
shamanic journey on psychedelics.
JF: In the summer of 1970, I

journeyed to a small village
TL: Did you see Native Ameriin southern Mxico in
can Indians on TV when you
search of entheogenic mushwere a kid? Did that influence
rooms. Reading Castayou?
nedas first book had inspired me to seek the kind of
JF: My earliest memory of
mystical experiences he had
American Indians was dedescribed. I bought some
rived from television. At five
fresh mushrooms from an
or six years of age I was playelderly Indian woman. My
FIGURE 1: My adopted grandfather,
ing Cochise with my best
first experience with mushthe premier ritual orator at Santa Catarina, circa 1981.
friend, James David. In 1956
rooms was awesome. I
or 1957 we were keen on imitating the heroes of the televi- stayed up all night strolling through forests. I saw a black
sion series Broken Arrow. James and I decided to became jaguar, had an experience of magical flight and magical
blood-brothers, just like Thomas Jeffords, the mail super- heat, and left this mountain village the next morning after
intendent who became an Indian agent, and Cochise, the breakfast. I remember meeting many Indians in Oaxaca and
Chiricahua Apache chief. In real life the friendship between San Cristobal de las Casas that summer.
Cochise and Jeffords was truly instrumental in establishing peace between Anglos and Apaches in southern Arizona TL: Wounded Knee and the American Indian Movement (AIM)
in the early 1870s. I probably remember becoming blood- also was protesting during this period and was in the news a lot.
brothers because my mother and grandmother continued This was the late 1960s and early 1970s.
to mention this incident, expressing amazement that we used
82
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
JF: By the time the confrontation at Wounded Knee happened

in 1973, I was very pro-Indian. By then I had read a few books
besides Castaneda on American Indians for my college
classes. It bothered me to see on television that they were
having to fight for their rights. I tutored American Indians
at the Pala Indian reservation in California in the summer of
1974, and briefly visited the Seri Indians of Sonora. The Seri
seemed too removed from their aboriginal life-style so I decided to do my fieldwork with the Huichol. In 1975, I taught
anthropology classes on Vandenburg Air Force Base and
became friendly with Juanita Centeno, a Chumash Indian.
Once I became a graduate student at the University of
Michigan, I began hanging out with Indians. I started
my research with Huichols of Santa Catarina in 1976.
TL: What religion were you raised with?
JF: My parents had me baptized in the Methodist Church.
They took me to Sunday school regularly until I was about
14 years old. After that I rarely went to church. My father
always hinted that his ancestors were Jewish. He eventually
told me that his maternal grandfather, Edmond Orange
Wise, was a Jew who converted to Christianity. So I grew up
with many Jewish friends and what was probably a slightly
unorthodox perspective on Christianity. I remember as a
teenager, my mother spoke about Bishop Pike in a way that
showed me she believed in the spirit world. For many years I
questioned the relevance of Christianity, citing its lamentable
historical record.
I was planning to claim conscientious objector status during
the Vietnam War. President Nixons establishment of the
lottery system made that unnecessary because my birth date
corresponded to number 363 in the first lottery. In the mid1970s, while I was a graduate student in anthropology in Ann
Arbor, Michigan, I began attending Friends (Quaker) meetings. I became an official member of the Religious Society
of Friends in 1982. I am still a member although I do not
agree with certain of their political positions: I support our
war against terrorism and the death penalty.
Reflecting on my 25 years of experience, observation, and
study of Huichol Indian rituals and sacred sites, as well as
several years of participation in some 30 NAC meetings, I
find that I agree wholeheartedly with Reuben Snake that
Christian and American Indian religious beliefs and practices
can be complementary. Let me address this issue, of syncretism, in both a personal and scholarly way. I have concluded
that people who find significant similarities between beliefs
and practices in Christian and indigenous American religions

are adapting to being bicultural (having a dual religious allegiance or wanting to belong to two distinct cultures). In light
of geneticists lauding hybrid vigor, it seems to me that becoming a religious hybrid or eclectic should be perfectly acceptable. Yet critics of bicultural religious identity seem to
outnumber advocates. Detractors of syncretism are typically
religious fundamentalists, native militants, and cultural anthropologists. I am not at all interested in systematically rebutting their position. Suffice it to say that I suspect most
critics of syncretism are either very comfortable being monocultural or perhaps they have not yet perceived the value
of having a hybrid or eclectic religious identity. My training
at the University of Michigan, and subsequent contact
with academic anthropologists, has convinced me that most
anthropologists have emphasized identifying and interpreting the meaning of non-European aspects of American Indian religions. If pursued with a blind eye toward clear evidence of religious acculturation to Christianity, this orthodox bias in anthropology will produce an incomplete and
possibly misleading view of individuals and cultures. Sometimes, as in the case of Black Elk, who was both an Oglala
holy man and a Catholic catechist (see Michael Steltenkamps book Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala and Paul
Steinmetzs book Pipe, Bible and Peyote among the Oglala
Lakota), this anthropological bias can involve a deliberate
neglect of the Christian component of an American Indians
personality. Such neglect of Christian influence on aboriginal American religions is also a serious problem in Huichol
studies and the New Age tours they inspire (see my 1999 essay Examining Ethics, Benefits and Perils of Tours to
Mexico in the International Conference on Heritage,
Multicultural Attractions and Tourism, Conference Proceedings
Vol. I, pp. 407422. Edited by Meral Korzay et al.,
Bosphorus University). The problem is not simply that
syncretism is understudied, or that some anthropologists
may succumb to the so-called imperialist nostalgia syndrome
defined by Renato Rosaldo, in his book Culture and Truth.
To respect the totality of somebodys religious identity may
mean recognizing that the recurrent anthropological bias
having high regard for native religions coupled with low
regard for Christianityis not an attribute of objectivity but
is merely an ideological stance or perhaps a personal choice.
This anthropological bias privileges one of three possible
choiceswhich I define below as choice # 2that are made
whenever there is an obvious conflict between cultures. Most
American Indians select one of these three positions: 1) Having high regard for Christian religion/low regard for native
religion; 2) Having low regard for Christian religion/high re-
83
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
gard for native religion; or 3) Having high regard for both

Christian and native religion. A fourth possibility, being neutral or negative about both Christian and native religion, is
rarely selected by Indians. I would like to see anthropologists better prepared to understand each of these three positions. If they want to achieve a more complete and accurate
understanding of a particular person (e.g., Black Elk or
Reuben Snake), or culture (e.g., Lakota or Huichol), they
must try to examine impartially the kind of choices various
members of a particular culture make. To respectfully explain
the choices made by religious leaders in other cultures may
require that we become more candid about our own religious
preferences.
Like Reuben Snake, I value syncretism and admire his attempt to combine valuable elements from both Christian and
American Indian religions. I find syncretism a more satisfying choice than either rejecting or accepting all elements of
any one religion. My participation in NAC rituals and research with Huichol shamans, including my pilgrimage to
the plant entheogen called kiri (see Entheos 1(2): 3842), has
enabled me to combine elements of Judeo-Christian and
American Indian religions. Acculturation into American Indian religions has reinforced my childhood belief that snakes
are not Satanic, and forced me to discard or modify certain
Judeo-Christian doctrines. My preference for religious eclecticism allows me to discard elements of both tribal and JudeoChristian dogma. I do not need to believe that Jesus Christ
is the only begotten son of God to retain him as my rolemodel. I can believe in an afterlife or spirit-world without
subscribing to the orthodox Christian view of heaven and
hell. I do not need to believe, as traditional Huichols do, that
the Sun-Father must regularly be given human (deer or cattle)
blood to survive. Yet I learned from them to value the sun as
a source of terrestrial life. I also learned from them that animals and people have spirits that do communicate with us
even after death, and that peyote and kiri are entheogens
(plants that have intelligence and divinity). Unlike most
Huichols, I take Jesus Christ as my role-model (my personal
Lord and Saviorto use religious terms). Almost daily I pray
to Wakonda (the Winnebago name for the Great Mystery
or God), to our celestial Mother and Father and to Grandfather-Fire (addressing them with their Huichol names), and
offering them all cedar and tobacco, which I grow myself. I
also make my prayers in Jesus Christs name, sometimes
even addressing him. It has taken considerable effort for me
to feel comfortable having this sort of hybrid religious identity. Probably the most important corollary of my personal
transformation is that I abhor dogma, of whatever kind.
84
TL: Can you speak about your academic training? What

prompted Huichol Indian Identity and Adaptation, your Ph.D.
dissertation?
JF: I remember vividly arriving for the first time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in January 1975 to begin my training as a cultural anthropologist. It was the middle of winter and snow
blanketed the ground. At the base of the Corinthian-style
columns of Angell Hall, where the anthropology department was located then, was written ANARCHY! in red paint.
As an undergraduate at the University of California at
San Diego, and later at Irvine, I had learned a considerable
amount about Marxism and anarchism so I felt I was at the
right place at the right time. At that time the University
of Michigans anthropology department was rated first in
the nation. The professors who had the greatest impact on
me at the University of Michigan were Michael Taussig,
Roy Rappaport, Conrad Kottak, and Gary Witherspoon. I truly enjoyed being a teaching assistant for four semesters for Conrad Kottak. He was friendly and had an
encyclopedia-like grasp of anthropology as an academic discipline. I remain in touch with Kottak, who is one of the
few cultural anthropologists I still admire. My mentor and
academic advisor, Roy Rappaport, died several years ago.
Rappaport was considered one of the worlds foremost authorities on ritual and he had a profound influence on the
ecological perspective on ritual evident in my dissertation,
Huichol Indian Identity and Adaptation. Gary Witherspoon
was a Mormon missionary to the Navajo when he met the
Navajo woman who became his wife. His emphasis on understanding native cosmology and languageillustrated by
his own work among the Navajocontinues to inspire me.
Mick Taussig was like an elder brother to me. He was also
interested in shamanism and radical politics so it was natural that we would be close. I feel some regret at having lost
contact with him. He reinforced my own inclination to pay
careful attention to the history and structuring of economic
relations in whatever culture I intend to interpret.
My doctoral dissertation chairperson, Joyce Marcus, was a
Mayan specialist. She was interested in cosmology and ritual
and was instrumental in guiding me through the difficulties
inherent in dissertation writing. At the end of 1981, in my
review of literature previous scholars had published about
the Huichol, I expressed skepticism about the veracity of
some of Dr. Peter Fursts statementsespecially about
Huichol waterfall jumping being illustrative of shamanic
balance. Marcus immediately restrained my criticism of Dr.
Furst, while neglecting to tell mein her letter dated 23
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
March, 1982that she was a friend of Dr. Furst. We discovered that later, during the course of my lawsuit against
Dr. Furst. In that 1982 letter she warned me that my attack
will be responded to, and defenders of Furst and Myerhoff
will come to their defense; everyone will overlook the original contributions to Huichol studies that you can make. Just
before I defended my dissertationin autumn of 1984
Marcus removed Dr. Phil Weigand from my dissertation
committee. I was upset about her decision because at that
time I regarded Weigand as the foremost authority on the
Huichol. Weigand was also critical of many aspects of the
work Furst and Myerhoff had published on the Huichol.
With reference to my criticism of Furst and Myerhoff,
Marcus was right in stating in 1982 that: The field of
Mesoamerican ethnology and particularly that of Huichol
studies to boot is so small that you will damage your reputation before you ever get underway. She supported her friend,
Dr. Furst, and discarded my mentor, Dr. Weigand. She
abandoned me around 1989, at the time I began asking Dr.
Furst for his field notes concerning waterfall jumping.
I am not sure if it would be accurate to attribute my ability to
recognize anomalies in ethnographic data to my training at
the University of Michigan. But then again, where else
could I have developed that skill? Exercising that ability was
central to my debunking of spurious elements in Castanedas portrait of Mexican Indian shamans. In my book,
Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic
Sixties, I noted that neither Castaneda nor Barbara
Myerhoff had field notes to support claims they made about
waterfall jumping. I also mentioned that Dr. Furst had refused to produce any field notes about waterfall jumping in
response to my requests to see them. I feel that my condemnation of Castaneda is strengthened by the fact that Dr.
Furst admitted in his deposition testimony of December 19,
1996, that he has no field notes to support his interpretation
of Ramon Medina Silvas stunts at the waterfall near
Guadalajara. On page 219 of that deposition Dr. Furst
stated: There are no field notes on the waterfall incident.
My photographs are my field notes. Thirty or 40 or 50 photographs that I took. It wasnt an occasion on which you write
things down. So we have three people (Furst, Myerhoff,
and Castaneda) who have no field notes to help elucidate
their strikingly similar accounts of Mexican Indians doing
amazing acrobatic displays at waterfalls.
Being a native of southern California, I hated Michigans long,
cold winters. I made some wonderful friends in Ann Arbor,
including my dear friend, David Robbins. My academic
training in Michigan was surely as good as it would have been

anywhere else. In addition to obtaining my doctorate from
the top rated anthropology department in America, living
in Ann Arbor provided me with an unexpected bonus, meeting Lebriz Tosuner, the woman who has been my wife since
1979. Lebriz and I were both enrolled in a required ethnology class taught by Professor Aram Yengoyan. The next year
we were both teaching assistants in Conrad Kottaks
American culture class. When I first noticed her, at a drinking fountain in Angell Hall, I thought she looked like a
Latin American. I started speaking to her in Spanish but she
replied in English that she didnt speak it. Then I asked her if
she was Jewish, since the vast majority of my girlfriends had
been. She declared she was Turkish. I replied, Then you must
be a Sephardic (Jew). I knew almost nothing then about
Turkey. Telling the rest of the story about my years living
and teaching in Turkey will fill a book.
I have not yet published my doctoral dissertation. Waiting
this long to rewrite it has some advantages. I have obtained
much more data on Huichol ritual and shamanism and have
gradually arrived at a different perspective on Huichol ritual
than the ecologically oriented one I used in my dissertation.
I now believe that prior to Spanish conquest Huichol were
subservient to the Cora, a more powerful tribe living to their
west. In addition to being an entheogen essential to Huichol
shamanism, peyote was probably supplied to the Cora by
the Huichol. Because kiri is a powerful entheogen native to
the territory Huichols have inhabited for at least the past
1,800 years, the question I must answer in rewriting my dissertation is, Who and what induced the Huichols to make
those arduous annual pilgrimages to collect peyote? The
elaborate rituals I saw performed at aboriginal Huichol
temples have a long history, one that involved Huichols making peyote pilgrimages not merely to acquire shamanic skills
but also to give peyote in tribute to the Cora. My mentor,
Phil Weigand, shares this understanding of Huichol
history.
TL: Your first book, written with Nelleke Nix, is Step Inside the
Sacred Circle. This book contains the chapter, A Shaman Called
Fool. Can you tell us about this chapter?
JF: As I reflect on Step Inside the Sacred Circle, I see it as the
beginning of my moving outside the mainstream of anthropology. In that book, I defined civilization as problematic,
and I tended to romanticize American Indians. Among the
narratives contained in that book, A Shaman Called Fool
is most important because it offers an authentic first-person
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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
account of how one becomes a shaman (set in Kwakiutl culture of the 1870s), and because it illustrates the esteem in
which wolves are held throughout North America. I wanted
to popularize this story, recorded by Franz Boas, of how
one Kwakiutl man acquired extraordinary ability in hunting
and healing as a result of his act of kindness to an injured
wolf.
TL: As an anthropologist, you were interested in myths and
theories surrounding shamanic powersare they real?
JF: I had noticed that there were not enough readable and
accurate first-person narratives that clarified how shamanic
powerto enable success in hunting, healing, warfare, divination, and sometimes in sorcery or witchcraftis acquired.
Some well-known narratives about becoming a shaman, such
as the account of Quesalid recorded by Franz Boas and
popularized by the famous French anthropologist LeviStrauss, suggest that shamanism works because of the pla-
cebo effect, i.e., the patients faith in the efficacy of the

shamans symbols is what makes the patient well. The way
in which Levi-Strauss presents Quesalids adventures in
becoming a shaman raises certain ethical questions such as,
Is deceit justified in treating a patient, if indeed that patient
recovers? While some shamans may know, or suspect, that
their healing ability depends primarily on the faith their patients have in them, I am convinced that there issometimes
at leastmore to shamanism than that. A Shaman Called
Fool makes it clear that it is the wolf spirit communicating
with the shaman that makes his hunting and healing efficacious. A Shaman Called Fool illustrates primordial or authentic shamanism, a phenomenon in which special human
ability (e.g., in healing) is attributed to receiving aid from
ones ancestors, from sacred plants (entheogens), or from
esteemed animal spirits. I am still fascinated by authentic
first-person accounts of shamanism.
TL: What have other anthropologists said in this regard?
FIGURE 2: The Huichol shaman CATARINO sings and plays his instrument at a California library.
86
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
JF: Let me mention three other narratives that I believe exemplify authentic shamanism. How Aua Became a Shaman
(see pages 6469 in Native American Autobiography, edited
by Arnold Krupat for University of Wisconsin Press,
1994) is a first-person narrative that describes how this Inuit
(Eskimo) man, born in 1870, obtains shamanic power from
his first two tutelary spirits: a female seashore spirit (his
namesake, Aua) and a shark. Auas report is filled with references to nuances of Inuit culture. Aua interprets his birth,
life, and attaining enlightenment (i.e., gaining helping spirits as well as extrasensory perception or divinatory power)
from within that context. It seems worth mentioning that
Knud Rasmussenthe man who recorded Auas remarkable storywas, like Boas, devoted to systematically
studying one culture.
The Man Who Ate Honey: Kiri and the Calling of a Huichol
Shaman (Entheos 1(2): 3842, 2002) is a first-person story
that describes how, around 1930, a powerful plant entheogen, kiri, selected my Huichol friend, Catarino, to serve as
a shaman. I believe my knowledge of Huichol religion was
obvious to Catarino and that he confided the story of his
life-altering transformation, triggered on a material level by
eating honey containing kiri pollen, because he trusted that
I would understand and accurately interpret his personal
experiences, as uncanny as they might seem. So I suppose
this sounds like I am putting myself in the same league with
Boas and Rasmussen. If it does, I ask readers to pardon my
lack of humility and please read Catarinos story anyway.
Finally I want to revive interest in the adventures of a teenager captured in 1907 by Amazonian Indians, as told in F.
Bruce Lambs book, Wizard of the Upper Amazon. I had the
pleasure of meeting Lamb at his home in Santa Fe, New
Mexico, in 1988. At that meeting Lamb helped dispel doubts
that I had about the authenticity of his book, Wizard. My
doubts were prompted by having read anthropologist Robert Carneiros attack, Chimera of the Upper Amazon (see
pages 9498 in Richard deMilles The Don Juan Papers,
1980, Ross-Erikson Publishers). Lamb kindly gave me a
copy of his rebuttal to Carneiro (see Wizard of the Upper
Amazon as Ethnography, Current Anthropology 22(5): 577
580, October 1981) and his book, Rio Tigre and Beyond
(North Atlantic Books, 1985). Rio Tigre complements and
updates the life of the mestizo shaman, Manuel Crdova
Rios, whose account of his several years of life spent among
an Amazonian Indian tribe is presented in Wizard. Most notably, Rio Tigre provides many examples of successful healings
done by Rios. Rios, whose amazing diagnostic ability seems
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to have been nurtured by numerous sessions with the

entheogen known as ayahuasca, had his own unique method
for diagnosing and treating his patients, often with medicinal plants. I heartily recommend both books. Lambs focus
on Crdova Rios life among the Indians (the subject in Wizard) and after Rios had returned to Iquitos (the focus of Rio
Tigre) is clearly aided by his considerable knowledge of tropical eco-systems and his familiarity with published ethnographies of Amazonian tribes (but not by having done fieldwork
in them). I am hoping to find similar first-person narratives
that interpret clearly how
people in Central Asia become shamans. I invite
readers of The Entheogen
Review to let me know
about such reports.
and my visits to their wolf-shrines, I had a memorable dream

in which I inhaled the breath of a wolf. Despite the significance of this dream, I do not pretend to be a shaman. I claim
only to understand what they tell me about how they have
become shamans.
TL: Your article about the Huichol shaman who received a blessing after eating honey that contained pollen from the sacred plant,
kiri, is outstanding. Please tell us more.
JF: We can simply excerpt
some of what is published in
my article, mentioned earlier:
As we crossed the stream

there were plants called
Kutam (snakes tooth).
When we came to these
TL: Tell us more about the
plants there was a honeyshamanic Wolf Nagual
comb made by wasps (called
and the Wolf-Shrines you
huariches in Spanish and
visited.
rumaste in Huichol). As
we ate the honey we sudJF: Another reason that A
denly started vomiting. Our
Shaman Called Fool atvomit was a very yellow
color. I turned and looked
tracted my attention was
up and a saw a huge rock
based on my own experisliding down. That rock was
ences among the Huichol.
sliding down towards us
During my research in
(but it was only a hallucinaSanta Catarina I had vistion). The rocks were breakited wolf-shrines, recorded
ing apart at the same time
myths depicting wolves as
and I saw two paths dividtutelary spirits in deer, rabing. My cousin shouted at
bit, and peyote hunting,
me, Where are you going?
and recorded esoteric in...I continued climbing up
the mountain. When I
formation that explained
looked up at the summit I
how a few elite Huichol
saw a boy who spoke to me:
learned to take the wolf s
Come on, come on. I folform (see my 1985 disserlowed him until we came to
tation). One day as I was
a hill covered with godF
IGURE 3: At age seven, CATARINO learned songs
leaving the Huichol homehouses (sherikite). Then he
after ingesting honey containing kiri pollen.
land to return to civilizagave me tacuatzi (an oblong
tion, I was given some peyote to give me stamina. As we
basket containing the shamans sacred paraphernalia)
walked through a pine forest I sensed (heard and felt) wolves
placing it on the ground in front of me. He opened the
calling me. When I asked my compadre about it he replied
tacuatzi and everybody could see the prayer feathers. He
began singing the song of hahue [T.N.: This song is used
nonchalantly that my experience was consistent with expein several ceremonies such as parching of the corn, and
riences that peyote-hunters have when they travel some 350
for the bull, and when the cornfield is cleared for plantkilometers (one-way) to collect their sacrament. They say that
ing].
the spirit of the wolf is their guide and companion. Eventu-
ally, no doubt as a result of my blessing by a wolf-shaman
88
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Listen well, he told me I am only going to give you

these five verses. I am never going to give you a rope, nor
a bow, nor an arrow [T.N.: Not having a rope means
that he will never be able to grab a cacaoyari (male ancestor), not having a bow means that he will not be able
to shoot an itaoqui (the spirit of a deceased shaman that
appears in non-human form), not having an arrow means
that he will not be an evil-doer using witchcraft]. I came
to my senses and began to look around in every direction. I was completely alone, sitting with my back
against a boulder. Almost all of my body was numb. After I recovered my normal consciousness I spent almost
all day laying down there, overcoming my numbness.
Catarinos experiences were life-altering. My own experiences, as well as Huichol doctrine, have convinced me that
this is one powerful plant. As I mentioned in that essay,
Huichols have warned me never to eat Kiri. I feel compelled
to emphasize that eating any part of this plant may well be
hazardous to ones health. Kiri can punish, with serious
illness or death, all those who fail to abide by their vows.
When transgressions against Kiri are committed, forgiveness or atonement is virtually impossible.
TL: You often mention the Boasian Essence in anthropology.
What is this and why do you hope to revive it? How has this
influenced your work?
TL: I hesitate to answer this question because I am rethinking the value of Franz Boas methods of collecting data from
American Indians in light of ethical standards that have been
emerging. On the positive side, Boas recommended certain
guidelines for doing anthropological research that I believe
are sound. In contrast to armchair theorists, many of whom
advocated uni-linear cultural evolution, Boas emphasized
the need to do fieldwork focused on a particular culture and
its geographical neighbors. This is precisely what I have been
doing with the Huichol. In collecting information about another culture Boas realized that speaking the native language
was essential. Although I have learned some Huichol I am
not fluent. To compensate for my deficiency, I recorded songs
and sacred texts (myths) in the Huichol language and had
bilingual Huichols translate them into Spanish (a language I
speak fluently). Boas believed that obtaining an accurate interpretation of the meaning of such data entailed grasping
the native perspective. If the meaning of a myth or ritual practice was unclear after it had been translated into Spanish, I
always asked my translators to ask the shamans to explain
more, until I understood what it meant to them.
TL: Your investigations went beyond those of Boas, however. You

actually entered the world of the shaman, and tried to become a
shaman?
JF: Unlike Boas, I attempted to understand certain esoteric
Huichol beliefs by going to their sacred sites, participating
in rituals and eating their sacrament, peyote. I view this approach as a corollary of his recommendation that anthropologists understand meaning from the native perspective.
Boas, with the help of a Kwakiutl named George Hunt,
studied Kwakiutl culture and language for decades. Doing
research within a single culture for an extended period of
time is precisely what I have been doing, since 1976, with
the Huichol. Boas felt and acted with a sense of urgency
about preserving aboriginal American culture. Given our
federal governments ethnocentric policy of suppressing native religions, enforced from the mid-1880s until 1934, there
was every reason to believe that much cultural knowledge
would be lost, and it was. The Huichol and other Mexican
tribes have experienced similar problems. Certain Huichol
rituals, such as rabbit hunting, are only preserved on tape
and in my translations.
TL: Is there anything about Franz Boas that you want to
criticize?
JF: Some of what Boas did, as a part of his research among
American Indians, can and should be criticized. I am particularly disturbed, given my firm belief in the spirit world,
that Boas stole many American Indian skulls and skeletons
and encouraged others to do so. He also purchased human
remains to sell to museums such as the Smithsonian. A careful reading of his diaries and letters (see The Ethnography of
Franz Boas by Ronald Rohner, University of Chicago
Press, 1969) reveals other questionable activities.
TL: Your 1996 book Reuben Snake: Your Humble Serpant is
the biography of AIM (American Indian Movement) and Native
American Church elder Reuben Snake. This book is filled with
Winnebago Wisdom, as you say. Tell us how you came to write
this book.
JF: In April of 1990, when I was working as a lobbyist for the
Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D.C., I called Reuben Snake to offer to help him persuade Congress to pass legislation to protect the religious
freedom of peyotists whose way of worship had just been
threatened by the Supreme Courts tragic decision in Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith. In late May of 1993, just
89
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
after Senator Daniel Inouye had introduced legislation to

protect the Native American Church (NAC), I decided that
I would go to Winnebago, Nebraska to interview Reuben
Snake. What prompted me to go to Winnebago was a dream
I had. In it a voice told me not to go underground. I understood that message to mean that I should not go to the
Huichol peyote dance, which is held at the end of May to
initiate the rainy season.
etons of American Indians. We did not discuss that issue, of

repatriation of bones and sacred artifacts, in the book, but
we had certainly talked about the spirit world. Shortly before participating in my first NAC meeting, in June of 1990,
I told Reuben about some of my paranormal experiences.
He warned me not to discuss them publicly because few
Anglos would understand. We agreed that revealing such experiencesthereby announcing my belief in spiritsbefore
we had passed legislation to
protect the NAC might be
detrimental to our cause. I
have honored his request to
stay undergroundin the
closet on this issueuntil
now.
The dream occurred just as I

had been thinking about
whether to interview Reuben
Snake, or to go instead to the
Huichol peyote dance, which
for me is full of symbolism
about entering the rainy season, darkness, and the priTL: Tell us about your visions
mordial underworld (Pacific
and the paranormal, please.
Ocean). Today I see another
This will help people partly
meaning to the warning about
understand what happens on
my not going underground: it
psychedelics.
meant that I should remain
publicly active during the
JF: I want to briefly describe
campaign to pass what betwo experiences, which hapcame Public Law 103-344 (see
pened without my having
One Nation Under God: The
eaten any peyote, that inTriumph of the Native American
creased my faith in the spirit
Church). I obeyed my dream,
world that Reuben often
wrote Reuben Snakes biogtalked about. About four
raphy, and helped pass P.L.
a.m. one morning I was writ103-344, in part by doing over
ing the Epilogue to the
20 radio interviews nationReuben Snake book, ponderwide. The interviews I did
ing what Reuben meant by
FIGURE 4: REUBEN SNAKE at the
with Reuben Snake on the
declaring that the spirit of
Ho-chunk (Winnebago) pow-wow.
Winnebago reservation in late
the eagle was his lawyer and
May and early June of 1993 were all tape-recorded. Instead that, The eagle is the one bird that can fly up into the face of
of explaining here the mechanics of how I edited and inter- God. He carries our message up to God. Suddenly I was
preted what Reuben Snake said on those tapes I prefer to amazed that my doorbell rang, but from inside the house,
emerge from the closetor perhaps the undergroundand just above the piano in my hallway.
explain something about my belief in the reality of the spirit
world.
At that moment I knew Reubens spirit was present, teaching me that it is indeed the eagles spirit that carries our
TL: Tell us about the last days of Reuben Snake and your visits prayers up to God. I understood that the eagle-bone whistle
with him.
I heard him blow in NAC meetings was like my doorbell ringinga way of making God aware of peoples prayers. One
JF: The last day I saw Reubenabout two weeks before he afternoon, some days later, I was writing an explanation of
died, on June 28, 1993he was talking to a college class on the significance of thunder in Reuben Snakes life. His first
the Winnebago reservation about the need for museums, memory was of his grandmother, a member of the
collectors, and anthropologists to divest themselves of skel- Winnebago Thunder Clan, praying with tobacco to the first
90
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
thunder that brings the life-giving rain back again each

spring. His final experience on this earth was when the
thunder-beings struck the earth behind his house just as he
and his family completed their singing and praying. As I was
writing down a quotation explaining what the anthropologist Paul Radin had discovered about Thunder Clan members: that they called themselves thunderbirds because they,
like the true thunderbirds, caused a drizzling rain and fog
when they went about (see Fikes 1996: 256) it began drizzling above and around my house. A few minutes later my
mother arrived and immediately remarked to me how
strange it was that it was drizzling at my house but it was
clear everywhere else. By communicating with me, after his
death, Reuben deepened my conviction that our deceased
relatives may help heal us and may meet us as we journey
into the spirit world. Reubens benevolent presence has
made my life more marvelous. For that and more, I thank
you brother. Given these and other experiences I have had
with spirits of the deceased, I feel compelled to emphasize
what Reuben and others have told me about the importance
of putting the bodily remains of American Indians back underground. That is where they belong. Believers in the spirit
world are distressed, as I am, by the fact that so many skeletons are still trapped in museums such as the Smithsonian.
This is one reason that I call myself a recovering anthropologist.
TL: Do you think the introduction of psychedelics into American
culture is a good thing? Do you feel psychedelics should be legal?
JF: Although I do not personally use marijuana I believe it
should be legalized, with appropriate restrictions on driving and performing other dangerous tasks while under its
influence. If I remember correctly marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I controlled substance. Both medical and
recreational users of marijuana attest to its benefits and I have
concluded that those benefits outweigh the harm that comes
from keeping it illegal. Many Americans are not aware of
certain problems associated with growing marijuana outside
our countrys borders. I am particularly bothered by the
harm to Huichols that continues to result from the treatment
of marijuana as an illegal substance. On the one hand the
Mexican army has invaded Huichol territory, sprayed
Huichol cornfields where no marijuana was being grown and
hassled people who were not involved in its cultivation. On
the other hand, Huichol marijuana growers and their Mexican distributors are believed to have murdered rivals and
those they fear might report their illegal activities. Huichols
have warned me not to travel to certain areas. Some of them
believe that the journalist Phil True was killed in 1998 in

Huichol territory because he stumbled onto a marijuana
field. In 1986, my pilgrimage to a specific kiri was considered somewhat dangerous because of its proximity to marijuana growers. Legalizing marijuana should eliminate these
and other problems. Making it a legal cash crop would
bring real benefits to many Huichol families who badly need
extra income to survivebut who dont want to take the risks
entailed by illegal cultivation.
TL: Do you teach and lecture? Describe a college class with Dr.
Jay Fikes.
JF: I am preparing a lecture for upper division anthropology
students. I will briefly summarize several cases of fraud and
invite them to comment on each of them. The first example
of fraud comes from an essay in Native American Voices, A
Reader by Susan Lobo and Steve Talbot (Addison Wesley
Longman Educational Publishers, 1998). The authors of
Ethnic Fraud, Native Peoples and Higher Education cite
two studies of ethnic fraud, one in 19911992 at the University of Michigan and one in 19881989 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Only about twenty percent of all students claiming to be American Indians or
Alaska natives could produce documentation proving that
they were in fact members of a federally recognized tribe. I
tell my students that somebody I knew in 19761978 at the
University of Michigan encouraged me to falsely claim,
as he or she had done, that I was an Indian. Of course I did
not make such a false claim.
TL: So you emphasize integrity and keeping to the facts in a scientific manner, and recording narratives without emphasis. And
to avoid fraud or the appearance of fraud. A sacred trust with
history; you try to impart this attitude in your students, right?
JF: Yes I do, and I am still disturbed that fraud-tolerance is so
widespread in academia. Another study of ethnic fraud, a
1993 survey of UCLA students, showed that only about 15%
could prove they were enrolled in a federally recognized Indian tribe. I encourage my students to think about what difference this magnitude of fraud in higher education might
have on bona fide Indian students, and why non-Indians
would misrepresent themselves (basically to get grant and
scholarship money set aside for Indians), and what should
be done about it (proof of state or federal tribal enrollment
should be required to qualify for college admission or funds).
I also have students discuss the motive and consequences
associated with Franz Boas having misrepresented himself
91
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
as a chief in 1886; at the first isolated Kwakiutl settlement

he visited. Boas used such self-aggrandizement to receive
more favorable treatment from people who did not know or
trust him. I ask them to discuss the pros and cons of this
white lie.
TL: Wasnt the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead accused
of fraud?
and rapport in doing fieldwork? This discussion sets the stage

for evaluation of Carlos Castaneda. What were the motives and the consequences for him falsely claiming to have
become a sorcerers apprentice? Should anthropologists condemn Castanedas hoaxing and his research methods and
conclusions? Should anthropologists retract their denunciation of Derek Freemans well-documented expose of Mead?
TL: What are the basic issues

JF: She did misrepresent
here?
herself and she was fooled
by two Samoan hoaxers she
JF: The basic ethical question
relied upon as inforis under what circumstances
mants. She became Boas
and for what reasons is any
most famous student,
misrepresentation of self ever
and I tell my students
justified? Which goals are
to read what I said about
noble enough to exonerate
her in my interview
people who use fraud? Anwith Sandy McIntosh
other question I ask them to
(www.sustainedaction.org).
consider is this: given the fact
In that interview I endorse
that professional anthropoloDerek Freemans debunkgists do not or can not enforce
ing of Margaret Meads
any ethical standardsI reglobally celebrated conclumind my students that the
sionthat a stress-free
Ethics Committee of the
adolescence facilitated by
American Anthropologifree love existed in Samoa
cal Association was disin the 1920s. I cite the hosbanded several years ago
tile reception Freeman was
then for what reasons should
given by anthropologists
anybody take any of their
who united behind Mead
publications seriously? I reand attacked him. I explain
mind my Turkish students
that his research proved
that they have a special tense
conclusively that two of
in their language, that clearly
Meads adolescent female
distinguishes first-hand obinformants conspired to
servation and experience
mislead her about Samoan
from hearsay.
FIGURE 5: Huichol shaman sucked out
sexual practicessee page
the object causing a patients illness.
161 of Margaret Meads
What safeguards or rules do
book Blackberry Winter (Pocket Books, 1975) and page 67 American anthropologists currently use in order to differof Derek Freemans book Margaret Mead and the Heretic entiate accurate research from hearsaywhich may well in(Penguin Books, 1996). I tell them that Mead purposely clude fraud and undocumented ethnographic anomalies.
concealed/lied about the fact that she was married. I ask Citing as an analogy adopting a policy of having college stuthem: did she do this in order to establish rapport with the dents submit proof of their ethnic identity (as advocated by
adolescent females she relied upon for information about the authors of Ethnic Fraud, Native Peoples and Higher
Samoan pre-marital sexual practices? Was her deceit repaid Education), I ask them if there is a need to adopt a policy
by theirs toward her? What were the pros/cons of Mead mis- requiring that field notes or recordings be produced to suprepresenting herself? Should they follow the example of Boas port claims about data presented in doctoral dissertations,
and Mead when they do fieldwork? How important are trust or to authenticate publications where anomalous data (such
92
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
as the sensational waterfall jumping described by Furst,

Myerhoff, and Castaneda) are presented. Speaking of field
notes, I tell them what I wrote earlier (Fikes 1993: 57), that
when UCLAs resident expert on Yaqui Indians, Professor
Ralph Beals, asked Castaneda to see his field notes, describing his conversations and observations of don Juan,
Castaneda never came back. Just imagine how different our
world would be if there had been a UCLA departmental
policy requiring that field notes be produced prior to granting an anthropology doctorate.
TL: You have just cited what is your most famous and controversial book, Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the
Psychedelic Sixties. This book accuses Furst, Myerhoff, and
Castaneda of academic fraud. A lawsuit resulted, with you
suing Furst for defamation of character and for tortious
interference with your book.
JF: This is a complicated issue. Id prefer that interested parties write to me to obtain a copy of the legal brief surrounding this case, as prepared by my legal team: Modrall,
Sperling, Roehl, Harris, and Sisk. The title of the brief is
The State of New Mexico Court of Appeals, No. 20,717 : Jay
Courtney Fikes, Ph.D. [Plaintiff] vs. Peter T. Furst, Ph.D. [Defendant]. People requesting that brief should write to Jay
Fikes, POB 517 Carlsbad, CA 92018-0517, and include a
check for $5.00 to cover my costs of copying and postage.
TL: There are a lot of rumors surrounding this lawsuit, which
directly pertains to your book on Carlos Castaneda. Id like to
quote The Summary of Facts from your brief. Is this okay?
JF: Yes, go ahead with the quote.
TL: Quoting from page 2 of your legal brief under the title
Summary of the Facts we read:
From 1976 to 1982, Dr. Fikes intensely studied and lived
among the Huichol and discovered that many of Dr.
Fursts earlier representations concerning the Huichol,
including those representations relating to peyote enemas and waterfall jumping, could not be verified. (R.P.
35657) [Refers to official court record of documents relevant
to Fikes appeal.]. After Dr. Furst denied several requests
to produce field-notes, Dr. Fikes took steps to publish
his observations and correct Dr. Fursts earlier observations (R.P. 35861). These observations were set forth
in a manuscript titled Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties, which Dr. Fikes
sought to publish with Madison Books (R.P. 36162).
This present lawsuit is the end result of Dr. Fursts

relentless efforts to prevent Dr. Fikes from correcting
the record concerning the Huichol and to destroy Dr.
Fikes anthropological career.
It is a sad day when two distinguished scholars have to face off in

court, over religious anthropology.
JF: I dont mind admitting that I have suffered a lot from the
many defamatory statements Dr. Furst has made about me.
I feel strongly that my reputation, as well as the righteousness of bona fide Huichol shamans, will be vindicated as the
truth emerges through this lawsuit.
TL: Thank you Dr. Fikes. This has been a very enjoyable chat.
God bless you.
JF: Ive enjoyed it. I hope the Creator blesses you and the readers of The Entheogen Review.
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93
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Lilly and Lotus

by Tao Jones
I am going to touch on the botanical and pharmacological

side of the plants in question and also delve into the metaphysical aspects of their use.
juice (1 gram of 5X per cup of juice) and drinking the juice,

or smoking the flowers mixed with Cannabis.
While alcohol infusions produced the most noticeable ef-
It is necessary to distinguish clearly the genus

fects, the juice infusion left me completely incapacitated and
Nymphaea from Nelumbo as the term lotus has been
in the it can wait until later mode I mentioned in my previused in a general sense to denote both genera. The
ous paper, The Land of the Lotus Smokers (ER Vol. X, No.
genus Nelumbo (syn. Nelumbium) was unknown in an4, 2001: 125)
cient Egypt and was never found as a part of ancient
monuments or of any
A decoction of 310 unart. Nelumbo was introopened flower buds [of
duced by the Persians
N. caerulea] has narcotic,
and was present only as
anaphrodisiac, mildly
a cultivated plant The
euphoric and antitussive
large flowers of Nelumbo
effects (Voogelbreinare borne a meter above
der 2002).
the water and at maturity the petals are shed
Smoking the flowers, no
revealing a large funnelmatter which species, had
form seed pod. Likewise
a more pronounced and
the leaves are often a
immediate effect, which
meter across and are
peltate. They are always
required some familiarity
held above the surface
to fully appreciate. In my
of the water. These charopinion, the dreaminess
acteristics are not found
of the plant is more manitogether in any of the
fest
when smoked. While
Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea.
water lilies.
Nymphaea lotus does not refer to the lotus of common
parlance, but to a white flowered night blooming species of Nymphaea also common to the Nile delta at a very
early date (Emboden 1981).
The plant parts in questionflowers of Nelumbo nucifera

(sacred lotus), Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea (sacred blue
lily of the Nile), Nymphaea alba and Nymphaea lotusall have
suggestion of entheogenic applications in the ancient cultures
who used them reverently, although for the most part how
they were utilized is still uncertain. My experiences with these
plants have convinced me that they wereat least in the
Egyptian cultureresponsible for entheogenic beliefs and
practices. I have tried the flowers of all the above mentioned
plants by either smoking them (or an extract thereof ), soaking them in wine (7 grams of flowers per bottle) and drinking the wine thereafter, and by soaking extracts in cranberry
94
flowers from all three

Nymphaea species assayedas well as those from Nelumbo nuciferahad
psychoactivity, all were different in potency. N. nouchali var.
caerulea had the highest percentage of dissolved solids when
prepared as a 5X concentrate powder. Next was N. alba, followed by N. nucifera, and N. lotus. When just the flowers were
smoked, N. lotus seemed to be least effective. However, as
this is the species with which I have worked the least, there is
a good possibility I have just not yet become familiar with its
range of effects.
It is the euphoric and lasting sense that nothing matters and
all is perfect, which the herb produces, that is the main objection I have to continued use of the plant. I find myself letting my affairs in the real world slide, something I cannot
afford to do on a regular basis. When I first started using
Nymphaea species I was not obtaining the effects I now
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
experience. It took a period of becoming acquainted with the effects in order

to let the herb show me what it does before I understood the amazing power
and beauty of the experience. Indeed, a week after my last experiencea hard
week, mind youthe first thing my body and mind wanted was to experience
the blissful letting go into infinite oblivion that I had experienced previously.
However, as it had taken me four days to return to normal after trying the
herb for two days in a row, I could not spare that large a block of time from my
professional life to head out for another such excursion. It is easy to see that
Homer had obtained his description of the effects of eating lotus flowers from
either first-hand experience or first-hand observation.
In instances of divination, one sometimes does not obtain an answer immediately upon asking the question. Sometimes one does not get an answer. Sometimes an answer is not recognized for what it is until much later, long after the
necessity for asking the original question has passed. Sometimes one does not
recognize the answer until years later, and then, only by the grace of memory
recall of the question asked so long ago. Sometimes one is not aware of having
asked a question.
I was in lily dreamland, a disincarnate intelligence traveling with another of
the same. We came upon a metaphysical knot in the pathone I had encountered before and for which I could see no solution. I remarked to my companion that it seemed unlikely this could be resolved in this lifetime. I was immediately given a vision (within the dream) of myself in the future, young again
and in the fullness of health in a beautiful garden surrounded by friends and
lovers; the obstacleand all othershad been overcome and the scene was
of youth and perfection. This lasted only a second, and to myself at the time it
seemed to be a different type of reincarnation vision. Rather than visions of
past lifetimes, this was of a future life. I noted the oddity of this and proceeded
with the dream.
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Later that evening as I was going to visit friends I recalled that the Egyptians
did not have the conception of previous lifetimes in their cosmology, but rather
the promise of an afterlife of perfection with the gods. My own mind, geared
toward oriental mysticism, had unsuccessfully attempted to supply an explanation from the Hindu system of belief instead of an Egyptian mythologybased explanation. When I realized that this plant gave visions of an afterlife
as described by the Egyptian priests in the Book of the Dead, the origin of their
cosmology began to make a great deal of sense.
We must consider that the legends that became the history of Egyptian
dynastic belief are founded upon a water lily as having arisen from chaos
(nun) to produce the first god, Ra or Atum. This was to have happened
before the birth of the sun and it is the substance of three of the four
cosmogonies of ancient Egypt.
An overview of these cosmogonies, which have numerous variant versions,
shows the influence of the blue water lily in conceptions of the origins of the
universe (Emboden 1981).
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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
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Blue lily flowers were found in the tombs of the Pharoahs

and unguent bottles in the shape of the blue lily flower were
buried with the bodies. Emboden proposes these to have
contained a powerful extract made from the blue lily to help
the deceased in their trip to the realm of the afterlife.
N. caerulea was a symbol of death and rebirth to the Egyptians and was held sacred to Osiris, who was said to have
been reincarnated as a blue water lily after his murder
by Set. A text called Transformation into the Blue Water Lily [or alternately, Lotus] from the Egyptian Book of
the Dead makes reference to a blue water lily associated
with Ra and Hathor and the pure light of the sun. The
incantation discusses the desire of Ani to transform
himself into the sacred blue water lily so that his body
might have new birth and ascend daily into heaven
(Voogelbreinder 2002).
That this plant was responsible for the origin of the concept
of and belief in an afterlife can never be proven definitively,
but my experience has shown that it is indeed to be classed
as a narcotic entheogen, capable of producing ecstatic and
wondrous visions. It can dissolve the boundaries between
the self and the universe. Infinity and ecstasy are recognized
as realities rather than concepts. The experience is of a subtle
energy, until one learns to tune in and let it take one where it
will. My latest experience lasted for four days and I found
myself at times coexisting in two complete and separate
worlds simultaneously.
On this particular journey I had smoked one small cigarette
of a cultivar of an N. nouchali species (pink), followed the
next day with a cigarette of N. alba flowers. As noted before,
when I take these herbs for more than one day (or use them
more than once in a day), the effects become cumulative. By
the third day, I am in a place that is almost impossible to
describe. It is truly a magical world of extreme physical joy
and mental and spiritual amazement. I can coexist in this
world while also being present in the normal world in which
we live. The worlds overlap in such a way that I can have
awareness of living two completely different lives at the same
time. I coexists in both, in a kind of dream state.
I should mention at this juncture that it took me over a year
of sporadic useperhaps 810 usagesbefore I fell into the
state described above, and it was only due the fact that I finally used the plant alone and not in a social situation with
others, which would leave me externally oriented as opposed
to being inwardly focused. It is only when I find the inward
focus that I experience these effects.
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
The effects of flowers from the Nymphaea species appear very

similar to that of the Nelumbo flowers, varying only in proportions of aporphinic alkaloids present from species to species. While searching for data on Nymphaea and Nelumbo species alkaloids, I came across the following: Emboden mentions Nymphaea species contain nuciferine, nornuciferine,
nupharine, and also apomorphine:
apomorphine is one kind of aporphine and is capable
of producing profound neurochemical alterations. While
it is listed in most pharmacopoeias as a non-narcotic
emetic, we have evidence from Diaz that it acts much as
ergotamine in Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea violacea; that
is to say, it acts directly upon the dopaminergic receptors to produce a compulsive stereotyped behavior in
diverse species of animals Large doses (in humans)
mimic psychoses which would be considered typical
shamanic behavior (Emboden 1981).
Nelumbo nucifera contains the following alkaloids as listed

on the Nelumbo pages of Garden of Eden, Vol II:
Seeds of N. nucifera are + narcotic (Ott 1993), and yield a
variety of isoquinoline-type alkaloidsnuciferine,
nornuciferine, pronuciferine, 0.01% armepavine, dlarmepavine oxalate, 0.02% nererine {antihypertensive},
lotusine, liensinine {antihypertensive}, 0.01% isolienisine, roemerine, anonanine, demethylcoclaurine, 4-methyl-N-methyl-coclaurine, methylcorypalline and 5MeO-6-OH-aporphine (Voogelbreinder 2002).
The seeds are used as an antipsychotic, antihypertensive,
tranquilizing, tonic, aphrodisiac, nervine, antifebrile, antipyretic heart tonic with an affinity for the spleen, kidneys and heart. (Bremness 1994; Huang 1993; Nishibe
et al. 1986; Reid 1995) (Voogelbreinder 2002).
I could find no information on the chemical constituents

of Nelumbo flowers, although there is copious information
available on every other part of the plant.
In China the leaves have been smoked with tobacco the
rhizome fiber is used to restore the health of those with
nervous exhaustion (see Nicotania, Cooke 1860).
A methanol extract was shown to have CNS-depressant
or narcotic and muscle relaxant activity in mice.
(Mukherjee et al. 1996) (Voogelbreinder 2002).
While I believe that nuciferine is the prominent alkaloid in

N. caerulea flowers (aporphine is a powerful emetic and I experienced no nausea or emesis at any time while using these
plants except for a slight dizziness the first few time I smoked
N. caerulea flowers), there may well be other alkaloids present
that could account for some or the majority of the perceived
effects. At least it seems that way to me.
This is certainly an area that is far from being fully explored
and understood, and I have been experimenting with other
Nymphaea species flowers to determine if the effects are ubiquitous throughout the genus. So far I have had success with
a number of different species and cultivars, information
about which will be forthcoming when I have had time to
more fully assess and evaluate these plants. There are also
species listed in botanical literature as having no alkaloid content and I am attempting to locate these as well and assay
them for comparison.
A personal communication from theobromus mentions
activity in Nuphar species. While I have not had the opportunity to assay these plants for myself as yet, I am confident
in his findings.
In conclusion, this field has barely been touched and is wide
open for further exploration and discovery. I feel certain that
experiments with parts of Nelumbo species other than the
flowers will provide results similar to those of the flowers,
and have strong suspicions that the same holds true for the
other parts of various Nymphaea species.
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97
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

by Infinite Ayes
Back in 1964, when psychedelic exploration was still legal, I

obtained three doses of ibogaine. I had previously been doing extensive exploration with LSD, peyote, DMT, and mescaline, both in my laboratory as chief alchemist for the
League of Spiritual Discovery, and internally on my own
quest for illumination. Always on the lookout for new and
effective ways to access God-consciousness, I was eager to
try ibogaine. I had heard fascinating stories about ibogaine
from the older friends who had turned me on to my first psychedelic experience with mescaline. One told of a parade of
cosmic proportions. Another described a pageant of incredible detail and completely realistic visions, like watching a
movie. These were some of the tantalizing descriptions
presented to me about ibogaine.
LSD tends to magnify, intensify and empower the vision of a
timeless moment. DMT, on the other end of the tryptamine
spectrum, tends to transport one into a totally other realm,
replete with elaborate and intensely colorful designs, strange
guardian creatures, and visitations from divine messengers.
Having retrieved rich treasures of spiritual secrets from the
DMT realms, I was intrigued by the descriptions of ibogaine.
Looking through my anthropology books, I found passages
describing members of the Bwiti cult in central Africa using
Tabernanthe iboga, a traditional plant source for ibogaine, in
ceremonies to visit their ancestors and receive instructions.
In lower doses, ibogaine was said to give hunters the ability
to stay motionless for many hours while they became one
with the jungle.
My two intrepid cosmic companions, Alan and Raymond,
and myself were all enthusiastic about trying it. We decided
to take it at their flat in Brooklyn Heightsa brownstone
building that had fallen into disrepairthat lay on the
boundary between the black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods. They had fixed the fireplace and transformed the flat
into a psychedelic temple. Now assembled, we discussed the
preparations. We had fasted for two days and spent the day
before quietly reading, meditating, and doing yoga to ensure
the best possible experience. We disconnected the phone and
put a do not disturb, meditation in progress sign up on
the door.
98
We each took about 800 mg of ibogaine hydrochloride, a

chalky white powder with a bitter, earthy taste. We sat on
mattresses arranged on a carpet around the fire. We waited
one, two, three hours, and nothing happened. The fire
burned low, but no one moved to build it up. The shadows
grew long and night fell. Simultaneously, we all lay down, as
the lethargy that had subtly been coming on grew more intense. I had no desire to move. Everything became silent and
still. I felt that I was in a soft, humming, electric cocoon that
gave me little funny bone shocks if I touched it.
I was in the middle, centered between euphoria and depression. I felt balanced. My sense perceptions were heightened.
The little glow from the fire brightened the whole room. My
eyes focused in a different wayclear, but taking everything
in. And then the room started to spin. It was similar to an
alcohol drunkenness, but with no feeling of vertigo or nausea at all. I was glad that I had fasted! The whirling increased
and I felt like I was in the center of a pinwheel. Faster and
faster it spun and then I was rising like a projectile through
the roomgreat chunks of wall and brick peeling back and
falling away in slow motion. I shot up into the stars: a pair of
disembodied eyes wandering, searching. I was an essence
a solo awareness flying through the universe, exploring and
seeking.
After an immense journey, I came to a planet. It was a sandy
yellow color. I was able to project my vision down to it, and I
looked around the surface of the planet. It was an inhospitable looking place; with winds strong enough to blow rocks
and sand past me. It looked lethally hot and dry. I moved
on. Next, I came to a dark green planet. No clouds. No seas.
No mountains. It looked as though it were covered with a
poisonous mold. I did not want to go any closer. I continued
on through the galaxies until I arrived above a whirling vortex that was coalescing into a solar system. I watched a sun
and its planets form, and came closer to observe. I was drawn
to one of the middle planets. The fiery liquid surface was
cooling and turning from yellow and red to black solids broken by red rivers of lava emitting flames. Slowly, the planet
cooled until fumes and vapors veiled the entire surface. As I
circled the planet, I sensed a long epoch of torrential rains,
as water vapor formed and condensed in the upper atmo-
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
sphere and fell toward the burning surface, only to evaporate again long before reaching the ground. Eventually, the
planet cooled and the rains arrived on the lands below. After
what seemed like a long time, the clouds began to clear. I
skimmed the planet now, seeing and being everything that I
came across. I watched mountain chains rise and volcanoes
burst, and everything subside again and again into flat plains
and meandering rivers. Time and time again, mountains rose
and dissolved and continents appeared and disappeared.
Then this slowed down and I watched the seas and plains.
All was sterilea tan land with smoking volcanoes and no
life, yet fecund and ready.
As I watched, I then saw life appear. I observed spots of green
forming along the seashores. They shot along the banks,
forming a green margin and then running up the rivers and
tributaries like the veins in a leaf. The barren spaces between
these branches of life filled with proliferating plant life. The
oceans seemed to be teeming with life and then the first buglike creatures started to crawl out on land. They spread all
over, rapidly changing into a variety of insects and strange
lobster-like creatures. Fern-like plants appeared. Vast varieties of life appeared and then disappeared. Elaborate life
experiments succeeded one another with awesome complexity.
Then suddenly I was in a steaming swamp-like environment
that looked familiar. With a sense of awe and amazement, I
realized that I was watching the age of the dinosaur, and it
slowly dawned on me that I was witness to the history of life
evolving on the planet Earth! With a speed that defies accurate recall, life forms changed again and again, spreading and
multiplying in a dizzying array of shapes and colors. Humanoid creatures appeared and soon after were hunting and then
farming and building. Civilizations bloomed, spread, and
subsided, like bubbles on a fermenting pond. Ages of war
and conquest expressed the speed of civilization and technology. I witnessed slaughter and mayhem, torture and mutilation, rape and castration. Mans inhumanity to man was
illustrated in myriad forms. I was there in it, feeling it as
both the doer and the done to. For what seemed an interminably long time civilization rose and fell in inter-folding
waves of creation and brilliant innovations in arts and sciences, only to fall in smoking ruins followed by ages of
darkness.
Then, points of light appeared in the dark, interconnecting
again in new waves of discovery and renaissance. Undulating waves of humanity were crashing and washing over the
planet in a succession of expansion and contraction. As I lived

through this flux and change, there arose in me an awareness of the noble and brave potential of humanity and its
duty as the intelligent species to protect the forests and life
forms and water of the planet. I was experiencing a feeling of
the sacred unity with all life. I saw the whole planets surface
as one organism inhabited by one spirit growing its forests
to protect its surface and provide even moisture and temperature for all its creatures. I saw one species, humanity, as
the natural intelligent guardian of all life. I realized that it
was humanitys intelligence that must understand, preserve,
and care for the earths surfaceand life that is its nutrient
substrate, its womb, and its mother. I felt how all life was
precious, interconnecting, and supportive of all other life. I
dedicated my spirit not to destroy any part of this puzzle of
divine mystery that is the milk of creation. Throughout, there
was this balance and acknowledgment of the intertwining
of opposites, the negative and positive, the base and noble.
This feeling went through me as a dual aspect of one energy
total, deep, and sweeping me away on this immense journey
of lifes history. It was like falling in love, so entrancing was
this vision.
Hours had gone by. The fire was long gone, yet this movie
continued with fantastic detail, one pageant coming on the
heels of another. An example of the incredible detail that
ibogaine shows: through my constantly available zoom
lens, I was observing a French king and his retinue during a
formal promenade in the gardens of Versailles. Of this large
group of people in courtly splendor, one womans dress
caught my eye. I could see at great distance the hem of her
dress, an intricate and tiny embroidery of inter-linked fleurde-lis. Simultaneously, I could see both immense and complicated scenes and vistas as well as small details with great
precision. On and on it went, and I never moved. This peak
experience went on for at least 14 hours. I was watching
scenes from the industrial revolution when the sun shown
in the window. The movie continued in stronger and weaker
waves, dimming in the light and finally fading out, although
I know it was still going on at some internal level. Although I
could move around now, I was still high and it was still going
on 24 hours later. This was a long trip!
By afternoon, we were all getting pretty hungry. I decided to
brave the world and pick up some food at the corner store. I
exited the house, which was located on the black side of the
street, and headed for a Puerto Rican store on the opposite
corner. This was New York, a place where people dont usually greet strangers on the street. I walked past this old man
99
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
who glanced up and said, Hello. Down at the corner I met

a black woman; we also greeted each other and smiled. I
crossed the street and entered the store. Pretty soon I was
chatting and joking with the owners, and they were putting
extra fruit in my bag as gifts. As I exited the store and crossed
the street upon my return I had to pass through a group of
young black gang members who had just arrived. To my surprise they let me pass with no incident. What was going on?
As I walked back it hit me. I knew where we all came from.
We all came from the same sourcethe same mother. There
was no difference between us. I saw it, I felt it, and I was it.
And it was recognizable instantly by others. I had been transformed into a being at one with all other life. Racism and
prejudice became incomprehensible to me after that. I knew
where we all came from. We all came from the same universe:
we were all one.
What I learned from this trip is that there is a new paradigm
arising for humankind. Transcending mind, one finds the
spirit or soul. Rejecting the bias of politics and the destructiveness of fear, one finds that life and unity and harmony
are served by love. Humanitys role as guardian of the planet
becomes all too urgent as we go beyond the carrying capacity of the planets surface. This is the dream we must realize:
to bring back the health of life and nature on this planet.
Protect the womb that has borne us and still serves us. Bring
back the forests, let the waters run clean, and live in love and
harmony with each other. It is time to understand the roots
of fear and deal with them. Let us join in a dance to celebrate
life and love and rediscover the beauty of inner sacredness.
What is this stuff called ibogaine that tastes like earth and
lets you see your ancestors? Is it a DNA-designed communication link to our origins? How far back are these origins?
Are we visitors from space, planted here on the wings of the
God-DNA? Is this cosmic panorama it reveals created to give
humanity a real look at our history to understand who we
are and how we are connected to the universe? One thing is
certain: ibogaine is one of the true, deep psychedelics. It is
flesh of the Gods. Use it with preparation, respect, and care,
and you may grant yourself a taste of truth, a vision into the
nature of reality and an inspiration to enter into the path of
unity and knowing.
100
AFTER-THOUGHTS
One of richest uses of psychedelics is giving them enough
time and attention to allow the sacred messages to filter
through and become meaningful. A day before for preparation and one afterwards for contemplation is ideal. The
peyote people would spend the morning after, for a traditional breakfast and sharing the visions they had had and
finding meanings in these messages from beyond. In like
manner, we can also find new meanings for these visions as
the years deepen our perspectives.
So as time passed, I wondered who it could have been that
was seeing the evolution of life on our planet. Was this some
mystery that would just have to be accepted as is? Many years
later I came across two ideas that gave new meaning and
depth to these ibogaine visions. The first idea came when I
read about an explorer in the Amazon questioning the chief
of the Mayoruna about the purpose of all the intense psychedelic journeys that the entire tribe participated in. He
said that the purpose was to go back to the beginning. The
second idea came after reading Jeremy Narbys book The
Cosmic Serpent. I realized that it was quite possible that the
DNA molecule had an extraterrestrial origin. In fact, due to
the complexity of this life-evolving molecule and the relatively
short window it had in which to evolve on this earth it seems
that DNAs evolution here on planet earth may just be another geocentric earthling myth.
Putting these two ideas together started a process that gave
a whole new meaning to my ibogaine vision. I was going back
to the beginning. Going back to the beginning of life on this
planet. Certainly, it was not my persona that was going back.
Then what or who was going back? What was the common
denominator of all living things? Who was the I that was
observing and so intensely participating in all these lives and
journeys? Suddenly I realized that the common denominator and the origin of life was the DNA that we all carry,
whether it be the simplest bacteria or modern man. Now my
vision took on a whole new meaning. Our consciousness predates this solar system. I had gone back to the beginning
when I (and all of us) had been space-borne DNA looking
for a new home in which to create life. I had been seeking
through one solar system after another until I came to the
nascent solar system we now call our home. Now I rushed
down to the surface after waiting for eons for the conditions
to be right for the formation of life. Then down I went, creating new life, evolving from the beginning into the vast mystery.
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Network Feedback
KAEMPFERIA GALANGA
MAOI ASSAY,
MIRABILIS MULTIFLORA
In the Vernal Equinox 2002 issue of ER, Johnny Appleseed
states the need for MAOI testing procedures. I have come
across a type of MAOI assay while researching Kaempferia
galanga use. In the article Noro, T. et al. 1983, Monamine
Oxidase Inhibitor from the Rhizomes of Kaempferia galanga
L., Chem. Pharm. Bull., 31(8): 27082711, they use benzylamine as a substrate to test for the binding of MAO in the
presence of other compounds. The benzylamine can then be
tested spectrophotometrically at 250 nm to see how much
inhibition there has been of the MAO binding. This testing
method is presented in a 1954 article by Tabor, C.W., H.
Tabor & S. M. Rosenthal in the J. Biol. Chem. 208: 645.
The claim is made that the compound ethyl p-methoxy-transcinnamate has the most powerful MAOI effect of all the compounds found in Kaempferia galanga, but no MAOI effect was
found from p-methoxy-trans-cinnamic acid. K. galanga being a mild MAOI seems to fit with my experiences with this
plant, where I put up to 500 grams of the rhizome (fresh or
frozen from an Asian grocery store) in a blender with lecithin (as an emulsifier since the MAOI came out in the nonpolar benzene fraction in the above paper), ginger (to avoid
stomach complaints), water, and some coconut milk (as a
fat to absorb some of the non-polar compound). After blending this for 5 minutes or so and straining and drinking the
potent-tasting liquid, I usually feel a mild euphoria, mellowing, and aphrodisiac effect after an hour or so. I am still playing with the extraction method as I get slightly different effects each time I use it, and I am still trying to determine if
the species sold as galanga in the Asian grocery store is
Kaempferia galanga or Alpinia galanga, (both in the
Zingerberaceae, or ginger, family). I am growing out one of
the roots so as to be able to identify the plant in the New
York Botanical Garden herbarium, where I work. Do you
know anyone else who has experimented with this plant?
We dont personally know anyone who has experimented with
Kaempferia galanga but the information you present above certainly
does pique our interest. K. galanga has been reported as a very
mild but real hallucinogen, with a dose being described as approximately 3 inches [of whole root] per person (MILLER 1983). There
are a few reports of galanga trips posted to www.erowid.org, and
effects are presented as ranging from none at all, to mainly sideeffects, to mild Cannabis-like effects, to mild LSD-like effects. One
person, who smoked an extract, had fairly decent results. Nevertheless, it is important to remember a couple of points.
First, it should be stressed that there are several distinct plants sold
as galangal, and these are not synonymous in appearance, taste,
botany, or chemistry. Alpinia galanga (greater galangal) forms very
stout whitish rhizomes, whereas the Kaempferia galanga takes a
branching form of long finger-like rhizomes. K. galanga is also used
for its medicinal stem in China Like the Indonesian A. galanga, it is
said to be found dried and sliced in the West. There is also A.
officinarum (lesser galangal), found in China. It is smaller and more
compact. While the editors have not yet used either in conjunction
with anything that would benefit from MAO inhibition, K. TROUT
has gotten little effect from the A. galanga beyond a pleasant mild
sense of well-being, similar to that resulting from ginger, despite
eating fairly large amounts of the commercially available roots (fresh
and also dried). While K. galanga is said to be commercially available, neither TROUT nor AARDVARK has encountered it yet. Large Asian
markets and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herb suppliers would
probably be good places to look for this species.
Second, not all MAOI drugs are equal, and only some will work to
activate tryptamines. There are still a number of loose ends to be
tied up concerning the pharmacology of this interaction, despite the
effect of the combination being well-known and studied. This pharmacology should be explored further, particularly if it turns out that
Kaempferia galanga proves to be a decent MAO-A inhibitor.
Another plant Ive been recently interested in is soksi, or

Mirabilis multiflora, which is used as a psychoactive by Hopi
Indian medicine men, as reported in Alfred F. Whitings
The Ethnobotany of the Hopi (Museum of Northern Arizona 1966, originally published 1939). It is listed under
the genus Quamoclidion (or something like that) in this book.
This plant is in the Nyctaginaceae family and is closely related to the ornamental garden plant four oclocks (Mirabilis
japonica), but the ornamental is a powerful purgative. Whiting reports only that the medicine men chew the root of this
plant to reach an altered state. All other references to this
plant seem to refer back only to Whitings account. It is
listed in a few places at www.erowid.org, but these are not
dependable sources. A friend who recently visited with the
Hopi near Flagstaff reported to me that soksi is still used there
but did not witness its use. Have you heard of any work with
101
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
this plant? Hofmann and Schultes do not even mention

any plants in this family, let alone this genus as being psychoactive in their treatise The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens, so the study of this plant is quite interesting because
it expands the range of hallucinogenic plants in flowering
plant taxonomy. Thank you for your help. N.B., New
York Botanical Garden
Alas, Mirabilis multiflora is still an under-explored plant. We published an article on this plant in Vol. IX, No. 2 of The Entheogen
Review, p.100. Despite it being reported as a hallucinogen in some
texts, the one psychonaut has described the effects as being GHBlike. Wed like to hear more from anyone who has first-hand
experience with this plant. EDS.
ANADENANTHERA & MIMOSA

I had some extra Anadenanthera colubrina and Mimosa
scabrella seeds, which I got from South America, so I figured
that I would send them to you folks at ER. [Thanks! Eds.]
The M. scabrella germinate well by pouring boiling water over
them and letting them soak for 24 hours. Ive had no luck yet
with starting the A. colubrina seeds; any suggestions would
be a great help.
It has been said that Mimosa scabrella is very similar to M.
hostilis [now considered synonymous with and correctly referred
to as M. tenuiflora, due to the latter having been described first
(Barneby 1991) Eds.], and is used in its place as basically
an equal. Do you know if this is at all true?
Also, do you know why Mimosa [tenuiflora] seeds are so difficult to find? Previously only JLF and L.E.R. had seeds, and
Native Habitat had plants. The seeds from JLF must have
been old, as none germinated even with many attempts.
L.E.R. no longer has seeds, and Native Habitat seems to
have given up on offering live plants. If this is one of the more
desirable plants, why arent seeds being offered? I would really like to know if M. scabrella could replace it.
Thanks for any answers you can provide and for keeping up
the good work! Anonymous, WI
Anadenanthera seed germination results that we have experienced
ourselves and heard about from others range from excellent to not
at all. The major factor may be the age of the seeds, as fresh seeds
generally show phenomenal germination (in terms of being very
fast and having a high percentage of sprouting seeds). TROUTS results thus far have been only at both ends of the spectrum; either a
rapid germination (from 1 to several days), orin other cases
none at all have germinated, and the seeds turned to a pasty material. AARDVARK only saw the latter disappointing results. A warm
water soak until swollen may prove of benefit but many people report success simply planting them halfway buried edge-wise into
the soil with the hilum (the seed eye) being placed at about soil
level. Some have suggested that partial burning or roasting of the
seeds is important and they are occasionally made available in this
state but we have not found this essential. A heating mat is recommended though.
Some Anadenanthera species form elongated storage organs in their
root system and care must be taken to maintain the intactness of
the root system during transplanting. Preliminary efforts to stimulate root suckering in our container grown plants have not yet been
successful.
SUBSCRIBE TO TRIP MAGAZINE!

www.tripzine.com
102
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Filtered light with a bit of full sun has given excellent results.
Anadenanthera colubrina is frost tolerant but how freeze hardy it is
remains to be seen. It occurs over quite a wide range and it is likely
that some quite cold tolerant strains can be brought into cultivation.
Bark and root-bark of this species (and its cbil variety) should be
examined in greater detail. The root-bark of A. peregrina can at least
sometimes be quite high in 5-MeO-DMT (SCHULTES et al. 1977 reported one tree with 39 mg of 5-MeO-DMT per 10 grams of dried
stem-bark and nearly 64 mg in the same amount of dried root-bark).
As far as Mimosa tenuiflora goes, we had a few old seeds that were
obtained from the defunct botanical business OF THE JUNGLE. As
they went out of business in 1996, these seeds must have been at
least seven years old, and probably eight or nine years old. (Oddly,
we cant find this offering listed in any of the old catalogs that we
have for them, but the seed packet that we had clearly came from
their company, and was marked Mimosa hostilis, so we assume it
was one of many limited items that never made it into a catalog.)
Only one of the few that we planted germinated. Another cause for
non-viable M. tenuiflora seeds that we have recently seen is that the
seeds were not fully mature.
We agree that active growing of this plant could be useful, especially to check out the potential use of the foliage, despite the likelihood of its usefulness being low. Why Mimosa tenuiflora seeds are
not more readily available is a truly good question. Seeds should be
far more widely available than they appear to have been. Weve no
idea why these seeds seem to have vanished or been largely unavailable from the specialty market. GNOSTIC GARDEN used to carry
them, but apparently they have been discontinued. ETHNOGARDEN
BOTANICALS has these seeds listed as forthcoming, so one might
periodically check their web site (http://ethnogarden.yage.net).
The only two sources that we have been able to locate are: BOTANIC
ART , Hoogstraat 116, 3131 BP Vlaardingen, The Netherlands,
www.botanic-art.com (8 seeds for 5.70 euros); and PJT BOTANICALS,
POB 49, Bridgewater, MA 02324-1630, www.pjtbotanicals.com
(packet for $5.00).
The seeds we obtained from JLF showed poor germination but more
importantly those few that did germinate proved to not be Mimosa
tenuiflora, but are rather a presently unidentified Mimosa species.
Analysis of this material is currently lacking. Mimosa seeds sometimes rapidly lose viability but often can benefit from nicking and a
soak in warm water prior to sowing. Use of a heating mat is also
suggested. One commercial vendor of M. tenuiflora root-bark commented that when harvesting from trees in the wilds of Chiapas, he
noticed that those trees that had previously been harvested for their
root-bark went on to form a ring of new trees, sprouting from the
periphery of root fragments remaining in the soil (MONTGOMERY
2002). This suggests both that harvesting can be done sustainably
and that deliberate stimulation of root suckering (such as planting
on berms and dividing the root system periodically) may prove to be
a powerful propagation technique for the species.
So far as we can tell, Mimosa scabrella has not yet been reported in
any traditional jurema preparations, unlike Mimosa hostilis (GONALVES
DE L IMA 1946), M. verrucosa (S ILVEIRA B ARBOSA 1998) and M.
ophthalmocentra (BATISTA et al. 1997; 1999). However, M. scabrella
may indeed prove to be a valuable source for DMT, if extrapolations

from the literature hold true. The sole published analysis of M.
scabrella stem-bark placed the DMT content at less than 0.0357%
by dry weight (DE MORAES et al. 1990). Compare this to an analysis
of the stem-bark of M. tenuiflora, which reported a yield of about
0.03% (MECKES-LOZOYA et al. 1990), and it seems as though the
stem-bark of M. scabrella may be comparable to that of M. tenuiflora
in DMT content. While neither reported stem-bark contents of DMT
is particularly high or usefula quarter pound or more of stem-bark
being needed for a single doseit is well-known that the root-bark
of M. tenuiflora is much more potent, ranging from 0.5% or less
(GONALVES DE LIMA 1946; PACHTER et al. 1959) to over 10% by one
account (OTT 2002). We are unaware of any published analysis of
the root-bark of M. scabrella, yet if it can be extrapolated thatM.
scabrella follows a similar trend (which, of course, it may not), then
this plant could be a more easily available source than M. tenuiflora
seems to beat least for those who want to grow their own plants.
And M. scabrella has the added advantage of reportedly being hardy
in cooler climates. Weve heard of one grower in the North of England who successfully raises these plants (GIBSON 2002). Clearly
this plant needs closer analysis. EDS.
DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION,
CACTUS TEA SUCCESS
I have occasionally sought advice about what to do to refine
5-MeO-DMT beer, a weak extraction of Phalaris grass that
gives a pleasant buzz but fails to fully open the door to the
other world. I dont know why it took me so long to put this
together, but when I smoke it I use a vaporizer, and some of
the crystals cool enough to precipitate in the pipe. And, Ive
known for some time that this precipitate is stronger than
the original material. So why not do this on purpose?
I tried doing this in a glass crockpot, thinking that I would
get precipitate on the lid. The material in the pot, with a very
low gas flame under it, boiled in an encouraging manner and
filled the house with lovely fumes, but no precipitate was left
on the lit of the pot.
I believe there is some piece of laboratory glassware available for performing the operation I would like to, but Im
not sure what its called. It looks something like this:
Can you tell me what the name of this item is, appropriate
specifications, where to find it, and the approximate cost?
I think that this item would really further my research.
103
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
On another subject, I took an ER correspondents advice and made a cup of tea

from two kilos of Trichocereus pachanoi stalk. After initial nausea, my partner and
I found ourselves quite unmistakably on the other side of the door, being the
ones who animate us, rather than our ordinary selves. This was accompanied
by some visual phenomena that involved seeing each others alternate identities.
The lifting of the veil lasted all night from about 6:00 pm on the Summer Solstice,
with a distinct difference in perspective remaining until about 6:00 pm the next
evening. Thank you very much for encouraging me in this direction. M.H., TN
An alchemical alembic.
This image was taken from a
posted scan at www.levity.com/
alchemy/libav02.html obtained
from the book by John French
titled The Art of Distillation. Or,
A Treatise of the Choicest Spagyrical Preparations Performed by
Way of Distillation, Being Partly
Taken Out of the Most Select
Chemical Authors of the Diverse
Languages and Partly Out of the
Authors Manual Experience together with, The Description of the
Chiefest Furnaces and Vessels Used
by Ancient and Modern Chemists
also A Discourse on Diverse
Spagyrical Experiments and Curiosities, and of the Anatomy of Gold
and Silver, with The Chiefest
Preparations and Curiosities
Thereof, and Virtues of Them All.
All Which Are Contained In Six
Books Composed By John French,
Dr. of Physick London. Printed by
Richard Cotes and sold by Thomas
Williams at the Bible in LittleBritain without Aldersgate, 1651.
104
Im glad that you found the ER correspondents cactus advice to be of use. Before I begin with
your question about glassware, I should clarify some terminology. A precipitate is an insoluble material that deposits from out of a solution. The material you were hoping to find
deposited on the lid of your device (and which you witnessed inside your free-base pipe) is
more correctly referred to as a condensate or distillate. As to the piece of glassware that you
refer to, this is not really a piece of chemical lab-ware; it is actually a piece of alchemical
glassware. The particular piece depicted is known as the head of a primitive distillation
apparatus called an alembic. (If it were closed on the bottom it would be a related device
known as a retort.) The drawing to the left illustrates one such simple distillation apparatus.
These are not used in modern chemistry so far as I know. I suspect the only source for one
would be to have it made by a glassworker. This approach can certainly work as evidenced
by the condensations within a free-base pipe but it has a couple of major drawbacks. One
drawback is its inefficiency; using a longer column and water or some other cooling mechanism for inducing the condensation would be a better choice. The other drawback is destructiveness. A substantial to major amount of the product will be either damaged or destroyed
during such high temperature distillations. (Observe how an excess of DMT left in the bottom of a glass pipe darkens steadily as reheated.) Vacuum distillation or even simple extraction would be strongly suggested instead. If you do decide to explore the path you alluded
to, please let ER know of your results! K. TROUT
MEDICAL MAOI, IBOGAINE EXTRACT

Ive got a couple of questions for you. First off, how much moclobemide should
one consume with an extract of Mimosa tenuiflora, or Psychotria viridis, or
Trichocereus species for tryptamine activation or phenethylamine potentiation?
Second, I have some Tabernanthe iboga extract (crude ibogaine) that I obtained
from Indra Shamanic Products. The dose that they recommend is 1 to 6 grams.
Is the high end of this range within a safe amount to take? I am hesitant to consume it after reading Ibogaine: Proceedings of the First International Conference, where
the deaths of a few individuals were reported. One of them, a 40-year-old heroin
addict, was reported to have died after having allegedly taken 5 grams of T. iboga
alkaloid extract 40 hours prior to his death (p. 27). How much of the extract
that I have can be consumed to be on the safe side and not embark on a one-way
journey?
On another note, I ordered 10 grams of Amanita pantherina and some extracts
from Pure Land Ethnobotanicals in October 2001. They were quick to charge
my credit card, but I have still not received any products nearly a year later. I have
e-mailed them several times and they only responded after I threatened to publish my story, and they told me that they would look into the matter. Nothing
happened. What particularly annoys me is that they didnt even tell me whether
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
or not they sent the stuff (i.e., did it get lost in the mail?).
Since that time, there has been a total lack of response to
inquiries. I would advise other psychonauts not to do business with this company.
Thank you for an excellent magazine. O.H., Sweden
As far as a dose of moclobemide goes, we have heard of people
taking from 75 mg to 150 mg, and getting good results in activating
and/or potentiating tryptamines and phenethylamines. Since the pills
frequently come as as scored tablets in 150 mg doses, we have
heard of people who will break them in half and take 75 mg about
1520 minutes before they consume the tr yptamine or
phenethylamine, and then a second 75 mg concurrently with the
entheogen. It bears repeating again that we do not recommend that
people mix moclobemide or other MAOI drugs and MDMA, as such
mixtures may have the potential to induce a hypertensive crisis.
With regard to the crude ibogaine extract that you describe, unfortunately there is no way to know exactly how much ibogaine it contains without quantitative laboratory analysis. Hence, guessing about
doses (and potentially lethal overdoses) is problematic. Also, it seems
quite likely that the state of health of the individual consuming the
extract could have something to do (or even a lot to do) with whether
or not he or she ends up taking a dirt nap after sucking down their
dose. So far as pure ibogaine goes, OTT gives the dose of
entheogenic above 1 mg/kg, which would seem to place the threshold dose for a 150 pound person at about 68 mg, and yet he also
stated that the threshold dose for straight root-bark of Tabernanthe
iboga was 20 grams, saying that this amount was thought to contain about 75125 mg of ibogaine, and he supposed that the initiation dose (said to break open the head) might contain as much
as 6.25 grams of ibogaine, but he is quick to point out that such
massive doses have resulted in deaths (OTT 1993). (Note that the
figures OTT gives for root-bark might not translate to extracts made
from the whole root, as it is possible that the bark of the root is more
potent.) The Secret Chief relates that the ibogaine doses he administered were between 225 and 300 mg (STOLAROFF 1997). TIHKAL
places an ibogaine dose at from hundreds of milligrams up to a
gram or more, orally (SHULGIN & SHULGIN 1997). A report in this
issue of ER (see page 98) discusses the effects of 800 mg. The crude
extract sold by INDRA SHAMANIC PRODUCTS (www.indra.dk) that you
mention is said to be a 5X extract. So, if one can extrapolate from
the ibogaine-content figures presented by OTT for the straight rootbark (which it may not be safe to do, since natural products can be
highly variable in their alkaloid content), this would mean that a 4
gram dose of 5X extract should contain about the same amount of
ibogaine as a 20 gram dose of straight root-bark: 75150 mg, or
the threshold dose, and a 6 gram dose of the extract would contain closer to 113225 mg. This dose range is up to the low end of
that presented by the Secret Chief and nowhere near as high as
that consumed by INFINITE AYES (reported on page 98). All of this
number crunching could be totally off, and the bottom line is that
we dont feel comfortable giving the green light for any particular
dose of crude extract, without knowing better what exactly the extract contains. Crude extracts are also likely to contain other alkaloids that may not be safe to take in overly high doses.
So far as your situation with PURE LAND ETHNOBOTANICALS goes, it is

unfortunate. We have ordered from them ourselves, and the order
was sent promptly and completely. It is hard to say what is up with
them, but it is totally lame that they have ignored your attempts to
get the situation resolved. With regard to entheobotanical companies, there are several on-line vendor rating systems, and we feel
that these can be useful when people use them to report both good
and bad experiences. One such site (for complaints only, and a bit
sparse at the moment, but with the benefit of being run by the Erowid
web site) is at www.erowid.org/vendors/vendors_complaints.shtml,
and we encourage you to post your situation at that site. We will
also forward a copy of this issue of ER to the folks at PURE LAND,
with the hope that it might spark some response and resolution to
your situation. Contact them again after you get this issue of ER,
and see what happens. Another recent example of a rip-off that ER
received:
A $250.00 order was sent to the new M.B.E. Tech in

the United Kingdom (www.mbetech.com). No product
was ever provided, e-mailed complaints only met with
an auto-response saying that people wishing to correspond needed to do so via snail mail, and snail mailed
complaints met with no response at all.
We reported in a past issue of ER that we felt that it seemed likely
that the new M.B.E. TECH was a scam, and this would appear to
confirm that report. Sadly, there are pirates surfing the waters of the
web these days too. EDS.
STORAGE, SHELF-LIFE, MAOI

ACTIVITY,TOLERANCE, TMA-2
As a new subscriber I have to say that your magazine is excellent, and much more in-depth than most sources. Please
release me from my ignorance and print a few questions I
cant seem to get answered elsewhere:
I am interested to know about the shelf life of various
entheogens under the following conditionscool, dark, and
reasonably air tight. Ive read that phenethylamines are fairly
stable, and that 2C-T-2 and 2C-T-7 should last 20+ years. Can
I assume that 2C-I and TMA-2 have a similar longevity? I also
read that most tryptamines are much less stable, especially
4-Acetoxy-DET and AMT, although TIHKAL mentions that
MIPT is much more durable. Harmine is listed as more
stable than harmaline. Could anyone please give me any info
on the shelf-life of tryptamines such as 5-MeO-AMT, 5-MeODMT, 5-MeO-DIPT, 4-Acetoxy-DIPT, and DPT? Psilocybin
is supposed to be stable as fungal material (P. semilanceta),
but I have seen it become worthless in about four years. (No
idea why I kept it that long.)
105
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Does anyone have any idea if 5-MeO-AMT is really a MAOI

or not? There is certainly a serotonergic feel to it. Ive read
that it is possibly a MAOI, which is vague and I would like
to know if it might be problematic to someone on a SSRI
drug. Also, I did do some experiments with it but havent for
the moment gone above 4.5 mg; at the peak of such a dose,
there would be some suggestions of something possibly
physically problematic that led me to conclude that I should
move up very carefully with it. Has anyone had problems or
other comments on this compound? I suspect that it could
be really weird at a high dose if the body load is tolerable.
Since you are discussing a number of compounds that were created
by ALEXANDER SHULGIN, we figured that it would be prudent to pose
your questions to him. He responded:
Regarding 5-MeO-AMT (alpha,O-DMS). As to the shelf

life, I can only offer the apparent present appearance of
my original discovery sample. I dug it out of my refer-
ence collection. It was stored (as have been all my synthetic retainers) in a glass vial, stoppered with a cork, in
a box that is dark inside. No special effort is made as to
air or moisture or heat. In this tryptamine box, looking
at few samples at random, the present appearances range
from loose white solids to black gums! The 5-MeO-AMT
sample was the hydrochloride salt, dated early 1976
(therefore over 25 years old) and was a light brown crystalline solid. So it seems to be pretty stable.
The three points that you mention, temperature, light
and oxygen, are the major factors defining stability. But
original purity, dryness, and the chemical nature of the
contained impurities can affect changes. Another
subtlety is just how one can determine the loss of
potency? What if the decomposition product is psychoactive? What if you have become tolerant to the action
of the drug? What if you subconsciously believe that any
discoloration is a move towards loss of activity? A dear
friend of mine, a Professor of Chemistry, contributed his
NEW INCENSES
Nymphaea caerulea (blue lotus): This little known flower has been considered sacred for several thousand years, where it was used medicinally and
ritually by the Egyptian priesthood. Its pleasing aroma is said to induce deep
relaxation and a euphoric state of mind.
Nelumbo nucifera (sacred lotus): Another obscure sacred flower from the East,
it is quickly becoming very popular with those who have been lucky enough
to try it. This plant mixes well with other common burning herbs, but is also
very much enjoyed by itself.
Herbal-Shaman
POB 8892 (Dept. ER)
Wichita, KS 67208, USA
Mimosa hostilis (jurema): This thorny tree is used medicinally and spiritually
by several Central and South American cultures. Wild-crafted in Mxico for
us by a well-known ethnobotanist, we offer fresh, dried whole chunks of
both root-bark and stem-bark.
Orders, Toll Free: (877) 685-9199
Voacanga africana root-bark: After years of searching we have finally procured a small supply of this exotic botanical. Used in the adolescent initiation ceremonies by East African shamans, this powerful teacher was treated
as a divine spirit. Very limited supplies.
Questions & Tracking: (316) 685-9199
All incenses are sold strictly to adults as non-consumables
www.herbal-shaman.com
106
Sceletium tortousum (kanna): A very rare succulent from the deserts of South
Africa. The Bwiti culture uses this plant as an important part of their ritual
life, and consider it to be an indispensable ally. We offer this plant in the
manner dictated by tradition, fermented and finely powdered.
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
own thoughts with the phrase, A little bit of color goes

a long way.
As to MAOI activity, I have no idea. I am reasonably sure
that the compound is not an agonist as it has that famous alpha-methyl group. In fact the original molecule
was designed just that way to increase the odds of its getting to the brain without decomposition. Similarly, the
covering of the serotonin hydroxy group was a move to
increase the probability of its getting across the bloodbrain barrier. These two additions were built into my
original name for it, alpha,O-dimethylserotonin, or A,ODMS. However, the 5-MeO-AMT name doesnt require
the user to know the structure of serotonin. Sasha
To add to SASHAS thoughts; while dark is easy to do, cool and
air-tight are a bit more problematic, but also doable. Hell, cold
would no doubt be better than merely cool. It strikes us that the
best way to store any entheogens would be in a light-tight, air-tight,
sealed container in a freezer. (As anal as it may sound, we know
many people who even go to these lengths to store their Cannabis.)
The inclusion of some desiccant to keep the stored product dry would
likely be beneficial in most cases, as would either sucking out the air
from the container (with some seal-a-meal type device that can be
used with the metal lids on glass canning jars) or replacing the air
with an inert gas that contains no oxygen. While this wont take
care of all of the variables that SASHA mentioned, nor answer all of
his questions about these variables, it is still probably the best that
one can hope to do within reasonable means, and will no doubt
increase the shelf-life of most compounds above that which would
be had by simply placing them in a box in a cupboard of your house.
Also, as an extension on the article on 5-MeO-DMT and

DMT not causing tolerance, I am hopeful that perhaps ER
subscribers will write in with any information on varying
degrees of tolerance and cross-tolerance with and between
various compounds.
I also have a few comments on TMA-2, with reference to the
remarks made in ER Vol. XI, No. 2. For the record, I weigh
112 pounds, although Im not convinced as to how relevant
weight is with regard to dosage of this compound.
I have taken TMA-2 twice. My first dose was 37.5 mg. Effects
started at about the half-hour point, and took maybe 23
hours to reach the full effects. On this occasion, I had a lot of
discomfort while coming on (too much of a body load, compared to the mental effects). In retrospect, I believe that this
discomfort was partly psychological in origin, as I may have
been projecting a lot of negative energy due to ingesting a
virtually untested synthetic drug. I am afraid that I have never
had the opportunity to take mescaline, so I cant make a comparison. Certainly, there was much of the feel of an organic
psychedelic, with earthy colors, but not overwhelming visuals. My mental state was one of gentle clarity. Communication was good, as was appreciation of music. At about five
hours, we went to the forest and bonded with nature. At several points during the day, there was some edge or lack of
complete ease, but overall I found it a good and complete
psychedelic, although perhaps not an outstanding one. My
second trial was at 35 mg, and again the come up was hard
due to the compounds uncomfortably sharp glass like
stimulation, which produced a restlessness that initially tied
me to my body. However, this timeknowing better the language of the materialI was able to break through earlier
on, and there were delightful rushes to hyperacuity; the day
was glorious and healing. The next time I think I would take
40 mg. It was not overwhelming (mentally), but Im not sure
that I would take it above 40 mg yet. (Were it mescaline, I
would have tried 600 mg next.) It isnt in the LSD/ayahuasca
league perhaps, but its still pretty damn good stuff and an
ally. I was near base-line at 12 hours and sleep was not too
difficult after this point. B.N.
P.S. Does anyone know of a supplier of dried Mitragyna
speciosa?
Alas, we cant help you out with any suppliers of dried Mitragyna
speciosa. Perhaps our subscribers can? Live plants are currently available from THE BASEMENT SHAMAN (www.basementshaman.com), but
one might have to hit the underground market in Thailand in order
to score the dried leaves. Perhaps some brave and enterprising botanical company will send a collector there to gather up enough to
sell in the USA? Keep in mind that while the plant is totally legal in
the USA, it is scheduled in its native Thailand, with severe penalties
for possession and sale; no doubt this is the reason that it is not yet
widely available in the USA. EDS.
EVEN MORE SCORPION TALES

The More Scorpion Tales article in a recent issue of ER reminded me of my own scorpion experience many years ago
in Hawaii. I was living on a beach in Maui and had been
hearing horror stories about the centipedes and scorpions
there. I had actually developed a bit of a scorpion phobia
from these tales (none of which, by the way, were anyones
first-hand experiences with scorpion stings or centipede
bitesit was always this friend of mine or my sisters
boyfriend). Anyway, one day I was sitting in my truck and
felt something on my leg. Without looking to see what it was,
I brushed it off with my hand and was stung on my finger. I
looked down to see what had just stung me and I saw that it
107
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
was a scorpion. The stinging sensation only lasted about 15

minutes and was relatively mild. However, for the rest of the
day I felt wonderful. I felt great nearly every day during that
period of time anyway, because of my stress-free, immersedin-nature, simple and freely creative beach-camping life-style.
But the day I was stung by the scorpion, I was much more
euphoric than usual. Ive always wondered if that blissful day
was due to the scorpion venom, or due to the release of all
the fear energy I had invested in my scorpion phobia. Or
perhaps both things played a part? Like C.S.C. in Colorado,
I havent chosen to get stung again. R.G., WA
scribed are the most important development in psychedelia

in decades. Therefore, I wish that you would follow up this
article with a reprint of growing instructions from the
Internet, perhaps revised by you. Every step should be described in minute detail and the most concrete terms. Not
everyone has Internet access, and even if they did, it would
be good for you to print a hard-copy version for the sake of
the record. For example, things that I am curious about are
whether there is a single source for supplies like syringes,
glasses, where one obtains (or how one makes) brown rice
powder, etc. R.K., WA
Reports of feeling mildly mind-altered to euphoric appear to be common among those experiencing non-lethal scorpion stings. It certainly was the experience of K. TROUT, although the throbbing pain
of the sting itself would suggest that it is not likely to ever become a
popular area of experimentation. EDS.
The sort of detailed instructions that you request we publish would

be lengthy enough to fill a book. And while it would perhaps be
possible for us to run a series of articles that cover this topic in installments over the course of several issues, such an approach might
not be the best use of our space, considering that this basic information is available for free on the Internet (www.fanaticus.com), as
well as being available for purchase (in a nicely bound and illustrated form) for $10.00 from PSYLOCYBE FANATICUS, POB F, Amanda
Park, WA 98526. As far as supplies go, one good company that
offers a free catalog is MAGIC, POB 39, Prospect Heights, IL 60070,
www.mushroommagic.com, but there are numerous other such companies around too (the Psychedelic Resource List is a good reference
book for these sort of companies). We might also add that if you
have access to a public library or a cyber caf, Internet access is
available even if you dont own a computer. This is true not just in
the USA but in most countries. On a recent trip to Belize for example,
it was a rare town that did not have several affordable cyber cafs.
EDS.
GROWING PEGANUM HARMALA

Regarding Johnny Appleseeds comment in the interview
with him that appeared in the Vernal Equinox 2002 issue
of ER; his remark that Peganum harmala will only grow in
warm, dry areas isin my opiniononly partially true. P.
harmala will definitely grow in areas where it gets very cold.
Ive successfully grown it at above 8,500 feet elevation, where
winter temperatures normally drop below minus 10 F. Ive
never been in a geographical area that would permit me to
test my theory, but I would predict that P. harmala could be
cultivated much like alfalfa. In those geographical areas
where soil pH levels are naturally low, such as in costal regions, farmers will raise the pH in order to grow alfalfa. In
areas where the pH levels are naturally high, farmers dont
adjust it at all. Of course, in areas that receive high amounts
of rain, it would be more difficult and costly to maintain the
higher pH levels due to the leaching effect of the water. P.
harmala may be one of the many species that doesnt thrive
in wetter conditions. So, its my theory that to say P. harmala
will grow well in warm soil types is more true than saying it
grows only in warmer areas. This is also an area of research
that it would be interesting to hear more about from those
ER subscribers inclined to experiment. P.H., NM
MORE ON MUSHROOMS
FOREIGN DATA
The Entheogen Review occasionally gets questions regarding
the legality of plants and drugs in other countries, and we
felt that it might be a good service to include some information related to this in a future issue. ER has subscribers worldwide in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil,
Canada, Columbia, Costa Rica, England, Finland, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mxico, the Netherlands,
New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Taiwan. If you
live in one of these countries, or somewhere other than the
USA, please let us know what the legal situation is like in your
part of the world. Which entheogens arent prohibited?
Which are? Where is documentation of these laws available?
What is the availability of entheogens in your area? Does the
political climate seem to be getting better or worse? Eds.
Congratulations on your recent mushroom cultivation articles. I believe the advances in cultivation techniques de-
108
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Events Calendar
ALTERED STATES
OCTOBER 2529, 2002
PSYCHOACTIVITY III
NOVEMBER 2224, 2002
The International Conference on Altered States of

Consciousness will be held October 2529, 2002, and will
cover the topics of Shamanism, Healing, Enlightenment,
and Peak Experiences. Presenters include Wilbert Alix,
Brooke Medicine Eagle, Ken Eagle Feather, Peter
Gorman, Warren Grossman, Kristin Madden, Ralph
Metzner, Deborah Milton, Victor Sanchez, Hank
Wesselman, and many others. Registration is $695.00,
which doesnt include food or lodging. For more info contact The Message Company, 4 Camino Azul, Santa Fe, NM
87508, (505) 474-0998, (505) 474-7604, (505) 471-2584 FAX,
message@bizspirit.com, www.bizspirit.com.
Psychoactivity III, held November 2224, 2002, will focus on ayahuasca. Presenters include Arno Adelaars, Hans
Bogers, Jace Callaway, Hilario Chiriap, Piers Gibbon,
Luis Eduardo Luna, Claudia Mller-Ebeling, Jeremy
Narby, Christian Rtsch, Benny Shanon, Yatra W.M.
da Silveira Barbosa, Kajuyali Tsamani, and Adle Van
Der Plas. Films will also be shown: Fear and Loathing by
Gavin Searle, Night of the Liana by Glenn Switkes, Shamans of the Amazon by Dean Jeffrys, and Ayahuasca Tourism by Josh Collier. Meet traditional shamans and people
involved in the Dutch ayahuasca scene. Cost is 255.00
(about $247.00). For more info see www.psychoactivity.org.
AYAHUASCA HEALING RETREAT

There will be lectures, four ceremonies with ayahuasca and two with
Salvia divinorum, group sharing, artwork expression, transpersonal
exercises, and excursions. Spend ten days in the Amazon forest.
Located 1.5 hours from Manaus, Brazil, the lodge has excellent
facilities, phone, Internet, air conditioning, a swimming pool, and
rooms with private bathrooms. Contact: silviap@house.com.ar.
JANUARY 918, 2003 STAFF:
Rick Doblin, psychedelic researcher

Robert Venosa, visionary artist
Martina Hoffmann, visionary artist
Jonathan Ott, ethnobotanist
Zoe Seven, techno shaman
Silvia Polivoy, transpersonal psychologist
Isabela Hartz, visionary artist
David Icke, author and lecturer

Zoe Seven, techno-shaman
Silvia Polivoy, transpersonal psychologist
Isabela Hartz, visionary artist
JANUARY 2030, 2003 STAFF:
Drifts Angel by Robert Venosa
JANUARY 918, 2003

JANUARY 2030, 2003
www.ayahuasca-healing.net
109
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Sources
by Jon Hanna
CONFESSIONS OF A DOPE DEALER

NORTH MOUNTAIN PUBLISHING
POB 225265
San Francisco, CA 94122-5265
dopedealer@adopedealer.com
www.adopedealer.com
Confessions of a Dope Dealer is a whirlwind ride through the

life of Sheldon Norberg, during his years as a professional
drug dealer. From his teen-aged introduction to Cannabis and
LSD, to high school hijinks, Grateful Dead concerts, getting busted by his parents, college party daze, and his eventual stint as an outdoor Cannabis farmer, this was an enjoyable book from cover to cover. At times Sheldon seems neurotic, at other times he comes off as a bit of an asshole, but
throughout he remains an eminently likeable anti-hero. The
book is $24.00 postpaid (CA residents add applicable sales
tax), and the web site offers a variety of t-shirts as well.
Sheldon has taken the book and turned it into a one-man
play. At first I was a bit skeptical, but when I saw the production at a packed house on a closing night of one of its several
runs at different locations in the Bay Area, I was blown away.
Simple-yet-powerful sound and lighting effects are seamlessly
incorporated into Sheldons emotive and frequently humorous description of his own lifes adventures. When it was over,
I was left wanting more. Shows are forthcoming on November 2, 2002 in Davis, CA at the Varsity Theater, and from
November 2024, 2002 in Walnut Creek at the Lesher Center. Check his web site for details about these showings; if
one is happening near you, it is definitely worth sparking a
bowl and heading over.
Wildcrafters Wanted!
Especially seeking harvesters of Desmanthus root-bark.
Will pay competitively. Contact:
R.S. Botanicals, HRC-74-21614, El Prado, NM 87529
(505) 737-2443, riverssource@lycos.com
110
DEVA ETHNOBOTANICALS
POB 5612
Northampton, NN6 9ZR
UNITED KINGDOM
+44(0)1604 882545
+44(0)1604 882548 FAX
info@salvia-divinorum-supplies.co.uk
info@deva-ethnobotanicals.co.uk
www.deva-ethnobotanicals.co.uk
A United Kingdom supplier of Acorus calamus, Areca catechu,

Banisteriopsis caapi, Calea zacatechichi, Cannabis seed
(Dutch Passion brand), Corynanthe yohimbe, Datura stramonium, Diplopterys cabrerana, Ephedra sinica, Ginkgo biloba,
Ipomoea tricolor, I. violacea, Lactuca virosa, Mandragora
officianarum, Mimosa tenuiflora, Oleoresin lupulinae, Paullinia
cupana, Peganum harmala, Piper methysticum, Psychotria
viridis, Ptychopetalum olacoides, Salvia divinorum dried leaf
and extracts, Sceletium tortuosum, Scutellaria laterifoli, Serenoa
serulata, Trichocereus peruvianus (dried), and Valerianae
officinalis. They also offer a variety of traditional incenses,
charcoal disks, smudge sticks, a digital scale, a capsule filler,
an herb grinder, and a few books. Their prices seem low to
middle of the road.
DRUGS.COM
www.drugs.com
The Internets Drug Information Resource. All manner of

pharmaceutical drug-related information, as you might expect. One cool thing about this site is their Pill Identifier
Wizard, where you may be able to ID a pill by describing it
via a series of prompts. Without even noting the marking on
the pill, this program got a correct hit right away when I typed
in the specs for a Marinol pill. (Of course, there arent that
many round capsules) It actually shows oversized pictures
of the pills that it thinks you might be describing, so that
you can pick the right one. When I described a Prozac, it also
kicked out the goods. This could be a valuable service, although I dont know if it would deliver on generics
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
ENTHEOGENE BLTTER
maiLab - Hartwin Rohde
Danziber Strae 84
D-10405 Berlin
GERMANY
+49-30-48 49 28 11
+49-30-48 49 28 12 FAX
info@entheogene.de
www.entehogne.de
beyond); Sex, Magic & More; and Underground. Most

of the books that they carry are standards that can be obtained via pretty much any psychedelic book vendor, but they
do have a few unique British titles that I hadnt seen before.
(I did cringe when I saw that they are still hawking my friend
Will Beifuss horribly out-of-date 1996 Psychedelic
Sourcebook.) Check them out on the web.
Some years ago, Bert Marco Schuldes created a Germanlanguage version of some of Jim DeKornes issues of The
Entheogen Review; this was published for about six issues and
then the project was abandoned. Recently, a similar approach
has been taken by publisher/editor Hartwin Rohde, and
since the last issue of ER came out, two issues of this new
publicationEntheogene Bltterhave already appeared.
Rohde is making a go at producing a monthly version of ER
in German, and appears to be succeeding. The journal is
5.75" X 8.25", 52 pages, with a color cover and an attractive
layout. Although much of the bulk of this journal is made up
of articles that appeared in past issues of ER, there is also
quite a bit of new material; the first issue contained original
articles on Acacia complanata, Acorus calamus, Alternanthera
lehmanii, Argemone species, Argyreia nervosa, Arundo donax,
Atropa belladonna, Banisteriopsis caapi, Brugmansia,
Brunfelsia, Convallaria majalis, Corynanthe pachyceras, Galium
odoratum, and more. An original article in the second issue
focuses on psilocin as medicine. I am glad to see that ER is
reaching a larger audience in this manner, and it is quite a
trip to see my own Sources column translated into another
language. Definitely recommended for those who understand German.
HEADS
World Wide Heads, Inc.
POB 1319
Hudson
Quebec, J0P 1H0
CANADA
(450) 458-0605
(450) 458-2977 FAX
editor@headsmagazine.com
www.headsmagazine.com
THE FREEDOM BOOK COMPANY

73 Fawcett Road
Southsea
Hampshire
PO4 0DB
UNITED KINGDOM
+44 023 9278 0600
+44 023 9278 0444 FAX
info@freedombooks.co.uk
www.freedombooks.co.uk
A British book seller that specializes in drug and counterculture books. Categories include Magazines (with a bunch
of novel Cannabis rags); Cannabis; Psychoactives (magic
mushrooms, traditional and tribal brews, Ecstasy and
A fairly new rag out of Canada, Heads focuses largely on Cannabis-related topics, but also covers extreme sports, music,
and personalities. Edited by Paul DiRienzo (who coauthored The Ibogaine Story with Dana Beal and had a short
stint as a High Times editor) and Angela Finley, Heads features writings from such folks as Charles Hayes, Thomas
Lyttle, Martin Lee, and others. A one-year (6 issue) subscription in the USA is $17.77 (in U.S. dollars). Contact them
about available back-issues.
HERBAL EXPLORATIONS
POB 5637
Kingwood,TX 77325
(832) 746-7668
info@herbalexplorations.com
www.herbalexplorations.com
A small selection of shamanic herbs, including: Argemone

chicolote, Banisteriopsis caapi, Corynanthe yohimbe, Diplopterys
cabrerana, Mimosa tenuiflora, Nicotiana rustica, Peganum
harmala, Psychotria viridis, Trichocereus peruvianus, and Virola
sp. Prices appear to be pretty good overall. They also offer
resin and wood incenses, smudge sticks and special blends,
and have plans to sell traditional Peruvian and Mexican
jewelry and textiles.
111
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
IAMSHAMAN.COM
admin@iamshaman.com
www.iamshaman.com
Geared mainly geared toward Salvia divinorum. They have a

reports section, an on-line store that sells leaf and extracts at
good prices, a links section, and a chat section. They do have
a merchant rating link, which may eventually become a good
way to get the skinny on those companies that are good and
those that are rip-offs, although there is always the possibility that a site that makes money from the sales of plant products might not be totally unbiased with its ratings. But overall this site has a good feel about it.
LIL' SHOP OF SPORES

RVF
POB 32
Sherrill, IA 52073
blushroom@lilshopofspores.com
www.lilshopofspores.com
Many varieties of Psilocybe cubensis spore prints and spore

syringes for sale, plus technical advice, photos, and links.
Prices for spore prints run about $20.00, and for syringes
about $15.00, with a $5.00 S/H charge applicable for syringes
only. Send payment or inquiries to RVF, not Lil Shop of
Spores.
MICRON MAJICK MYCOLOGY MARKET

A.I.W.D.
6066 Shingle Creek Pkwy #209
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430
admin@micronmagick.com
www.micronmagick.com
Selling mycological supplies, their main unique offering is a

synthetic disc that is electrostatically charged to ensure that
it filters 99.97% of the air-borne particles down to 0.3 microns. These filters fit any size jar used in home or commercial mushroom cultivation. The discs are placed on top of
the spawn jar and take the place of the metal lid in the traditional band and lid set up, allowing air exchange but preventing the passage of contaminants. They are sterilized and
reusable. A pack of 25 is $5.00 and a pack of 100 is $15.00. A
few other products are available too, such as Psilocybe cubensis
spore syringes, various substrate material, and pressure cookers; check their web page, which also provides technical
details and a few links.
112
OPD CHEMICAL BUYERS DIRECTORY

www.chemexpo.com
An interesting web site that will find sources for chemicals

via their search engine. When I first dicked around with this,
I couldnt get it to pony up any of the goods. However, I eventually realized that one needs to be fairly vague in ones requests, due to variations in chemical nomenclature. For example, a search for the abbreviated 5-MeO-DMT turned
up nothing, while a more general search for tryptamine
turned up a company that purportedly sells 5-methoxy-N,Ndimethyl-tryptamine (however, when I went to this
companys web site, I couldnt locate any mention of this
chemical). This locator clearly wont be too useful for finding chemicals that have end uses as consumables, but it could
be a good way to find sources for solvents or other chemicals
that might be of use for the home experimentalist.
THE THRESHER
331 W 57th St. #153
New York, NY 10019
david@thethresher.com
www.thethresher.com
The Thresher calls itself a political journal, remarking:

Everybody knows that the next political paradigm is postideological, an unpredictable hybrid of all the influences on
human thought and behavior. The smartest among us are
looking for interesting ways to crossbreed left, right and center; mainstream and subculture; individual liberty and community; straight and queer; spirituality and critical intelligence; high technology and zero emissions; speed and permanence; rebellion and problem-solving; Caucasian and everybody else; ad infinitum. Were not talking dialectics. Were
talking complexity. The Thresher will attempt to navigate its
way through the tangled mess that is early 21st Century
politics.
While the rest of us attempt to navigate our way through the
above tangled mess of a magazine description, I can perhaps
offer a few more salient details. Each issue is about 200 pages
in length. The first issue, released in September of 2001, featured articles on national security, environmental ideas, energy resources, and quite a few pieces on drug policy issues.
Of more pointed interest to psychedelicists were the articles
Making Media War on MDMA by Steve Robles, The FDA
Trip interview with Rick Doblin, and a book excerpt from
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
DMT: Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman. Issue number two

is recently out, and is geared toward control culture politics,
with a great interview of former LAPD narcotics investigator Michael C. Ruppert (see www.copvcia.com), amongst
offerings by Douglas Rushkoff, Robert Anton Wilson,
Todd Brendan Fahey, and more. The Thresher is edited by
R.U. Sirius, former front-man for the highly lauded tech/
drugs magazine Mondo 2000.
A six-issue subscription is $29.99, and single issues are $6.99.
Although the publishing schedule for this puppy doesnt
seem to be too terribly regular (twas nearly a year between
the first and second issues), it is an all-around interesting
rag and I encourage folks to subscribe.
TINGLE LEAF IMPORTS

3900 W. Brown Deer Road, STE. A125
Milwaukee, WI 53209
(603) 507-8132
info@TingleLeaf.com
www.tingleleaf.com
A new company retailing and wholesaling dried Salvia

divinorum leaves. At $25.00 per 30 grams, their retail prices
are comparable to some of the lowest available. However, at
$550.00 per kilogram, their wholesale prices (while substantially cheaper than retail), arent any great bargain considering thatif one shops arounddried leaves can be imported
from Mexico for about $200.00 per kilo. Nevertheless, this
may be a good place for the end-user to shopparticularly
the novice who merely wants a small amount to try out, as
they sell a 10 gram trial size for $10.00.
ERRATA
In the Winter Solstice 2001 issue of this column, I reviewed
a company called Ethnogarden (www.ethnogarden.com).
Apparently I listed their URL incorrectly, and the one listed
above is the correct site. I also stated that they offered
Banisteriopsis caapi seeds and Diplopterys cabrerana seeds;
this too is incorrect, as they have been unable to secure a
source for these seeds. However, they have expanded their
offerings on the Tabernanthe iboga front, and they also offer
Mimosa tenuiflora in large amounts at wholesale prices.
In my last column I reviewed the company Salvia Space
(www.salviaspace.com), and gave them a bit of a hard time
due to their seemingly inaccurate claim Nobody Beats Our

Prices! I remarked that I had asked them via e-mail whether
or not they would be willing to come down on their prices if
they were shown those companies that currently offered
lower prices, and noted that they had not responded to my
query. This is incorrect. They did respond to my query, but
because the date was somehow wrong on the e-mail, this response went to the bottom of my cue and remained unnoticed by me until a routine cleaning of my files. They said
that the absolutely would be willing to beat any legitimate
competitors prices. My apologies for the error.
R.I.P.
ER subscriber B.H., IL recently wrote in to hip me to some
companies that were no longer in business. And since I have
been working like crazy on the massively updated fourth edition of my book Psychedelic Resource List (available soon, I
promise!), I have come across some additional companies
that it is worth pointing out are no longer around. Of course,
if you are aware that any of these companies are still around,
and just at new digs, please let me know.
No Longer in Business
Abbey Ethnobotanicals; Alternatech Solutions; Cosmic Shrooms; Entheobotany; Blue Ridge Garden; G.M.
Jones; Green Heat, Inc., Herbal Medicine Bag/N.Y.
Ethnobotanicals; The Inquisitor; Magic Garden Herb
Co.; The Peruvian Journey; Point Source Productions;
Rare Herb; Salvia Source; Shaman; Southwest
Ethnobotanicals; Wildflowers of Heaven; and Zavtone.
Moved, New Address Listed
Botanic Art
Hoogstraat 116, 3131 BP Vlaardingen, The Netherlands,
www.botanic-art.com
Knoware
956 Camino Oraibi, Santa Fe, NM 87505, Knoware@aol.com,
www.2knoware.com
The Lotus Paradise/Shamans Garden
POB 734, Garberville, CA 95542, www.shamansgarden.com
Pure Land Ethnobotanicals
2701 University Avenue, PMB 463, Madison, WI 53705-3700
113
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Book Review
Shaman, Jhankri and Nele Music Healers of Indigenous Cultures by
Pat Moffitt Cook. 1997. Foreword by Julian Burger, Ph.D. (Ellipsis Arts, 360 Interlocken Blvd., Ste. 300, Broomfield, CO 80021,
800-788-6670), ISBN 1-55961-456-0 [7.5" x 11" paperback]. 96 pp.,
plus CD, ISBN 1-55961-456-0 [60 minutes]. $30.00.
pictures. I had two students for a while but they do not

come often. To be a maestro takes time and patience.
They are more interested in travelling to the mainland
and finding work. I know the songs will disappear. That
is why I am willing to sing for you [Moffitt-Cook]
(Maestro Demosdenes Ramirez Hurtas in SJN, p. 36).
Shaman, Jhankri and Nele is a well-crafted mix of song:

lore:
In the following chapters you will meet an ojha, maestro,
nele, manbo, phawo, jhankri, ayahuascero, kangsinmu, shamans and other musical doctors. After reading their stories, the accompanying CD will provide a listening experience of the actual healing music. Each recording has
its own unique quality and purpose. It is important to
keep in mind that this music was not created to entertain but to stimulate an effect in their patients. Most recordings were made in the last six years with the exception of the Huichol mara'akame that was recorded in the
Sierra Madre mountains in 1940 (SJN, p. 7).
story:
I owned a small shop on the main street. Baba, the old
healer, wanted to teach me secret songs and how to
prepare medicine. He said I was an ojha.
I prayed to the goddess for direction. She came upon me,
Close your shop and build a temple in this field. Fly a
red flag from the roof. You will become an ojha. Do not
worry about money or your familys needs (Babaji in
SJN, p. 8).
Sitla came upon me. My eyes were closed. When they
opened I saw strange things. Songs and words pounded
in my head. For seven days and six nights the goddess
lived in me. I stayed inside her temple. No one could
touch me or I would scream. When Sitla left me I knew I
was a healer. That was long ago. Now, with song I invite
the goddess to come to my healing hut, to come upon
me. Through her grace and power I heal people with jaundice and small pox and babies with fevers (Koshalya in
SJN, p. 12).
fact:
These ways will be finished by the year 2000, predicts
the maestro. Already, there is no one who can sing the
114
Long ago, when the world was in great danger from

drought and fire, a tree sprang forth from the loins of a
woman of great purity. All the animals and human beings climbed into its branches and saved themselves from
destruction. This tree was called the Huanaymey Tree
(SJN, p. 41).
And, of course, healing:

First we gave her marsh tea. I told her to drink a gallon
of it in one day. When she was done we had a meeting.
We rolled her over on her left side and started drumming
there. After the drumming we begin to singthen rattle.
We are exposing the kidney to the healing vibrations of
our instruments and voices. Soon that drum produces a
certain tone and the beat takes on a certain cadence.
Then I know its beginning to work. We are affecting the
patient. Now the sound will help break loose all that
poison thats in there. That woman got well (Steve Old
Coyote in SJN, p. 82).
The accompanying CD consists of 18 representative songs

that each particular shaman uses. So that you have a complete outline of this book what follows is a listing of the 18
chapters: Babaji (North Indian Ojha), Koshalya (Hindu Village Healer), Ram Tmapa and Suni Ram (Jhankri of Nepal),
Don Agustin Rivas-Vasquez (Peruvian Ayahuasca Shaman), Micheline Forestal (Haitian Vodou Manho),
Kanucas Littlefish (Native American Anishnabe Medicine
Man), Maestro Demosdenes Ramirez Hurtas (Kuna Indian Song Healer of the San Blas Islands), Darkiking Don
Alejandro (Amazon Medicine Man), Alexander Tavakay
(Tuvan Shaman), Pointing Father (Spiritual Baptist Immigrants from Saint Vincent Island), Maraakame (Huichol
Peyote Shaman from Mexico), Jorge Kin (Lacandon Mayan
Healer), Nele Buna Inayenikidili (Kuna Indian Seer of the
San Blas Islands), Anselmo Palma Cruz (Tarahumara
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Owiruame from the Sierra Madres),

Kangsinmu (Spirit-Possessed Shaman
of Korea), Steve Old Coyote (Road
Man of the Native American Church),
Simon Eliet (Inatulele from Panama),
and Phawo Nyidhon (Tibetan Oracle).
You will no doubt refer to this book and
CD time and time again. Frequently I
find myself sitting down to play three
or four favorite tracks. Thoughts stir, I
make some notes, re-read passages and
call or e-mail a friend about feelings and
ideas. Using the CD to inspire such contemplation has provided added pleasure and insight. Whenever I pick up
the colorful book I find pleasure thumbing through it, reading a bit and enjoying the photos. For instance, I recently
revisited Chapter 9: Alexander
Tavakay: Tuvan Shaman and Track 9:
Calling Animal Helpers, sung by
Tavakay. In this song, which is usually
used to heal children, he summons
the cuckoo, raven, and the owl while
shaking the sound markers attached to
his costume and beating his drum. The
text describes geography, ethnography,
history, the 1991 shamanic conference
sponsored by Michael Harners
group, Foundation for Shamanic
Studies, and the Tuvan government
(held in Kyzel, the capital city), and
Tavakay as the Tuvan shaman and participant in that congress. This is all accomplished concisely in three pages, so
as not to overwhelm (if you want detail
find a more scholarly text). The background that Moffitt-Cook provides is
just enough, and one can listen to the
musical track without feeling mentally
overloaded or taxed.
Though the book is sewn and wrapped,
the pages do tend to pull away from the
binding. This is unfortunate and will
limit the life of this volume. The font
chosen for the text is readable though
perhaps overly stylish, and a better
choice could have been made. Each chapter contains a listing of references, but a
general bibliography has been omitted. There is no index. Nevertheless, I would
definitely recommend this book and CD pairing. Moffitt-Cook herself sums it
up well:
It is with great skepticism, hope and ultimately trust in the Divine that the indigenous healers represented in this book, share their knowledge, lives and healing music with you. It is my hope that this tremendous act of trust on their
behalf helps to quicken the process of preservation and increases public awareness and respect for the indigenous peoples of the earth (Moffitt-Cook in SJN,
p. 7).
Despite the minor production problems mentioned, Pat Moffitt-Cook has produced a wonderful compendium of song, didactic and visual beauty accessible to
all. She should feel proud. Jay Yasgur, RPh., MSc.
Mr. YASGUR, whose formal education was in pharmacy, is an author and healer specializing in homeopathy, massage, holistic health-care counseling, and plant spirit healing.
His first book, Yasgurs Homeopathic Dictionary and Holistic Health Reference 4th Ed. (1998),
is a standard reference in the field. His forthcoming work, 111 Great Homeopaths, deals
with the lives of many of the worlds great homeopaths and will be translated into six
languages. He may be contacted c/o, VAN HOY PUBLISHERS, POB 636, Greenville, PA
16125, (724) 347-1580, yasgur@juno.com, and www.yasgur.net.
ETHNOGARDEN
BOTANICALS
Offering you rare and sacred plants, herbs,
seeds, and extracts from around the globe.
ETHNOGARDEN BOTANICALS
POB 27048 Barrie ON Canada L4M-6K4
ethnogarden@sympatico.ca
please call for catalog
(705) 735-0549
www.ethnogarden.com
115
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
Bibliography
Barneby, R.C. 1991. Sensitivae censitae: A description of
the Genus Mimosa Linnaeus (Mimosaceae) in the New
World, Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 65: 1835
plus frontispiece.
Batista, L.M. and R. Nbrega de Almeida 1997. Central
Effects of the Constituents of Mimosa ophthalmocentra Mart.
ex Benth, Acta Farmaceutica Bonaerense 16 (2): 8386.
Batista, L.M. et al. 1999. Isolation and Identification of Putative Hallucinogenic Constituents from the Roots of Mimosa
ophthalmocentra, Pharmaceutical Biology 37 (1): 5053. (An
abstract can be found at www.swets.co.uk/sps/journals/
pb3701.html#abs11)
De Moraes, E.H.F. et al. 1990. As bases nitrogenas de Mimosa scabrella Bentham, Qumica Nova 13 (4): 308309.
Emboden, W.A. 1981. Transcultural Use of Narcotic Water
Lilies in Ancient Egyptian and Maya Drug Ritual, Journal of
Ethnopharmacology 3: 3983.
Fikes, J.C. 1993. Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism
and the Psychedelic Sixties. Millennia Press.
Fikes, J.C. 1996. Reuben Snake, Your Humble Serpent. Clear
Light.
Gibson, D. 2002. Personal communication.

Gonalves de Lima, O. 1946. Observaes sbre o vinho
de Jurema utilizado pelos ndios Pancar de Tacarat
(Pernambuco), Arquivos do Instituto Pesquisas Agronomicas
4: 4580.
Miller, R.A. 1983. The Magical & Ritual Use of Herbs.
Destiny Books.
Montgomery, R. 2002. Personal communication.
Pachter, I.J. et al. 1959. Indole Alkaloids of Acer saccharinum
(the Silver Maple), Dictyoloma incanescens, Piptadenia
colubrina, and Mimosa hostilis, Journal of Organic Chemistry
24: 12851287.
Schultes, R.E. et al. 1977. De Plantis Toxicariis e Mundo
Novo Tropicale Commentationes. XVIII. Phytochemical Examination of Spruces Ethnobotanical Collection of
Anadenanthera peregrina, Botanical Museum Leaflets. Harvard
University 25 (10): 273287.
Silveira Barbosa, Yatra-W.M. da 1998. Jurema Ritual in
Northern Brazil, MAPS Bulletin 8(3): 2729.
Voogelbreinder, S. 2002 (unpublished). Garden of Eden Vol. II.
If youre not a member of MAPS,

youre missing out on the latest psychedelic news
Please wont you join us?
Members receive the MAPS Bulletin,
which provides details on research worldwide
and includes feature articles, conference reports,
book reviews, Heffter Research Institute updates,
the Hofmann Foundation Report, and more.
See our web site for more details.
WWW.MAPS.ORG
116
CONTENTS

The Journal of Unauthorized Research
on Visionary Plants and Drugs
Editor:
David Aardvark
Technical Editor: K. Trout

Copy Editor: E.V. Love
Contributors
Jay Fikes, Ph.D.
Thomas Lyttle
Tao Jones
Infinite Ayes
N.B., New York Botanical Garden
Anonymous, WI
M.H., TN
K. Trout
O.H., Sweden
Alexander Shulgin, Ph.D.
B.N.
R.G., WA
P.H., NM
R.K., WA
Jon Hanna
Jay Yasgur, RPh., MSc.
Design & Layout

Soma Graphics
Address
POB 19820, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA
Jay Fikes Speaks

Lilly and Lotus
Network Feedback
Kaempferia galanga, MAOI assay, Mirabilis multifora
Anadenanthera & Mimosa
Destructive Distillation, Cactus Tea Success
Medical MAOI, Iboganie Extract
Storage, Shelf-life, MAOI Activity, Tolerance, TMA-2
Even More Scorpion Tales
Growing Peganum harmala
More on Mushrooms
Foreign Data
Events Calendar
Sources
Book Review
Bibliography
81
94
98
101
101
102
103
104
105
107
108
108
108
109
110
114
116
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The Journal of Unauthorized Research on Visionary Plants and Drugs
Volume XI, Number 3
Autumnal Equinox 2002
ISSN 1066-1913

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THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW

The Journal of Unauthorized Research on Visionary Plants and Drugs

Volume XI, Number 3

Autumnal Equinox 2002

The Entheogen Review

Technical Editor: K. Trout

Design & Layout

Jay Fikes Speaks

Information presented in The Entheogen Review comes from many

This journal is a clearinghouse for current data

Mind Books offers nearly 400 publications about the

Front Cover Image

Anadenanthera colubrina seeds and foliage,

photographed by Jon Hanna; hand model Kyri Roan.

Back Cover Image

A limited supply of back-issues of The Entheogen Review are

Our web site offers:

Bob was hugely supportive of my own projects, and I always

VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

Jay C. Fikes Speaks

Dr. J AY C. FIKES is an anthropologist who has published

THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW, POB 19820, SACRAMENTO, CA 95819-0820, USA

VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

rose bush thorns to draw blood so we could smear our bloody

JF: In the summer of 1970, I

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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

JF: By the time the confrontation at Wounded Knee happened

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

and practices in Christian and indigenous American religions

THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW, POB 19820, SACRAMENTO, CA 95819-0820, USA

VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

gard for native religion; or 3) Having high regard for both

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

TL: Can you speak about your academic training? What

THE ENTHEOGEN REVIEW, POB 19820, SACRAMENTO, CA 95819-0820, USA

VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

training in Michigan was surely as good as it would have been

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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

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cebo effect, i.e., the patients faith in the efficacy of the

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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

BOUNCING BEAR BOTANICALS

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to have been nurtured by numerous sessions with the

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

and my visits to their wolf-shrines, I had a memorable dream

As we crossed the stream

ally, no doubt as a result of my blessing by a wolf-shaman

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Listen well, he told me I am only going to give you

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX 2002

TL: Your investigations went beyond those of Boas, however. You

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VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3