Plants of the Gods: S1E7. The Ethnobotany of Warfare

01/13/21 • 33 min

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

The Ethnobotany of Warfare – Plants have played a fundamental role in warfare, not just as poisons and medicines but as ships, chariots, weapons and wound bandages. This episode traces this history from the time of primate clobbering each other with sticks to potential new battlefield medicines from plants.

Sources:

Hughes, J.D. Pan’s Travail. Johns Hopkins Press, 1996.

Majno, Guido. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, 1975.

Perlin, J. Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization. Harvard Press, 1991.

Plotkin, Mark J. “The Ethnobotany of Warfare,” Herbalgram: 101: 48-57.

Sources:

Hughes, J.D. Pan’s Travail. Johns Hopkins Press, 1996.

Majno, Guido. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, 1975.

Perlin, J. Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization. Harvard Press, 1991.

Plotkin, Mark J. “The Ethnobotany of Warfare,” Herbalgram: 101: 48-57.

Previous Episode

Plants of the Gods: S1E6. Opium

Opium – Perhaps the most ancient of the “Plants of the Gods,” plant remains in Europe clearly indicate that opium was being used by people more than 10,000 years ago. And not only was opium the first effective painkiller, it was also employed as an inspiration by composers and poets. Only in the 19th century did it become widely realized as a highly addictive substance. Some have suggested that this “Plant of the God” might also be termed a “Plant of the Devil.”

Sources:

Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. Plants, People, and Culture the Science of Ethnobotany. CRC Press, 2020.

Booth, M. Opium: A History. MacMillan, 1999.

Emboden, William A. Narcotic Plants. Collier Books, 1980.

Grinspoon, Lester, and James B. Bakalar. Cocaine: a Drug and Its Social Evolution. Basic Books, 1985.

Jay, Mike. High Society: the Central Role of Mind-Altering Drugs in History, Science, and Culture. Park Street Press, 2010.

Levetin, E. and K McMahon. Plants and Society. McGraw-Hill, 2002

Majno, Guido. The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. Harvard University Press, 1975.

Mann, J. Chasms of Delight: How Mind-Expanding Drugs Helped to Change the World. Memoirs Books, 2012.

Marks, Geoffrey, and William K. Beatty. The Medical Garden: Illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.

Muraresku, Brian. The Immortality Key: the Secret History of the Religion with No Name. St. Martin's Press, 2020.

Simpson, Beryl Brintnall., and Molly Conner-Ogorzaly. Economic Botany: Plants in Our World. McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Next Episode

Plants of the Gods: S1E8. Hexing Herbs and the Witches of Medieval Europe

Hexing Herbs and the Witches of Medieval Europe – The archetypal image of the witch as an old woman riding a broomstick was not a Hollywood creation. In the Middle Ages, “witches” were often skilled herbalists. Some used powerful plants of the Solanaceae family - plants like henbane and mandrake - that are rich in hallucinogenic compounds known as tropane alkaloids that can induce sensations of flying - to achieve altered states. And these plants were then rubbed on broomsticks that were applied to vaginal membranes, so they did fly through the hallucinogenic landscapes of their mind...

Sources:

Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox. Plants, People, and Culture the Science of Ethnobotany. CRC Press, 2020.

Harner, Michael. Hallucinogens and Shamanism. Oxford University Press. 1981.

Mann, John. Murder, Magic, and Medicine. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Plotkin, Mark J. Medicine Quest: in Search of Nature's Healing Secrets. Penguin Books, 2001.

Schultes, Richard Evans., and Albert Hofmann. Plants of the Gods. Vandermarck, 1979.