The Master Plant

The Master Plant
Author: Andrew Russell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2020-06-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000183114

Described as a ‘master plant’ by many indigenous groups in lowland South America, tobacco is an essential part of shamanic ritual, as well as a source of everyday health, wellbeing and community. In sharp contrast to the condemnation of the tobacco industry and its place in contemporary public health discourse, the book considers tobacco in a more nuanced light, as an agent both of enlightenment and destruction.Exploring the role of tobacco in the lives of indigenous peoples, The Master Plant offers an important and unique contribution to this field of study through its focus on lowland South America: the historical source region of this controversial plant, yet rarely discussed in recent scholarship. The ten chapters in this collection bring together ethnographic accounts, key developments in anthropological theory and emergent public health responses to indigenous tobacco use. Moving from a historical study of tobacco usage – covering the initial domestication of wild varieties and its value as a commodity in colonial times – to an examination of the transcendent properties of tobacco, and the magic, symbolism and healing properties associated with it, the authors present wide-ranging perspectives on the history and cultural significance of this important plant. The final part of the book examines the changing landscape of tobacco use in these communities today, set against the backdrop of the increasing power of the national and transnational tobacco industry.The first critical overview of tobacco and its uses across lowland South America, this book encourages new ways of thinking about the problems of commercially exploited tobacco both within and beyond this source region.

Plant Teachers

Plant Teachers
Author: Jeremy Narby
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2021-08-31
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1608687732

A trailblazing anthropologist and an indigenous Amazonian healer explore the convergence of science and shamanism “The dose makes the poison,” says an old adage, reminding us that substances have the potential to heal or to harm, depending on their use. Although Western medicine treats tobacco as a harmful addictive drug, it is considered medicinal by indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest. In its unadulterated form, it holds a central place in their repertoire of traditional medicines. Along with ayahuasca, tobacco forms a part of treatments designed to heal the body, stimulate the mind, and inspire the soul with visions. In Plant Teachers, anthropologist Jeremy Narby and traditional healer Rafael Chanchari Pizuri hold a cross-cultural dialogue that explores the similarities between ayahuasca and tobacco, the role of these plants in indigenous cultures, and the hidden truths they reveal about nature. Juxtaposing and synthesizing two worldviews, Plant Teachers invites readers on a wide-ranging journey through anthropology, botany, and biochemistry, while raising tantalizing questions about the relationship between science and other ways of knowing.

Plant Spirit Shamanism

Plant Spirit Shamanism
Author: Ross Heaven
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2006-08-03
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1594776660

An in-depth look at the role of plant spirits in shamanic rituals from around the world • Shows how shamans heal using their knowledge of plant spirits as well as the plant’s “medical properties” • Explores the core methods of plant shamanism--soul retrieval, spirit extraction, and sin eating--and includes techniques for connecting with plant spirits • Includes extensive field interviews with master shamans of all traditions In Plant Spirit Shamanism, Ross Heaven and Howard G. Charing explore the use of one of the major allies of shamans for healing, seeing, dreaming, and empowerment--plant spirits. After observing great similarities in the use of plants among shamans throughout the world, they discovered the reason behind these similarities: Rather than dealing with the “medical properties” of the plants or specific healing techniques, shamans commune with the spirits of the plants themselves. From their years of in-depth shamanic work in the Amazon, Haiti, and Europe, including extensive field interviews with master shamans, Heaven and Charing present the core methods of plant shamanism used in healing rituals the world over: soul retrieval, spirit extraction, sin eating, and the Amazonian tradition of pusanga (love medicine). They explain the techniques shamans use to establish connections to plant spirits and provide practical exercises as well as a directory of traditional Amazonian and Caribbean healing plants and their common North American equivalents so readers can ex-plore the world of plant spirits and make allies of their own.

Plant Spirit Medicine

Plant Spirit Medicine
Author: Eliot Cowan
Publisher: Granite Publishing
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1995
Genre: Ethnobotany --
ISBN: 9781893183117

Ancient shamanic practice compelled the magician-healer first to make contact with the spirit of the plant to ask for its help before administering the herbal cure. This practice is alive today in Mexico among the traditional Indian shaman healers-principally the elder Huichol Indian shaman and plant spirit healer Don Guadalupe Gonzales Rios. Elliot Cowan reveals these ancient practices and guides the reader in the effective use of the wild herb plants in the area in which he or she lives. the result is a wonderful psychic and spiritual approach to holistic healing

Master Plants Cookbook

Master Plants Cookbook
Author: Margarita Restrepo
Publisher: Running Press Adult
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2016-09-13
Genre: Cooking
ISBN: 0762460253

Food isn't just food, it can be medicine! A plant-based, whole-food diet can help prevent chronic diseases, while also promoting a healthy weight. This isn't just a modern concept that's supported by today's science, but a knowledge that's deeply entrenched in our collective food history. Master Plants Cookbook, from the founder and chef for Naked Food© magazine, takes you on a fascinating journey of discovery that spans ancient civilizations, and links the wisdom of our ancestors with the magnificent power of foods we can still enjoy today. The plants and grains that these ancient cultures grew, ate, and thrived on remain the most powerful foods for our own optimum health. And by incorporating these 33 "Master" plants into your diet -- from avocados, lentils, and beets to sweet potatoes, blueberries, and chia -- you can benefit from their detoxifying, immune-boosting, health-promoting powers. With more than 100 delectable and easy recipes including "Himalayan Rice," "Machu Picchu's Quinoa Cookies," and "Incan Mango Pudding," Master Plants Cookbook draws on the best of ancient traditions to spark a new love for real, organic cuisine that packs a powerful healing punch. Whether you are already well on the road to a plant-based way of eating, or just need a little push, Master Plants will empower you to eat your way to your healthiest, most radiant self.

What a Plant Knows

What a Plant Knows
Author: Daniel Chamovitz
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2012-05-22
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 0374288739

Explores the secret lives of various plants, from the colors they see to whether or not they really like classical music to their ability to sense nearby danger.

This Is Your Mind On Plants

This Is Your Mind On Plants
Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2021-07-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0141997346

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR NEW NETFLIX SERIES, HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND 'It's a trip - engrossing, eye-opening, mind altering' New Statesman 'Fascinating. Pollan is the perfect guide ... curious, careful, open minded' The Guardian Of all the many things humans rely on plants for, surely the most curious is our use of them to change consciousness: to stimulate, calm, or completely alter the qualities of our mental experience. In This Is Your Mind On Plants, Michael Pollan explores three very different drugs - opium, caffeine and mescaline - and throws the fundamental strangeness of our thinking about them into sharp relief. Exploring and participating in the cultures that have grown up around these drugs, while consuming (or in the case of caffeine, trying not to consume) them, Pollan reckons with the powerful human attraction to psychoactive plants, and the equally powerful taboos. In a unique blend of history, science, memoir and reportage, Pollan shines a fresh light on a subject that is all too often treated reductively. In doing so, he proves that there is much more to say about these plants than simply debating their regulation, for when we take them into our bodies and let them change our minds, we are engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways we can. This ground-breaking and singular book holds up a mirror to our fundamental human needs and aspirations, the operations of our minds and our entanglement with the natural world.

The Plant Lover's Guide to Sedums

The Plant Lover's Guide to Sedums
Author: Brent Horvath
Publisher: Timber Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2014-04-22
Genre: Gardening
ISBN: 1604696060

Sedums are most popular flowering succulent. They range from groundcovers to large border perennials and are often included in green roof and vertical garden design because of their visual interest and drought tolerance. Sedums changes dramatically with the seasons—in fall, they are rich and earthy while in summer their flowers come in vibrant shades of pink and yellow. The Plant Lover’s Guide to Sedums includes everything you need to know about these beautiful gems. Plant profiles highlight 150 of the best varieties to grow, with information on zones, plant size, soil and light needs, origin, and how they are used in the landscape. Additional information includes designing with sedums, understanding sedums, growing and propagating, where to buy them, and where to see them in public gardens.

Singing to the Plants

Singing to the Plants
Author: Stephan V, Beyer
Publisher: UNM Press
Total Pages: 477
Release: 2010-01-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0826347312

In the Upper Amazon, mestizos are the Spanish-speaking descendants of Hispanic colonizers and the indigenous peoples of the jungle. Some mestizos have migrated to Amazon towns and cities, such as Iquitos and Pucallpa; most remain in small villages. They have retained features of a folk Catholicism and traditional Hispanic medicine, and have incorporated much of the religious tradition of the Amazon, especially its healing, sorcery, shamanism, and the use of potent plant hallucinogens, including ayahuasca. The result is a uniquely eclectic shamanist culture that continues to fascinate outsiders with its brilliant visionary art. Ayahuasca shamanism is now part of global culture. Once the terrain of anthropologists, it is now the subject of novels and spiritual memoirs, while ayahuasca shamans perform their healing rituals in Ontario and Wisconsin. Singing to the Plants sets forth just what this shamanism is about--what happens at an ayahuasca healing ceremony, how the apprentice shaman forms a spiritual relationship with the healing plant spirits, how sorcerers inflict the harm that the shaman heals, and the ways that plants are used in healing, love magic, and sorcery.

Sacred Plant Initiations

Sacred Plant Initiations
Author: Carole Guyett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2015-03-16
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1591432146

A practical guide to connecting with plants through ceremony • Explains how to commune with plants and their spirits through the traditional shamanic method of “plant dieting” to receive their teachings and guidance • Details 8 ceremonial plant initiations centered on common, easily recognized plants and trees such as primrose, dandelion, oak, and dog rose • Provides instructions to develop your own sacred plant initiations and make ceremonial plant elixirs • Includes four audio journeys to facilitate plant initiations In this guide to sacred plant initiations, medical herbalist and shamanic practitioner Carole Guyett explains how to commune with plants and their spirits through the traditional shamanic method of “plant dieting.” A plant diet involves ingesting a particular plant over a period of time so you regularly receive the plant’s vibratory energy as well as its medicinal actions. Adding a ceremonial element to plant dieting offers a sacred initiation by the plant world, allowing you to connect deeply with all aspects of a plant, receive its sacred teachings, and forge a relationship for guidance and healing, benefitting both yourself and others. Each of the eight ceremonial plant initiations detailed in the book was personally developed by the author through extensive work with her ceremonial groups. They each center on an easily recognized plant or tree such as primrose, dandelion, oak, and dog rose. These common plants have powerful teachings and healing guidance to share with those who communicate with and honor them. The initiations, for both individuals and groups, work with the Wheel of the Year, honoring each plant’s sacred timing and connecting with one of the eight Celtic and Pre-Celtic Fire Festivals--the solstices, equinoxes, and the holy days of Beltane, Lughnasadh, Samhain, and Imbolc. Offering practical instructions so you can develop your own sacred plant initiations, the author also include access to 4 audio journeys to facilitate the initiations in the book. She also explains how to make plant elixirs for use in plant diets and for healing. She shows how connecting with plants allows us to deepen our relationship with Nature, access higher levels of consciousness and spiritual realms, and facilitate the full flowering of human potential.