Culture - Nightshade plants in religion and literature

[lonesomeheroes]

In this thread, I will post some links to articles about nightshade plants and their use in religion or culture.

First is a article on Datura rituals in a Buddhist tantric text.
Siklos B.

“Datura rituals in the Vajramahabhairava-Tantra”.

Curare. 1993;16(2):71-76.

The occurrence of a plant known as da dhu ra is investigated in the pre-11th century Vajramahabhairava-tantra, an Indian Buddhist tantric text existant in Tibetan translation. Internal evidence from the texts, and linguistic evidence, identifying da dhu ra as Datura metel is given despite current certainty of the New World origin of the genus Datura.
This article can be read at Erowid. http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=7025

lonesomeheroes added 12 Minutes and 18 Seconds later...

Next is a paper on the Historical evidence for a pre-Columbian presence of Datura in the Old World. It is the most comprehensive article I have seen on Datura, with quotations from Arab, Greek and Hindu texts on Datura.

Historical evidence for a pre-Columbian presence of Datura in the Old World and implications for a first millennium transfer from the New World

R GEETA and WALEED GHARAIBEH

Datura (Solanaceae) is a small genus of plants that, for long, was thought to occur naturally in both the New and Old Worlds. However, recent studies indicate that all species in the genus originated in the Americas. This fi nding has prompted the conclusion that no species of Datura could have been present in the Old World prior to its introduction there by Europeans in the early 16th century CE. Further, the textual evidence traditionally cited in support of a pre- Columbian Old World presence of Datura species is suggested to be due to the misreading of classical Greek and Arabic sources. As a result, botanists generally accept the opinion that Datura species were transferred into the Old World in the post-Columbian period. While the taxonomic and geographic evidence for a New World origin for all the Datura species appears to be well supported, the assertion that Datura species were not known in the Old World prior to the 16th century is based on a limited examination of the pre-Columbian non-Anglo sources. We draw on old Arabic and Indic1 texts and southern Indian iconographic representations to show that there is conclusive evidence for the pre-Columbian presence of at least one species of Datura in the Old World. Given the systematic evidence for a New World origin of the genus, the most plausible explanation for this presence is a relatively recent but pre-Columbian (probably fi rst millennium CE) transfer of at least one Datura species, D. metel, into the Old World. Because D. metel is a domesticated species with a disjunct distribution, this might represent an instance of human-mediated transport from the New World to the Old World, as in the case of the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas).

http://sambali.blogspot.com/2008/03/...ew-to-old.html

lonesomeheroes added 12 Minutes and 13 Seconds later...

The Geopium site has some nice pics of Datura flowers paintings on house walls. http://www.geopium.org/Photos/Inde/R...andawa2005.htm

RC Parker's on Datura use has an extensive bibliography attached.

Entheogens in the Vajrayana Tradition

The Use of Entheogens in the Vajrayana Tradition: a brief summary of preliminary findings together with a partial bibliography.

When these sources are taken together, their combined weight leaves little room for doubt that Vajrayana has had a well-documented tradition of making use of entheogenic plants (especially datura and cannabis) for magico-religious and psychospiritual purposes. While this use may never have been particularly widespread, it is certainly significant.

http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/rich_text_5.html

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good info

[enquirewithin]

It would be interesting to know more about cannabis and the "Vajrayana Tradition."

[lonesomeheroes]

Originally Posted by enquirewithin

It would be interesting to know more about cannabis and the "Vajrayana Tradition."

The link just above has some references about cannabis use. Here are some links to the articles from the bibliography in that link. Enjoy!

William George Stablein 1976, The Mahakalatantra: A theory of ritual blessings and tantric medicine Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Mahakalatantra.pdf

James Francis Hartzell 1991,Tantric Yoga: A Study of the Vedic Precursors, Historical Evolution, Literatures, Cultures, Doctrines, and Practices of the llth Century Kasmiri Saivite and Buddhist Unexcelled Tantric Yogas http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Tantric%20Yoga.pdf

Edward Todd Fenner 1979, Rasayana-Siddhi: Medicine and Alchemy in the Buddhist Tantras Doctoral Dissertation University of Wisconsin-Madison http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/rasayanasiddhi.PDF

Bulcsu Siklos 1993, Datura Rituals in the Vajramahabhairava Tantra published in Curare Vol 16 (1993) pgs 71-76 http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Datura...habhairava.pdf http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Datura...habhairava.pdf

Michael Walter 1986, The Tantra a Vessel of bdud rtsi: a Bon text published in Journal of the Tibet Society 1987 Vol. 8 pgs 25-72 http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/bdud%20rtsi.pdf

Mia Touw 1981, The religious and medicinal uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet published in: Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 13: 23-34 http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/Touw.pdf

Sami Kivelä 2005, The Sarced Hilltop: A Hermeneutical Case Study on the Svayambhu Site in Kathmandu. Master’s thesis, University of Helsinki. http://vajrayana.faithweb.com/svayambhu.pdf

This was taken from a post by rcparker on the Edot forums.

lonesomeheroes added 1195 Minutes and 3 Seconds later...

Some Mandrake quotes

In the Secret Catechism of the Druses of Syria -- a legend which is repeated word for word by the oldest tribes about and around the Euphrates -- men were created by the 'Sons of God' descending on Earth, where, after culling seven Mandragoras, they animated these roots, which became forthwith men.* * The Mandragora is the mandrake of the Bible, of Rachel and Leah. They are the roots of a plant, fleshy, hairy, and forked below, representing roughly the limbs of a man, the body and even a head. Its magical and mysterious properties have been proclaimed in fable and play from the most archaic ages. From Rachel and Leah, who indulged in witchcraft with them, down to Shakespeare, who speaks of shrieking --

. . . . 'Like mandrakes torn out of the earth

That living mortals, hearing them, run mad'

-- the mandragora was the magic plant par excellence.

These roots, without any stalk, and with large leaves growing out of the head of the root, like a gigantic crop of hair, present little similitude to man when found in Spain, Italy, Asia Minor, or Syria. But on the Isle of Candia, and in Karamania near the city of Adan, they have a wonderfully human form; being very highly prized as amulets. They are also worn by women as a charm against sterility, and for other purposes. They are especially effective in Black Magic.

From The Secret Doctrine by Helena Blavatsky

The Bible, Genesis 30:14-17

14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

15 But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."

16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he slept with her that night.

17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Finally a post worth reading in the nightshades forum

[enquirewithin]

Excellent! Thanks for that. I need some time to read it before commenting further.

The scholarly article about cannabis use in India, China and Tibet is very informative. The pdf is here.