The Plants of the Gods podcast

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

Curare – Once known as the "flying death of the Amazon," curare is a mixture of rainforest plants that indigenous peoples smear on the tips of their arrows or blowdarts to give them a deadly effectiveness. In the hands of western physicians, however, curare has been converted into a life-sustaining medication, a muscle relaxant in abdominal surgery.  Sources: Balick, Michael J., and Paul Alan Cox....

Wine – Wine grapes and wine are unquestionably the world's most valuable medicinal plants: the global annual value of wine is over 300 billion dollars. And the history of wine predates the origin of the human species: primates are known to consume fermented fruit to enter an altered state. This episode traces the use of wine as medicine, from ancient Transcaucasia on the Black Sea 8000 years ago,...

Coca – not to be confused with coconuts or with cacao, the source of chocolate - is a large bush or small tree native to northwestern South America. Cocaine extracted from the leaves found favor among personages as diverse as Sigmund Freud and Ulysses S. Grant as it was once used as a component of various tonics, patent medicines and even a popular wine. Coca leaves are still widely used in this c...

Hallucinogenic snuffs – though most hallucinogens like magic mushrooms or ayahuasca are taken orally, the indigenous peoples of Amazonia have created two different and highly potent snuffs from Amazonian trees which they consume for a variety of healing and divinatory purposes. As with ayahuasca, the author draws on his personal insights and experiences with these plants and these peoples to descr...

Ayahuasca – From Argentina to Australia, from Israel to Indonesia, a once-obscure Amazonian vine, admixed with a few other plants is now celebrated – and even venerated – as a plant of power knowledge and healing. Ayahuasca – also known as "the vine of the soul." Native to the northwest Amazon and employed by indigenous shamans for therapeutic purposes, this plant has played a fundamental role in...

"Plants of the Gods" is a new and unique podcast focusing on the hallucinogenic plants and fungi whose impact on world culture and religion – and healing potential - is only now beginning to be appreciated as never before. Unlike other podcasts relating to these issues, "Plants of the Gods" is hosted by renowned ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin , a Harvard and Yale-trained scientist who has been stu...