La orquídea y el helecho
Leí en el bonito libro de Jean-Marie Pelt Las plantas. Amores y civilizaciones vegetales que
las orquídeas (cuyo nombre significa curiosamente tésticulo en griego),
con unas 25.000 especies diferentes, eran la cumbre de la evolución en
el mundo vegetal (poéticamente podríamos decir que son las homo sapiens de las plantas).
Al lado de la Phalaenopsis tengo un helecho. Las comparaciones son
odiosas. El helecho no tiene flores, es de un verde más apagado y se lo
ve rudo, mucho más rudo y poco evolucionado que la orquídea. Sin
embargo el éxito evolutivo del helecho es impresionante: son las plantas
dominantes en el carbonífero. Hay evidencias fósiles de helechos de 395
millones de años de antigüedad, mientras que las orquídeas pueden tener
a lo sumo entre 76 y 84 millones de años (fueron compañeras de los
dinosaúrios). Como vemos, la evolución no tiene por qué premiar la
belleza o la mayor perfección. Premia que tengas unas características
adecuadas para un medio adecuado, nada más. Mi querida Phalaenopsis
podría perder en la lucha por la vida con mi triste helecho.
http://pictures.abebooks.com/LALCANA/5100457848.jpg
Jean-Marie Pelt realiza con este libro un verdadero
viaje a través del Reino Vegetal. Para acercarnos a él, el autor recurre
a la comparación y la metáfora con el Reino Animal (más cercano a
nosotros) y con el mismo Ser Humano. Lo fascinante de este ensayo es
descubrir en sencillas palabras algo tan lejos de los no versados en
botánica: El mundo de las plantas, su intimidad, sus misterios ysu
sexualidad. Pelt nos introduce en el mundo silencioso de las plantas a
través de las orquídeas. Seductoras y fragantes. Las orquídeas son las
plantas más evolucionadas del Reino Vegetal, de la misma forma que el
ser Humano lo es en el Reino Animal. Las orquídeas: Prostitutas
seductoras y madres sacrificadas. En adelante, el autor nos lleva a
otros grupos vegetales partiendo de las formas más primitivas. Su abunda
en analogías con el ser humano. Las primeras manifestaciones vegetales,
que se desarrollaron en el medio acuático, realizaron un
autenticodespliegue de medios para conquistar el medio terrestre.Durante
sucesivas oleadas, las diversas civilizaciones vegetales fueron
invadiendo la tierra, cada cual con medios más sofisticados. Desde los
musgos, primitivos y oscuros, pasando por los helechos, las grandes
coníferas y terminando en la culminación evolutiva: Las plantas con
flores. Cada especie haciendo alarde de inimaginables técnicas de
adaptación al medio. Pelt hace aquí una reflexión interesante. Nos hace
notar que el órgano que ha fijado laescala evolutiva en los animales es
el cerebro, mientras que, en las plantas, lo es el órgano sexual.
Mientras más arcaico es el sistema reproductor de una planta, más
primitiva es. Y siguiendo la línea de ese razonamiento, el autor vuelve a
llevarnos a las orquídeas, cuyo órgano sexual es el más evolucionado
del Reino Vegetal. Lo más inquietante es que, después de leer este
libro, ya no volveremos a ver las plantas con los mismos ojos que antes.
En su ameno libro Las plantas: amores y civilizaciones vegetales,
Jean-Marie Pelt afirma que la flor es la parte más «animal» de la
planta —y en más de un sentido—, pues logra aprender comportamientos
para adaptarse al medio, tal como lo hacen los animales, y en esto las
orquídeas son las mayores expertas. Por su parte, las mariposas no sólo
pueden asimilarse a las flores, sino que en muchos casos se mimetizan
con ellas como mecanismo de defensa; prefieren las flores de su propio
color, tal vez trasladando a la flor la atracción que su pareja ejerce
sobre ellas, como explica Pelt. Cuenta Diane Ackerman, en Una historia natural de los sentidos, que.......
Desde un punto de vista biológico, las orquídeas no sólo son plantas
fascinantes porque evocan la exuberancia de los bosques tropicales, la
extravagancia de sus colores, lo excelso de sus aromas o el exotismo de
sus formas, sino también por la distribución de sus cerca de 30 mil
especies conocidas1 en todos los continentes,
la diversidad de sistemas de polinización
y de atracción de polinizadores que les caracteriza, y las curiosas
adaptaciones que tienen para desarrollarse y colgar de árboles o
arbustos (epífitas), prosperar sobre piedras recubiertas de musgo u
hojarasca en descomposición
(semiterrestres), o crecer vertical y majestuosamente sobre raíces que
se fijan en la tierra (terrestres). ...
La exitosa expansión de los ancestros de las orquídeas que hoy se
conocen en todos los continentes se basó en la “imaginación desplegada”
para sobrevivir en situaciones adversas; además de haber superado
todos los tipos de estrés climático, hídrico, humedad ambiental,
nutrimentos, luz y enfermedades, aseguraron su polinización mediante
los insectos desde hace millones de años, lo que les ha permitido ocupar
el grado más alto de evolución dentro del reino vegetal.
En sentido religioso, el irresistible y cautivador hechizo de las
orquídeas se remonta a una leyenda de la mitología griega, en la cual
Orchis, hijo de una ninfa y un sátiro, bebió en exceso
durante las festividades del dios Baco (dios del vino); ya ebrio,
cometió un pecado imperdonable: tuvo relaciones íntimas con una
sacerdotisa, la
cual lo condenó a muerte por designio divino. Sin embargo, sus
padres suplicaron a los dioses que lo perdonaran y devolvieran la vida a
su primogénito. Ante tan pertinaz insistencia, aquellos accedieron,
pero con la condición de que tendría la obligación de proporcionar
satisfacción a los
hombres en su vida próxima. Por consiguiente, y sin tardanza
alguna, Orchis fue transformado en una orquídea con facultades
afrodisíacas y poderes eróticos que supuestamente fortalecían el vigor
sexual de quien la oliese.
Fuente©1: Red Mundial.www.orchidpainter.com/Sesquipedale.jpg
Fuente©2: Red Mundial.www.elicrisojt/orchidee/xanthopan.jpg
En otras culturas, estas plantas también han simbolizado feminidad y seducción refinada eintensa, o bien pasión amorosa, virilidad y perfección estética ligadas con acontecimientos atroces y guerras despiadadas teñidas de sangre. En el caso de las civilizaciones mesoamericanas, es indudable el uso religioso, medicinal o culinario de especies tales como Arpophyllum spicatum, Encyclia citrina, Laelia speciosa, Laelia rubescens y Prosthechea vitellina, entre muchas otras. No obstante, la orquídea más importante en el mundo cultural de los mayas y los aztecas fue la vainilla o tlilxóchitl, que, según cuenta una leyenda, tuvo su origen en la muerte de la joven Tzacopontziza (“Lucero del alba”), hija del tercer rey totonaco Teniztli, quien había hecho votos de castidad, y su amante Zkotan-Oxga (“Joven venado”). Tras ser degollados ambos por sus amores prohibidos, se les extirpó el corazón y se ofrendó a la diosa Tonacaohua en señal de expiación. Y justamente en el lugar del sacrificio brotó un arbusto de vainilla y a su lado se desarrolló una orquídea, que más tarde se cubrió de flores, cuyo excelso aroma aún invita al disfrute de esa planta. A la vainilla se le utilizaba sobre todo para preparar una bebida que ponía remedio al cansancio, las preocupaciones y el miedo y fortificaba el alma: el chocolate (xocoatl).
Fuente©1: Red Mundial.www.orchidpainter.com/Sesquipedale.jpg
Fuente©2: Red Mundial.www.elicrisojt/orchidee/xanthopan.jpg
En otras culturas, estas plantas también han simbolizado feminidad y seducción refinada eintensa, o bien pasión amorosa, virilidad y perfección estética ligadas con acontecimientos atroces y guerras despiadadas teñidas de sangre. En el caso de las civilizaciones mesoamericanas, es indudable el uso religioso, medicinal o culinario de especies tales como Arpophyllum spicatum, Encyclia citrina, Laelia speciosa, Laelia rubescens y Prosthechea vitellina, entre muchas otras. No obstante, la orquídea más importante en el mundo cultural de los mayas y los aztecas fue la vainilla o tlilxóchitl, que, según cuenta una leyenda, tuvo su origen en la muerte de la joven Tzacopontziza (“Lucero del alba”), hija del tercer rey totonaco Teniztli, quien había hecho votos de castidad, y su amante Zkotan-Oxga (“Joven venado”). Tras ser degollados ambos por sus amores prohibidos, se les extirpó el corazón y se ofrendó a la diosa Tonacaohua en señal de expiación. Y justamente en el lugar del sacrificio brotó un arbusto de vainilla y a su lado se desarrolló una orquídea, que más tarde se cubrió de flores, cuyo excelso aroma aún invita al disfrute de esa planta. A la vainilla se le utilizaba sobre todo para preparar una bebida que ponía remedio al cansancio, las preocupaciones y el miedo y fortificaba el alma: el chocolate (xocoatl).
Las orquídeas en la época prehispánica
... tras la caída del imperio azteca el aprecio
ornamental por las orquídeas se hizo mayor; en el siglo XIX el
desvalijamiento de los bosques americanos se agudizó con el fin
de conseguir la flor deseada, talante por demás infame que propició
la extinción de muchas de sus variedades nativas.
-----------------------------------
Las plantas del amor
Los afrodisíacos en los mitos, la historia y el presente
Christian Rätsch Contribuciones: Albert Hofmann
Los afrodisíacos en los mitos, la historia y el presente
Christian Rätsch Contribuciones: Albert Hofmann
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| Divine Aphrodite, much celebrated lover of laughter, sea-born, life-giving Goddess, Patroness of the feats which last for nights... Companion of Bacchus, whose bliss is abundant, Dispenser of marriage, mother of desire Spring of seduction and pleasure Who works in secret, seen and yet unseen --Greek ode |
Divina Afrodita, amante muy celebrada la diosa de la risa, en el mar nata, la que da vida, Patrona de las hazañas que duran noches ... Compañera de Baco, cuya bienaventuranzas son abundantes, Dispensadora del matrimonio, la madre del deseo Primavera de la seducción y del placer ¿Quién trabaja en secreto, visto y sin embargo no visto - Oda griega |
Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and symbol of sexuality, is said to have
emerged from the sea bearing herbs that could cure impotence, enhance
sexual pleasure, and provoke both love and fertility. What were those
herbs, did they really work, and where can we find them today?
Afrodita, diosa del amor y símbolo de la sexualidad, se dice que ha surgido del mar, y es portadora de las hierbas que curan la impotencia, aumentan el placer sexual, y provocan el amor y la fertilidad. ¿Cuáles fueron esas hierbas, realmente funcionan, y dónde les podemos encontrar hoy en día?
Plants of Love, a fascinating romp through history detailing our often obsessive --and surprisingly successful!-- search for aphrodisiacs, may well have the answers to these questions. From intriguing potions popular in ancient Pompeii to Chinese opium dens of the nineteenth century, to our modern fascination with unorthodox uses for such common plants as garlic and ginger, this is a book for the lover in all of us. Erotic and unusual myths, poems, superstitions, and legends are illustrated by a sensual, dazzling array of art from Egyptian hieroglyphics to medieval tapestries, whimsical Tibetan folk art to erotic Asian silk-screen paintings.
"Las plantas del amor", es un fascinante paseo por la historia que detalla la obsesiva - y sorprendentemente exitosa - búsqueda de afrodisíacos, un libro que bien puede tener las respuestas a estas búsquedas. Desde las intrigantes pociones populares de la antigua Pompeya y los fumaderos de opio chinos del siglo XIX, a la fascinación moderna con usos poco ortodoxos de plantas comunes como el ajo y el jengibre, este es un libro para el amante de las plantas. Mitos eróticos e inusuales, poemas, supersticiones y leyendas están ilustrados con sensualidad, desde la deslumbrante variedad del arte de los jeroglíficos egipcios hasta los tapices medievales, desde el caprichoso arte popular tibetano a las pinturas eróticas asiáticas serigrafiadas.
A detailed, photo-illustrated listing of over a hundred plants gives full information in their specific aphrodesiacal properties, and dozens of age-old recipes --from the sublime to the downright peculiar-- for beverages, ointments, pills, incenses, and snuffs give graphic testimonial to just how far people hvae been willing to go in the name of love.
Un listado detallado, fotos ilustradas de más de un centenar de plantas dan información completa de sus propiedades afrodisicas específicas , y docenas de antiguas recetas - desde lo sublime hasta lo francamente peculiar - para las bebidas, pomadas, pastillas, inciensos, dan un testimonio gráfico de hasta qué punto se ha estado dispuesto a ir en el nombre del amor.
Afrodita, diosa del amor y símbolo de la sexualidad, se dice que ha surgido del mar, y es portadora de las hierbas que curan la impotencia, aumentan el placer sexual, y provocan el amor y la fertilidad. ¿Cuáles fueron esas hierbas, realmente funcionan, y dónde les podemos encontrar hoy en día?
Plants of Love, a fascinating romp through history detailing our often obsessive --and surprisingly successful!-- search for aphrodisiacs, may well have the answers to these questions. From intriguing potions popular in ancient Pompeii to Chinese opium dens of the nineteenth century, to our modern fascination with unorthodox uses for such common plants as garlic and ginger, this is a book for the lover in all of us. Erotic and unusual myths, poems, superstitions, and legends are illustrated by a sensual, dazzling array of art from Egyptian hieroglyphics to medieval tapestries, whimsical Tibetan folk art to erotic Asian silk-screen paintings.
"Las plantas del amor", es un fascinante paseo por la historia que detalla la obsesiva - y sorprendentemente exitosa - búsqueda de afrodisíacos, un libro que bien puede tener las respuestas a estas búsquedas. Desde las intrigantes pociones populares de la antigua Pompeya y los fumaderos de opio chinos del siglo XIX, a la fascinación moderna con usos poco ortodoxos de plantas comunes como el ajo y el jengibre, este es un libro para el amante de las plantas. Mitos eróticos e inusuales, poemas, supersticiones y leyendas están ilustrados con sensualidad, desde la deslumbrante variedad del arte de los jeroglíficos egipcios hasta los tapices medievales, desde el caprichoso arte popular tibetano a las pinturas eróticas asiáticas serigrafiadas.
A detailed, photo-illustrated listing of over a hundred plants gives full information in their specific aphrodesiacal properties, and dozens of age-old recipes --from the sublime to the downright peculiar-- for beverages, ointments, pills, incenses, and snuffs give graphic testimonial to just how far people hvae been willing to go in the name of love.
Un listado detallado, fotos ilustradas de más de un centenar de plantas dan información completa de sus propiedades afrodisicas específicas , y docenas de antiguas recetas - desde lo sublime hasta lo francamente peculiar - para las bebidas, pomadas, pastillas, inciensos, dan un testimonio gráfico de hasta qué punto se ha estado dispuesto a ir en el nombre del amor.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Encyclopedia-Aphrodisiacs-Psychoactive-Substances/dp/1594771693/ref=pd_sim_b_2
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71EBLYbaM0L._SL1000_.jpghttp://www.amazon.com/The-Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology/dp/0892819782/ref=pd_sim_b_1
The most comprehensive guide to the botany, history, distribution, and cultivation of all known psychoactive plants
• Examines 414 psychoactive plants and related substances
• Explores how using psychoactive plants in a culturally sanctioned context can produce important insights into the nature of reality
• Contains 797 color photographs and 645 black-and-white illustrations
In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful plants--those known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness--have traditionally been regarded as sacred. In The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants Christian R䴳ch details the botany, history, distribution, cultivation, and preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. He discusses their ritual and medicinal usage, cultural artifacts made from these plants, and works of art that either represent or have been inspired by them. The author begins with 168 of the most well-known psychoactives--such as cannabis, datura, and papaver--then presents 133 lesser known substances as well as additional plants known as “legal highs,” plants known only from mythological contexts and literature, and plant products that include substances such as ayahuasca, incense, and soma. The text is lavishly illustrated with 797 color photographs--many of which are from the author’s extensive fieldwork around the world--showing the people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world’s sacred psychoactives.
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World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers.
• Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text.
• Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world.
• Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents.
• First edition sold 33,000 copies.
Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these "plants of the gods," tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.
In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred.
In this book, the world's most renowned authorities on psychoactive flora provide a fascinating and moving testimony of these "plants of the gods", tracing their use throughout the world and their significance in shaping history and culture.
Of the ninety-one hallucinogenic plant beautifully illustrated and characterized in their lexicon, the authors elaborate in vivid detail on fourteen that have had profound significance for human beings. Drawing on fourteen years of field work, Dr. Richard Evans Schultes describes pilgrimages made to gather the sacred plants as well as the rites, prayers, songs, and dances associated with their use. His accounts are augmented by Dr. Albert Hofmann's lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these psychotropic substances.
The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations, more than one hundred of which are in full color. Included are rare photographs -- many published here for the first time -- of plants and the people who have used them as well as ceremonies, sculpture, paintings, pottery, and weavings related to the ritual use of these sacred hallucinogens.
. . . an extraordinary blend of botany, ethnootany, chemistry, history, mythology, and art. A visual, spiritual, and intellectual feast, Plants of the Gods is the best book ever written on hallucinogenic plants . . .
-- Dr. Mark Plotkin, Conservation International
"Carefully researched, beautifully written, and abundantly illustrated, this book reminds us that the use of hallucinogenic plants has been a fundamental part of human experience for millennia."
-- Michael R. Aldrich, Ph.D., Curator of the Fitz Hugh Ludlow Library
". . . shows the importance of the rituals and ceremonies of tribal peoples for the discovery and conservation of new medicines . . . a volume that anyone interested in medicinal plants, economic botany, or ethnobotany would want to possess."
-- Ghillean T. Prance, Director Royal Botanic Gardens
Richard Evans Schultes is a Jeffrey Professor of biology and director of the Botanical Museum at Harvard University (Emeritus). Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD , is the retired director of the Pharmaceutical - Chemical Research Laboratories of Sandoz, Ltd., in Basel, Switzerland. Together they have presented a fascinating and moving testimony of the use of hallucinogens throughout history and across the plan
Hot Plants: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women [Paperback]
Chris Kilham (Author) http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Plants-Natures-Proven-Boosters/dp/0312315392/ref=pd_sim_b_12
In the wake of Viagra's enormous popularity, the international market has been inundated by a blizzard of purported natural sex enhancers. Some of these products are nothing but hype, yet others contain proven agents that enhance libido, improve sexual function, and increase pleasure. These bona fide sex-boosters can be found in Hot Plants.
From the ancient rainforests of Malaysia, to remote mountains in Siberia, medicine hunter Chris Kilham has scoured the globe in search of effective, sex-enhancing plants. Hot Plants, Nature’s Proven Sex Boosters For Men And Women, contains a lively account of those adventurous travels, with valuable information that you can use to boost your sex life.
These natural agents of desire include Tongkat Ali, maca, yohimbe, catuaba, ashwagandha, horny goat weed, zallouh root, Rhodiola rosea, Red ginseng, Siberian ginseng and chocolate. Medicine Hunter Chris Kilham draws upon history, legend and keen research, as he weaves tales of remarkable people, exotic locations, and his extensive investigations into the science and uses of the hot plants. Learn which plants increase libido in both men and women, improve erectile function in men, put more fire into your sex life, and significantly boost your pleasure.
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Aphrodisiacs-Nancy-L-Nickell/dp/0895948907/ref=pd_sim_b_7
Of all Nature's secrets, none have been pursued more eagerly than her aphrodisiacs -- those substances rumored to arouse sexual desire, fan the flames of passion, and boost sexual drive and vigor. Through the centuries the search for aphrodisiacs has produced an array of substances "guaranteed" to enhance sex -- everything from oysters, shrimp, and the infamous Spanish fly to human sweat, bull genitals and powdered rhinoceros horn.
Is there any truth behind the sexy reputation of such fabled aphrodisiacs? Are there natural substances that can enhance sex? If so, which ones? How do they work -- and why?
NATURE'S APHRODISIACS examines those questions, separating fact from fiction, superstition from science in a well-researched, comprehensive guide to Nature's aphrodisiacs and what they can do for you.
NATURE'S APHRODISIACS takes a fresh, candid look at natural aphrodisiacs and brings you up-to-date on what works and what doesn't. You will explore the aphrodisiac power of herbs, aromatherapy, pheromones (odorless sexual attractants), foods, and nutritional supplements. What's more, you will learn natural ways to affect your levels of neurotransmitters and hormones -- body chemicals that control sexual desire, pleasure, and performance.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Natural-Testosterone-Plan-Sexual/dp/1594771685/ref=pd_sim_b_4
How to maintain optimum testosterone levels for the male body through the use of herbs, nutritional supplements, and diet
• Explains the phenomenon of andropause--male menopause--and how to deal with it
• Reveals scientific evidence of testosterone-blocking agents in the environment that alter men’s essential chemistry as they age
• Presents safe, organic plant medicines that can restore optimum testosterone levels
• Contains the most up-to-date natural treatments for impotence, infertility, and prostate disease
The recognition of the middle-age stage in male development of andropause, which is comparable to women’s menopause, is hampered by the lack of a clear understanding of the chemistry and physiology specific to aging men. Men are still capable of reproduction well into and beyond middle age. Yet a man’s sexual desire and potency varies, often according to his testosterone level. Recent studies show that the lowered testosterone levels endemic in aging men--the gradual drop that is quite normal--is being exacerbated by environmental agents. Testosterone-blocking estrogen agents are present in insecticides, industrial materials, pharmaceuticals, and foods. Men are daily inundated with a “cocktail” of estrogen agents that alter the fine balance of testosterone that makes them male.
In The Natural Testosterone Plan, Stephen Harrod Buhner shows why men need help to maintain their testosterone levels as they age and explains how safe, naturally occurring phytoandrogens--plant medicines that contain male hormones--can remedy the depletion exerted by the environment. Buhner details how each phytoandrogen works, when its use is indicated, and the most appropriate method of application
http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism-Traditional-Techniques/dp/1594771189/ref=pd_sim_b_2
An in-depth look at the role of plant spirits in shamanic rituals from around the world
• Explains the phenomenon of andropause--male menopause--and how to deal with it
• Reveals scientific evidence of testosterone-blocking agents in the environment that alter men’s essential chemistry as they age
• Presents safe, organic plant medicines that can restore optimum testosterone levels
• Contains the most up-to-date natural treatments for impotence, infertility, and prostate disease
The recognition of the middle-age stage in male development of andropause, which is comparable to women’s menopause, is hampered by the lack of a clear understanding of the chemistry and physiology specific to aging men. Men are still capable of reproduction well into and beyond middle age. Yet a man’s sexual desire and potency varies, often according to his testosterone level. Recent studies show that the lowered testosterone levels endemic in aging men--the gradual drop that is quite normal--is being exacerbated by environmental agents. Testosterone-blocking estrogen agents are present in insecticides, industrial materials, pharmaceuticals, and foods. Men are daily inundated with a “cocktail” of estrogen agents that alter the fine balance of testosterone that makes them male.
In The Natural Testosterone Plan, Stephen Harrod Buhner shows why men need help to maintain their testosterone levels as they age and explains how safe, naturally occurring phytoandrogens--plant medicines that contain male hormones--can remedy the depletion exerted by the environment. Buhner details how each phytoandrogen works, when its use is indicated, and the most appropriate method of application
http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Spirit-Shamanism-Traditional-Techniques/dp/1594771189/ref=pd_sim_b_2
An in-depth look at the role of plant spirits in shamanic rituals from around the world
• 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 Healing: A Guide to Working with Plant Consciousness
• Explores the scientific basis underlying the practices of indigenous healers and shamans
• Illuminates the matrix where plant intelligence and human intelligence join
• Reveals that partnering with plants is an evolutionary imperative
Indigenous healers and shamans have known since antiquity that plants possess a spirit essence that can communicate through light, sound, and vibration. Now scientific studies are verifying this understanding. Plant Spirit Healing reveals the power of plant spirits to join with human intelligence to bring about profound healing. These spirits take us beyond mere symptomatic treatment to aligning us with the vast web of nature. Plants are more than their chemical constituents. They are intelligent beings that have the capacity to raise consciousness to a level where true healing can take place.
In this book, herbalist Pam Montgomery offers an understanding of the origins of disease and the therapeutic use of plant spirits to bring balance and healing. She offers a process engaging heart, soul, and spirit that she calls the triple spiral path. In our modern existence, we are increasingly challenged with broken hearts, souls in exile, and malnourished spirits. By working through the heart, we connect with the soul and gain access to spirit. She explains that the evolution of plants has always preceded their animal counterparts and that plant spirits offer a guide to our spiritual evolution--a stage of growth imperative not only for the healing of humans but also the healing of the earth.
Plant Spirit Medicine: The Healing Power of Plants
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
http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Plant-Medicine-American-Herbalism/dp/1591430585/ref=pd_sim_b_3
The first in-depth examination of the sacred underpinnings of the world of Native American medicinal herbalism
• Reveals how shamans and healers “talk” with plants to discover their medicinal properties
• Includes the prayers and medicine songs associated with each of the plants examined
• By the author of The Secret Teachings of Plants
As humans evolved on Earth they used plants for everything imaginable--food, weapons, baskets, clothes, shelter, and medicine. Indigenous peoples the world over have been able to gather knowledge of plant uses by communicating directly with plants and honoring the sacred relationship between themselves and the plant world.
In Sacred Plant Medicine Stephen Harrod Buhner looks at the long-standing relationship between indigenous peoples and plants and examines the techniques and states of mind these cultures use to communicate with the plant world. He explores the sacred dimension of plant and human interactions and the territory where plants are an expression of Spirit. For each healing plant described in the book, Buhner presents medicinal uses, preparatory guidelines, and ceremonial elements such as prayers and medicine songs associated with its use.
The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
• Explores the techniques used by indigenous and Western peoples to learn directly from the plants themselves, including those of Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, and Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution
• Contains leading-edge information on the heart as an organ of perception
All ancient and indigenous peoples insisted their knowledge of plant medicines came from the plants themselves and not through trial-and-error experimentation. Less well known is that many Western peoples made this same assertion. There are, in fact, two modes of cognition available to all human beings--the brain-based linear and the heart-based holistic. The heart-centered mode of perception can be exceptionally accurate and detailed in its information gathering capacities if, as indigenous and ancient peoples asserted, the heart’s ability as an organ of perception is developed.
Author Stephen Harrod Buhner explores this second mode of perception in great detail through the work of numerous remarkable people, from Luther Burbank, who cultivated the majority of food plants we now take for granted, to the great German poet and scientist Goethe and his studies of the metamorphosis of plants. Buhner explores the commonalities among these individuals in their approach to learning from the plant world and outlines the specific steps involved. Readers will gain the tools necessary to gather information directly from the heart of Nature, to directly learn the medicinal uses of plants, to engage in diagnosis of disease, and to understand the soul-making process that such deep connection with the world engenders.
The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth
This could be the most important book you will read this year. Around the office at Chelsea Green it is referred to as the "pharmaceutical Silent Spring." Well-known author, teacher, lecturer, and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner has produced a book that is certain to generate controversy. It consists of three parts:
1. A critique of technological medicine, and especially the dangers to the environment posed by pharmaceuticals and other synthetic substances that people use in connection with health care and personal body care.
2. A new look at Gaia Theory, including an explanation that plants are the original chemistries of Gaia and those phytochemistries are the fundamental communications network for the Earth's ecosystems.
3. Extensive documentation of how plants communicate their healing qualities to humans and other animals. Western culture has obliterated most people's capacity to perceive these messages, but this book also contains valuable information on how we can restore our faculties of perception.
The book will affect readers on rational and emotional planes. It is grounded in both a New Age spiritual sensibility and hard science. While some of the author's claims may strike traditional thinkers as outlandish, Buhner presents his arguments with such authority and documentation that the scientific underpinnings, however unconventional, are completely credible.
The overall impact is a powerful, eye-opening expos' of the threat that our allopathic Western medical system, in combination with our unquestioning faith in science and technology, poses to the primary life-support systems of the planet. At a time when we are preoccupied with the terrorist attacks and the possibility of biological warfare, perhaps it is time to listen to the planet. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of the environment, the state of health care, and our cultural sanity.
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