Claudia Müller-Ebeling

Christian Rätsch

Surendra Bahadur Shahi

The first comprehensive guide to the shamans and tantrikas of Nepal • 605 color and black-and-white illustrations, including 135 color thangkas. • Includes more than 20 psychoactives never before documented. • The result of 18 years of field research. The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal may be the only culture in the world where both shamanic and tantric techniques are still alive and in full practice today. The result of eighteen years of field research, Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of shamanism that is based on the knowledge and experience of the different tribes from that region. Included are original statements from the various ethnic groups and 135 color thangkas, which act as visual guides to the specific practices of the tantric tradition. In addition to the thangkas, the book is lavishly illustrated with numerous photos of different shamanic healing ceremonies, ritual objects, and culturally significant plants that have never been published before. The book also contains a wealth of original recipes, smoking mixtures, scientific tables, charts, and descriptions of more than 20 plants whose psychoactive properties and uses by shamans have never before been researched or documented.

Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas

Wolf-Dieter Storl

An in-depth investigation of traditional European folk medicine and the healing arts of witches • Explores the outlawed “alternative” medicine of witches suppressed by the state and the Church and how these plants can be used today • Reveals that female shamanic medicine can be found in cultures all over the world • Illustrated with color and black-and-white art reproductions dating back to the 16th century Witch medicine is wild medicine. It does more than make one healthy, it creates lust and knowledge, ecstasy and mythological insight. In Witchcraft Medicine the authors take the reader on a journey that examines the women who mix the potions and become the healers; the legacy of Hecate; the demonization of nature’s healing powers and sensuousness; the sorceress as shaman; and the plants associated with witches and devils. They explore important seasonal festivals and the plants associated with them, such as wolf’s claw and calendula as herbs of the solstice and alder as an herb of the time of the dead--Samhain or Halloween. They also look at the history of forbidden medicine from the Inquisition to current drug laws, with an eye toward how the sacred plants of our forebears can be used once again.

Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants

Witchcraft Medicine

The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide

Pagan Christmas

Bräuche, Riten, Rituale

Heidnische Weihnachten

Arno Adelaars

Inhaltsubersicht: Ethnobotanica Ayahuasca Rezepturen fur Rezeptoren Einfuhrung in die unendliche Vielfaltder Rituale Die Kunst der Taitas Rituale indigener Volker Kolumbiens Peru: Traditionen von Indianern und Mestizos Ekuador: Im Land der heiligen Wasserfalle Brasilien: Wo Rituale zu Religionen werden Moderne Rituale im Westen Kritische Bemerkungen zum Kulturtransfer Ayahuascavisionen und Kunstreflektionen Was halten wir von Visionen? Vom Sinn der Muster, Zeichen und Signaturen Am Ort des Geschehens Ayahuasca-Visionen in der Gegenwartskunst Rechtliche Aspekte weltweit Ayahuasca-Zusatze Raucherstoffe fur Rituale

Rituale, Zaubertränke und visionäre Kunst aus Amazonien

Ayahuasca

pflanzliche, mineralische, tierische und synthetische Aphrodisiaka

Lexikon der Liebesmittel

Schon wieder ein Buch über die Alraune! Gibt es davon nicht schon genug? - Nein! Sonst könnte man dieses Buch nicht in den Händen halten. Es ist kein Abklatsch der allgemein bekannten Geschichten um die Zauberpflanze Alraune (Mandragora), sondern verbindet zwei wesentliche Aspekte, die auf neuen Forschungen beruhen miteinander. Dadurch entsteht ein weiteres, neues Bild des magischen Nachtschattengewächses in seiner herausragenden Stellung in der Kutlurgeschichte und der Zauberbotanik. Kaum eine Pflanze erlangte größere legendäre Bedeutung als die Alraune (Mandragora officinarum), eine berühmte Vertreterin der Nachtschattenfamilie! Seit dem griechisch-römischen Altertum bis in die frühe Neuzeit wurde die Mandragora als Allheilmittel gerühmt, als Zauberpflanze hoch bezahlt, als magische Zutat von Hexen gefürchtet und unwiderstehliches Liebesmittel gepriesen. Die alkaloidreiche Alraune, deren Zubereitungen in der Antike bei chirurgischen Eingriffen zur lokalen Betäubung verwendet und deren betörend duftende Früchte in der Bibel als 'Liebesäpfel' besungen wurden, galt als 'Königin der Zauberkräuter'. Die im heißen Mittelmeerraum und vorderen Orient heimische Pflanze mit der Blätterkrone und langen, verzweigten Wurzel wurde als menschenähnlich betrachtet und spielte unter unzähligen Namen eine bedeutende Rolle in der Menschheitsgeschichte. Als 'Menschenwurzel',Galgenmännle', 'Adamshaupt' und 'Lebensspender' geistert sie durch Legenden und Mythen. Ihre sagenumwobene und legendenbehaftete Geschichte berauschte die Phantasie früher Geschichtsschreiber, Naturkundler - bis hin zu Romanschriftstellern, Comiczeichnern und Filmemachern. All dies breiten die Autoren auf rund 170 Seiten in Wort und Bild aus. Sie erkunden ihre Pharmakologie, ihren Stellenwert in der Antike und ihre Rolle in Magie und Kunst und liefern in Anhängen unter anderem eine kommentierte Bibliographie.

Die Magische Mandragora: Aphrodisiakum - Liebesapfel - Galgenmännlein

Zauberpflanze Alraune

The most comprehensive guide to the botany, pharmacology, cultural, ritual, and personal use of erotically stimulating substances from antiquity to the present day • Details the use, preparation, and dosage of more than 400 plant, animal, mineral, and synthetic substances, both common and exotic, as well as their botany, science, and legal status • Explores the historical and present use of aphrodisiacs and their role in sexual practices, culture, and art • Richly illustrated throughout with more than 800 color photographs The culmination of more than 30 years of cultural, anthropological, and scientific research, this encyclopedia examines the botany, pharmacology, history, preparation, dosage, and practical use of more than 400 erotically stimulating substances from antiquity to the present day. From plants and animals that enhance fertility and virility, like celery, snails, or oysters, to substances that induce arousal, like ephedra, opium, or cannabis, the encyclopedia is richly illustrated with more than 800 color photographs--many of which are from the authors’ extensive fieldwork around the world. Exploring individual, medicinal, and ritual use through historic and contemporary artwork, personal accounts, and literature as well as ayurvedic, tantric, shamanic, and European folklore practices and recent pharmacological research, the authors look at the revolving cycle of acceptance and condemnation of aphrodisiacs, the qualities that incur the label of “aphrodisiac,” the role of mind and setting, and the different ways aphrodisiacs stimulate desire--either physically, through the senses and vital organs, or mentally, through heightened awareness and altered consciousness. This comprehensive guide reveals these “remedies of the love goddess” as holy remedies whose proper use can help reestablish harmony with oneself, one’s partner, and the universe.

Psychoactive Substances for Use in Sexual Practices

The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs

An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas • Analyzes the symbolism of the many plants associated with Christmas • Reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. In fact, the authors contend that the emphasis of Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is just an adaptation of the pagan winter solstice celebration.

Mohan Rai

Indra Doj Gurung

'Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas' allows us to travel into the depths of the consciousness and life work of five shamans, who are among the most powerful and respected people in their ethnic groups. It features the first photographic documentation of their esoteric rites, such as the midnight graveyard ritual dedicated to Shiva, and describes a pilgrimage to the most sacred mountain of the Nepalese shamans, Mount Kalinchok. The authors also explore the soma myth and offer valuable insights into the use of this ancient hallucinogen. The book features a wealth of original recipes, smoking mixtures, scientific tables, charts and descriptions of more than twenty plants whose psychoactive properties and uses by shamans have never before been researched or documented.

Claudia Müller-Ebeling

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