Reddit reviews The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications

I have learned everything through countless hours researching on the internet and books. Going through ethnobotanical stores and cross referencing with erowid and books to find out what seemed most interesting.

The best book on the subject is The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants It contains everything you ever wanted to know about psychoactive herbs.

Just start collecting small. I have built this collection up over several years.

I also really enjoy finding the right vials and making nice labels for everything. In fact that is just as fun as getting a hold of the herbs. I have a few herbs lying in zip-lock bags, but they are kept apart from the rest of the collection until I have found a more presentable way to store them :P

Have you ever seen the [The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819782/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8) by Christian Rätsch (published in 2005)? It's very comprehensive including a lot of information on cultural context for basically all the known psychoactive plants on the planet (at the time of publication at least). My copy at home has like hundreds of sticky notes in it, haha. I definitely recommend that book.

There are so many and with many different focal points. I also think a list with some identification as to the focal points for each book would be useful. And I'm always happy to find new good ones, so I am glad for this post.

Rodales is one that I've seen mentioned a ton elsewhere, and I have found it useful too. There is some lore and some preparation and growing information along with medicinal info..

If you are looking for experience logs concerning herb usage, Susun Weed's forum is a nice place to search. The accounts are not made by medical professionals and perhaps are not studies based, but they are from people who test and use herbs on themselves. A very female bent; however, I've not seen a male treated anything but nicely there.

Cunningham's is a good magical go-to based in some lore, but can be problematic sometimes as dangers are not always noted. And the lore can be difficult to track down; though I was surprised that some of it had uses that I was already familiar with from childhood. Many websites about magical correspondences are word-for-word taken from it. It's Llewellyn, but don't let that scare you. I doubt there is an apothecary in existence that doesn't have a copy somewhere.

Miller's Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs was one I acquired years ago when starting the magic/psychoactive hunt. It includes some methods for preparation though the herbs included are limited. I think going to a forum or sub here that is dedicated to psychoactives would probably be more useful for preparation guides, but they may lack the ritual component.

For identification and growing and a tiny bit of lore too, I found Angier's Field Guide to Medicinal Wild Plants to be very easy to use when I first started. It's not comprehensive and it is dependent on region, but I thought it was a charming read.

I think if you can find a field guide to wild plants that pertains to your geographical area, it would be better. That way you can get out and examine the plants yourself and see how they grow and interact with other plants and their environments. Much of what I have read about the magical properties of plants makes sense when I consider observations of the plants behaviors. Some of it is counter-intuitive too, but what makes a plant magical is sometimes going to be based in a lore you create on your own.

The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants was a pricey thick one, but one I have found very useful for its purpose. I think it could be more inclusive, but I think the same thing could be said of every plant book published! If you can find one used, you may get it at a bargain. I bought mine for under 50$US but I have never seen it that cheap before or since. But this is not one that will be in every public library, so if you can afford it and spot it cheap, it may be worth the jump of you are into this kind of information. And of course the ever-loving Erowid is a great resource too.

These are just a few for beginning that I have used, but I have not used them in isolation. And there are several I have on a wish list too (this one has been rec'd to me, and omagah these have a savings account building over here). Websites have been excellent free resources especially to start. U.S. Wildflowers has a huge photo library and links to others if the geographical areas pertain to you. It's helped me get some basic identification of local plants many times.

For medicinal use and contra-indications that might feel safer, there are many hospitals that host pages of advice about herbal medicine and many of those link to studies. Since nothing here should be taken as medical advice, going to those resources may be very helpful. I have used too many to list.

And the same goes for growing guides. Websites are going to be quicker than books, but books may offer things like seasonal planting patterns and landscaping that a simple growing guide might not contain. There are too many of those to list as well.

Sorry for the length and I hope you get many more suggestions!

Neither of those plants are hallucinogenic. If you mean entheogenic plants, then that's totally different.

Here is a good book to understand more.

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology-Applications/dp/0892819782

Libgen has a copy

What you'd probably like to check out is the Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. It includes all this wisdom and much more - like how to make your own opium and any of the shaman/witch-stuff you'd ever want.

including historical references, like this witch-stuff

To give a short answer. Yes.

This is from a book about psychoactive plants i have. Because there are a lot of non factual answers here, I thought i post this. I had to write it all so there might be some spelling errors.

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Plants of the gods, By Richard Evans Schultes, Albert Hofmann &Christian Rätsch.
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The chemistry of Fly Agaric

> The active principle of Amanita muscaria was thought once, a century ago, to have been muscarine when Schiedeberg and kope isolated this substance. this belief has been proven erroneous. Recently Eugster in Switzerland and Takemo in Japan isolated ibotenic acid and the alkaloid muscimole as being responsible for the Fly Agaric's psychotropic effects. The mushroom is taken usually dried. The drying process induces the chemical transformation ibotenic acid to muscimole, the most active constituent.

...Amanita muscaria may be the oldest of the hallucinogens and perhaps was once the most used...

A little background summary from me:


It's been used by many different cultures in the past and has been associated with many different gods, There is evidence suggesting it's been used in India, Siberia and The America's, (From Mesoamerica to the north of Canada.


If you're interested in these kind of things, i suggest you try to find some literature about it. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications, Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers, Psychedelics Encyclopedia. It's amazon link's but you can find them anywhere.

You'd be strapped to find "a" book about all that, this would be a start though https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0892819782/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495052203&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=psychoactives&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q3ED9DP3L&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology-Applications/dp/0892819782

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology-Applications/dp/0892819782

There a lots of books, not sure if this is what you’re after but I’ve heard great things about it.

This website has a little profile for each plant, you can search either the aliment or the herb. -https://herbpathy.com/. I love to read some of Susun Weeds articles, and she also has a radio show on blog talk that anyone can call to talk to her, she is more women centered in general, but has great information for everyone. http://www.susunweed.com/. Then, here are some books on the subject that can help you make your own herbal medicines- https://www.amazon.com/Male-Herbal-Definitive-Health-Care/dp/1580911757/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510690404&sr=8-1&keywords=the+male+herbal

https://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Medicine-Makers-Handbook-Home-Manual/dp/0895949903/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 - I read this one, and its great.

https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Woman-Herbal-Childbearing-Year/dp/0961462000/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510690479&sr=1-3&keywords=the+wise+woman+herbal

For those of us who like to explore psychoactives there is this book- https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Psychoactive-Plants-Ethnopharmacology-Applications/dp/0892819782/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510690609&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=encycolpedia+of+psychoactives.

I sometimes get books through the public library its a great resource to check out various types books before buying them or if you can't afford to. Some herbs which I have explored, and like are: California Poppy wonderful for anxiety, sleep, and mild pain. Damiana slightly mood uplifting, and great for the reproductive organs, I don't know if it was this herb is entirely to blame for it but my cycle is way more regulated ever since drinking it. Echinacea for colds, and immune support. Skullcap for anxiety. Tumeric, Manjistha (Indian herbs), and pepper together for inflammation, and the blood/skin, black seed Oil, and of course kratom. I have been building my own little medicine cabinet piece by piece playing, and learning along the way. Enjoy! May you discover a new, and amazing journey.