Daturas; Folklore, History and Growing Information
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Datura Photo Gallery:
Datura Yellow Doubles
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The Deadly Datura
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Seeds and Seed Pods, D. inoxia
Bumble Bee on Jimson Weed
Moonflower, D. inoxia
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Introduction
The generic name, Datura, comes from the Hindu Dhatura, derived from the Sanskrit, D'hustúra. Moonflower and Jimson Weed are the most well known Daturas. In spite of the Indian origin of its name, Datura is plentiful throughout Europe and the Americas, and the entire Datura family has a varied history of psychoactive use. Its main active component is the alkaloid atropine, an excellent remedy for asthma, motion sickness and poisonous nerve gas, but itself can be very deadly in excess doses.
Datura, much like its siblings belladonna, mandrake and henbane, contains dangerous tropane alkaloids, particularly atropine. Native to Asia, it belongs to the Nightshade family which includes all tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers and tobacco. The flowers are very beautiful and often have a very powerful, lily-like or lemony fragrance; people who sleep in the presence of the blooms can have intense dreams and/or nightmares caused by psychoactive particles transmitted by the flower’s scent. Well known for causing delirious states, as well as unintentional poisonings of uninformed users who are not aware that consumption may be deadly, dangerous and frightening.
This genus has nine to 15+ species ranging from annuals to perennials, all with upright, trumpet-shaped flowers and green, oblong seed pods covered in long, sharp spikes. The plant was used by European gypsies, shaman from many indigenous peoples worldwide including the Aztecs, was mentioned in the Kama Sutra, and has been used widely in witchcraft. The common weed “poisoned” a group of British soldiers in Jamestown, which morphed from Jamestown weed into Jimson weed. Night blooming and moth pollinated, the Daturas are easy to cultivate and are usually grown as an annual.
Common names: Jimson Weed, Moonflower, Thorn-apple, Devil's Snare, Devil's Apple, Stinkweed, Devil's Trumpet, Mad-apple.
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Datura
Species: Alba; arborea; ceratocaula; discolor; fastuosa; ferox; inoxia; leichhardtii; metel; meteloides; nanakai; quercifolia; sanguinea; stramonium; tatula; wrightii.
AKA: Stinkweed; Devil’s Weed; Malpitte; Toloache; Yerba del Diablo, El Toloache, Concombre Zombie, Sacred Datura, Green Dragon, Love Angel’s Trumpet, Dhatura Tatula, Apple of Peru, Loco weed.
Cultural History:
Plant Parts Used: Seeds, leaves.
Medicinal Uses:
Asthma, ulcers, colds, nervous affections, sleep disorders, pain relief, hemorrhoids, neuralgia, epilepsy, antidote for nerve gas, whooping cough.
Medical Properties:
Sedative, narcotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, anesthetic, mydriatic, calmative, diuretic, nervine, demulcent, expectorant.
Magick Properties:
Psychotropic Components:
Tropane alkaloids: Atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine. Stramonium contains the same alkaloids as Belladonna, yet Stramonium seems to produce greater delirium than Belladonna. The leaves also contain potassium nitrate. The seeds are 25% oil.
Psychotropic Effects:
Vivid or frank hallucinations, delirium, delusions, incoherent babbling, loss of memory, child-like behaviors. Symptoms can last as long as 11 days or more from a single oral ingestion.
Datura Pharmacology:
Tropane alkaloids including hyoscine (roots); hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine (all parts). As anti-cholinergic deliriants, they block muscarinic receptors, which in turn stimulate the dopaminergic neurons. They are readily absorbed and partially metabolized by the liver, but mostly eliminated in urine. The peripheral receptors are on the exocrine glands (which affect sweating, salivation, and cardiac muscles).
Methods of Ingestion:
Smoke leaves, drink tea, eat crushed seeds, apply tincture, oils. (Do NOT ingest)
Datura Overdose Effects:
Toxicity/Warnings:
Deaths have been documented from oral ingestion of Datura seeds. Do not ingest.
Deadly Poison!
Warning: Do NOT experiment with Datura!
If you insist on taking it internally, have a trained Body Sitter present with antidotes on hand who is available for up to a week. Smoking leaf is safest.
Danger!
Atropine disrupts the parasympathetic nervous system’s ability to regulate vital non-volitional and subconscious functions such as temperature control, breathing and heart rate.
Delirium and severely impaired judgment have caused documented deaths due to injury or hypothermia.
Atropine Antidote(s):
Body Sitter interventions:
Plant Description:
Datura is a woody-stalked, light green annual or biennial shrubby plant that that grows 4 to 6 feet (one to three meters) tall. The stem is stout, erect and leafy, smooth, a pale yellowish-green in color, branching repeatedly in a forked manner. The leaves are large and angular, 4 to 6 inches long, uneven at the base, with a wavy and coarsely-toothed margin, and have the strong, branching veins very plainly developed. The upper surface is dark and grayish-green, generally smooth, the under surface paler, and when dry, minutely wrinkled.
The plant flowers nearly all summer and into fall. The flowers are large and handsome, about 3 inches in length, growing singly on short stems springing from the axils of the leaves or at the forking of the branches. The calyx is long, tubular and somewhat swollen below, and very sharply five-angled, surmounted by five sharp teeth. The corolla, folded and only half-opened, is funnel-shaped, of a pure white, with six prominent ribs, which are extended into the same number of sharp-pointed segments. Usually white, sometimes light to deep lavender flowers, solitary and tubular, sometimes doubled.
The flowers open in the evening to attract night-flying moths, and emit a powerful fragrance. The flowers evolve into a four-lobed, harshly thorny, green seed pod; fruit ripens in early fall to early winter. Each lobe contains about 50, 2-3 mm, oval, black seeds. Some species (inoxia) have larger, kidney-shaped, brown seeds.
History:
The most well-known species are D. stramonium (Jimson weed) and D. inoxia (moonflower). The plants, seeds, flowers, and roots have all been traditionally used for medicinal or visionary purposes around the world. Dried leaves have been made into smoking blends, sometimes with in combination with tobacco or Cannabis, and all parts have been used to make teas and ointments.
Ancient History:
Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, wrote in 301 BCE about the hallucinogenic effects of Datura stramonium. The Buddhist scripture Vajramahabhairava Tantra refers to Datura metel several times. The priests of Apollo used it for divination, as did the Oracle of Delphi. Aztec and Hopi Indians used it to induce prophetic visions.
The ancient Indian sex manual, the Kamasutra of Vātsyāyana, includes at least two references to Datura. One reference instructs a man to anoint his penis with honey infused with Datura before sexual intercourse. Also in ancient India, Datura was associated with the worship of Shiva, and it was used as a poison to stupefy and kill prisoners, the professional poisoners being called Dhatureeas. Thieves in India have used it to incapacitate their victims before robbing them.
Gypsies, who smoked the dried leaves, brought the plant into Europe from Asia in the sixteenth century. Soon, herbalists and witches in Europe and the American Colonies were making “Flying Formulas” from Datura and other nightshades, as well as using it for incantations by inhaling the burning plant fumes. Used by witches and shaman for many centuries.
Jimson weed acquired its current name as an evolution of its nickname “James-Town weed” which was based on a notorious accidental "poisoning" of a group of British soldiers in 1676 during the Bacon Rebellion, a full century before the American Revolution. Robert Beverly wrote of the infamous incident back in 1705, presented here without editing:
“The James-Town Weed (which resembles the Thorny Apple of Peru, and I take to be the Plant so called) is supposed to be one of the greatest Coolers in the World. This being an early Plant, was gathered very young for a boiled Salad, by some of the Soldiers sent thither, to pacify the Troubles of Bacon; and some of them eat plentifully of it, the Effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turned natural Fools upon it for several Days: One would blow up a Feather in the Air; another would dart Straws at it with much Fury; and another stark naked was sitting up in a Corner, like a Monkey, grinning and making Mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss, and paw his Companions, and sneer in their Faces… Indeed, they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallowed in their own Excrements, if they had not been prevented. A Thousand such simple Tricks they played, and after Eleven Days, returned to themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed.”
Modern Use:
Used as a medicinal component in many current asthma remedies. Classified as a Schedule 1 illegal drug in the state of Nevada.
Datura Species:
The genus Datura has nine to 20 species ranging from annual to perennial, herbs to shrubs. Most have trumpet-shaped flowers usually pointing upwards during bloom. All of these species are considered hallucinogenic and potentially lethal.
Datura Cultivation
Category: Annual, biennial, short-lived perennial.
Native Origin: Asia; naturalized to the Middle East, Europe, the Americas. Central America hosts more species of Datura than any other region.
Favorite Habitat:
Full-sun; well-drained (gravel/sand) stream bank or rich meadow.
Soil Requirements: Rich, well-drained soil. As a rule, they need warm, sunny places and soil that will keep their roots dry. When grown outdoors in good locations, the plants tend to reseed themselves and may become invasive. In clay containers, they need porous, aerated soil with adequate drainage. The plants are susceptible to fungi in the root area, so avoid compost and manure.
Soil pH: Neutral to Alkaline.
Soil Mix: Sand, peat and perlite.
Sun: Full range. Full sun to mostly sunny preferred. Will tolerate nearly full shade if not too dense.
Water: Moist, but well drained. Water frequently.
Fertilization: Monthly once established, but not required.
Planting time: Early Spring.
Spacing: 4-6 ft. apart.
Height: 3-6 ft. Plants grown in pots are substantially smaller.
Hardiness: Frost will take small plants back to root ball. Larger plants tolerate light frost, but lose leaves.
Seed Germination time: One to ten weeks. Intermittent germinator. Let soil dry and then re-water for the second germ.
Seed Germination methods: Cold stratify in a freezer for a week. Carefully pull off the elaiosome or any white “flesh” left on the seed, soak seeds overnight, plant in peat pots, use bottom heat, indoors, put out after last frost; or,
Direct sow 3mm deep in late Winter or Spring at or just before last frost. Spring planting is best.
Seed Pollination: Wind and nocturnal moths, especially the Hawk moth.
Plant Propagation methods: Seed only. Not suitable for cloning.
Harvest: Early to Late Fall. Harvest leaves during flowering; Pick seed pods individually just after they first split and allow to dry whole before dismantling. Seeds in the pod mature at different rates. Immature seeds harvested prior to the first split are reputed to be higher in active alkaloids than ripe seeds, will likely not germinate well if at all, and are usually lighter in color or off-color.
Bloom time: Summer through fall.
Pests: Beetles. Do NOT use pesticides on Daturas.
USDA Zones: Zones 5 to 11. Tolerates wide range of growing conditions.
Similar Species: Brugmansia spp. (tree datura); Brugmansia flowers are similar to moonflower, somewhat larger, but droop straight down, found in white, orange, pink and yellow. Brugmansia can also grow to 12 feet tall and tends to be denser and bushier than Daturas. They belong to a different genus and species but are often confused with true Daturas.
Plant Spirit Message:
“Don’t mess with me, or I will mess you up.”
Growing Datura
Datura can be tricky to germinate, but once sprouted, plants are very hardy, tolerating a wide variety of growing conditions. They often grow back after a frost. The author found one wild and very healthy plant growing under a bridge in gravel next to a stream bed. It was perfectly situated to get morning sun with a high water table in well drained soil protected from all frost. The happy plant had wet feet but was growing in gravel and sand. However, a huge patch was also found in a rich meadow in the overflow area of a small river, indicating a compatible habitat.
The various species of Datura offer a wide variety of flowers and plant architecture. Datura meteloides grows to about 3 feet tall but can spread to 4 feet wide. Datura metel may grow to 5 feet but is an upright plant. Datura stramonium can grow to 6 feet or more and is bushier than D. metel and has smaller leaves.
Datura flowers are all trumpet shaped and stand upright. They tend to open in the early evening and will close the next day unless the weather is cool or cloudy, then they may stay open. Many species have a sweet scent that can be very strong. The seed pods are often spiny. Different species have different spination on the pods. All parts of the Datura plant are toxic and should not be eaten.
Once established, Datura plants are durable and tolerant of dry conditions. That doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate plenty of water and some fertilizer, however. The better you treat them the more vigorously they will grow and flower.
Sow seeds indoors around February or March about 10 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Use peat pots for growing the seeds so the seedlings can be planted directly outdoors in the garden without upsetting the roots; Datura seedlings are very fragile. Fill the peat pots with a humus rich soil and moisten well. Spread the seeds over the soil; cover the pots with clear plastic wrap and sit in a sunny area. Keep the soil moist; do not let dry out. Seeds need warm temperatures of around 70 degrees F to germinate. Seeds will germinate within 3 to 6 weeks.
The Daturas are generally grown from seeds in early spring. They should be started in flats indoors in the North, or where they are to stand in warmer areas. The perennial species usually rise from thick tuberous roots. In the North these may be dug in autumn and stored in semi-dry peat moss, sawdust, or sand in a cool place until spring. These daturas generally prefer loose, sandy soils, somewhat on the dry side, and a sunny location. Those native to the Southwest will stand considerable drought.
Does well in rich soil in a dry, sunny location. May be sown in the open in May in mounds 18 inches apart with four seeds in each mound. Thin out all but the healthiest plant after sprouting. Hardy. All species of Datura seed can tolerate freezing. Often they die back and then resprout from the root ball next Spring.
Preparing seed: “Stratification” is when seed is frozen and then thawed to improve germination rates. Daturas benefit from stratification. Even so, germination rates can be low with many species. Should be started in damp peat moss. Do not pre-soak the seeds.
Planting: Datura can be sown directly in the ground or started indoors as early as Feb or March. Any head start will speed flowering, but seed planted in the ground will have plenty of time to flower. Do not give up hope if the seed seems to take forever to sprout. It will grow when it’s ready. Warmth and moisture are key factors. When the seed is warm, moist and happy it will grow, and not before. Moist does not mean wet.
Transplanting: Daturas do not like to be disturbed. If you start indoors, use Jiffy pots so that you can transplant without disturbing the roots. If you don’t use Jiffy pots, transplant carefully, keeping as much soil in place around the roots as possible. Water well and keep watered until plants show continued growth.
Spacing: D. meteloides especially can spread generously. Four feet width is not uncommon in a sunny, fertile location. As compensation for its size, it will be covered with beautiful white flowers.
Herbicides: Do not use insecticide! They tend to cause stunted, deformed leaf growth. Do not use any insecticide that you spray on the leaves. One grower used systemic nicotine with success. Keep all herbicides far away, as they kill Daturas. Weeding should be done by hand or with mulch.
Harvesting: The leaves and tops are preferably harvested when the plants are in full bloom, but they may be gathered at any time from the appearance of flowers until frost. They should be stripped from the stem and dried as quickly as possible. Fresh leaves have a fetid odor, which disappears after drying. Seeds harvested for psychoactive purposes are collected by removing the capsules when they are ripe, but are still green and unopened. These are dried in the sun or by low heat. Seeds for growing purposes should be gathered by collecting capsules that are just opening, removing the seeds and drying in the sun.
Datura Ingestion
Oral ingestion is highly dangerous, unpredictable and unwise. Never use alone, if at all.
Atropine users MUST have a designated body sitter. Numerous deaths and mental health lock-ups are documented in the USA and elsewhere, primarily amongst uninformed teenage males, 18-20 y.o. All the death reports read by the author consisted of documented cases where teenage males ate seeds or drank a strong tea made from fresh leaves or seeds.
NOTE: NO deaths were reported by Erowid.org from smoking the leaves, or using topical oils. Avoid oral ingestion!
Traditional Uses:
Used in ancient India as a poison to stupefy and kill prisoners. Used for divination and visions by the Priests of Apollo, European gypsies, the Oracle of Delphi, ancient Aztecs, and many other native peoples.
Traditionally, Datura has been smoked or inhaled by nearly all who have used it successfully. Gypsies smoked the leaves, and some believe the Oracle at Delphi inhaled the fumes of burning Datura leaves to attain her insights.
Datura was one of the key ingredients used by witches in ancient “Flying Formulas,” also for incantations. However, a German scientist who found an ancient Flying Formula, made and consumed it, only to cause his own death.
The topical efficacy of Datura was confirmed by author Michael J. Harner in his 1973 book Hallucinogens and Shamanism, where he wrote:
“Some years ago I ran across a reference to the use of a Datura ointment by the Yaqui Indians of northern Mexico, reportedly rubbed on the stomach to see visions. I called this to the attention of my friend and colleague Carlos Castañeda, who was studying under a Yaqui shaman, and asked him to determine if the Yaqui used the ointment for flying and to determine its effects."
I quote from his subsequent experience with the Ointment of Datura:
"The motion of my body was slow and shaky. I looked down and saw don Juan sitting below me, way below me. The momentum carried me forward one more step. And from there I soared. I remember coming down once, then I pushed up with both feet, sprang backward, and glided on my back. I saw the dark sky above me and clouds going by me. I jerked my body so I could look down. I saw the dark mass of the mountains. My speed was extraordinary. I changed directions by turning my head…”
Medicinal Uses:
Currently used in many OTC asthma medicines in the USA.
In Appalachia, a folk medicine poultice made from fresh flowers is applied to wounds as a pain killer. An ointment made of mashed seeds and fat was used historically to treat sores, boils, pimples, bruises, bites, burns, wounds, cuts, and swellings. Pioneers smoked the leaves and crushed seeds for asthma relief. Once used to calm patients before setting fractured bones. In Mendocino County, California, circa 1884, one of the early white settlers imported Datura seeds to grow and would use the plants to make a healing poultice to apply to any wounds on his horses.
Atropine paralyses the endings of the pulmonary branches, thus relieving bronchial spasms. The practice of smoking D. ferox for asthma was introduced into Great Britain from the East Indies, and afterwards the English species was substituted for that employed in Hindustan. In Ceylon, the leaves, stem and seed pods are chopped up to make burning powders for the treatment of asthma. Traditionally, the dried, crumbled leaves are mixed with an equal part of potassium nitrate (to increase combustion) and the mixture is burned in a saucer; the resulting smoke is then inhaled.
The dried leaves may also be rolled into herbal cigarettes or smoked in a pipe, either alone or with other herbs such as tobacco, sage, belladonna, etc. The smoke from a stramonium cigarette made from 0.25 grams of stramonium leaf contains up to 0.5 milligrams of pure atropine. Dryness of the throat and mouth are to be regarded as indications that too large a quantity is being taken.
Datura acts similarly to belladonna, but without causing constipation. It can be used for any purpose for which belladonna is employed: dilating the pupils, etc. It is considered slightly more sedative to the central nervous system than belladonna. Stramonium is so similar to belladonna in its symptoms, toxicity and general physiological and therapeutic action, that the two plants are practically identical in alkaloid content effects.
The seeds are generally used in the form of an extract, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, or macerating them in alcohol. A tincture is sometimes preferred. A tincture is made from the unripe fruit and a trituration of the fresh seeds.
Applied locally, in ointment, plasters or fomentation, stramonium is said to palliate the pain of muscular rheumatism, neuralgia, and also pain due to hemorrhoids, fistula, abscesses and similar inflammation.
Psychotropic Uses:
Daturas cause frank hallucinations, meaning that the person cannot distinguish between the hallucinations and real objects. Elaborate visions and fantasies are common, sometimes including long conversations with imaginary persons.
Datura may cause severe, long-lasting disorientation, confusion, delirium, and hallucinations. Users consistently lose the ability to be rational or perform basic functions needed for survival. Many users report periods of several hours to several days in which they have no memory of what they were doing at all. Behavior is often irrational and accidental injury is a serious risk. Datura also causes physical effects including blurred vision, inability to focus the eyes (lasting up to several days), dryness of mouth, sedation or excitement, inhibited digestion, constriction of the throat, and an inability to perspire. Effects can last for weeks.
Traditionally, successful users have a consistent history of non-oral ingestion. The mere scent of the flowers was often adequate to produce visions, other users dried and smoked the fresh leaves. Still others would make a paste out of crushed seeds, or a tincture from fresh leaves, and apply it topically to sensitive skin areas, such as armpits or labia.
Current Usage:
Asthma remedies. Motion sickness remedies. Witchcraft and Mexican shamanism. Primarily grown as an ornamental bush or border plant, with beautiful flowers and weird, dangerous, spiky seed pods.
Cautions:
Datura alkaloids can have serious toxic effects on humans, including coma and death. Just 4-5 grams of dried Datura stramonium leaves can contain a lethal dose of alkaloids; flowers and seeds are even more potent.
Jim DeKorne noted that Datura and other tropane-containing plants are often associated with an aggressive feminine force (he references Kali) that has been viciously repressed in the West and that this might well be the reason so many people have negative experiences with these plants.
Oral ingestion of Datura has caused numerous, documented DEATHS. NOT a get-high plant! Do not ingest.
Lethal Dose:
The highest concentration of alkaloids occurs in the seeds: they contain approximately 0.1 mg of atropine per seed, or 3-6 mg/50-100 seeds. An estimated lethal dose for an adult is more than 10 mg of atropine or greater than 2-4 mg of scopolamine, depending upon body weight and other factors.
Just four or five grams of dried Datura stramonium leaves can contain a lethal dose of dangerous alkaloids.
Traditional Recipes and Use:
Scopolamine and atropine are anti-cholinergic deliriants with a half-life of about four hours. They block the muscarinic receptors, which in turn stimulate the dopaminergic neurons.
Datura seeds and pods are usually more potent than the leaves, stems and roots. Potency increases over the reproductive period and peaks when the plant is fruiting.
As few as 10 Datura seeds taken orally or one leaf brewed into a tea can produce profound perceptual changes; 30-40 seeds are an extremely potent dose and should never be consumed. Quantities over 100 can be fatal. Alkaloid content varies from plant to plant. One user reported vivid dreams resulting from oral ingestion of just two seeds before bedtime. Stories here are intended as folklore, not as a blueprint to consume. Do not orally ingest this plant!
Users typically report diminished capacity, which can lead to unwisely consuming more Datura until it is all gone, as well as your sanity. One stoned user decided unwisely to cook more tea, then forgot the stove was lit and wandered away (his wife saved the house from burning down and then went to rescue the family pets who had all run away out the forgotten open doors). Once a Datura journey begins, all additional intoxicants and plant parts should be removed from the user and the site by the designated Body Sitter.
Please: Never use Datura without a designated, trained Body Sitter, who is available continuously for a period of 24 hours minimum to about 12 days maximum. This person watches your human physical body while you literally abandon it. I do NOT recommend use of this plant internally. It may kill you.
Smoking Leaf. Pick one large, fresh, healthy Datura leaf. Let dry in dim light, low humidity for three to seven days (until dry). Smoke slowly, waiting 10 minutes between hits to judge potency.
Leaf Tea. Pick one large, fresh, healthy Datura leaf. Bring one quart of water to a boil and add the leaf. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drink half first to judge potency, add more only if necessary. Never use this plant alone.
Seed Tea. One user reported success with this formula (NOT endorsed by DD):
Flying Formula Ointment:
Ancient Flying Formulas included herbs such as aconitum, belladonna, calamus root, Potentilla simplex, Artemisia absinthium, mandrake, poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), hellebore and henbane. Other intoxicants in the formula sometimes include hashish (Cannabis indica) and/or opium poppy juice (Papaver somniferum). The herbs are added to the cooked fat of a freshly killed duck and made into a salve or ointment. Traditionally, witches rubbed the ointment on a stick which was held between their unclothed labia. Such formulas are still kept secret, and for good reasons.
Since Atropine is absorbable through normal skin, rubbing ointments made from atropine-containing Solanaceous plants would be an effective way to become "intoxicated." Using an original, seventeenth-century formula, folklorist Will-Erich Peuckert of Göttingen, Germany cooked up an ointment made from belladonna, henbane and Datura. He rubbed it on his forehead and armpits, asking his colleagues to do likewise. They all fell into a deep, 24-hour sleep. He reported:
“We had wild dreams. Faces danced before my eyes which were at first terrible. Then I suddenly had the sensation of flying for miles through the air. The flight was repeatedly interrupted by great falls. Finally, in the last phase, an orgiastic feast with sensual excess.”
OR, they could have all died...
Introduction
The generic name, Datura, comes from the Hindu Dhatura, derived from the Sanskrit, D'hustúra. Moonflower and Jimson Weed are the most well known Daturas. In spite of the Indian origin of its name, Datura is plentiful throughout Europe and the Americas, and the entire Datura family has a varied history of psychoactive use. Its main active component is the alkaloid atropine, an excellent remedy for asthma, motion sickness and poisonous nerve gas, but itself can be very deadly in excess doses.
Datura, much like its siblings belladonna, mandrake and henbane, contains dangerous tropane alkaloids, particularly atropine. Native to Asia, it belongs to the Nightshade family which includes all tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers and tobacco. The flowers are very beautiful and often have a very powerful, lily-like or lemony fragrance; people who sleep in the presence of the blooms can have intense dreams and/or nightmares caused by psychoactive particles transmitted by the flower’s scent. Well known for causing delirious states, as well as unintentional poisonings of uninformed users who are not aware that consumption may be deadly, dangerous and frightening.
This genus has nine to 15+ species ranging from annuals to perennials, all with upright, trumpet-shaped flowers and green, oblong seed pods covered in long, sharp spikes. The plant was used by European gypsies, shaman from many indigenous peoples worldwide including the Aztecs, was mentioned in the Kama Sutra, and has been used widely in witchcraft. The common weed “poisoned” a group of British soldiers in Jamestown, which morphed from Jamestown weed into Jimson weed. Night blooming and moth pollinated, the Daturas are easy to cultivate and are usually grown as an annual.
Common names: Jimson Weed, Moonflower, Thorn-apple, Devil's Snare, Devil's Apple, Stinkweed, Devil's Trumpet, Mad-apple.
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Datura
Species: Alba; arborea; ceratocaula; discolor; fastuosa; ferox; inoxia; leichhardtii; metel; meteloides; nanakai; quercifolia; sanguinea; stramonium; tatula; wrightii.
AKA: Stinkweed; Devil’s Weed; Malpitte; Toloache; Yerba del Diablo, El Toloache, Concombre Zombie, Sacred Datura, Green Dragon, Love Angel’s Trumpet, Dhatura Tatula, Apple of Peru, Loco weed.
Cultural History:
- D. stramonium "poisoned" a group of British soldiers in 1676 in Jamestown, Virginia Colony. A handful of soldiers removed their uniforms and engaged in silly activities such as blowing feathers into the air for days. The incident gave the spiky weed its common name, as the notorious Jamestown Weed evolved into the more common “Jimson Weed.”
- D. inoxia was the entheogen used by Yaqui brujo don Juan to introduce Carlos Castaneda to the Spirit World, as described in The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.
- Used by the Thuggee cult in India to drug their sacrificial victims to the Indian Goddess Kali.
- Used by Hopi shaman for divination.
- May have poisoned the Roman Army under Marcus Antonius during the Parthian War.
- Used by the priests of Apollo for divination.
- Gypsies, who smoked the leaves, brought the plant to Europe in the sixteenth century.
- Aztec Indians used it in the Temple of the Sun to induce prophecies.
- Once used as an aphrodisiac in the East Indies.
- Used by witches in ancient “Flying Formulas” and for incantations by inhaling the fumes of burning leaves.
- Used by the Oracle of Delphi for divining.
- Used by Native American Algonquins in a ritual drink called Wysoccan to introduce boys to manhood.
- Used in Haitian Voo Doo in their secret Zombie formula, along with puffer fish venom and bufo frog slime.
Plant Parts Used: Seeds, leaves.
- Seeds from unopened pods are reported to have higher concentrations of toxic alkaloids.
- Fresh leaves yield more alkaloids than dried leaves.
Medicinal Uses:
Asthma, ulcers, colds, nervous affections, sleep disorders, pain relief, hemorrhoids, neuralgia, epilepsy, antidote for nerve gas, whooping cough.
Medical Properties:
Sedative, narcotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, anesthetic, mydriatic, calmative, diuretic, nervine, demulcent, expectorant.
Magick Properties:
- Ruled by Saturn and Venus.
- Datura has been used to hex and break hexes, induce dreams, find one’s totem animal, and see ghosts.
- Also used for divination, protection from evil, lucid dreaming.
- It was used in many ancient witches’ “flying ointment” formulas.
Psychotropic Components:
Tropane alkaloids: Atropine, hyoscyamine, scopolamine. Stramonium contains the same alkaloids as Belladonna, yet Stramonium seems to produce greater delirium than Belladonna. The leaves also contain potassium nitrate. The seeds are 25% oil.
Psychotropic Effects:
Vivid or frank hallucinations, delirium, delusions, incoherent babbling, loss of memory, child-like behaviors. Symptoms can last as long as 11 days or more from a single oral ingestion.
Datura Pharmacology:
Tropane alkaloids including hyoscine (roots); hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine (all parts). As anti-cholinergic deliriants, they block muscarinic receptors, which in turn stimulate the dopaminergic neurons. They are readily absorbed and partially metabolized by the liver, but mostly eliminated in urine. The peripheral receptors are on the exocrine glands (which affect sweating, salivation, and cardiac muscles).
Methods of Ingestion:
Smoke leaves, drink tea, eat crushed seeds, apply tincture, oils. (Do NOT ingest)
Datura Overdose Effects:
- Atropine overdose results in widespread paralysis of the parasympathetic innervated organs.
- Initial symptoms: headache, urinary detention, flushed skin, rash, dry throat, nausea, fever, loss of balance, delirium.
- OD leads to: brain and eye damage, coma, convulsions, asphyxiation, heart attack, death.
Toxicity/Warnings:
Deaths have been documented from oral ingestion of Datura seeds. Do not ingest.
Deadly Poison!
Warning: Do NOT experiment with Datura!
If you insist on taking it internally, have a trained Body Sitter present with antidotes on hand who is available for up to a week. Smoking leaf is safest.
Danger!
Atropine disrupts the parasympathetic nervous system’s ability to regulate vital non-volitional and subconscious functions such as temperature control, breathing and heart rate.
Delirium and severely impaired judgment have caused documented deaths due to injury or hypothermia.
Atropine Antidote(s):
- Physostigmine, pilocarpine, jaborandi, tannic acid, colonic irrigation; morphine; amyl nitrite, opium.
Body Sitter interventions:
- Induce vomiting if taken orally: immediately drink an emetic, such as a large glass of warm water mixed with vinegar or mustard or salt.
- Administer antidote, activated charcoal tablets, milk of magnesia and strong coffee/caffeine; keep hydrated, keep the patient warm.
- Call 911 and report atropine poisoning.
- Administer CPR if breathing stops.
Plant Description:
Datura is a woody-stalked, light green annual or biennial shrubby plant that that grows 4 to 6 feet (one to three meters) tall. The stem is stout, erect and leafy, smooth, a pale yellowish-green in color, branching repeatedly in a forked manner. The leaves are large and angular, 4 to 6 inches long, uneven at the base, with a wavy and coarsely-toothed margin, and have the strong, branching veins very plainly developed. The upper surface is dark and grayish-green, generally smooth, the under surface paler, and when dry, minutely wrinkled.
The plant flowers nearly all summer and into fall. The flowers are large and handsome, about 3 inches in length, growing singly on short stems springing from the axils of the leaves or at the forking of the branches. The calyx is long, tubular and somewhat swollen below, and very sharply five-angled, surmounted by five sharp teeth. The corolla, folded and only half-opened, is funnel-shaped, of a pure white, with six prominent ribs, which are extended into the same number of sharp-pointed segments. Usually white, sometimes light to deep lavender flowers, solitary and tubular, sometimes doubled.
The flowers open in the evening to attract night-flying moths, and emit a powerful fragrance. The flowers evolve into a four-lobed, harshly thorny, green seed pod; fruit ripens in early fall to early winter. Each lobe contains about 50, 2-3 mm, oval, black seeds. Some species (inoxia) have larger, kidney-shaped, brown seeds.
History:
The most well-known species are D. stramonium (Jimson weed) and D. inoxia (moonflower). The plants, seeds, flowers, and roots have all been traditionally used for medicinal or visionary purposes around the world. Dried leaves have been made into smoking blends, sometimes with in combination with tobacco or Cannabis, and all parts have been used to make teas and ointments.
Ancient History:
Theophrastus, a student of Aristotle, wrote in 301 BCE about the hallucinogenic effects of Datura stramonium. The Buddhist scripture Vajramahabhairava Tantra refers to Datura metel several times. The priests of Apollo used it for divination, as did the Oracle of Delphi. Aztec and Hopi Indians used it to induce prophetic visions.
The ancient Indian sex manual, the Kamasutra of Vātsyāyana, includes at least two references to Datura. One reference instructs a man to anoint his penis with honey infused with Datura before sexual intercourse. Also in ancient India, Datura was associated with the worship of Shiva, and it was used as a poison to stupefy and kill prisoners, the professional poisoners being called Dhatureeas. Thieves in India have used it to incapacitate their victims before robbing them.
Gypsies, who smoked the dried leaves, brought the plant into Europe from Asia in the sixteenth century. Soon, herbalists and witches in Europe and the American Colonies were making “Flying Formulas” from Datura and other nightshades, as well as using it for incantations by inhaling the burning plant fumes. Used by witches and shaman for many centuries.
Jimson weed acquired its current name as an evolution of its nickname “James-Town weed” which was based on a notorious accidental "poisoning" of a group of British soldiers in 1676 during the Bacon Rebellion, a full century before the American Revolution. Robert Beverly wrote of the infamous incident back in 1705, presented here without editing:
“The James-Town Weed (which resembles the Thorny Apple of Peru, and I take to be the Plant so called) is supposed to be one of the greatest Coolers in the World. This being an early Plant, was gathered very young for a boiled Salad, by some of the Soldiers sent thither, to pacify the Troubles of Bacon; and some of them eat plentifully of it, the Effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turned natural Fools upon it for several Days: One would blow up a Feather in the Air; another would dart Straws at it with much Fury; and another stark naked was sitting up in a Corner, like a Monkey, grinning and making Mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss, and paw his Companions, and sneer in their Faces… Indeed, they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallowed in their own Excrements, if they had not been prevented. A Thousand such simple Tricks they played, and after Eleven Days, returned to themselves again, not remembering anything that had passed.”
Modern Use:
Used as a medicinal component in many current asthma remedies. Classified as a Schedule 1 illegal drug in the state of Nevada.
Datura Species:
The genus Datura has nine to 20 species ranging from annual to perennial, herbs to shrubs. Most have trumpet-shaped flowers usually pointing upwards during bloom. All of these species are considered hallucinogenic and potentially lethal.
Datura Cultivation
Category: Annual, biennial, short-lived perennial.
Native Origin: Asia; naturalized to the Middle East, Europe, the Americas. Central America hosts more species of Datura than any other region.
Favorite Habitat:
Full-sun; well-drained (gravel/sand) stream bank or rich meadow.
Soil Requirements: Rich, well-drained soil. As a rule, they need warm, sunny places and soil that will keep their roots dry. When grown outdoors in good locations, the plants tend to reseed themselves and may become invasive. In clay containers, they need porous, aerated soil with adequate drainage. The plants are susceptible to fungi in the root area, so avoid compost and manure.
Soil pH: Neutral to Alkaline.
Soil Mix: Sand, peat and perlite.
Sun: Full range. Full sun to mostly sunny preferred. Will tolerate nearly full shade if not too dense.
Water: Moist, but well drained. Water frequently.
Fertilization: Monthly once established, but not required.
Planting time: Early Spring.
Spacing: 4-6 ft. apart.
Height: 3-6 ft. Plants grown in pots are substantially smaller.
Hardiness: Frost will take small plants back to root ball. Larger plants tolerate light frost, but lose leaves.
Seed Germination time: One to ten weeks. Intermittent germinator. Let soil dry and then re-water for the second germ.
Seed Germination methods: Cold stratify in a freezer for a week. Carefully pull off the elaiosome or any white “flesh” left on the seed, soak seeds overnight, plant in peat pots, use bottom heat, indoors, put out after last frost; or,
Direct sow 3mm deep in late Winter or Spring at or just before last frost. Spring planting is best.
Seed Pollination: Wind and nocturnal moths, especially the Hawk moth.
Plant Propagation methods: Seed only. Not suitable for cloning.
Harvest: Early to Late Fall. Harvest leaves during flowering; Pick seed pods individually just after they first split and allow to dry whole before dismantling. Seeds in the pod mature at different rates. Immature seeds harvested prior to the first split are reputed to be higher in active alkaloids than ripe seeds, will likely not germinate well if at all, and are usually lighter in color or off-color.
Bloom time: Summer through fall.
Pests: Beetles. Do NOT use pesticides on Daturas.
USDA Zones: Zones 5 to 11. Tolerates wide range of growing conditions.
Similar Species: Brugmansia spp. (tree datura); Brugmansia flowers are similar to moonflower, somewhat larger, but droop straight down, found in white, orange, pink and yellow. Brugmansia can also grow to 12 feet tall and tends to be denser and bushier than Daturas. They belong to a different genus and species but are often confused with true Daturas.
Plant Spirit Message:
“Don’t mess with me, or I will mess you up.”
Growing Datura
Datura can be tricky to germinate, but once sprouted, plants are very hardy, tolerating a wide variety of growing conditions. They often grow back after a frost. The author found one wild and very healthy plant growing under a bridge in gravel next to a stream bed. It was perfectly situated to get morning sun with a high water table in well drained soil protected from all frost. The happy plant had wet feet but was growing in gravel and sand. However, a huge patch was also found in a rich meadow in the overflow area of a small river, indicating a compatible habitat.
The various species of Datura offer a wide variety of flowers and plant architecture. Datura meteloides grows to about 3 feet tall but can spread to 4 feet wide. Datura metel may grow to 5 feet but is an upright plant. Datura stramonium can grow to 6 feet or more and is bushier than D. metel and has smaller leaves.
Datura flowers are all trumpet shaped and stand upright. They tend to open in the early evening and will close the next day unless the weather is cool or cloudy, then they may stay open. Many species have a sweet scent that can be very strong. The seed pods are often spiny. Different species have different spination on the pods. All parts of the Datura plant are toxic and should not be eaten.
Once established, Datura plants are durable and tolerant of dry conditions. That doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate plenty of water and some fertilizer, however. The better you treat them the more vigorously they will grow and flower.
Sow seeds indoors around February or March about 10 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Use peat pots for growing the seeds so the seedlings can be planted directly outdoors in the garden without upsetting the roots; Datura seedlings are very fragile. Fill the peat pots with a humus rich soil and moisten well. Spread the seeds over the soil; cover the pots with clear plastic wrap and sit in a sunny area. Keep the soil moist; do not let dry out. Seeds need warm temperatures of around 70 degrees F to germinate. Seeds will germinate within 3 to 6 weeks.
The Daturas are generally grown from seeds in early spring. They should be started in flats indoors in the North, or where they are to stand in warmer areas. The perennial species usually rise from thick tuberous roots. In the North these may be dug in autumn and stored in semi-dry peat moss, sawdust, or sand in a cool place until spring. These daturas generally prefer loose, sandy soils, somewhat on the dry side, and a sunny location. Those native to the Southwest will stand considerable drought.
Does well in rich soil in a dry, sunny location. May be sown in the open in May in mounds 18 inches apart with four seeds in each mound. Thin out all but the healthiest plant after sprouting. Hardy. All species of Datura seed can tolerate freezing. Often they die back and then resprout from the root ball next Spring.
Preparing seed: “Stratification” is when seed is frozen and then thawed to improve germination rates. Daturas benefit from stratification. Even so, germination rates can be low with many species. Should be started in damp peat moss. Do not pre-soak the seeds.
Planting: Datura can be sown directly in the ground or started indoors as early as Feb or March. Any head start will speed flowering, but seed planted in the ground will have plenty of time to flower. Do not give up hope if the seed seems to take forever to sprout. It will grow when it’s ready. Warmth and moisture are key factors. When the seed is warm, moist and happy it will grow, and not before. Moist does not mean wet.
Transplanting: Daturas do not like to be disturbed. If you start indoors, use Jiffy pots so that you can transplant without disturbing the roots. If you don’t use Jiffy pots, transplant carefully, keeping as much soil in place around the roots as possible. Water well and keep watered until plants show continued growth.
Spacing: D. meteloides especially can spread generously. Four feet width is not uncommon in a sunny, fertile location. As compensation for its size, it will be covered with beautiful white flowers.
Herbicides: Do not use insecticide! They tend to cause stunted, deformed leaf growth. Do not use any insecticide that you spray on the leaves. One grower used systemic nicotine with success. Keep all herbicides far away, as they kill Daturas. Weeding should be done by hand or with mulch.
Harvesting: The leaves and tops are preferably harvested when the plants are in full bloom, but they may be gathered at any time from the appearance of flowers until frost. They should be stripped from the stem and dried as quickly as possible. Fresh leaves have a fetid odor, which disappears after drying. Seeds harvested for psychoactive purposes are collected by removing the capsules when they are ripe, but are still green and unopened. These are dried in the sun or by low heat. Seeds for growing purposes should be gathered by collecting capsules that are just opening, removing the seeds and drying in the sun.
Datura Ingestion
Oral ingestion is highly dangerous, unpredictable and unwise. Never use alone, if at all.
Atropine users MUST have a designated body sitter. Numerous deaths and mental health lock-ups are documented in the USA and elsewhere, primarily amongst uninformed teenage males, 18-20 y.o. All the death reports read by the author consisted of documented cases where teenage males ate seeds or drank a strong tea made from fresh leaves or seeds.
NOTE: NO deaths were reported by Erowid.org from smoking the leaves, or using topical oils. Avoid oral ingestion!
Traditional Uses:
Used in ancient India as a poison to stupefy and kill prisoners. Used for divination and visions by the Priests of Apollo, European gypsies, the Oracle of Delphi, ancient Aztecs, and many other native peoples.
Traditionally, Datura has been smoked or inhaled by nearly all who have used it successfully. Gypsies smoked the leaves, and some believe the Oracle at Delphi inhaled the fumes of burning Datura leaves to attain her insights.
Datura was one of the key ingredients used by witches in ancient “Flying Formulas,” also for incantations. However, a German scientist who found an ancient Flying Formula, made and consumed it, only to cause his own death.
The topical efficacy of Datura was confirmed by author Michael J. Harner in his 1973 book Hallucinogens and Shamanism, where he wrote:
“Some years ago I ran across a reference to the use of a Datura ointment by the Yaqui Indians of northern Mexico, reportedly rubbed on the stomach to see visions. I called this to the attention of my friend and colleague Carlos Castañeda, who was studying under a Yaqui shaman, and asked him to determine if the Yaqui used the ointment for flying and to determine its effects."
I quote from his subsequent experience with the Ointment of Datura:
"The motion of my body was slow and shaky. I looked down and saw don Juan sitting below me, way below me. The momentum carried me forward one more step. And from there I soared. I remember coming down once, then I pushed up with both feet, sprang backward, and glided on my back. I saw the dark sky above me and clouds going by me. I jerked my body so I could look down. I saw the dark mass of the mountains. My speed was extraordinary. I changed directions by turning my head…”
Medicinal Uses:
Currently used in many OTC asthma medicines in the USA.
In Appalachia, a folk medicine poultice made from fresh flowers is applied to wounds as a pain killer. An ointment made of mashed seeds and fat was used historically to treat sores, boils, pimples, bruises, bites, burns, wounds, cuts, and swellings. Pioneers smoked the leaves and crushed seeds for asthma relief. Once used to calm patients before setting fractured bones. In Mendocino County, California, circa 1884, one of the early white settlers imported Datura seeds to grow and would use the plants to make a healing poultice to apply to any wounds on his horses.
Atropine paralyses the endings of the pulmonary branches, thus relieving bronchial spasms. The practice of smoking D. ferox for asthma was introduced into Great Britain from the East Indies, and afterwards the English species was substituted for that employed in Hindustan. In Ceylon, the leaves, stem and seed pods are chopped up to make burning powders for the treatment of asthma. Traditionally, the dried, crumbled leaves are mixed with an equal part of potassium nitrate (to increase combustion) and the mixture is burned in a saucer; the resulting smoke is then inhaled.
The dried leaves may also be rolled into herbal cigarettes or smoked in a pipe, either alone or with other herbs such as tobacco, sage, belladonna, etc. The smoke from a stramonium cigarette made from 0.25 grams of stramonium leaf contains up to 0.5 milligrams of pure atropine. Dryness of the throat and mouth are to be regarded as indications that too large a quantity is being taken.
Datura acts similarly to belladonna, but without causing constipation. It can be used for any purpose for which belladonna is employed: dilating the pupils, etc. It is considered slightly more sedative to the central nervous system than belladonna. Stramonium is so similar to belladonna in its symptoms, toxicity and general physiological and therapeutic action, that the two plants are practically identical in alkaloid content effects.
The seeds are generally used in the form of an extract, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, or macerating them in alcohol. A tincture is sometimes preferred. A tincture is made from the unripe fruit and a trituration of the fresh seeds.
Applied locally, in ointment, plasters or fomentation, stramonium is said to palliate the pain of muscular rheumatism, neuralgia, and also pain due to hemorrhoids, fistula, abscesses and similar inflammation.
Psychotropic Uses:
Daturas cause frank hallucinations, meaning that the person cannot distinguish between the hallucinations and real objects. Elaborate visions and fantasies are common, sometimes including long conversations with imaginary persons.
Datura may cause severe, long-lasting disorientation, confusion, delirium, and hallucinations. Users consistently lose the ability to be rational or perform basic functions needed for survival. Many users report periods of several hours to several days in which they have no memory of what they were doing at all. Behavior is often irrational and accidental injury is a serious risk. Datura also causes physical effects including blurred vision, inability to focus the eyes (lasting up to several days), dryness of mouth, sedation or excitement, inhibited digestion, constriction of the throat, and an inability to perspire. Effects can last for weeks.
Traditionally, successful users have a consistent history of non-oral ingestion. The mere scent of the flowers was often adequate to produce visions, other users dried and smoked the fresh leaves. Still others would make a paste out of crushed seeds, or a tincture from fresh leaves, and apply it topically to sensitive skin areas, such as armpits or labia.
Current Usage:
Asthma remedies. Motion sickness remedies. Witchcraft and Mexican shamanism. Primarily grown as an ornamental bush or border plant, with beautiful flowers and weird, dangerous, spiky seed pods.
Cautions:
Datura alkaloids can have serious toxic effects on humans, including coma and death. Just 4-5 grams of dried Datura stramonium leaves can contain a lethal dose of alkaloids; flowers and seeds are even more potent.
Jim DeKorne noted that Datura and other tropane-containing plants are often associated with an aggressive feminine force (he references Kali) that has been viciously repressed in the West and that this might well be the reason so many people have negative experiences with these plants.
Oral ingestion of Datura has caused numerous, documented DEATHS. NOT a get-high plant! Do not ingest.
Lethal Dose:
The highest concentration of alkaloids occurs in the seeds: they contain approximately 0.1 mg of atropine per seed, or 3-6 mg/50-100 seeds. An estimated lethal dose for an adult is more than 10 mg of atropine or greater than 2-4 mg of scopolamine, depending upon body weight and other factors.
- In other words, about 100-150 seeds may be a fatal dose for an average adult. This is a single seed pod full of seeds.
Just four or five grams of dried Datura stramonium leaves can contain a lethal dose of dangerous alkaloids.
Traditional Recipes and Use:
Scopolamine and atropine are anti-cholinergic deliriants with a half-life of about four hours. They block the muscarinic receptors, which in turn stimulate the dopaminergic neurons.
Datura seeds and pods are usually more potent than the leaves, stems and roots. Potency increases over the reproductive period and peaks when the plant is fruiting.
As few as 10 Datura seeds taken orally or one leaf brewed into a tea can produce profound perceptual changes; 30-40 seeds are an extremely potent dose and should never be consumed. Quantities over 100 can be fatal. Alkaloid content varies from plant to plant. One user reported vivid dreams resulting from oral ingestion of just two seeds before bedtime. Stories here are intended as folklore, not as a blueprint to consume. Do not orally ingest this plant!
Users typically report diminished capacity, which can lead to unwisely consuming more Datura until it is all gone, as well as your sanity. One stoned user decided unwisely to cook more tea, then forgot the stove was lit and wandered away (his wife saved the house from burning down and then went to rescue the family pets who had all run away out the forgotten open doors). Once a Datura journey begins, all additional intoxicants and plant parts should be removed from the user and the site by the designated Body Sitter.
Please: Never use Datura without a designated, trained Body Sitter, who is available continuously for a period of 24 hours minimum to about 12 days maximum. This person watches your human physical body while you literally abandon it. I do NOT recommend use of this plant internally. It may kill you.
Smoking Leaf. Pick one large, fresh, healthy Datura leaf. Let dry in dim light, low humidity for three to seven days (until dry). Smoke slowly, waiting 10 minutes between hits to judge potency.
Leaf Tea. Pick one large, fresh, healthy Datura leaf. Bring one quart of water to a boil and add the leaf. Simmer for 20 minutes. Drink half first to judge potency, add more only if necessary. Never use this plant alone.
Seed Tea. One user reported success with this formula (NOT endorsed by DD):
- Boil 10 seeds in two cups of water for 15 minutes.
- The seeds start to break down and there is a clear goo that is left from the seeds, even though they may still appear whole.
- Consume the goo, not the seeds. The effects will be felt roughly within an hour.
Flying Formula Ointment:
Ancient Flying Formulas included herbs such as aconitum, belladonna, calamus root, Potentilla simplex, Artemisia absinthium, mandrake, poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), hellebore and henbane. Other intoxicants in the formula sometimes include hashish (Cannabis indica) and/or opium poppy juice (Papaver somniferum). The herbs are added to the cooked fat of a freshly killed duck and made into a salve or ointment. Traditionally, witches rubbed the ointment on a stick which was held between their unclothed labia. Such formulas are still kept secret, and for good reasons.
Since Atropine is absorbable through normal skin, rubbing ointments made from atropine-containing Solanaceous plants would be an effective way to become "intoxicated." Using an original, seventeenth-century formula, folklorist Will-Erich Peuckert of Göttingen, Germany cooked up an ointment made from belladonna, henbane and Datura. He rubbed it on his forehead and armpits, asking his colleagues to do likewise. They all fell into a deep, 24-hour sleep. He reported:
“We had wild dreams. Faces danced before my eyes which were at first terrible. Then I suddenly had the sensation of flying for miles through the air. The flight was repeatedly interrupted by great falls. Finally, in the last phase, an orgiastic feast with sensual excess.”
OR, they could have all died...
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