Significance Of The Devil's Club

Not soon after the first Europeans set foot on American soil at the end of the fifteenth century, they began take note with varying degrees of fascination and revulsion of a strange indigenous custom psychedelic plant ritual. They were later to recognize this occurrence as an indispensable aspect of aboriginal religion and ritual in many parts of the New World. Intoxication by certain plants were ascribed supernatural powers by indigenous people.

Belladonna grows in the shades of Europe during the spring. With visually appetizing berries and deep purple flowers, the plant itself is beautiful. When crushed the berries emit a foul odor, similar to decay—the first sign that something about this plant is not as pretty as it seems. (Grieve, 1971) If a full grown man was to consume 10- 20 berries or one of the more potent leaves, a poisonous compound referred tropane alkaloids will begin to make the user feel the onsets of fever and hallucinations. In higher doses, Belladonna will lead to vomiting, coma and eventually death by respiratory failure. (Casken, et al. 2003) Although the plant is beautiful, it is its effect on the body that has elevated it to international acclaim and brought about the attentions of artists, witches and schemers alike.

The plant species that I researched was Medicago sativa, or more commonly known as Alfalfa. I found this to be a very intriguing plant to research because we grow alfalfa on the farm as a fodder feed for the animals but I had no idea that it had such a practical use in modern medicine. It is believed that alfalfa was first grown somewhere within the Middle East and then spread to Europe and parts of Asia, the colonists brought it over from Europe to America. And today it can be found in nearly every continent used to feed livestock. The leaves of Alfalfa are what is beneficial in the use of medicine.The leaves are known to have positve affects on the digestive system and can help to lower cholesterol. They also aide with the cleansing the

Cole, E., 2015. The Effects of Tetracycline and Ibuprofen on Common Duckweed, Lemna minor L. College of DuPage [Internet]. [Cited 2015 Nov 15] 12(13) Available from: http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1489&context=essai

Thousands of years ago, ancient civilizations made use of a particular plant that can be commonly found in the Mediterranean region of Western Europe. This plant, with its stunning purple bell-shaped flowers and dark, juicy berries (1), has earned a reputation throughout history for being one of the most poisonous plants that can be encountered in nature (Figure 1). Eating just ten of the berries can prove fatal, and the leaves and roots of the plant can be even more poisonous (1). Aware of its deadliness, the ancient Romans exploited the plant’s toxicity by dipping their arrowheads in juices from the berries, and countless assassinations were accomplished by tainting food and drink with the extracts from the plant (2, 3). Not surprisingly,

Since hunter-gatherers time, hallucinogens have been known to be used in tribal rituals. Such tribes believed in animism: unusual abilities and prudence can be derived from nature (e.g. plants) and the ‘spirits’ within them. Passing the knowledge down to the coming generations via shamans, whom by experience have mastered handling different hallucinogen containing-plants: to reach an altered state of mind. In the present, it is known that hallucinogens are banned in most parts of the world. However, aware of the power of hallucinogens, a query is raised as to whether this mind-altering strength can be harnessed to treat mental or physical ailments.

It is the oldest and still extensively used in many parts of the world today. Herbal medicines played an important role in maintaining the human health for thousands of years, and have gained growing popularity and extensive usage in the world over the last decades5. Using plants as medicine provides remarkable advantages for treating many conditions5. Different parts of the plant provides certain therapeutic effects therefore, it can be used to treat many different diseases. They are usually sold as tablets, capsules, powders, teas, or even as dried plants6. Pharmaceutical drugs contain specific active constituents, while herbal medicines contain relatively unprocessed mixtures of phytochemical constituents and their holistic efficacy is usually produced by the unresolved integrative effects between the constituents

Tribes in Mexico such as Huichol or Tarahumara discovered that the cactus can be dried and eaten to achieve an ever more rich effect (Wade par. 7). In Mexico, the Matazetec tribes from Oaxaca discovered that the mushroom flora they came across came upon the Earth as thunderbolts (Hochman). The people believed that these mushroom flowers were a gift from their God to take use in their practicing of rituals. The rituals took place every month with the gathering of the flowers and infusing them into tea. All of the people in the tribe would then drink the tea and partake in deep soul searching. The religious side of these drugs was based on the idea that hallucinogens allowed the Shaman to speak to the spirits and be given direction to lead his people in the most beneficial way.

Mistletoe was once heavily relied on for its medicinal properties in many cultures, from Native Americans, such as the Navaho who would drink a tea made from the twigs to help with childbirth, to the Japanese. It was used for anything from helping with diarrhea to stopping hemorrhaging to helping with heart disease. It was also used for frostbitten limbs, ulcers, and sores. As well as being used for “humors”, a humor is what was thought to be the cause of a disease that could not be explained

Ethno medical uses: Ceiba pentandra bark decoction has been used as a diuretic, aphrodisiac, and to treat headache, as well as type

Historically, many hallucinogenic plants that are used for ceremonial and spiritual events by people around the world. The plants and mushroom such as Peyote and Psilocybin are examples that produce hallucinogenic effects. The hallucinogenic mushroom, Psilocybin, is used historically for ceremonial in Central American (Pappas, 2014). I still believe some tribal groups still use these plants for religious or ceremonial purposes, but in modern time, people use hallucinogenic drugs like LSD or the magic mushroom, PCP, MDMA, and more for more social, recreational purposes, for entertainment, and so on. According to Drug Abuse, the hallucinogenic drugs can alter the effects by acting on the neural circuits in the brain and use the neurotransmitter

The purpose of the experiment determine whether a plant watered with diluted aspirin will grow faster than a plant watered with normal water. We seeking to answer the scientific question, “Does aspirin improve the growth of plants?” Our hypothesis is the more aspirin a plant is given the faster and higher the plant will grow. We compared the results of three groups of lima beans. The first group received normal water while the second the third groups had aspirin added (second group had one aspirin and third group had two aspirins). We used two plants for each group so if one died the experiment could continue. Our experiment demonstrated the addition of aspirin has a positive impact on plant growth with the third group (two aspirin added)

While hundred of thousands of Satanic ritual abuse cases were reported in the United States the past thirty years, there are still some problematic concerns about the validity of the subject (Richardson et al, 1996: 28). Does Satanic ritual abuse really exist? This question has been asked multiple times by the public as well as health professionals. The main reason behind this tormenting question is that there is little to no evidence of Satanic groups not just in the United States, but everywhere around the world. In fact, the groups are strictly secretive and they opt for a “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” kind of belief system. Any member who dares reveal an event from their Satanic group risk their lives greatly (Stone, Stone, 1992:

It is resistant to drought and cold, useful for land restoration and field conservation. Some of the attributes of sea buckthorn berries consist of anti-inflammation, antimicrobial action, pain relief, promotion of tissue regeneration, ulcers, hepatic disorders, boosting of immune system and safety against cancer and cardiovascular disease. In ophthalmology, keratosis, trachoma, eyelid injuries and conjunctivitis are treated using berry extracts. The plant is also known to kill tiny parasitic mites called Demodex (Bal et al., 2011).

Daffodils were traditionally used to induce vomiting and as a coolant for burns and wounds. They