"Pharmako poeia: plant powers, poisons, and herbcraft focuses on familiar psychoactive plant-derived substances and related synthetics, ranging from the licit (tobacco, alcohol) to the illicit (cannabis, opium) and the exotic (absinthe, salvia divinorum, nitrous oxide)"--Provided by publisher.

A guide to psychoactive plants.

***This paperback edition has a new introduction by the author and updated content. This is the first volume of North Atlantic Books’ updated paperback edition of Dale Pendell’s Pharmako trilogy, an encyclopedic study of the history and uses of psychoactive plants and related synthetics first published between 1995 and 2005. The books form an interrelated suite of works that provide the reader with a unique, reliable, and often personal immersion in this medically, culturally, and spiritually fascinating subject. All three books are beautifully designed and illustrated, and are written with unparalleled authority, erudition, playfulness, and range. Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft includes a new introduction by the author and as in previous editions focuses on familiar psychoactive plant-derived substances and related synthetics, ranging from the licit (tobacco, alcohol) to the illicit (cannabis, opium) and the exotic (absinthe, salvia divinorum, nitrous oxide). Each substance is explored in detail, not only with information on its history, pharmacology, preparation, and cultural and esoteric correspondences, but also the subtleties of each plant’s effect on consciousness in a way that only poets can do. The whole concoction is sprinkled with abundant quotations from famous writers, creating a literary brew as intoxicating as its subject. The Pharmako series is continued in Pharmako/Dynamis (focusing on stimulants and empathogens) and Pharmako/Gnosis (which addresses psychedelics and shamanic plants).

Contemporary alchemist Dale Pendell completes his poetic study of botany, chemistry, spirituality, psychology and history in a volume covering the composition and uses of visionary plants. Chapters including Phantastica, Hypnotica and Telephorica explore the hallucinogenic plants, the bringers of sleep and the bearers of distance.

This is the second volume of North Atlantic Books’ hard cover edition of Dale Pendell's Pharmako trilogy, an encyclopedic study of the history and uses of psychoactive plants and related synthetics first published between 1995 and 2005. The books form an interrelated suite of works that provide the reader with a unique, reliable, and often personal immersion in this medically, culturally, and spiritually fascinating subject. All three books are beautifully designed and illustrated, and are written with unparalleled authority, erudition, playfulness, and range. Pharmako/Dynamis: Stimulating Plants, Potions, and Herbcraft focuses on stimulants (including coffee, tea, chocolate, and coca and its derivatives) and empathogens (notably Ecstasy). Each substance is explored in detail, not only with information on its history, pharmacology, preparation, and cultural and esoteric correspondences, but also the subtleties of each plant's effect on consciousness in a way that only poets can do. The whole concoction is sprinkled with abundant quotations from famous writers, creating a literary brew as intoxicating as its subject. The Pharmako series also includes Pharmako/Poeia (which covers tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, opiates, salvia divinorum, and other substances) and Pharmako/Gnosis (which addresses psychedelics and shamanic plants).

***WINNER, Best Science Fiction, 2010 Green Book Festival Based in scientific reality, Dale Pendell presents a powerful fictional vision of a fast-approaching future in which sea levels rise and a decimated population must find new ways to live. The Great Bay begins in 2021 with a worldwide pandemic followed by the gradual rising of the seas. Pendell’s vision is all encompassing—he describes the rising seas’ impact on countries and continents around the world. But his imaginative storytelling focuses on California. A “great bay” forms in California’s Central Valley and expands during a 16,000-year period. As the years pass, and technology seems to regress, even memory of a “precollapse” world blends into myth. Grizzly bears and other large predators return to the California hills, and civilization reverts to a richly imagined medieval society marked by guilds and pilgrimages, followed even later by hunting and gathering societies. Pendell’s focus is on the lives of people struggling with love, wars, and physical survival thousands of years in California’s future. He deftly mixes poetic imagery, news-reporting-style writing, interviews with survivors, and maps documenting the geographic changes. In the end, powerful human values that have been with us for 40,000 years begin to reemerge and remind us that they are desperately needed—in the present.

The essential book on CBD as medicine This practical, accessible guide to using CBD-dominant cannabis contains a wealth of information for both first-time explorers and experienced patients who want to know more about safely treating a number of health conditions with remarkable results and low to no psychoactivity or negative side effects. CBD (cannabidiol) is a component of cannabis that can provide relief for conditions such as seizures, pain, inflammation, anxiety, depression, arthritis, and a number of other issues. This book offers guidance on various forms of the medicine such as oil infusions, alcohol-based tinctures, capsules, and CO2 concentrated extracts. The information is organized by health condition and also by recommended CBD-rich strains, which do not produce the "highs" associated with THC. With dosage suggestions, potential side effects and contraindications, and the pharmacology of the plant, this is an essential guide for both doctors and patients looking for a nontoxic alternative to opiate-based pain medications and other pharmaceuticals. While cannabis has been used for medicinal and recreational purposes for thousands of years, only in the last fifty years have scientists begun to shed light on the chemistry of the plant and its interactions with the human body. Research has led to the discovery of a whole new system in the body, the endocannabinoid system, which plays a role in mediating functions such as appetite, immunity, mood, pain response, and memory. The authors present case studies, interviews with doctors who prescribe cannabidiol products, and the latest research regarding other active phytocannabinoids and terpenoids present in cannabis that are being studied for medical use. They also address the difference between CBD products derived from industrial hemp or in a lab, versus those made from medical marijuana using the whole plant. In addition to offering the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on CBD-dominant cannabis therapy for humans, this book is the first to offer guidance for using the medicine for animals, with suggestions for dosage and delivery and useful forms and strains for common health issues in pets. Finally, the authors take a look at the future of cannabis medicine, charting trends in the legalization movement and suggesting how CBD might be used to fight the opioid epidemic.

Lines from a Mined Mind brings together lyrics and musings from the twenty-five-year recording career of John Trudell, an internationally acclaimed poet, musician, and leader of the American Indian Movement. More than a simple anthology, this collection goes deeper, revealing the incendiary intersection of music and activism.

Through The Healing Wisdom of Africa, readers can come to understand that the life of indigenous and traditional people is a paradigm for an intimate relationship with the natural world that both surrounds us and is within us. The book is the most complete study of the role ritual plays in the lives of African people--and the role it can play for seekers in the West.