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| Datura Blossoms - Mojave Desert 1975 |
"Oddly enough, Datura is known both as the Angel’s Trumpet
and the Devil’s Weed. Much of the contemporary interest in Datura is traceable
to the writings of Carlos Castaneda, and especially his popular book The
Teachings of Don Juan. In this work, Castaneda describes the philosophy of Don
Juan, a Yaqui sorcerer and shaman, whom he had met in the early 60s, before
psychedelic drugs became popular with the hippie movement. In Castaneda’s
writings, Don Juan appears as a typical shaman who teaches his apprentices to
navigate through the fantasy realms carried by the wings of Datura.
"Although typically associated with Peyote, Castaneda’s first
drug experiences were actually with Datura. In a series of fascinating
dialogues, Castaneda learns from Don Juan, his teacher and shaman, about a
spiritual helper—an ally—living in Datura plants. The name Don Juan uses to
refer to this spiritual entity is one of the Spanish names for Datura: Yerba
Del Diablo or 'Devil’s Weed.' The shaman’s power is vast and
unthinkable, but it comes to its full use only with the help of the ally who
assists in transcending the realm of conventional reality. In one of his
infamous experiments with Datura, Castaneda transformed into a crow and learned
how to fly—just like medieval witches on their broomsticks."
From a 40-year old negative!
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