Datura

“Hexing Herbs”

ESPatch Oct 31, 2012 6 comments

Jimson weed, jamestown-weed, Mad apple, devil’s apple, devil’s trumpet, devil’s weed, stink weed, apple of Peru, malpitte,

a lot of names for one plant.

Commonly known as datura, these seedpods give an indication that you don’t want

to mess with this plant. It just looks dangerous.

The word Datura comes from Hindi dhatura (thorn apple),

though this is one apple you don’t want to be biting into, an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Probably not in this case.

Datura was considered particularly sacred in Ancient India as it was believed to be a favorite of the Hindu god Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance.

According to Hindu mythology, Shiva’s cosmic dance represents the fundamental energy of the universe.

Sphingid moth on datura trumpet.

European usage of Datura can be traced back to pagan rituals. The Church suppressed knowledge of the plant during the medieval witch-burning period and associated Datura and other similar plants with the

The plant belongs to the classic “witches’ weeds,”along with deadly nightshade, henbane, wolfsbane and

mandrake, among others.

Witches, like the shamans of the Americas, often used psychoactive plants to search for inner wisdom, to divine the future or to find answers to life’s deeper questions.

One of the hallucinogenic potions used by these “witches” was a concoction called the flying ointment, (I am sure for a very good reason). It was a rather lethal brew made from the so-called “hexing herbs,” one of which is datura.

The ingredients were rendered down in fat – requiring some sort of large pot (cauldron), a long implement would have been required to stir the bubbling mixture (like a broomstick handle).

Datura contains chemicals that are extremely toxic and dangerous. In non-lethal doses however, these chemicals cause delirium, amnesia, delusions and hallucinations vivid enough that the witch ingesting the potion would genuinely believe that she was flying, coming back to earth a few days later, no doubt with a bump.

Today the image of the witch cackling and “flying” around under the moonlight on her broomstick still remains a cultural iconic image…

…thank goodness.

***Disclaimer: To anyone reading this, please do not experiment with this plant, witches and shamans knew exactly what they were doing.

Halloween excitement has been brewing all this week in the Patch, this bleeding zombie appeared more interested in the texture of these coneflowers rather than the procurement

of more brains. I have no shortage of these unidentified little brains that are found floating in my pond.

Moving along:

Bees,

Snout Nose Butterflies,

Libytheana carinenta

queen butterflies,

gray hair streaks and a bunch of these

tiny Syrphid hoverflies have all been feeding all week on nectar produced by my purple and fragrant mist flowers.

I have three fragrant mist flowers planted together for maximum punch, when these fully open it is insect mayhem.

The moths on these flowers appear to have consumed too much nectar and are now not adverse to being “handled”.

Happy Halloween from the pumpkin Patch.

Stay Tuned for:

“Bugs and Ducks”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“That’s Just Not Blight!”

ESPatch Oct 1, 2012 6 comments

Disturbing forest Ents,

unconventional attire, the smell of kettle corn and turkey legs, the sound of distant doodle-sacs, it could mean only one thing.

We had arrived after driving our trusty steed down the dusty “old potato” road at the Sherwood Forest Celtic Festival

http://www.sherwoodforestfaire.com/

In the middle of Texas!

Guinevere wasted no time finding the hair braiding tent,

while Arthur (and Excalibur) held session at the round table.

But the stars of the day were so little you could barely see them,

ladies and gentlemen I give you the…

…Pignut Flea Circus!

Imaginations ran wild watching these highly trained Irish fleas performing acrobatics, trapeze and walking the high wire.

Oh and should you need a break for a while…

I intend to integrate a couple of these into my hardscaping.

Back in the Patch:

The harvest moon rose over more unsettled weather this week,

and another couple of inches of well needed rain.

This was the view from my computer table before the rain.

Note the Mex. bush sage in the foreground.

There is no hiding their legginess now! This had me laughing all the way to my truck.

Toadstools emerged overnight,

and nearly all of the blooms on this yucca were beaten off the stalk,

lodging in tight at the base of the crown…oh that’s just great.

Well I am not going in there.

Salvia is currently in fine form, and this Barbados cherry,

Malpighia emarginata

is filling up the entire back garden with its cherry/honey fragrance.

The rain has greened up the muhly in my Hell-strip,

and pushed datura into a flowering frenzy.

This next insect looked like it needed some of the nectar.

This is a Rustic Sphinx, and it is one very large moth in the Sphinginae family.

Manduca rustica

They are very fond of desert willow, moonflowers and petunia. I found this one crawling around on my front doormat, looking decidedly unwell.

The next character was very shy and required some coaxing which in turn made it difficult to get a steady shot.

What I need is a camera with a retractable fake finger adaptation, though that would surely get me into trouble.

Myrmeleontidae – Antlions

Although they resemble dragonflies or damselflies they are not related.

Finally some grossness:

Captain it appears that this sand cherry is under attack?

Stay Tuned for:

“Notre Dame it’s got Cold”

All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.