infestør

how about those lickable psychedelic toads in america?

markdienekes

Thanks Oki, yeah, I can't recall where I saw it, maybe I watched a bit of a documentary on it... The person who discovered it decided to have a line of coke on the mummy as a sort of victory tradition.

caldrail

I don't. He did tell me at the time, but the chemicals involved were obscure as herbal extracts belonging to a group of hallucinogenic compounds. To be fair, I haven't seen any mention of this practice in the sources.

Lawnmowerman

Ancient Britains used to rub the flowers of Foxgloves on their anuses supposedly causing a sensation of flying.



Go on take a walk on the wildside.

markdienekes

Bizarre! Where did you get the details from?

Looks like it was used to cure wounds.

Maundu

Weren't cacao and coffee beans once smoked (by the native americans) to this end?

Lawnmowerman

I remember hearing about it on a radio show back in the early 90's on radio 4. I always remember it becasue we had foxgloves in our garden and i remember thinking "HHHMM I wonder????"

On another note, whilst trying to find a reputable source for the flying sensation, I did discover that Van Gough used foxgloves to treat his epilepsy. One of the side effects of foxgloves piosoning is a yellow haze. It is speculated that this is why several of his paintings have a very yellow feel to them.



Ok found references to using it on a pagan website (not the best I know) it was used in Ancient ceremonies as part of a flying ointemnt.

Any of our British members care to experiment (caution: do not injest results will be fatal)

poison path « The Witch of Forest Grove

Brunel

Some believe that the holy drink of the ancient Aryans mentioned in the Vedas - soma - was a concoction involving mushrooms.

An extract of the nightshade or belladonna plant called atropine was used everywhere from Rome to India as a poison. But women also used it as a cosmetic. They put a drop of weak solution in their eyes to dilate their pupils. In fact, is still used for the same reason today by eye doctors.

Hemlock was also used by the ancients - Socrates met his death with a cup of hemlock in 399BC.

Brunel

I don't know about rubbing it on their anuses, but they did use it to cure wounds.

The medical drug Digitalis comes from foxgloves. It is used today as a treatment for the heart.

According to British folklore, the spots inside the foxglove flowers are said to be the marks left from the touch of elves' fingers and the "flying ointment" of witches is said to contain foxglove.

The name of the flower is a corruption of "folk's glove", a reference to the Fair Folk - the fairies.

markdienekes

Interesting stuff guys, thanks!