Richard Evans Schultes

BACK IN STOCK DECEMBER 2022Where the Gods Reign is a scientific and creative anthropological overview of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem-featuring writings and excerpts on rivers, ethnic groups, cultural customs, rubber and cocoa plants, drugs and medicines, and more. Beautiful photographs taken by Dr. Schultes during his 14 years residing in the Colombian Amazon are accompanied by short poetic reflections, precise summaries which showcase Schultes’s immense knowledge of the area, and carefully selected quotes from other great ethnographers of the Amazon.

Published on the 100th anniversary of the science of ethnobotany, this volume provides a comprehensive summary of the history and current state of the field. The 36 articles present a truly global perspective on the theory and practice of today's ethnobotany.

Vine of the Soul is an exceptional photographic essay accompanied by detailed descriptions of the Amazonians’ use of medicinal and other sacred plant substances. Over 160 documentary photos, some of the most signifi cant ever taken on the subject, bring the reader along a journey to a world in which healing with plants, ritual and magic play an essential role in everyday life. Richard Evans Schultes, former Director of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University, led an extraordinary life that bridged the worlds of academia and tribal cultures. Carrying out extensive fi eld studies since 1939 as an ethnobotanist and conservationist, Schultes has received acclaim from many sources, including the Cross of Boyacá— Colombia’s highest honor, the Tyler Prize for environmental achievement, the Linnean Gold Medal, the highest prize a botanist can receive, and many more.

World-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist Christian Ratsch provides the latest scientific updates to this classic work on psychoactive flora by two eminent researchers. - Numerous new and rare color photographs complement the completely revised and updated text. - Explores the uses of hallucinogenic plants in shamanic rituals throughout the world. - Cross-referenced by plant, illness, preparation, season of collection, and chemical constituents. - First edition sold 33,000 copies. Three scientific titans join forces to completely revise the classic text on the ritual uses of psychoactive plants. They provide a fascinating testimony of these andquot;plants of the gods,andquot; tracing their uses throughout the world and their significance in shaping culture and history. In the traditions of every culture, plants have been highly valued for their nourishing, healing, and transformative properties. The most powerful of those plants, which are known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness, have always been regarded as sacred. The authors detail the uses of hallucinogens in sacred shamanic rites while providing lucid explanations of the biochemistry of these plants and the cultural prayers, songs, and dances associated with them. The text is lavishly illustrated with 400 rare photographs of plants, people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world's sacred psychoactive flora.