Fascinating talk by Wade Davis on the varieties of human experience, the value of the existence of these diverse worlds views and the serious and ongoing threat to indigenous people around the world.
At the 11:23 point Davis explains how it is that forest dwellers make profound botanical discoveries that elude the most advanced western science.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
Photographer Robert Llewellyn is the author of three books: “Seeing Trees”, “Seeing Flowers”, and “Seeing Seeds.”
“When I first looked at trees — really looked at them — it was like meeting another civilization,”
“Picking up a camera changes how I see things. The plant world, previously hiding in plain sight, now reveals itself as another civilization living among us. They have a plan. I’ll never see them the same … Read more
In the previous post, we introduced Richard Evans Schultes though a short video and excerpts of an interview conducted with him later in his life.
In this video, his student and protege Wade Davis goes much deeper into Schultes’ story.
Absolutely fascinating and excellent preparation for seeing the new movie “Abrazo de la Serpiente” (Embrace of the Serpent) – which I’ve now seen three times.
If this account of Schultes’s … Read more
Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001) was probably the greatest explorer of the Amazon, and regarded among anthropologists and seekers alike as the “father of ethnobotany.”
Taking what was meant to be a short leave from Harvard in 1941, he surveyed the Amazon basin almost continuously for twelve years, during which time he lived among two dozen different Indian tribes, mapped rivers, secretly sought sources of rubber for the US government during … Read more
Baba Rahsan Abdul Hakim
Baba Rahsan Abdul Hakim grew up in Jamaica where his training in plants began when he was a small child at the hands of his grandmother, aunt and mother.
His grandfather, Charles Williams, was an important horticulturist and agriculturist who introduced a number of useful plants to Jamaica. He was the uncredited developer of the Hope Garden, the largest botanical garden in the Caribbean.
As an … Read more
If you don’t know Jeremy Narby, you should.
He’s a “diplomat between two systems of knowledge.”
Narby as born in Montreal in 1959 and grew up in Canada and Switzerland.
He studied history at the University of Canterbury and received a doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University.
Narby spent several years living with the Ashaninca in the Peruvian Amazon cataloging their understanding and use of the plants in their forest … Read more
Jim Duke – “Better Living Through Phytochemistry” – with Potentilla recta, Cinquefoil – The Green Farmacy Garden’s legal representative of Cannabis sativa as displayed in the Glaucoma plot of his garden.
If this is your first exposure to Dr. Duke, we strongly recommend you take some time to dig deeper into his work and career.
More more information:
Psychoactive plants have been omnipresent during all the stages of hominid evolution – but is there any evidence that they may have had an important influence or been the evolutionary catalyst for the emergence of modern humans?
Mythological tales of a “forbidden fruit” acting to awaken humankind from their “natural” or protohuman state are not uncommon, but some recent findings of science now seem to give new meaning to such … Read more
Site of Herb Walk in Chicago on Milwaukee and Kedzie Avenues in Logan Square
Amaranth — Amaranthus retroflexus — Ancient food of the Americas; very high mineral and protein content. Excellent for anemia
Sheep Sorrel — Rumex acetosella — Good food for salads, kidney aid
Milkweed — Asclepias syriaca — white milky sap for warts, edible flowers and very young pods
Prairie Dock — Silphium terebinthinaceum — decorative prairie plant… Read more
