This a highly spiritual and very powerful plant that has been used for centuries by the Navajo and Hopi. A low lying desert shrub, tetradymia contains chemical properties that render it an emetic, meaning that it causes physical purging. When used in ceremony, this special medicine is said to relieve the living of unwanted visitations from the dead. Though I have never used this plant, it has somehow spoken to me and I immediately felt an intense connection to the plant as a sort of metaphor for dealing with the premature loss of loved ones. I loved finding this one in the field and just sitting with it for a while.
More Datura documentation:
The number 5
The sacred spiral
Spikey seed pods, so called thorny-apples
Photos from plant walk at Kelly Canyon:
That's Phyllis Hogan in the purple. She has been a most lovely plant teacher and endearing friend of mine for the last two summer's now. She and her assistant Jessa Fisher run Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuit of herbalism and community outreach regarding personal and spiritual health. AERA not only aspires to inform the public of the importance of health, diet, and plant medicine in the ongoing complex life processes of healing, but also seeks to preserve the beautiful and ancient forms of indigenous culture, knowledge, and ritual passed on to her from the various Native medicine men that she has studied under in her lifetime. Phyllis runs an herbal trading store in downtown Flagstaff called WinterSun.
Community Garden tour in Sedona, AZ
My friend Jessa helping harvest enormous Zucchs!
Sunroot (Jerusalem arthichoke) edible root from a sunflower plant.
bee worker:
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