Episode 47: Hell's Bells & Undead Origins- Datura
Hello and welcome back to another week of Rooted! This week we are digging into a witchy favorite with a similar vibe to our first ever episode- datura- also known as Thorny apple, the devil’s trumpet, hell’s bells, and jimson weed!
Datura refers to a few specific plants, but for today we will be speaking primarily about sacred datura or datura wrightii, which is the most commonly used plant and my favorite, is a member of the solanaceae or nightshade family, though a lot of folks assume it’s a member of the Convolvulaceae Or morning glory family. family since it looks so much like a really big morning glory!
These absolutely stunning perennials are native to much of the american southwest and some parts of africa, now having spread prolifically in dry, arid climates! They tend to grow as weeds, popping up pretty much anywhere they are allowed to! Thay are easily spotted due to their lush, dark green foliage, and striking, large, trumpet shaped flower marked with distinctive light purple lines running up the center of each of their 5 pointed petals. These flowers are on full display april-october, and tend to be open from dusk until mid-morning, closing up to survive the heat of the day. They have a vaguely sweet smell, and thorny bright-green seed pods (hence the name “thorny apple). They have an average spread of 3 ft by 3 feet, making them hard to miss wherever they are in the landscape.
While extremely alluring, it’s important to note that all parts of the plant are extremely toxic, and can cause extreme discomfort- and even death- at a very low dose. For this reason, it’s not recommended that you ingest this plant in any way unless you have been appropriately trained by someone from a culture where these plants are used. Most of the ailments Datura was historically used to treat now have much safer cures, so aside from spiritual or cultural contexts, there isn’t a reason to ever do more than admire these beauties with your eyes. That being said, let’s take a look at the ways these sacred blooms have been used across history and culture!
Starting with the american southwest, the aztec, zuni, and chumash peoples turned to Datura to treat ailments and in ceremonial rites of passage.
From a medicine standpoint, datura has been used to treat everything from aches and pains to a common cold.
For aches and pains, Datura root was often used as both a poltice to help heal deep wounds and gashes, and even as a sedative for surgery and setting bones.
It was effective at this due to the Scopolamine it contains. We discussed scopolamine in more detail in our episode on Henbane, but as a quick refresher, scopolamine is A tropane alkaloid that essentially blocks the signals in your brain that make you feel nauseous. Taken in higher doses, scopolamine can make you hallucinate, feel euphoric, relaxed, and in too high a dose can cause nausea, heart palpitations, convulsions, and even death.
In Hati, however, scopolamine didn’t just result in death, it was also used to create the living dead. That’s right- we’re digging into the origins of zombies
Before they were marching in droves and munching on innocent people, or being stitched together in a lab, zombies were created as a form of corporal punishment reserved for the worst offenders in society.
Now, just like a lot of the other cultures and religious we discuss, we don’t have a ton of insights or historical context into the nuances of this practice due to colonization and religious persecution, but we do have detailed field notes from renowned ethnobotanist Wade Davis, who leveraged some previous research from Zora Neale Hurston’s 1938 book “tell my horse” where she discussed the belief in zombies in haiti, but wasn’t able to obtain the powder or potion to prove once and for all that zombies were a real part of Voodoo tradition. At the time, most folks outside of the voodoo tradition or hoodoo traditions believed zombies were just hearsay or folklore, rather than a real practice- and who could blame them? After all, the tradition of zombification was a well-kept secret, with only the most powerful priests being privy to the nitty-gritty details.
It wasn't until the 1980’s that folks started more realistically considering that this so-called “zombification” could be real, as more folks started to come forward to share their own experiences having survived the ordeal- with death certificates and details that lined up to prove their stories.
Based on their stories, the experience of being zombified went as follows- one day you would wake up feeling really sick- like the worst flu you have ever experienced- sweaty, disoriented, unable to move. From there, you would start to seize up, and while you couldn’t move or speak, you could still hear, see, and feel everything. As your family wept at your bedside and said their final goodbyes, there was nothing you could do to show them you were still alive- your pulse slowing to a weak thud, your chest tightening, the whole world slows and fades. As things soften, you realize- you’re being moved into the morgue- suddenly, the world has decided you’re dead and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Days later, you’re being buried alive, as the nails are driven into your coffin, you accept that you’ll never escape. Your fate is sealed, and surely you’ll run out of oxygen soon. As you take what you think will be your last breath, suddenly air hits your face- someone has dug you up, and as your body is lifted from the earth you realize- there is a fate worse than death, and it’s just become your reality.
For years you are drugged, held prisoner, and forced to do someone else's bidding. No one will save you, or even look for you, since they all already think you’re gone.
While it may seem like a sinister form of sorcery, it’s actually a little more complicated than that. In his studies with a prominent and well respected priest, Davis was finally able to learn all about how zombies were made- the answer, he found, was in a small vile of dirt-like powder. The exact ingredients in this so called “zombie powder” vary from practitioner to practitioner, but the active ingredients are always the same- puffer fish and Datura. In the main formula davis was taught, the practitioner mixed the powdered bones of a child he and Davis excavated, dried toad, datura, puffer fish, and a few other ingredients Davis didn’t mention.
Once applied to skin, this dust gets to work quickly, with the tetrodotoxin from the puffer fish paralyzing the body and decreasing the metabolism. If a patient survives the first few hours after the poisoning, they will slowly “wake up” but not before surviving their time in a morgue and being buried alive because of the kind of “trance” the toxin puts them in- slowing the heart rate, breathing , and preventing the muscles from moving- making the victim look dead.
Once dug up, it’s hypothesized that the victims were given Datura as a sort of paste, with the Scopolamine essentially making the person being held as a zombie unable to think or move freely, keeping them in a trance and unable to run away in the sort of slack-jaw like state hollywood LOVES to depict zombies in.
But the voodoo tradition isn't the only one using Datura. In the american southwest many indigenous traditions turned to this sacred plant to solve crimes, and mark rites of passage.
On the crime solving front, Datura root was given to those accused of robbery, as it was believed the true identity of the robber would be revealed upon their ingestion of it. As a rite of passage, boys between the ages of 8 and 12 depending on the source were given a mixture of the root blended with water. The resulting hallucinations and physical discomfort were meant to guide them on their first steps to becoming a man.
Outside of the american South West, Datura has spread prolifically as a powerful plant across a wide variety of practices, being held sacred in many traditions and practices as a way to protect, enchant, attract, and open the mind.
When used for good, sacred datura can help practitioners open their mind, attract good fortune, manifest prosperity, and protect those calling on its energy from harm- a powerful ally in the plant world for those respectful of its energy.
However, when not treated with respect, it can open the door to dark forces, misfortune, and fear. Unlike henbane that was typically associated with recreational hallucinations and delirium, sacred datura is typically reserved for more serious spellwork.
Despite it’s serious reputation, there are plenty of look-alikes, so it’s not uncommon to find historical instances of folks ingesting this plant without realizing, or being prepared for the delirium inducing effects. For instance, it’s said that the colonizers in jamestown mistook this jimson weed for the jimsonweed from their area, and loaded up their lunch with a TON of the blooms- excited to feast on a familiar flavor of home- only to have terrifying visions and an even worse stomach ache.
While those folks may not be the biggest fans, New Mexico Resident and Famed Artist Georgia O’Keefe LOVED this plant, with it making frequent appearances in some of her most famous pieces. Seeing it in the landscape, it’s easy to see why she found it so enchanting.
Between it’s lush greenery, alluring blooms, and powerful potion making potential, it’s easy to see what Datura has garnered such a reputation in witchcraft and beyond as a botanical ally worth having in your garden and grimoire.
Next time you see it, I hope your heart skips a beat when you remember it’s ties to life, death, and even the space between. That’s all I’ve got for this week, but I’ll be back next week with even more tall tales and true histories of the plants we all know and love!
Sources:
https://www.gothichorrorstories.com/whats-blooming/datura-unfolding-in-the-witchs-garden/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_wrightii
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2017/10/are-zombies-real
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184504/
https://www.ashiwi.org/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuni_ethnobotany
https://www.palomar.edu/users/scrouthamel/luisenob.htm
https://tesswhitehurst.com/the-magic-and-mystery-of-datura/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621465/
