Sacred Weeds
Encyclopedia
Sacred Weeds was a four part television series of 50 minute documentaries investigating the cultural impact of psychoactive plants on a broad array of early civilisations. The series was filmed at Hammerwood Park by the producer, Sarah Marris, and her production company TVF. It was broadcast in the summer of 1998 on Channel 4
, a British television network.
The Reader in European Pre-History at the University of Oxford
, Dr Andrew Sherratt
, was the series host. Prior to his resignation from the University of Oxford, Sherratt was appointed Professor of Archaeology. Each episode began and ended with Sherratt inscribing his diary with his reflections on the series' scientific and cultural investigations. In each episode the series investigated one psychoactive plant and its cultural significance. Three specialists of various scientific disciplines were invited to monitor two volunteers who had taken each plant. After the four episodes, Sherratt assigned considerably more significance to the psychoactive properties of plants in ancient civilization and the prehistoric period than expert knowledge hitherto.
Part one: The Fly Agaric Mushroom
scientists:
volunteers: Ed Turpin, Johnny Green
Memorable moments include a long haired participant in baggy clothes, athletically climbing a large tree and yelping with excitement. The clinical and skeptical approach of Dr. Cosmo sparks a hot reaction from the transhuman cross-cultural approach of Michael Carmichael.
Part two: Salvia Divinorum
scientists:
volunteers: Daniel Siebert
, Sean Thomas
Part three: Henbane
scientists:
volunteers: Paul Rousseau, Jim Boyd
Part four: The Blue Lily
scientists:
volunteers: Robert Barnes, Marie McCartney
The series ended with the investigation of the psychoactive effects of the Blue Lily
(Nymphaea caerulea), a sacred plant in ancient Egypt
. Michael Carmichael suggested that the psychoactive effects of the blue lily and other psychoactive plants established a new foundation for understanding the origins of philosophy and religion in ancient Egypt. Alan Lloyd, the ranking took a more cautious approach. After witnessing the effects of the plant in two volunteers, all parties agreed that it was a psychoactive plant. Sherratt accepted the new paradigm for the origins of ancient philosophy and religion in his summation of the series.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, a British television network.
The Reader in European Pre-History at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Dr Andrew Sherratt
Andrew Sherratt
Andrew Sherratt was an English archaeologist, one of the most influential of his generation.Sherratt was born in Oldham, Lancashire on 8th May 1946. From 1965, he studied archaeology and anthropology at Peterhouse, Cambridge University, completing his degree in 1968. He received his Ph.D...
, was the series host. Prior to his resignation from the University of Oxford, Sherratt was appointed Professor of Archaeology. Each episode began and ended with Sherratt inscribing his diary with his reflections on the series' scientific and cultural investigations. In each episode the series investigated one psychoactive plant and its cultural significance. Three specialists of various scientific disciplines were invited to monitor two volunteers who had taken each plant. After the four episodes, Sherratt assigned considerably more significance to the psychoactive properties of plants in ancient civilization and the prehistoric period than expert knowledge hitherto.
Part one: The Fly Agaric MushroomAmanita muscariaAmanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita , is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita...
scientists:
- Michael Carmichael, ethnobotanist
- Dr Cosmo Hollstrom, psychiatrist and lecturer at Imperial College
- Dr Joanna Iddon, from CeNeS Cognition
volunteers: Ed Turpin, Johnny Green
Memorable moments include a long haired participant in baggy clothes, athletically climbing a large tree and yelping with excitement. The clinical and skeptical approach of Dr. Cosmo sparks a hot reaction from the transhuman cross-cultural approach of Michael Carmichael.
Part two: Salvia DivinorumSalvia divinorumSalvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...
scientists:
- Dr Françoise Barbira-Freedman, medical anthropologist and lecturer at the University of CambridgeUniversity of CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
- Dr Tim Kendall, psychiatrist and director of the Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies
- Dr Jon Robbins, pharmacologist at King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
volunteers: Daniel Siebert
Daniel Siebert
Daniel J. Siebert is an ethnobotanist, pharmacognosist, and author who lives in Malibu, California.Siebert has studied Salvia divinorum for over twenty years and claims to be the first person to unequivocally identify Salvinorin A as the primary psychoactive principal of Salvia divinorum...
, Sean Thomas
Part three: HenbaneHenbaneHenbane , also known as stinking nightshade or black henbane, is a plant of the family Solanaceae that originated in Eurasia, though it is now globally distributed.-Toxicity and historical usage:...
the witches brew?
scientists:
- Paul Devereux, author and researcher of the cultural importance of hallucinogenic plants
- Dr Diane Purkiss, historian and lecturer at the University of ReadingUniversity of ReadingThe University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
- Dr Elizabeth Williamson, from the University of LondonUniversity of London-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
's School of Pharmacy
volunteers: Paul Rousseau, Jim Boyd
Part four: The Blue LilyNymphaea caeruleaNymphaea caerulea, also known as the Blue Egyptian water lily or sacred blue lily, is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea.-Distribution:Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other locations in East Africa...
flower power?
scientists:
- Michael Carmichael, ethnobotanist
- Prof. Alan Lloyd, Egyptologist and chairman of the Egypt Exploration SocietyEgypt Exploration SocietyThe Egypt Exploration Society is the foremost learned society in the United Kingdom promoting the field of Egyptology....
- Dr Susan Duty, pharmacologist at King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
volunteers: Robert Barnes, Marie McCartney
The series ended with the investigation of the psychoactive effects of the Blue Lily
Nymphaea caerulea
Nymphaea caerulea, also known as the Blue Egyptian water lily or sacred blue lily, is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea.-Distribution:Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other locations in East Africa...
(Nymphaea caerulea), a sacred plant in ancient Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Michael Carmichael suggested that the psychoactive effects of the blue lily and other psychoactive plants established a new foundation for understanding the origins of philosophy and religion in ancient Egypt. Alan Lloyd, the ranking took a more cautious approach. After witnessing the effects of the plant in two volunteers, all parties agreed that it was a psychoactive plant. Sherratt accepted the new paradigm for the origins of ancient philosophy and religion in his summation of the series.
Video
- Sacred Weeds 1: The Fly Agaric Mushroom
- Sacred Weeds 2: Salvia Divinorum
- Sacred Weeds 3: Henbane the witches brew?
- Sacred Weeds 4: The Blue Lily flower power?