Dennis McKenna

And their understanding of these medicines, it was not about chemistry. It was that they were infused with a certain spiritual essence, in fact, an intelligence, in fact, spirits. And the word spirits, we talked about distilled spirits. That goes back to an age when they were actually trying to take the spirit out of the plant and concentrate it.

That's what the concept was, distilled spirits, right? So there was – people have always mucked around with plants and tried different combinations and so on. And you can look at this at the history of – the more recent history of ayahuasca if you look at some of our ESPD talks.

That's what the concept was, distilled spirits, right? So there was – people have always mucked around with plants and tried different combinations and so on. And you can look at this at the history of – the more recent history of ayahuasca if you look at some of our ESPD talks.

That's what the concept was, distilled spirits, right? So there was – people have always mucked around with plants and tried different combinations and so on. And you can look at this at the history of – the more recent history of ayahuasca if you look at some of our ESPD talks.

Yeah, they took all kinds of places, and these venoms are now being recognized as a tiny amount. They're therapeutic. So they were doing this, and there was alchemy, and there was all this herbalism, and the plants were understood to be…

Yeah, they took all kinds of places, and these venoms are now being recognized as a tiny amount. They're therapeutic. So they were doing this, and there was alchemy, and there was all this herbalism, and the plants were understood to be…

Yeah, they took all kinds of places, and these venoms are now being recognized as a tiny amount. They're therapeutic. So they were doing this, and there was alchemy, and there was all this herbalism, and the plants were understood to be…

effectively intelligent entities that people were in partner with they had spirit they were you know the idea of a life force you know and but then there was a important

effectively intelligent entities that people were in partner with they had spirit they were you know the idea of a life force you know and but then there was a important

effectively intelligent entities that people were in partner with they had spirit they were you know the idea of a life force you know and but then there was a important

I don't know if we call it a milestone, but at the beginning of the 19th century, there was a German pharmacist named Sertner who isolated morphine from the opium poppy for the first time, morphine in a pure form, isolated morphine. And morphine had most of the properties of opium. It was an analgesic. You could get addicted on it. It caused euphoria and so on.

I don't know if we call it a milestone, but at the beginning of the 19th century, there was a German pharmacist named Sertner who isolated morphine from the opium poppy for the first time, morphine in a pure form, isolated morphine. And morphine had most of the properties of opium. It was an analgesic. You could get addicted on it. It caused euphoria and so on.

I don't know if we call it a milestone, but at the beginning of the 19th century, there was a German pharmacist named Sertner who isolated morphine from the opium poppy for the first time, morphine in a pure form, isolated morphine. And morphine had most of the properties of opium. It was an analgesic. You could get addicted on it. It caused euphoria and so on.

But it was clearly not alive, right? It was not a spirit. It was a crystal, you know. And so that led to, in some ways, that was the first step. It was an alkaloid, right, like so many of these medicines are. And because it's an alkaloid, it could be easily isolated in a pure form, you know, using techniques we think of as pretty primitive chemistry. But you could isolate it and crystallize it.

But it was clearly not alive, right? It was not a spirit. It was a crystal, you know. And so that led to, in some ways, that was the first step. It was an alkaloid, right, like so many of these medicines are. And because it's an alkaloid, it could be easily isolated in a pure form, you know, using techniques we think of as pretty primitive chemistry. But you could isolate it and crystallize it.

But it was clearly not alive, right? It was not a spirit. It was a crystal, you know. And so that led to, in some ways, that was the first step. It was an alkaloid, right, like so many of these medicines are. And because it's an alkaloid, it could be easily isolated in a pure form, you know, using techniques we think of as pretty primitive chemistry. But you could isolate it and crystallize it.

And the first time that was done, it was done with morphine. And it had all the properties. So it was the beginning of this shift in understanding. During the 19th century, in my lectures I sometimes say the 19th century was the age of alkaloids. It was the first beginning of modern phytotherapy, pharmacotherapy, based on pure compounds.

And the first time that was done, it was done with morphine. And it had all the properties. So it was the beginning of this shift in understanding. During the 19th century, in my lectures I sometimes say the 19th century was the age of alkaloids. It was the first beginning of modern phytotherapy, pharmacotherapy, based on pure compounds.

And the first time that was done, it was done with morphine. And it had all the properties. So it was the beginning of this shift in understanding. During the 19th century, in my lectures I sometimes say the 19th century was the age of alkaloids. It was the first beginning of modern phytotherapy, pharmacotherapy, based on pure compounds.

And a whole slew of alkaloids were isolated in the 19th century. Morphine, scopolamine, hyoscyamine, cocaine around the middle of the 19th century, theobromine, caffeine, all of these alkaloids were isolated.