The James Town Weed (which resembles the thorny Apple of Peru, and I take to be the Plant so call'd) is supposed to be one of the greatest Coolers in the World. This being an early Plant, was gather'd very young for a boil'd Salad, by some of the Soldiers sent thither, to quell the Rebellion of Bacon; and some of them eat plentifully of it, the Effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turn'd natural Fools upon it for several Days: One would blow up a Feather in the Air; another would dart Straws at it with much Fury; and another stark naked was sitting up in a Corner, like a Monkey, grinning and making Mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss, and paw his Companions, and snear in their Faces, with a Countenance more antick, than any in a Dutch Droll. In this frantick Condition they were confined, lest they should in their Folly destroy themselves; though it was observed, that all their Actions were full of Innocence and good Nature. Indeed, they were not very cleanly; for they would have wallow'd in their own Excrements, if they had not been prevented. A thousand such simple Tricks they play'd, and after eleven Days return'd to themselves again, not remembering anything that had pass'd.
Perhaps this was the same Herb that Mark Antony's Army met with in his Retreat from the Parthian war and siege of Phraata, when such as had eaten thereof employed themselves with much Earnestness and Industry in grubbing up Stones, and removing them from one Place to another, as if it had been a Business of the greatest Consequence. Wine, as the Story says, was found a sovereign Remedy for it; which is likely enough, the Malignity of this Herb being cold.
-- Robert Beverly, The History and Present State of Virginia, 1705.
I ate the thornapple leaves
And the leaves made me dizzy.
I drank thornapple flowers
And the drink made me stagger.
The hunter, Bow-remaining,
He overtook and killed me,
Cut and threw my horns away.
The hunter, Reed-remaining,
He overtook and killed me,
Cut and threw my feet away.
Now the flies become crazy
And they drop with flapping wings.
The drunken butterflies sit
With opening and shutting wings.
-- Pima Tribe (Native American) Datura Song,
from Richard Russell, The Pima Indians, 1908.
The psychic effects produced by drinking a decoction of Datura were commonly interpreted as communication with supernatural powers. There is no reason intrinsic to the resulting narcosis which necessitates this, hence the interpretation could only be explained as the result of pre-conceived ideas imposed by the cultural milieu in which the trait occurred.
-- Anna Hadwick Gayton, The Narcotic Plant Datura in Aboriginal American Culture (doctoral thesis, UC Berkeley), 1928.
She is as powerful as the best of allies, but there is something I personally don't like about her. She distorts men. She gives them a taste of power too soon without fortifying their hearts and makes them domineering and unpredictable. She makes them weak in the middle of their great power.
-- Juan Matus (as told to Carlos Castaneda), The Teachings of Don Juan, 1968.
Last Christmas somebody gave me a whole Jimson weed--the root must have weighed two pounds; enough for a year--but I ate the whole goddamn thing in about twenty minutes!
Luckily, I vomited most of it right back up, but even so, I went blind for three days. Christ I couldn't even walk! My whole body turned to wax. I was such a mess they had to haul me back to the ranch house in a wheelbarrow...they said I was trying to talk, but I sounded like a raccoon.
-- Doctor Gonzo (as told to Hunter S. Thompson), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1971.
Maligned as a poisonous, ill-smelling and rank-growing weed by farmers and cattlemen, jimsonweed, or thorn apple, as it is commonly called, might seem like a most unlikely source as the subject of genetic, cytogenetic, developmental or biochemical studies. Yet this plant, Datura stramonium, and its close relatives which comprise the ten herbaceous species of the genus Datura, have contributed significantly to our understanding of the mechanism of inheritance; the processes of embryogeny and plant development, and the biosynthesis of alkaloids and other metabolic products. In addition, the genus has gained added respectability by virtue of the medicinal qualities of some of its products, and a limited degree of recognition as an ornamental.
-- Marie E. Conklin, Genetic and Biochemical Aspects of the Development of 'Datura', 1976.
The person is going to drink you.
Give him a good life.
Show him what he wants to know.
-- Native American shaman prayer to Datura innoxia,
from R.E. Schultes and A. Hofmann, Plants of the Gods, 1987.
Datura is far more than a hallucinogen, it is a sacred being which is part of prayers, utilized for cleansing, as well as healing.
-- Devlin Gandy, quoted in 400 years ago, visitors to this painted cave took hallucinogens, 2020.
The New Testament Greek word that is translated as 'trumpet', σαλπιγξ (salpinx), is also the ancient Greek word for Datura. Which leads me to a crazy-ass conspiracy theory: What if every New Testament reference to trumpets was actually a reference to Datura?
-- buckyogi, 2024.