DATURA STRAMONIUM Collected in Weserstraße ... - Antoine Renard

DATURA STRAMONIUM
Collected in Weserstraße, 12059 Berlin, Germany.
Friday 20th of August 2010
Datura stramonium, known by the common names jimson weed, devil’s trumpet,
devil’s weed, thorn apple, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed,
datura, moonflower, and, in South Africa, malpitte and mad seeds, is a common
weed in the Solanaceae (nightshade) family.
The plant was used as a mystical sacrament in both possible places of origin, North
America and South Asia.
Today, it grows wild in all the world’s warm and moderate regions, where it is
found along roadsides and in dung heaps. In Europe, it is found as a weed on
wastelands and in garbage dumps.

DATURA AND THE GREAT BROTHER SISTER STORY.
a Zuni legend.
Once upon a time a long, long time ago, a boy called A’neglakya and his
sister A’neglakyatsi-tsa lived deep within the Earth. As often as they could
they came up to the surface to go on long walks, exploring the land, watching
and listening carefully to all and everything they encountered on their journeys.
Upon their return they told their mother about everything they had seen.
However, one day the twin-sons of the Sun-god grew suspicious of them and
they wondered what they should do about the inquisitive pair. Soon after,
A’neglakya and his sister were once again on one of their walkabouts, when
they came upon the sons of the Sun-god. Casually the twins inquired about
their well-being: “We are very happy” was the reply, and A’neglakya told the
twins how he and his sister could make people fall asleep and have visionary
dreams or let them ‘see’ the whereabouts of lost objects. Upon hearing this
the twins decided that the two definitely knew too much and that they should
put an end to A’neglakya’s and A’neglakyatsi-tsa’s doings. That day the sons
of the Sun-god let the brother and sister disappear into the Earth forever. But
lo and behold, two beautiful flowers emerged from the ground in just the
same spot where the two had vanished. They were the same flowers that the
brother and sister had laid on the heads of the people to give them visions. In
their memory the Gods called the flower A’neglakya and their children spread
far across the Earth - bringing visions to many people.