Jimson weed, called momoy, was used by the
native people of my region of coastal southern California, the Chumash, for
religious purposes. It looks like Georgia O'keefe's famous beautiful
paintings of the flowers. It is hightly toxic, though some of my high school
classmates survived (barely) ingesting it for its hallucinogenic effects. The
Chumash shamans studied for years which roots to pick, how to grind and dilute
them, and administer them to youths undergoing puberty initiation. People got
visions of their "dream helpers" if they were lucky, sort ot guardian
spirits that gave them extra power. No one but a shaman would mess with it and
youths didn't go off and do it on their own. Shamans took it more often and so
got very powerful.
Katy Meigs
Jolon at Last Farm Central California USDA Zone 8/9 |