Belladonna (Atropa belladonna)
Belladonna Information
Atropa belladonna is the botanical name of the plant more commonly known as belladonna. Other common names for belladonna include atropa, deadly nightshade, death's herb, dwale, and witch's berry.
The Atropa genus is a part of the Solanaceae (more commonly known as the nightshade or potato) family of plants. The Solanaceae family also includes brugmansia, capsicum (used to make paprika and chili pepper), eggplant, jimsonweed, mandrake, petunia, potato, tobacco, and tomato plants.
In older botanical classifications, the mandrake plant was considered a species belonging to the Atropa genus. It was given the name Atropa mandragora. However, more recent botanical classifications put mandrake in the Mandragora genus, under the name Mandragora officinarum.
Scientific Classification Of Atropa belladonna
Kingdom: Plantae
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Atropa
Species: Atropa belladonna
Belladonna is native to Europe and Asia. Some sources say it originated in India. It has been cultivated on almost all continents for centuries.
In the past few thousand years, belladonna has been consumed for its medical properties (of which there are many) and also its hallucinogenic effects.
Chemistry Of Atropa belladonna
The main chemical components of belladonna are:
Atropine
Hyoscyamine
Scopolamine (Hyoscine)
Belladonna can be fatal to most carnivorous animals and humans, but the same doses have very little effect upon most birds and plant eating animals. Children are sometimes poisoned by the berries, mistaking them for cherries or other sweet fruit.
Medicinal Use Of Atropa belladonna
Today there are very few medical preparations made with belladonna. However, in the past belladonna had a multitude of medical applications including:
to ease pain
to treat gout
to treat sciatica
treatment for neuralgia
treatment for rheumatism
treatment for kidney diseases
treatment for bladder diseases
treatment for urinary tract problems
to dilate the pupil prior to operating on
protection from infection of scarlet fever
to relieve local inflammation and congestion
to relieve photophobia (abnormal sensitivity to light)
to relieve internal ocular pressure in ulceration of the cornea
Recreational Use Of Atropa belladonna
Atropa belladonna and other members of the Solanaceae family like mandrake, jimsonweed, and brugmansia have been consumed as drugs in almost all parts of the globe for thousands of years.
All continents, except Antarctica, have seen these plants employed by shaman, witches, and sorcerers, who take advantage of the sensations of leaving their bodies, soaring through the air, or changing into an animal. It is postulated that this is where the witches riding on brooms legend was started.
The chemicals produced by belladonna and some other plants in the Solanaceae family can be so terrifying and unpleasant, and the loss of contact with ordinary reality so complete, that they are consumed only with great caution and rarely for pleasure.
Few if any individuals who ingest these plants in large doses will repeat the experience. Reports of a good experiences after taking a large dose are almost impossible to come by. For most people they cloud rather than clear consciousness.
You have to have a certain sort of mind to be able to appreciate (or even tolerate) the sensations, and most westerners do not have the type of mind that can handle belladonna. The shaman and others who used these plants throughout the centuries were not looking to get high.
In traditional societies, a shaman is a person who (usually in an altered state of consciousness) acts as an intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds to predict and control the future, treat and cure illness, generate miracles, and other similar purposes.
How To Use Atropa belladonna
Smoking: If you are thinking of using belladonna for its psychoactive effects, smoking dried leaves or root in a pipe is recommended. Smoke it by itself and see what you think. If interested, try mixing it with some marijuana and smoking it.
Smoking is the safest and mildest way to try the drug for the first time. Effects could be described as mildly pleasant at this dose. Limit intake to one or two few belladonna joints a day and discontinue if you feel any unpleasantness.
Tea: You can make belladonna tea by mixing dried leaves or root with hot (but not boiling) water. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes or more, stirring occasionally. When ready, filter out the plant material with a coffee filter or something similar, and drink.
Mixing one gram or less of dry plant material with hot water should be tried the first time. You can increase the dose by a gram or less each time you try, until you find a level you are comfortable with.
Berries: If you want to try eating the berries, try one and see what happens. Some people might be very sensitive to the chemicals present, so one berry is suggested.
If you don't experience any bad effects, wait a few days and try eating one more berry than you did the previous time. Do this each time you try, until you find a dose you are comfortable with. Maximum of 10 berries at one time.
In most people, eating one or two berries will cause perceptual changes, things will look different but one can still function. Driving or any other activity that requires good eyesight is not recommended for obvious reasons.
Eating three or four of the berries gives most people a feeling of being intoxicated, and five to ten will cause hallucinations. Belladonna hallucinations are almost always negative. Most users report them as being evil, threatening, terrifying, or something of this nature.
Some people have reported eating up to ten of the berries and survived, but children have died from eating just two or three. Ten to twenty will kill most adults. Don't mess around, the difference between feeling drunk/stoned, having hallucinations, and death is five or six berries.
When ingested by humans, belladonna can cause dry throat, obscured vision and other eye problems, loss of balance, visual hallucinations, disturbed hearing, confusion, and delirium. Nausea is common and is sometimes accompanied by vomiting.
Irritation of the urinary organs may be present with some people not being able to urinate and others having to urinate more than usual. Convulsions are rarely present, when belladonna causes death it is usually while in a coma.
The main peak effects after consuming a psychoactive amount of belladonna will last 3-6 hours or longer at small-medium dose sizes. With larger doses, peak effects can be felt for 24-72 hours, visual effects can last 3 days or more, and negative thoughts may be continue for weeks.
Mild doses might feel slightly pleasant but large doses can mess you up for a few days. An overdose can be fatal. If you want to pursue a relationship with this plant, use extreme caution. You can find an image of the belladonna plant here and the berry here.
If you can't find it locally, you can buy belladonna online. They sell leaves (foliage) and roots that can be smoked or made into tea. They ship from the US to most countries. Sometimes they stock seed packs for growing belladonna.
Related Books Plants of the Gods:
Their Sacred, Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers
Comprehensive reference work about psychoactive plants. Lists the plant's common name, botanical name, historical ethnography, purpose of use, preparation, chemical composition, and effects. Includes color and black and white photographs, illustrations, and paintings, a bibliography and index.
Plant species discussed include the Fly Agaric mushroom, Atropa (Deadly Nightshade), Yellow and Black Henbane, Mandrake, Cannabis, Ergot, Datura, Iboga, Yopo beans, Ayahuasca, Yage, Brugmansia, Peyote, San Pedro cactus, Morning Glory, Magic Mushrooms and more. Contains six pages of text and several images of Belladonna and related plants.
Plants of the Gods
The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants:
Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications
Very nice book and considering the subject matter, it's easy to understand. The botany, history, distribution, cultivation, preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. Over 900 pages with hundreds of black and white illustrations and full color photographs.
Information about almost every plant that has been used for medical, spiritual, or recreational purposes. Includes all the common and most of the less common plant drugs. This is the most thorough plant drug encyclopedia available at the present time. Contains six pages of Belladonna info with several color and black and white images.
The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants