Prehistoric ceramic vessels of the pre-contact Mississippian peoples of the midwestern and eastern USA (800-1600 CE) containing datura residue from a datura ritual preparation believed to be used to enter the dream world to communicate with spirits and deities.
All the vessels that tested positive for datura featured symbols of the watery underworld: frogs, turtles, supernatural water serpents, the underwater panther, and the god and goddess of the “beneath world”. The female figure on the left is believed to be “Old Woman Who Never Dies” —goddess of the moon and the underworld.
Source: “Absorbed Residue Evidence for Prehistoric Datura Use in the American Southeast and Western Mexico,” Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2018.
Atop our heads1
There's a meteor falling
Even though the world
Is already burning to the ground
It's getting closer
"It'll work out somehow"
Feigning ignorance, people
Just keep tearing apart¹ the meat
What if we're the last ones
To stay alive?
I'll look into your eyes then
What if we have nothing left
To do in the end?
The two of us will dance together then
If being stabbed in the back
A few times is the last thing
I'll remember
I think I'll be a little sad
Usually I hate it
But today it's okay
Would you stroke my hair
And whisper to me?
What if we're the last ones
To stay alive?
I'll look into your eyes then
What if we have nothing left
To do in the end?
The two of us will dance together then
Ah, all of us
Dreamt of becoming
Someone's memories
And of living forever
Ah, all of us
Promised to become
Stars somewhere
And to never be lonely
Looks like we couldn't become anything
What if I'm the last one
To stay alive?
I will remember you then
What if just me has nothing left
To do in the end
I will turn into a song then
¹ To tear apart using one's teeth. What predatory animals do when they eat their preys.
I am the author of the translation.
Originally posted on lyricstranslate.com.
n58_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library
Via Flickr:
The Garland of the year, or, The months: their poetry and flowers : London :Marcus Ward & Co.,[1873]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58434938
Last summer’s datura inoxia crop. I grow and harvest my own datura to make a herbal salve. I’ve been making datura ointment for over a decade. Most people use it for medicine for severe pain, inflammation, insomnia, and anxiety rather than as a flying ointment. It’s my mom’s favourite for her arthritis pain.
I’ve been growing datura for 15 years now. I fell in love after smelling my first fragrant trumpet flower and I’ve been a goner ever since. Datura has my heart and has always been kind to me despite her fearsome reputation. Don’t mess with her and she won’t mess with you.
I’m starting to see the gossamer and vespertine side of datura more and more. For years it always manifested as a rather rough shamanic looking trickster who seemed more pernicious and sadistic than anything. It’s interesting the different ways that plant spirits manifest for us and how that can change over the years, reminding us that they are not static being but constantly fluctuating energies with numerous manifestations. Thorn Apple Card from Magickal Botanical Oracle 🔮 by Maxine Miller and Christopher Penczak from @llewellynbooks - #datura #thornapple #daturastramonium #poisonplants #poisonousplants #poisonpath #thepoisonpath #veneficium #witchingherbs #witchsgarden #plantoracle https://www.instagram.com/p/CoQ7_atr5QS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=