Aqua Florida

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Aqua Florida, Florida Water, Florida water cologne, Agua Florida, Agua de Florida.

Scent

Components of the scent include citrus and herbal notes along with spice and floral undertones. These delightful elements are provided by Bergamot, Neroli, Lemon, Cloves, Cinnamon, Lavender, Rose and Orange flower. When the fragrance is first applied the delicious citrus notes are most dominant, then the Cloves move to the front and the scent settles into an incredibly appealing dry spice.

Aromatic Properties

Skin refreshing, muscle and nerve toning, personal deodorant, (sick)room deodorant, spiritual cleaning, home protection, for clearing and balancing energy and also as an offering to the spirits when opening sacred space or praying for assistance.

Historical

Florida water is one of the oldest patented colognes still sold today. It first appeared in the United States in 1808. The name refers to the fabled "Fountain of Youth" said to have been located in Florida. It is remarkable that this commercial cologne should have assumed such a central role not only in the shamanism of the Peruvian Amazon, but also for magical purposes among people of African-diaspora descent in the United States and the Caribbean. Bottles of Agua de Florida can be found equally on the mesas of Amazonian healers and on the altars of Vodou priestesses in Brooklyn. Shamans often place perfumes and colognes on the bodies of patients, as crosses on their forehead, chest, and back, whistling a special song of protection, to seal, close, and protect the body. There is a type of shaman in the Amazon called a "Perfumero", who specializes in the use of such scents to attack, to heal, and to attract. (1) (2)

References

(1) Strong Sweet Smells, by Steve Beyer, from Singing to the Plants: Shamanism and the Medicine Path.
(2) Still Making a Splash They Say That Old-Fashioned Florida Water Cures What Ails Ya - And Smells Good, Too, By Lenore Skenazy, NY Daily News.
(3) Florida Water, Lanman & Kemp-Barclay & Co., Inc.

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

Fountain of Youth

Related Products

Aqua Florida Soap (Aqua Florida Soap)

Aqua Florida Soap

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

Fountain of Youth

Related Products

Aqua Florida (Aqua Florida)

Chumpi Stones Albaster

Chumpi Stones Magnetite

Electronic Mantra Box

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

Mantra
Shiva

Justicia pectoralis / Justicia / Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Chapantye, Tilo, Masha-Hari, Piri Piri.

Scent

The fresh plant has a balsamic odor; the dried plant smells faintly of coumarin (a Vanilla substitute).

Contents

Coumarin and umbelliferone have been identified in Justicia pectoralis. (2)

Synergic Combinations

Shamans add ground dried leaves of Justicia pectoralis to Virola bark resin with ash made from the tree Elizabetha princeps to prepare a snuff. "Justicia pectoralis has an aromatic aspect, but when added to Virola may facilitate the extraction of several tryptamine alkaloids and promote their absorption in human through mucous membranes." (1)

Historical

Virola snuffs are widely used by groups in wet tropical forests of South America. These tribes include the Waika of the upper Orinoco area in Venezuela and northern Brazil and the Paumarí from near the Rio Purus in Amazonian Brazil. The main ingredient of the snuff is an extract from Virola bark and Justicia pectoralis and other plants are often added to enhance the flavour and effects of the snuff. (1) Justicia pectoralis is "largely used in north-eastern Brazil for respiratory tract diseases"(3).

Plant Description

Justicia pectoralis Jacq., Acanthaceae, also named Tila or Tilo is a herb, 20 to 60 cm tall, with slender, grooved stems; erect, climbing or trailing and rooting at the nodes. Leaves opposite, narrow to broad-lanceolate, 3-11 cm long, 3-25 mm wide. Inflorescences 1-sided terminal panicles 2-12 cm long. Corollas tubular, 2-lipped, 8-10 mm long, white, lilac or pink, the throat sometimes dotted with dark purple, the outer surface downy. Cultivated in gardens as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Its native range extends from Mexico to Venezuela and throughout the West Indies. (5)

References

(1) An Hallucinogenic Snuff from the Amazon, Anne Swoboda. Biology 10, Winter 1998
(2) Justicia pectoralis: a study of the basis for its use as a hallucinogenic snuff ingredient, MacRae WD, Towers GH
(3) Antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator activities of Brazilian medicinal plants containing coumarin: a comparative study, L. K. A. M. Lealb, A. A. G. Ferreiraa, G. A. Bezerraa, F. J. A. Matosc and G. S. B. Viana
(4) Justicia pectoralis, The Vaults of Erowid
(5) TRI-OLOGY, Vol. 35, No. 2, Nancy C. Coile, Ph. D., Bureau of Entomology, Nematology & Plant Pathology, Florida Department of and Consumer Services.

Kambo Sticks

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Sapo (toad), Vacina do Sapo (toad vaccine), Leite do Sapo (toad milk), Kambô, or Kampú, Secretions of the Phyllomedusa bicolor treefrog.

Contents

The dried secretion contains up to 7% potently active peptides - phyllocaerulein, phyllomedusin, phyllokinin, dermorphins (selective mu opioid receptor agonists) and deltorphins (selective delta opioid receptor agonists).
Phyllomedusin is a new peptide of the tachykinin family. Phyllomedusin strongly affects the salivary glands, tear ducts, intestines, and bowels, and contributes to violent purging. Tachykinins are active peptides which excite neurons, evoke behavioral responses. They are potent vasodilators and secretagogues, and Phyllomedusin contract (directly or indirectly) many smooth muscles. Phyllomedusin is secreted protein and expressed by the skin glands.

Historical

The Panoan tribes that practice the poison frog ritual call it kambo or kampo in their language. The tree frog is stretched by strings tied to its limbs. Tree frogs are referred to as “sapos,” in spanish hence the term sapo as sometimes used to refer to the indigenous medicine, kambo. As painful as it may look, the tree frog is not harmed during the process in which the poison is harvested from its skin. Traditionally, older men scrape the epidermis of the frog with a wooden stick to remove the toxin. After harvesting the poison, the frog is released unharmed. To the Matses, harming the frog could offend animal spirits and resulting in severe misfortune.(1)
The tribal members use the poison as a medicine and hunting aid, claiming it makes them strong and invisible. The poison from the wooden stick is typically mixed with the shaman's saliva and applied to tiny burns.(2)
Sebastian, a Machineri Indian warns that their "healers know how to use the frog's secretion. Now, it is being used in other places incorrectly, and this has led to the death of patients."(3)

In the 1980s, during one of his visits to the Matses Indians in Peru, investigative journalist Peter Gorman documented the first first-hand experience of a human taking an animal substance directly into the blood stream for medicinal purposes. Times have changed since then. Throughout the Amazon, sapo, can now be purchased, without prescription, in markets and apothecaries, or administered by traditional healers and herbalists as a natural household remedy. Not surprisingly, the global pharmaceutical industry is now taking keen interest in the medicinal properties of frog slime. In an International Herald Tribune article dated May 31, 2006, an alliance between the Katukina tribe and the Brazilian government aims ensure that profits generated from the development of drugs from the phyllomedusa bicolor's secretions, will stay in the country and benefit the Katukinas.(4)

Plant Description

...or rather Animal Description:
Phyllomedusa bicolor, also known as the Giant Leaf Frog or the Giant Monkey Frog, is a large green noctural frog that lives in the trees of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. Males 91-103 mm, females 111-119 mm. The dorsum is dark green and the belly varies from white to yellow-white or cream. There are sparse white spots with dark frames on the lower lips, chest and front legs, and these are more dense on the flanks and hind legs. Fingers are transparent brown with large green adhesive discs. A prominent gland extends from behind the eye over the tympanum. The iris is dark gray. The species is arboreal and nocturnal. Males usually call from high trees, and descend with the female to construct nests 1-3 m above ponds. Reproduction occurs throughout the year in ponds near to, or far from, streams, with a peak from November to May (rainy season). The females deposit about 600 unpigmented eggs in a gelatinous mass in leaf nests hanging over ponds. The leaves are joined or folded with the aid of the male. After 8-10 days, the tadpoles hatch and fall into the water, where they complete development until metamorphosis. Like other amphibians from around the world, the giant monkey frog is threatened by climate change and habitat loss.(5)

References

(1) Kambo, matses.info
(2) Frog Sweat ~ Matses Rainforest Medicine, by Peter Gorman, Mariri Magazine
(3) Biodiversity: Indigenous Peoples Fight Theft, by Julio Godoy, Inter Press Service News Agency
(4) Kampú - Taking the Frog Vaccine, by Lorna Li, Mariri Magazine
(5) Phyllomedusa bicolor, AmphibiaWeb

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

Frog Poison Trial - YouTube
Frog secretions and hunting magic in the upper Amazon: Identification of a peptide that interacts with an adenosine receptor
Frog Sweat - Matses Rainforest Medicine, by Peter Gorman
Kambo, The Spirit of the Shaman
Kampo - Taking the Frog Vaccine
Making Magic - Peter Gorman
Peter Gorman
Phyllomedusa bicolor - Erowid
Poisonous Tree Frog Could Bring Wealth to Tribe in Brazilian Amazon, from The New York Times
The Matse and the Sacred - Bennett Blumenberg

Related Products

Nu-Nu (Nu-Nu)

Natural Scented Waters

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Related Products

Aqua Florida (Aqua Florida)
Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens)
Spray Misters (Spray Misters)

Nu-Nu

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Additional Remarks

Nu-Nu is a vision drug. A "giver" puts a little of the powder into one end of a hollow bamboo tube; the "user" puts the other end of the tube to his nose. The powder is then blown into the user's nose, where it explodes into his face, burning his nose and eyes and blurring his vision. He chokes up green phlegm and his blood pulses as though his body were short-circuiting. Over and over, the process is repeated until his eyes glaze over and he can no longer stand. Numbness replaces the sharp pain. He falls to the ground and his visions begin.

It is not, like Yopo, filled with tryptamines, and isn't psychedelic at all. Nonetheless, at large doses, maybe 14 half-gram bursts blown up your nostrils, there frequently comes a point--after the pain subsides--where you see something like a television screen and across it you'll see all of the animals of the jungle running. Tapir and peccary, monkeys and jaguars. The user sees himself walking in the jungle, and the animals there come to him. He communicates with the jungle animals, telling them that he is hungry and they are needed for food. He announces his intentions for hunting them and notes the location and time of day he sees them. Within a few minutes, the visions fade and a pleasant drunkenness washes over the user. If the Nu-Nu was especially potent, the visions may return unexpectedly for hours.

In the morning the hunter will go to where he "saw" the animals and wait for those he spoke with. When they arrive, he hunts them. The Matses believe that the animals are offering themselves freely to the slaughter.
The Matses say the jungle taught them the secret of Nu-Nu. In return, they never cultivate the plants whose leaves and bark are used in its preparation. They fear angering the animal spirits by having too much of an advantage over them.
The old Matses, the antiguas, say the animal sees the vision of their death as well, and still comes to the spot to die as that is its fate.

Nu-Nu and Sapo allow the Matse to experience the future, and communicate with the spirits of plants and animals. Specific predictions that constitute scenarios for hunting in a future time are captured while walking the future time track under the influence of Nu-Nu or Sapo. These predictions then manifest as experiences that occur in this ‘world’ when the hunter soon thereafter follows the trail and signs that were revealed to him when in the future, and he then concludes his journery with the successful hunt that was foretold.

One of the keys to making the Nu-Nu effective, say the Matses, is that the person blowing the Nu-Nu is also blowing his spirit and strength into you--not as in giving it away, but as in empowering you with his force as part of the force of the experience. So it's not just how hard you can blow, it's whether you can share yourself while doing it.
And the Nu-Nu is generally, or frequently, made by two great hunters--one working the leaves, the other the bark--before they're combined to give some of their force to it as well.

It is not only used in hunting, but also for curing diseases, both physical and spiritual (a distinctly shamanic practice); sometimes it is used for celebration or just to get a good night sleep after a bad day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgKuzRhddjs

Related Products

Kambo Sticks (Kambo Sticks)

Bursera graveolens / Palo Santo / Burseraceae (Copal Family)

Information

This product is not sold or intended for the purpose of human consumption or cosmetic use. Any information provided about this product on this website, including any links to external websites, are solely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and must not be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the product. The statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and the product is not intended to "diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." The use and application of this product, based on the historical and scientific context provided in the product descriptions and articles, is solely at the customer's risk. This product is a botanical specimen of ethnographic value and interest only and is delivered with no express or implied fitness for any purpose. The product descriptions are compiled from sources we deemed to be reliable up to the date it was written but may contain omissions or errors in fact, or become outdated. It outlines the documented history of uses but should no way be construed to make any medical claims about the ability or efficacy of any of these plants to treat, prevent or mitigate any disease or condition. Although a plant may have a long history of being used for a particular purpose, scientific evidence proving its efficacy for that purpose may be lacking.

Other Names

Palo de la vida o Santo, Sacred Wood, Holy wood, St. Anthony`s wood, Palosanto, Mallka Waki.

Scent

Palo Santo has both a deep enjoyable wooden aroma as well as a nice warming middle range and a wonderful sweet top range to it. Palo Santos wide range of enjoyable aromatic 'notes' seems to be uniquely uncharacteristic to any single aromatic component. Burning a small piece of wood gives a peaceful warm atmosphere and leads you into a pleasant relaxed state of mind.

Contents

Aged heartwood is rich in essential oils such as limonene and alpha-pinene.

Preparation

Light the end of a Palo Santo stick, allow the flame to burn for a moment, and blow out the flame. Alternatively you can burn the powdered or shredded wood on Charcoal Disks.

Synergic Combinations

For those who love to experiment with the alchemy of combined scents, Palo Santo goes very well with the following incenses: Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), White Sage (Salvia apiana) and Copal (Dacryoides peruviana).

Historical

Palo Santo has been used by the Incas for generations. Shamans in the Andean mountains still use Palo Santo as part of their curing rituals. It is often used in Ayahuasca ceremonies. Its sacred properties and distinctly enjoyable aroma have only very recently been rediscovered by modern man. Nowadays Palo Santo can be found in the streets of Quito at Christmas, where the salesmen shout "Palo Santo, to clean your house of bad energy", "Palo Santo for good luck". The essential oil of the Palo Santo tree has many applications in aromatherapy.

Plant Description

Bursera graveolens inhabits the South American Gran Chaco region (northern Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Brazilian Mato Grosso). It is also common on the coast of Ecuador. It is related to the Frankincense tree (genus Boswellia). The Palo Santo tree has no branches on the lower part of the trunk, and within a radius of several yards not a leaf or a blade of grass will grow. It is a soft, light wood, usually found near the river banks, and is the favorite haunt of colonies of the Brazilian fire ant, a vicious insect with an extremely painful bite. Touch the tree, and armies of these ants rush out from holes in the trunk eager to attack, even dropping from branches above on to the trespasser.

Articles

Any information provided about products on this website, including any links to external websites, is purely intended for historical, scientific and educational purposes and should never be interpreted as a recommendation for a specific use of the products.

Alpha-pinene
Limonene

Related Products

Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi)
Charcoal disks (Charcoal disks)
Copal (Dacryoides peruviana)
Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata)
Natural Scented Waters (Natural Scented Waters)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
White Sage (Salvia apiana)