Agarikon – Health and Spirituality in a Mushroom Fomitopsis officinalis, most commonly known as Agarikon or Quinine Conk, is a fungus that grows mainly on coniferous hosts. This hefty and bracket mushroom has fruiting bodies that become longer as they grow. It can be found worldwide and it is known on different names, including Agarikon, Quinine Conk, Eburiko, Brown Trunk Rot and Larch Bracket Mushroom. The uses of this mushroom have been recorded over 2000 years ago, when documentation proves that the Greek pharmacist Dioscorides found this fungus as being effective for treating Consumption, which is nowadays known as Tuberculosis. Additionally to its medical uses, Agarikon was also used by Shamans, as a key part of certain rituals. Image …show more content…
Some of the most common uses of this fungus for health reasons included: - Coughing …show more content…
Shamans considered this mushroom as an important resource for some of their rituals. Additionally, Shamans also used Agarikon as a powder that they would apply to cure ailments that they considered to be caused by supernatural forces. Shamans used this fungus to carve various spiritual figures and also spirit catchers. The carved figures were usually hung from the ceiling to protect people during rituals that took place in special dance houses. Given the spiritual nature of this mushroom, it also served as a mystical element that was meant to accompany the Shaman in the afterlife. For this purpose, the sporophores of this mushroom were carved as jewelry and it was either painted, or coated in a protective substance, and then it was placed at the Shaman’s head at his grave site, as it was considered to play a key role as his “grave guardians”. Additionally to protecting the Shaman’s burial site, this mushroom was also meant to warn people that the site was occupied by spirits and thus they shouldn’t approach
the story of the superstition from the spider in the candle to the rattle-snake skin and the hair-ball.
The Greek Minoans believed the snakes in the Goddesses hands represented protection; and the "renewal of life" since snakes shed their skin every so often, to reveal newer skin.
the native cultural practices of the use of the pipe. Herb than was able to find true
In Cherokee medicine, it is believed that councils of animals created diseases in order to avenge the loss of their families and living spaces. The plants, being sympathetic to humans, decided to each furnish a cure for these diseases. It is believed that the spirit of the plant will tell a sick person which one to use to cure his illness.
Almost all of the medications that we have today are due to the ancient greeks who were the first to use potions for healing and a wide variety of other reasons Herbs were used widely across the world but were especially used in greece. Many things from the greeks we can still find in our daily lives today. Ancient greek potions were one of the most important items in greek culture because they had an interesting mix of ingredients, were used for different reasons, and are the baseline of many of the medications we have today.
The elaborate sarcophagus is an indication of how important Etruscan funerary customs were to the Etruscan Elite and how they took careful preparations to ensure the deceased entered the afterlife in good standing. Although this piece may be stylized in appearance it still shows that the artist took care to incorporate local customs as well as worldly features in this sculpture.
Medicinal applications of ayahuasca shamanism revolve around the powerful properties believed to lie within the mystical icaros and the concurrent flights of several shamans for expelling intruding partially material spiritual pathogenic agents and soul restoration. Some side-effects of this sacramental beverage include severe vomiting and the potential for brutal diarrhea and are believed by shamans to be imperative to the purification process as they are held in esteem for expelling negative energies and emotions built up in one’s body over the course of their life. Not only do these vomiting and diarrhea side effects expel toxins from the body, but they also paralyze/kill and extrude worms and other tropical parasites from the user’s body.
The use of medicinal herbs and food, dancing, music, and chanting in ceremonies and rituals, and physical manipulation are present in all three indigenous communities. Ceremonies and rituals facilitated by the traditional healers often involved everyone in the community. Indigenous African communities used herbs to prevent and treat health conditions such as viral hepatitis, malaria, and diarrhoea. Hepasor was used to treat viral hepatitis, cinchona was taken to prevent malaria and assegaai were used as an antidiarrheal, blood purifier and natural aphrodisiac.
One plant with medical use from the Apiaceae plant family was the carrot. It was used to treat Jaundice. I find this interesting because it is a plant considered to be a common food. One would not think it was anything special since it is so commonly found. It may have been used to treat Jaundice because of its color, or maybe because people who ate plenty of carrots never had eye problems.
Halloween is originated from Ireland, and Day of the Dead was started in Mexico. During Halloween, people usually have various types of candies. Kinds of candies include chocolate, caramels, sugar candies, gummy candies, and much more. On Day of the Dead, Calaveras and pan de los muertos is served, along with many other candies in shapes of coffins, skulls, and skeletons. The symbol for Halloween is the classic jack o’ lantern. Back in the Middle Ages, ritual harvest festival in Welsh, Irish and Gaelic cultures. They were used to guide trick or treaters through the night and keep way evil spirits. Not all the jack o’ lanterns were pumpkins. Some were made out of radishes or squash. The symbol Day of the Dead is the classic skull or skeleton. If you went to a Day of the Dead celebration, you would see happy skeletons on display practically everywhere across city streets. Another important symbol of the Day of the dead is the marigold flower. It is said that the flower draws back to souls of the dead and leads item to the homes of their families. Believe it or not, Halloween is a holiday that is nearly 1300 years old, and it originates from Welsh and Gaelic cultures. It was a holiday evolved from the Samhain, an ancient Celtic holiday. This was a time where the harvests were collected for the winter, and it was believed that since winter was approaching, it would allow the souls of the dead to breach tohe world of the living.
The first clinical trial of a novel therapy was conducted unintentionally by the Renaissance surgeon Ambroise Parè in 1537. He used a concoction of turpentine, rose oil and egg yolk to prevent the infection of battlefield wounds, noting that the new treatment was much more effective than the traditional formula. The first trial using properly randomized treatment and control groups was carried out in 1948 by the Medical Research Council, and involved the use of streptomycin to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. This trial also featured blind assessment (2).
-It is a very powerful symbol used for Protection by the practitioners. Also, many rituals, ceremonies or magickal work require evoking of the spirits and thus Pentacle is used.
Aconite is useful as an antidote to poising. Its root is analgesic, anodyne, antirheumatic, diaphoretic, diuretic, irritant and sedative. Aconite can be used for example, against fevers, inflammation and bronchitis. Aconite is a really important ingredient of Wolfsbane potion. This potion re...
...mary example of a plant that has been used throughout history for multiple purposes. It was initially a plant that was only of importance to the Native peoples of the Americas. What was once considered a plant that was only useful in tribal folklore and ritualistic practices, is now being considered very valuable in the modern world. Current inquiries and research into natural alternatives to the many chemicals utilized in the modern food and drug industries is shining a light on the effectiveness and the many potential uses of B. Orellana. Its uses have expanded from its original intended purposes to an array of purposes because of its valuable properties. Although at this current point, more research is needed on B. Orellana to enhance its effectiveness and successfully implement it into more foods and medicines, the possibilities this plant presents are promising.
Pre-Columbian Mexicans used many substances, from tobacco to mind-expanding (hallucinogenic) plants, in their medicinal collections. The most fascinating of these substances are sacred mushrooms, used in religious ceremonies to induce altered states of mind, not just drunkenness.