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["Kathleen Meigs" <kmeigs@tcsn.net>]

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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