From the Back Cover
ETHNOBOTANY Marijuana Medicine, the most complete visual record of cannabis culture ever published, explores the role of hemp in medicinal systems spanning the globe. Cannabis has accompanied the development of human culture from its very beginnings and can be found in the healing traditions of cultures throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Even today it is an important part of many Asian healing traditions: in Ayurveda cannabis is praised for its tonic and aphrodisiac qualities, and in traditional Chinese medicine it is cited as a superb antidepressant. It also remains a significant part of the healing and visionary traditions of Latin American curanderos and Brazilian, Nepalese, and Indian folk medicine. Modern research has confirmed the effectiveness of marijuana's application in treating such diseases as asthma and glaucoma. Christian Ratsch profiles the medicinal, historical, and cultural uses of cannabis in each of these societies and medical systems, providing remedies and recipes for those interested in how it can be used to treat specific conditions. CHRISTIAN RaTSCH is a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist. A specialist in the cultural use of natural products, Ratsch has conducted fieldwork in many areas of the globe. He is the author of numerous books, three of which--Gateway to Inner Space, The Dictionary of Sacred and Magical Plants, and Plants of Love--have been translated into English. He also is the author of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. Ratsch is currently serving as the president of the German Society for Ethnomedicine.
Rätsch, Christian: - "Christian Rätsch, Ph.D. (1957 - 2022), was a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specialized in the shamanic uses of plants for spiritual as well as medicinal purposes. He studied Mesoamerican languages and cultures and anthropology at the University of Hamburg and spent, altogether, three years of fieldwork among the Lacandone Indians in Chiapas, Mexico, being the only European fluent in their language. He then received a fellowship from the German academic service for foreign research, the Deutsche Akademische Auslandsdienst (DAAD), to realize his doctoral thesis on healing spells and incantations of the Lacandone-Maya at the University of Hamburg, Germany.
In addition to his work in Mexico, his numerous fieldworks have included research in Thailand, Bali, the Seychelles, as well as a long-term study (18 years) on shamanism in Nepal combined with expeditions to Korea and the Peruvian and Colombian Amazon. He also was a scientific anthropological advisor for expeditions organized by German magazines such as
GEO and
Spektrum der Wissenschaften (Spectrum of Sciences).
Before becoming a full-time author and internationally renowned lecturer, Rätsch worked as professor of anthropology at the University of Bremen and served as consultant advisor for many German museums. Because of his extensive collection of shells, fossils, artifacts, and entheopharmacological items, he had numerous museum expositions on these topics.
He is the author of numerous articles and more than 40 books, including
Plants of Love,
Gateway to Inner Space,
Marijuana Medicine,
The Dictionary of Sacred and Magical Plants, and
The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants. He is also coauthor of
Plants of the Gods,
Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas,
Witchcraft Medicine,
Pagan Christmas, and
The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs and was editor of the
Yearbook of Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness. A former member of the board of advisors of the European College for the Study of Consciousness (ECSC) and former president of the Association of Ethnomedicine, he lived in Hamburg, Germany."
