• Monthly Columns

    Notes from the Apothecary

    Notes from the Apothecary: The Christmas Tree     Straight away, I know many of you will be wondering why I’m bringing Christmas to the table, when most of us are looking forward to Yule or the Winter Solstice. Well, it’s because I absolutely adore the tradition of the Christmas tree. And, despite what many people think, it’s not an inherently Pagan symbol, although there are definite Pagan roots, pardon the pun. Christmas trees are so popular today that they are grown in all 50 American states, including even Hawaii, and most other places in the world. From candlelit trees in Germany in the 1800s to fiber optic light shows…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – Magic Medicine: A Trip Through the Intoxicating History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants and Substances by Cody Johnson

    Book ReviewMagic MedicineA Trip Through the Intoxicating History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants and Substancesby Cody Johnson323 pp   Cody Johnson’s “Magic Medicine” lives up to its subtitle, “A trip through the intoxicating history and modern-day use of psychedelic plants and substances.” More politics, history, and anecdote than chemistry or medicine, this book contains twenty-three chapters which profile a diverse number of substances: the 2C-B and the 2C family, 5-MEO-DMT, Ayahuasca, DMT, DOM and the DOX family, LSD, Morning glory, Peyote, Psilocybin mushrooms, San Pedro, Yopo and Vilma beans, MDA, MDMA, DXM, Ketamine, Nitrous Oxide, Salvia, Amanita Muscaria, Cannabis, Dipt, fish and sea sponges, Iboga, and Mad Honey. Over…