How Do Witches Fly? A practical approach to nocturnal flights. [Paperback]

Alexander Kuklin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0966402707 | ISBN-13: 978-0966402704 | Publication Date: February 5, 1999 | Edition: 1

Books which examine the folklore of Europe's traditional "witch" plants are not uncommon, and some give some coverage to describing the psychotropic and hallucinogenic effects of these plants on the human body. However this book is rather more unusual than that in that the author is first and foremost a biochemist with an extensive and intimate knowledge of the alkaloids, or poisonous constituents, for which the plants most commonly listed as being those of flying ointments are rightly famous. Although there is much folkloric material here there is a great quantity of scientific material concerning the physiological effects of the plants and their constituents which is otherwise not easily available to the average reader. Of particular interest, though they may prove distressing for some readers, are the accounts of experiments conducted on bitches to determine the ability of the alkaloids to be absorbed into the body through the vaginal membranes, as well as details of the ways in which the various constituents react against one another to produce sometimes surprising results. For example, one might have imagined that using both aconite (aconitine) and belladonna (atropine) together would have produced a doubly toxic effect on the user, but not so: the two alkaloids have antagonistic (or opposing) toxic effects upon each other, each neutralizing the most toxic effects of the other while leaving the hallucinogenic effects of both largely intact. This is, in short, a fascinating book for those interested in what these plants actually do (rather than what we think they ought to do) to the user.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Dna Press; 1 edition (February 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966402707
• ISBN-13: 978-0966402704
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,450,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A key to the witches' ointment, December 7, 1999

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Do Witches Fly? A practical approach to nocturnal flights. (Paperback)

Any book, which starts by dissuading you from killing yourself can't be all bad. Alexander Kuklin cautions his readers, frequently, against messing around with witches' herbs. The results of consuming aconite, belladonna, thornapple and water hemlock are spelt out in grisly detail. It certainly puts you off. Anyone familiar with the happy-go-lucky style of medieval cookbooks will doubt whether peasant women thought in terms of exact doses and measures, even if death was the penalty for miscalculation. Nevertheless, there are first-hand reports, by Laguna and Gassendi, of ointments, which did produce delirium and dreams of flight. Kuklin suggests in his closing chapter that the secret lay in balancing herbal sources of aconitine and atropine, which tend to cancel each other out. An American magical group is testing the recipe, in a hush-hush sort of way. The results may appear in a peer-reviewed journal. But in the evidence so far, they are equally likely to end up in the morgue.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Theories and contributions to witches' spiritual flights, October 17, 2000

By 

"many101" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Do Witches Fly? A practical approach to nocturnal flights. (Paperback)

Excellent achievement. Dr. Kuklin gives us the ingredients on witches' brews, their chemistries, their histories and how they might have contributed to spiritual flight. Throughout are the sad stories of folks accused and convicted of witchcraft (Nathaniel and Rebecca Greensmith were convicted in Connecticut in 1662 of "intending to make merry on Christmas.") Kuklin is scientifically knowledgeable and spiritually aware: "I speculate that the witches' ointment was the biggest jewel in the crown of medieval pharmacology. This herbal concoction was a poison to the layman but a spiritual tool to the Believer of the Craft." Many alkaloids here that give impressive psychedelic effects. Nicotine, atropine, caffeine, ephedrine, animal ingredients, herbs such as belladonna, digitalis, and many others. Ointment preparation: harvesting, storage of herbs, actual recipes. "How do witches fly" sparkles with rare insights and Kuklin beautifully captures the need and the wisdom of ordinary folks who used flying preparations.

from The Book Reader Fall/Winter 2000/2001, page 41

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book for what witches' plants actually do, April 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How Do Witches Fly? A practical approach to nocturnal flights. (Paperback)

Books which examine the folklore of Europe's traditional "witch" plants are not uncommon, and some give some coverage to describing the psychotropic and hallucinogenic effects of these plants on the human body. However this book is rather more unusual than that in that the author is first and foremost a biochemist with an extensive and intimate knowledge of the alkaloids, or poisonous constituents, for which the plants most commonly listed as being those of flying ointments are rightly famous. Although there is much folkloric material here there is a great quantity of scientific material concerning the physiological effects of the plants and their constituents which is otherwise not easily available to the average reader. Of particular interest, though they may prove distressing for some readers, are the accounts of experiments conducted on bitches to determine the ability of the alkaloids to be absorbed into the body through the vaginal membranes, as well as details of the ways in which the various constituents react against one another to produce sometimes surprising results. For example, one might have imagined that using both aconite (aconitine) and belladonna (atropine) together would have produced a doubly toxic effect on the user, but not so: the two alkaloids have antagonistic (or opposing) toxic effects upon each other, each neutralising the most toxic effects of the other while leaving the hallucinogenic effects of both largely intact. This is, in short, a fascinating book for those interested in what these plants actually do (rather than what we think they ought to do) to the user.