Jimsonweed - A Spirit Helper (After the Yaqui Tribe teachings of Carlos Castaneda) A biennial, it grows one year without producing flowers or seeds, dies back in the Fall, and comes up again the second year with blossoms and seeds. The flower is followed by the thorny fruit. She distorts men: she gives them a taste of power too soon without fortifying their hearts and makes them domineering and unpredictable. She makes them weak in the middle of their great power; this cannot be avoided but it can be overcome. Datura is a small plant with dark green leaves, big whitish bell-shaped flowers and an oversized root. The devil's weed has four heads: the root, the stem and leaves, the flowers and the seeds. Each one of them is different, and whoever becomes her ally must learn about them in that order. The power of the devil's weed is conquered through the root. The power of the devil's weed becomes more potent and more dangerous to handle as the root goes deeper into the ground. When one arrives at a depth of four yards, one finds the seat of permanent power, power without end. The stem and leaves are the head that cures maladies; properly used, this head is a gift to mankind. The third head is in the flowers, and it is used to turn people crazy, or to make them obedient or to kill them. The man whose ally is the devil's weed never intakes the flowers or stem and leaves, except in cases of his own illness; but the roots and seeds are always intaken, especially the seeds. The seeds are the fourth head of the plant and they are the 'sober head,' the only part that can fortify the heart of man. The True Name of the devil's weed can be used to call for help in moments of great stress and need.

The plants should be collected in early September. Collect a male and a female plant together. The male is large and spreads out near the ground and looks more like a thick bush. The female plant grows taller and above ground so it really looks like a small tree. In the male plant, the root forks out from the exact point where it joins the stem. In the female plant, a single root goes down quite a way before it becomes a fork. Do your final digging with a stick from the immediate area so as not to cause permanent injury to the plant. The devil's weed has very few friends; you should find a tree which the weed grabs or hooks onto, such as a paloverde. If you damage the root with a foreign object (such as a shovel) she will not grow for you when you replant her, but if you injure her with a friendly stick, chances are the plant will not even feel it.

Wash dirt from all parts of the plants. Separate the parts of the plants into separate piles of roots, flowers, leaves, seedpods and stems. Work on the male first; break apart the root at the juncture and tie the pieces of the root together and place all parts of the plant in a bundle. Follow the same procedure with the female plant, but leave the root intact. This is packed together and left to dry for three days. Measure your portion of one part of the male root, the length from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the fourth finger of the outspread left hand. To establish dominion over the devil's weed, begin by taking the first portion of the root. If you bring someone to introduce them to the plant, you may make a gift of your portion to them. Begin late in the afternoon. Place the root in a small white cotton bag and mash the root inside the bag. Rinse the mashed root with water and when you are finished, let all parts of root in bag and the water soak together in the open air overnight. In the morning, wring out the bag into the water and throw the bag away. Let the water sit in the sun. After a few hours, drain off the top water, preserving the silt in the bottom. Pour fresh boiling water distilled from fruits into the silt, and let it sit in the sun again. Repeat this sequence three times at intervals of more than an hour. Finally drain most of the water, tip at an angle to catch the late afternoon sun and leave it. Return after dark. There should be about a teaspoon of gummy substance left, either whitish or light grey. Pour a cup of boiling water (distilled from flowers and fruits) in, making a sort of milky substance. As soon as it cools enough, drink. It should taste somewhat bitter and smell like cockroaches. You should get warm and sweat and suffer stomach cramps; then get cold and sweaty.

You should also see a color: black means you are not made for the weed and will vomit and be sick. Red means you are strong and of a violent nature, the weed likes you and you will not vomit. Afterward you will sleep for a long time. When you wake up, you may suffer a headache, upset stomach or intermittent pains in the intestines. Vigor will fill the body. The first portion can be taken by anyone. In diluted form it is good for all the matters of manhood, old people who have lost their vigor, or young men who are seeking adventures, or even women who want passion -- they all desire power. The devil's weed sneaks up on you; all you care about is that she makes you feel good and powerful. The devil's weed keeps men who want power.

The other half of the first portion of the male root must be planted; it has to grow and seed before you can undertake the real task of taming the plant. Step by step you must intake each portion of the root in order to learn the secrets and conquer the power. The root is replanted at winter solstice, after you have made a protection for yourself. This is to be made and kept by the user and not shown to anyone else; someone else's memory of it could diminish your protection. You must use the female root that was originally collected with the male. It should be dried out by now and is ready to be carved into a figurine. The part of the root toward the stem is the head, the juncture of the root is the heart and the forks are the legs. Cut off the legs proportionately, leaving about three inches. The root will be dry and fibrous. In order to carve it, make two incisions and peel off the root between them. Carve the figure of a man with hands clasped on his chest. After carving, wrap the legs with hemp and using a thorn as a needle on the hemp, push the thorn up under the hands so it comes out from the top of the hands like a spear head. The thread should have been pulled tight to bring the figure's 'legs' together.

Then a brew is made by mashing together in a mortar the remains of the first male and female plants plus a portion each of a fresh male and female root taken from a depth of one yard. This is the only time the male and female roots are used together. Then add seven each of perfect fresh male and female leaves, one at a time, then the same of flowers, also one at a time, then seed pods all at once, then three fresh stems. All this is mashed together and when thoroughly mashed, it is all put into a pot. To this add your blood from between the middle and fourth fingers of your left hand. Add a large chunk of carpenter's glue and a pot of water and boil the mixture. The mix will give off a very pungent odor.

When it starts to thicken, place the figure in the pot completely submerged. Let the mix stand all night and at dawn take the figure out of the pot and hang it to dry facing east in the sun. At noon it should be dry enough to carry. Place it in a pouch and take it with the cooking pot and root to plant (which should first be kept in water to bring about an incipient growth of leaves; the root should know no other soil than that in which it will grow). The root should be replanted in a secret place in a deep hole of soft dirt next to a watery place. Dig the hole with your hands only. Place the root in the center of the hole and make a mound around it. Then soak it with water. When the water sinks, fill the hole with soft dirt. Pick a spot two paces away in your best direction and bury the contents of the pot there.

Then smash the pot and bury it deep in another place, far from the spot where you planted your root. When you have buried the pot, go back to your root and water it again. Then take out your figure, hold it between your fingers where you cut yourself and standing on the spot where you buried the glue touch the root lightly with the needle. Circle the root four times, stopping each time in the same place to touch it. Touch the root lightly with the needle every time except the first when you must thrust it deep. But do it carefully; kneel for a more steady hand because you must not break the point inside the shoot. If you break it, you are finished. The root will be of no use to you. If the root grows and seeds, then you will know she wants you and all the plants which grow from the seeds of this plant are yours.

The second portion of the root is taken after the planted shoot has grown and seeded (a year). This is the beginning of real learning; it must be mastered by taking in it at least twenty times before one can go on to the third portion. The second portion is used for seeing; with it one can fly through the air and see what is going on at any place he chooses. One must not eat while learning the second portion, but can only take a little water. There are three parts to prepare for the second portion: the root, the seed paste, and the dragon. Take two handfulls of seeds and mash them together to a powder in the mortar. Add to this two cups of boiling water distilled from fruits and flowers and add another cup of water and let this boil down to a paste. Let this sit inside while you mash a second portion of the root (two lengths from the stem - about 16"). Treat this in the same way as the first portion of the root.

When the mix has solidified, hang it up to catch the night air. The paste is made to give direction; the root makes things clear. Drink the brew (half the substance will do at first) while sitting in front of your plant. Call the dragon and ask it to find the answer to your question. Once the dragon has departed, then rub the paste on both temples several times. You may reapply the paste as often as you like, but avoid getting it on your brow. The dragon will return after a time and tell you the answer. The answer may appear as a vision while the dragon is talking to you, but if you become engrossed in the vision the dragon will stop talking and you will lose your answer. You should ask impersonal questions at first, rather than questions about people you know. When the vision is finished, bury what you didn't use of the paste. The paste lasts only for one day.

Another use of the second portion of the root is to fly. Collect two plants, one male and one female. Clear away the dirt to where the root forks and then perform the same rite as for the first. Cut the stem and leave the root in the ground. Then dig out the second portion of the root (about 16"). Do not talk while doing this. Mash the seeds together as before, then add all parts of both plants except the male root and mash together. Mix a cup of boiling water and put the mix on the fire. Prepare the male root as before and let it steep overnight. Watch the boiling mixture and when it becomes hard to stir, take it off the fire and hang it up. Next morning leach the root extract and repeat through the day. In the evening, add a fresh pot of boiling water and leave overnight again. To the mix add a handful of lard and whip until well mixed Ideally, the lard of a wild boar is used to add great power, but any will do. Hang the mixture up for the night. Next morning begin again to leach the root and in the evening drink the extract. Apply the paste to the body as follows: first on the sole of the left foot, then up the inside of the left leg to genitals, on genitals, down inside of the right leg, and finally on the sole of the right foot. Then you will fly. You will land near your plants. The unguent by itself is not enough. It is the root that gives direction and wisdom, and it is the cause of flying. As you learn more, and take it often in order to fly, you will begin to see everything with great clarity.

Return to Crow Calls