Based on this hypothesis “humans have a very ancient tradition involving the use

Question

Based on this hypothesis “humans have a very ancient tradition involving the use of mind-altering experiences to produce profound, more or less spiritual and cultural understanding”, in an essay of 750–1000 words use the plant Nymphaea nouchali to argue for or against this hypothesis. To defend your argument, make sure you correctly identify what the archaeological data indicates about past uses of the plant. You also will need to provide the following background information:

A.The common and scientific names, as well as the family, to which the plant belongs.

B. Its geographic origins, current distribution, and current uses.

C. The chemical nature of the psychoactive principle, and its physiological effects.

Explanation / Answer

A. The common names of Nymphaea nouchali are  blue lotus, star lotus, red and blue water lily, or blue star water lily.

Family- Nymphaeaceae

B. It is native to southern and eastern parts of Asia. This aquatic plant is native in a broad region from Afghanistan, the Indian subcontinent, to Taiwan, southeast Asia, and Australia.

It is used as an ornamental plant and medicinal plant.

C.

The story of the sacred Blue Lotus makes a mockery of modern science. It has been known for several years that this species is psychoactive to some degree, but little concrete knowledge exists in the scientific area and the psychoactive effect is vigorously disputed by conservative scientists. So a couple of pharmacologists decided to make a name for themselves by researching the active constituents and making a documentary about it. It is shown on the discovery channel and other media, and once you’ve experienced the effects of Blue Lotus you will understand how ridiculous their research is. In years to come it will be better suited for the comedy channel.

First they compared the Mass Spectrometer analysis of a mummy with that of some Blue Lotus flowers with the result that they matched. This indicated that the mummy had consumed Sacred Blue Lotus not long before his death. They also looked for narcotics in the mummy and found none. The substances found were listed as phosphodiastrates, bioflavonoids and phytosterols. The first is similar to Viagra, the second group is common in many fresh foods, and the last is similar to the known active constituent of Ginko biloba. At no stage in the research did they bother trying to consume a flower or an extract and this is where one has to wonder what the purpose of science is if it only serves to prove the absolute. The result of their expensive and drawn out study was that the “mild” activity of sacred Blue Lotus is due to the phytosterols. It is obvious that this conclusion can be dismissed as poor science, poor logic and above all poor representation of the lily itself.

Blue Lotus was assumed to contain nuciferine (1,2-dimethoxy-aporphine) just like Nelumbo nucifera, but this does not appear to be so according to the MS data. Aporphine and Apomorphine (6a-beta-aporphine-10,11-diol) have also been excluded.

Essentially this means that at this time no one knows what is causing the Blue Sacred Lotus to be a potent narcotic and inebriant. All we know is that 2-4 flowers soaked in wine for 24 hours will give a noticable and very pleasant synergy with the wine. Seed extracts and flower extracts can be consumed orally with or without alcohol, while dried flowers are easily dosed by smoking. All product forms will produce noticable effects. These can range from mild sedation to a fairly strong narcotic state”.

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