Please join us for our Fall 2024 Kent Family Speaker Series guest lecture! Dr. Rachel Corr from Florida Atlantic University will be presenting on the “Angel’s Trumpet: Ethnohistorical and Modern Accounts of Sacred Plant Use in Ecuador”.
The event will be held in-person in Teaching Academy room 117 and via Zoom on Friday, November 15th from 6:00 – 7:00 PM.
Join virtually: https://ucf.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GfcX1Q6rSRu2QmjvncjE6Q
Abstract:
Records of criminal and civil cases involving shamans in late colonial Ecuador reveal how sacred plants were used in past ritual settings and provide information about historical perceptions of human-plant-spirit relationships. The power of psychotropic plants, such as Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sp.), extends beyond their use in producing altered states of consciousness. Ethnohistorical testimonies detail the use of psychotropic plants and seeds for medicinal purposes and reveal beliefs in the sacred qualities of such plants. A plant-focused reading of ethnohistorical documents, compared with modern ethnographic practices, shows that Angel’s Trumpet is, and has been, used for perceived spiritual protection and access to esoteric knowledge.
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