Nay Noordmans 2025

PRE-ORDER – VIDEO RECORDINGS WILL BE AVAILABLE w/i 2 weeks from the close of the event!!

LECTURE: Call of the Nightfall Bloom: Datura Beyond Flying Ointments
“At the time of the White Dawn;
At the time of the White Dawn,
I arose and went away.
At Blue Nightfall I went away.
I ate the thornapple leaves
And the leaves made me dizzy.
I drank thornapple flowers
And the drink made me stagger…”
(Pima “Datura Song”, trans. 1901)

Jimson weed. Thornapple. Toloache. Momoy.
While Datura has achieved a prominent place in contemporary witchcraft and among practitioners of the Poison Path, this spirit is known by many cultures throughout the world –  nearly all of which revered the plant for its vision-producing and pain-killing properties. Archeological evidence shows that Datura has been in use for at least 3,000 years in the Southwestern United States and even longer in other parts of the world. From India we learn from the Vamana Purana that Datura emerged from the chest of Lord Shiva. For the Chumash peoples of Southern California, it was part of their creation myth: Known as Grandmother Momoy, she transformed herself into the Datura flower after The Great Flood which marked the transition from mythic to modern times.

While the stories of Datura’s origin and spiritual significance may vary, people have been turning to this plant as an important remedy for a variety of conditions such as asthma, anxiety, and chronic pain. This presentation will explore Datura beyond its widely-known usage in flying ointments from both spiritual and medicinal perspectives, centering on the ethnobotany of the Southwestern United States.