Ololiuhqui, and other Morning Glories
The Naturally Occurring Psychedelics, Related To LSD
Of the naturally occurring plant alkaloids used in ancient and modern religious rites and divination one of the least studied is ololiuqui. The earliest known description of its use is by Hernandez, the King of Spain’s personal physician, who spent a number of years in Mexico studying the medicinal plants of the Indians and "accurately illustrated ololiuqui as a morning glory in his work which was not published until 1651" (Schultes, 1960). In his words, "When a person takes ololiuqui, in a short time he loses clear reasoning because of the strength of the seed, and he believes he is in communion with the devil" (Alacon, 1945). Schultes (1941) and Wasson (1961) have reported in detail on the religious and divinatory use of two kinds of morning-glory seeds, Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea violacea, among the Mazatec and Zapotec indians. The first of these is assumed to be the ololiuqui of the ancient Aztecs.
In 1955 Osmond described personal experiments with Rivea corymbosa seeds and reported that the effects were similar to those of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25). He suggested (1957) that the word psychedelic (meaning mind-manifesting) be used as a generic term for this class of substances to refer to their consciousness-expanding and psychotherapeutic function as contrasted with the hallucinogenic aspect. In 1960 Hoffman reported that he had isolated d-lysergic acid amide (LA) and d-isolysergic acid amide from the seed of both Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea violacea. LA is very similar to LSD in its psychological and physiological manifestations but is reported to have about one twentieth the psychological effectiveness of LSD (Cerletti & Doepfner, 1958).
The work of these investigators led us to a preliminary study of the psychedelic properties of species of Ipomoea which are commonly found within the continental United States. The seeds of Ipomoea purpurea, the common climbing morning glory, resemble the seeds of Ipomoea violacea and have been found to have similar psychedelic properties. Recent analysis by Taber et al. (1963) has verified that LA is present in the varieties used and is probably the primary active agent.
The effects of the seeds of Ipomoea purpurea (varieties Heavenly Blue and Pearly Gates) in a total of 45 cases are summarized below. The subjects are all normally functioning adults and the majority had previous experience with LSD. The onset of effects is about half an hour after the seeds have been chewed and swallowed and they last from five to eight hours.
| Low Dose, 20-50 Seeds (11 Subjects) | This dosage rarely produces any visual distortions, although with eyes closed there may be beginning imagery. Restlessness, evidenced by alternating periods of pacing about and lying down, may be present. There tends to be a heightened awareness of objects and of nature, and enhanced rapport with other persons. A feeling of emotional clarity and of relaxation is likely to persist for several hours after other effects are no longer noticeable. |
| Medium Dose, 100-150 Seeds (22 Subjects) | In this range the effects resemble those reported for medium-dose (75-150 micrograms) LSD experiences, including spatial distortions, visual and auditory hallucinations, intense imagery with eyes closed, synaesthesia and mood elevation. These effects, which occur mainly during the period of 1 to 4 hours after ingestion, are typically followed by a period of alert calmness which may last until the subject goes to sleep. |
| High Dose, 200-500 Seeds (12 Subjects) | In this range the first few hours may resemble the medium-dose effects described above. However, there is usually a period during which the subjective states are of a sort not describable in terms of images or distortions, states characterized by loss of ego boundaries coupled with feelings of euphoria and philosophical insight. These seem to parallel the published descriptions of experiences with high doses (200-500 micrograms) of LSD given in a supportive, therapeutic setting as reported by Sherwood et al. (1962).
All the subjects who had previous experience with LSD claimed the effects of the seeds were similar to those of LSD. Transient nausea was the most commonly reported side effect, beginning about one half hour after ingestion and lasting a few minutes to several hours. Other reported side effects not commonly found with LSD were a drowsiness or torpor (possibly due to a glucoside also present in the seeds) and a coldness in the extremities suggesting that the ergine content of the seeds may be causing some vascular constriction. (If this is the case, there may be some danger of ergot poisoning resulting from excessive dosages of the seeds.) The only untoward psychic effect was a prolonged (eight hours) disassociative reaction which was terminate with chlorpromazine [Thorazine]. The possibility of prolonged adverse reactions to the psychological effects of the seeds is essentially the same as with LSD, and the same precautions should be observed (Cohen & Ditman, 1963). |
| How To Take Morning Glory Seeds. | The seeds must be chewed or ground in order to be effective. Soaking the ground seeds in water for several hours, filtering out the grounds, and then drinking only the water portion of the mixture can reduce some of the stomach-upset symptoms if such occur.
Unpleasant LSD and morning glory trips can be smoothed out or even stopped by taking niacin (in the form of nicotinic acid, vitamin B-3 or "niacin"). Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the incidence of paranoia and prevent depletion of the vitamin from the adrenal glands during LSD trips. There have been reports that commercially available packets of morning glory seeds from some distributors are coated with fungicides or other chemicals to increase shelf life or discourage the practice of eating them. Seeds from plants grown in one’s own garden will be safe as long as you do not spray them with insecticides. The last few notes about Niacin and Vitamin C are based on a paperback edition of Hoffer & Osmonds "The Psychedelics" It’s pretty clear that the latin names of this plant are somewhat confused (which is typical). Ipomoea purpurea, Ipomoea tricolor, Ipomoea violacea and Ipomoea rubro-caerulea are all the same plant. The other variety of morning glory, "Ololiuhqui" has at least two Latin names as well: Rivea corymbosa, and Turbina corymbosa. |
Posted by: Wu_Chi