Nutmeg and its sister spice mace both come from the nutmeg tree Myristica fragrans. This tree grows in the Molucca Islands and elsewhere in Indonesia. Nutmeg has been considered to be a useful medicine in a number of Asian societies. Among the Arabs it has been used to treat digestive problems and also been valued as an aphrodisiac; the Indians used it to combat asthma and heart complaints and still use it as a sedative. Nicholas Culpeper (1616-54), the famous English herbalist, attributes to nutmeg the capacity to induce sleep delirium. Nutmeg also was seen as having magical properties and is one of the ingredients of a magical perfume described in the most famous of all the grimoires, or black books of the sorcerers, The Key of Solomon the King. The use of nutmeg as a magical medicine continued far into the twentieth century in England. The belief that carrying nutmeg in the pocket could cure various complaints has been recorded from various parts of the country. In Yorkshire it was considered as the best way to relieve rheumatic pain, in Lincolnshire it was said to cure backache and in Devon it was eaten to clear up boils. Elsewhere it was used by gardeners as a prophylactic measure against the occupational hazard of backache. As late as 1966 a Hampshire coalman who suffered from lumbago was told to carry nutmeg, and when he did so he swore he never suffered from it again. Nutmeg was also believed to be lucky in gambling. A newspaper article from the mid-1960s reported that an individual sprinkled nutmeg powder on their football pools coupon and, on the advice of a gypsy, left it for twenty-four hours before posting it. Although nutmeg has been demoted to a 'pseudo-hallucinogen' by many authorities, a self-experiment by Paul Devereux, a writer on the alignments of prehistoric sites, seems to indicate that its psychoactive effects can nevertheless be quite dramatic. In July 1989 Devereux took two level teaspoons of ground nutmeg and then went to bed, sprinkling nutmeg essential oil on his pillow and sheets. He began to feel the minor discomforts often associated with nutmeg use - mild nausea, irritation of the skin and so on. When he had been asleep for a few hours he had a dream in which he was travelling down a tunnel and flying at ever increasing speeds. He became fully conscious when in full flight and travelled over a landscape. During the flight he passed close to a tree and snatched at its leaves, feeling 'the pull of the branches and the foliage digging into my hand'. In other words the tactile sense was fully operative. He decided to terminate the journey by retracing his path and arriving back at his starting point, and opened his eyes. His hallucinations were thus both visual and tactile but he experienced no auditory or olfactory sensations during the experience (moodfoods.com)
Tuesday 8 February 2011
A Word on 'Nutmeg'
Nutmeg and its sister spice mace both come from the nutmeg tree Myristica fragrans. This tree grows in the Molucca Islands and elsewhere in Indonesia. Nutmeg has been considered to be a useful medicine in a number of Asian societies. Among the Arabs it has been used to treat digestive problems and also been valued as an aphrodisiac; the Indians used it to combat asthma and heart complaints and still use it as a sedative. Nicholas Culpeper (1616-54), the famous English herbalist, attributes to nutmeg the capacity to induce sleep delirium. Nutmeg also was seen as having magical properties and is one of the ingredients of a magical perfume described in the most famous of all the grimoires, or black books of the sorcerers, The Key of Solomon the King. The use of nutmeg as a magical medicine continued far into the twentieth century in England. The belief that carrying nutmeg in the pocket could cure various complaints has been recorded from various parts of the country. In Yorkshire it was considered as the best way to relieve rheumatic pain, in Lincolnshire it was said to cure backache and in Devon it was eaten to clear up boils. Elsewhere it was used by gardeners as a prophylactic measure against the occupational hazard of backache. As late as 1966 a Hampshire coalman who suffered from lumbago was told to carry nutmeg, and when he did so he swore he never suffered from it again. Nutmeg was also believed to be lucky in gambling. A newspaper article from the mid-1960s reported that an individual sprinkled nutmeg powder on their football pools coupon and, on the advice of a gypsy, left it for twenty-four hours before posting it. Although nutmeg has been demoted to a 'pseudo-hallucinogen' by many authorities, a self-experiment by Paul Devereux, a writer on the alignments of prehistoric sites, seems to indicate that its psychoactive effects can nevertheless be quite dramatic. In July 1989 Devereux took two level teaspoons of ground nutmeg and then went to bed, sprinkling nutmeg essential oil on his pillow and sheets. He began to feel the minor discomforts often associated with nutmeg use - mild nausea, irritation of the skin and so on. When he had been asleep for a few hours he had a dream in which he was travelling down a tunnel and flying at ever increasing speeds. He became fully conscious when in full flight and travelled over a landscape. During the flight he passed close to a tree and snatched at its leaves, feeling 'the pull of the branches and the foliage digging into my hand'. In other words the tactile sense was fully operative. He decided to terminate the journey by retracing his path and arriving back at his starting point, and opened his eyes. His hallucinations were thus both visual and tactile but he experienced no auditory or olfactory sensations during the experience (moodfoods.com)
