"use of Ephedra and opium poppies. Also, coca leaves have been used by South American Indians since ancient times. Extracts from plants containing toxic alkaloids, such as aconitine and tubocurarine, were used since antiquity for poisoning arrows. Studies of alkaloids began in the 19th century. In 1804, the German chemist Friedrich Sertürner isolated from opium a ""soporific principle"" (), which he called ""morphium"" in honor of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams; in German and some other Central-European languages, this is still the name of the drug. The term ""morphine"", used in English and French, was given by the French"
"began marketing it commercially in 1827. Morphine was more widely used after the invention of the hypodermic syringe in 18531855. Sertürner originally named the substance ""morphium"" after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus, as it has a tendency to cause sleep. The primary source of morphine is isolation from poppy straw of the opium poppy. In 2013, approximately 523 tons of morphine were produced. Approximately 45 tons were used directly for pain, a four-fold increase over the last twenty years. Most use for this purpose was in the developed world. About 70 percent of morphine is used to make other"
"Oneirogen An oneirogen, from the Greek ὄνειρος ""óneiros"" meaning ""dream"" and ""gen"" ""to create"", is that which produces or enhances dream-like states of consciousness. This is characterized by an immersive dream state similar to REM sleep, which can range from realistic to alien or abstract. Many dream-enhancing plants such as dream herb (""Calea zacatechichi"") and African dream herb (""Entada rheedii""), as well as the hallucinogenic diviner's sage (""Salvia divinorum""), have been used for thousands of years in a form of divination through dreams, called oneiromancy, in which practitioners seek to receive psychic or prophetic information during dream states. The term"
"manufacture in the mid 1800s. Rational drug discovery from plants started particularly with the isolation of morphine, analgesic and sleep-inducing agent from opium, by the German apothecary assistant Friedrich Sertürner who named the compound after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus. By the late 1880s, German dye manufacturers had perfected the purification of individual organic compounds from tar and other mineral sources and had also established rudimentary methods in organic chemical synthesis. The development of synthetic chemical methods allowed scientists to systematically vary the structure of chemical substances, and growth in the emerging science of pharmacology expanded their ability to"
"Nepenthe Nepenthe () is a fictional medicine for sorrow– a ""drug of forgetfulness"" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt. The carnivorous plant genus ""Nepenthes"" is named after the drug nepenthe. The word """" first appears in the fourth book of Homer's ""Odyssey"": Figuratively, nepenthe means ""that which chases away sorrow"". Literally it means 'not-sorrow' or 'anti-sorrow': , ', i.e. ""not"" (privative prefix), and , from , ', i.e. ""grief, sorrow, or mourning"". In the ""Odyssey"", in the passage quoted above, ' (i.e. an anti-sorrow drug) is a magical potion given to Helen by"
"Polydamna the wife of the noble Egyptian Thon; it quells all sorrows with forgetfulness. Quoting this passage in his 2015 novel ' (""Compass""), French writer identifies nepenthe with opium. Likewise, in ""Forbidden Drugs"", Philip Robson, Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford University Department of Psychiatry, writes: ""What else could Helen of Troy’s nepenthe have been but opium?"" Nepenthe Nepenthe () is a fictional medicine for sorrow– a ""drug of forgetfulness"" mentioned in ancient Greek literature and Greek mythology, depicted as originating in Egypt. The carnivorous plant genus ""Nepenthes"" is named after the drug nepenthe. The word """""
"their dreams in order to determine treatment. Meditation, fasting, baths, and sacrifices to the patron deity or other spirits were often involved as well. Sleep temples also existed in the Middle East and Ancient Greece. In Greece, they were built in honor of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine and were called Asclepieions. The Greek treatment was referred to as incubation and focused on prayers to Asclepios for healing. A similar Hebrew treatment was referred to as Kavanah and involved focusing on letters of the Hebrew alphabet spelling the name of their god. Mortimer Wheeler unearthed a Roman sleep temple"
"Aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac or love drug is a substance that increases libido when consumed. Aphrodisiacs are distinct from substances that address fertility issues or secondary sexual (dys)function such as erectile dysfunction. The name comes from the Greek ἀφροδισιακόν, ""aphrodisiakon"", i.e. ""sexual, aphrodisiac"", from ""aphrodisios"", i.e. ""pertaining to Aphrodite"", the Greek goddess of love. The opposite substance is an anaphrodisiac. Throughout human history, food, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable. However, from a historical and scientific standpoint, the alleged results may have been mainly due to mere belief by their users that they"
"warriors, its invention is credited to Thoth, and it was said to have been given by Isis to Ra as treatment for a headache. A figure of the Minoan ""goddess of the narcotics"", wearing a crown of three opium poppies, BCE, was recovered from the Sanctuary of Gazi, Crete, together with a simple smoking apparatus. The Greek gods Hypnos (Sleep), Nyx (Night), and Thanatos (Death) were depicted wreathed in poppies or holding them. Poppies also frequently adorned statues of Apollo, Asklepios, Pluto, Demeter, Aphrodite, Kybele and Isis, symbolizing nocturnal oblivion. As the power of the Roman Empire declined, the lands"
"""belladonna"" (""beautiful woman"" in Italian) comes from the original use of deadly nightshade to dilate the pupils of the eyes for cosmetic effect. Both atropine and the genus name for deadly nightshade derive from Atropos, one of the three Fates who, according to Greek mythology, chose how a person was to die. Atropine Atropine is a medication to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate and to decrease saliva production during surgery. It is typically given intravenously or by injection into a muscle. Eye drops are also available which"
"of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine. The Greek treatment was referred to as incubation, and focused on prayers to Asclepios for healing. The asclepion at Epidaurus is both extensive and well-preserved, and is traditionally regarded as the birthplace of Asclepius. (For a comparable modern tool see Dreamwork.) The Oracle at Delphi was also famous for trances in the ancient Greek world; priestesses there would make predictions about the future in exchange for gold. Stories of the saints in the Middle Ages, myths, parables, fairy tales, oral lore and storytelling from different cultures are themselves potentially inducers of trance. Often"
"symbol of the Egyptian deity Nefertem. Some evidence indicates the medicinal effects of plants including ""N. caerulea"" that contain the psychoactive alkaloid aporphine were known to both the Mayans and the Ancient Egyptians. The mildly sedating effects of ""N. caerulea"" makes it a likely candidate (among several) for the lotus plant eaten by the mythical Lotophagi in Homer's ""Odyssey"". This lotus has been used to produce perfumes since ancient times; it is also used in aromatherapy. ""N. caerulea"" is illegal in Latvia since November 2009. It is a schedule 1 drug. Possession of quantities up to 1 gram are fined"
"segment of Woody Allen's ""Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)"" is called ""Do Aphrodisiacs Work?"", and casts Allen as a court jester trying to seduce the queen. Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, , (2006). Publisher: Blue Deck Press, , (2011) Aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac or love drug is a substance that increases libido when consumed. Aphrodisiacs are distinct from substances that address fertility issues or secondary sexual (dys)function such as erectile dysfunction. The name comes from the Greek ἀφροδισιακόν, ""aphrodisiakon"", i.e. ""sexual, aphrodisiac"", from ""aphrodisios"", i.e. ""pertaining to Aphrodite"", the Greek goddess of love."
"Hypnos, Nyx and Thanatos, the gods of sleep, night and death, with the symbol of the poppy. The earliest written record appeared in the eighth century BC. Early Greek accounts seem to indicate the plant was used for euthanasia; on some Greek islands, women used it in old age to shorten the time left until natural death. Hippocrates (460–377 BC) was one of the first to emphasize the medicinal uses of the poppy and outline several methods of preparation. He described poppy juice as narcotic, hypnotic, and cathartic. He also recognized the plant’s uses as food, particularly the seeds. By"
"stones, and extremity amputations. Before his death in 1835, Hanaoka performed more than 150 operations for breast cancer. Friedrich Sertürner (1783–1841) first isolated morphine from opium in 1804; he named it morphine after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Henry Hill Hickman (1800–1830) experimented with the use of carbon dioxide as an anesthetic in the 1820s. He would make the animal insensible, effectively via almost suffocating it with carbon dioxide, then determine the effects of the gas by amputating one of its limbs. In 1824, Hickman submitted the results of his research to the Royal Society in a short treatise"
"Hypnotic Hypnotic (from Greek ""Hypnos"", sleep) or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia (sleeplessness), or for surgical anesthesia. This group is related to sedatives. Where as the term ""sedative"" describes drugs that serve to calm or relieve anxiety, the term ""hypnotic"" generally describes drugs whose main purpose is to initiate, sustain, or lengthen sleep. Because these two functions frequently overlap, and because drugs in this class generally produce dose-dependent effects (ranging from anxiolysis to loss of consciousness)"
"alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations of include ""mutterer"" (from a single root) or ""herb user"" (as a compound word formed from the roots ""kash"", meaning ""herb"", and ""hapaleh"", meaning ""using""). The Greek φαρμακεία literally means ""herbalist"" or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously with ""mageia"" and ""goeteia"" as a term for a sorcerer. The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments against sorcery were enforced under the Hebrew kings: Note that the Hebrew word ""ob"", translated as ""familiar spirit"" in the above quotation, has a"
"words / meaning ""within"" (endogenous, / , ""proceeding from within"") and morphine, from Morpheus (), the god of dreams in the Greek mythology, thus 'endo(genous) (mo)rphine’. Endorphins Endorphins (contracted from ""endogenous morphine"") are endogenous opioid neuropeptides and peptide hormones in humans and other animals. They are produced by the central nervous system and the pituitary gland. The term ""endorphins"" implies a pharmacological activity (analogous to the activity of the corticosteroid category of biochemicals) as opposed to a specific chemical formulation. It consists of two parts: ""endo-"" and ""-orphin""; these are short forms of the words ""endogenous"" and ""morphine,"" intended to"
"in the opium trade through India, another opiate recipe called laudanum became very popular among physicians and their patients. Morphine was discovered as the first active alkaloid extracted from the opium poppy plant in December 1804 in Paderborn, Germany, by Friedrich Sertürner. In 1817 Sertürner reported experiments in which he administered morphine to himself, three young boys, three dogs, and a mouse; all four people almost died. Sertürner originally named the substance ""morphium"" after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus, as it has a tendency to cause sleep. Sertürner's morphium was six times stronger than opium. He hypothesized that, because"
"the Greek roots ""theo"" (""god"") and ""broma"" (""food""), meaning ""food of the gods"") with the suffix ""-ine"" given to alkaloids and other basic nitrogen-containing compounds. Theobromine is a slightly water-soluble (330 mg/L), crystalline, bitter powder. Theobromine is white or colourless, but commercial samples can be yellowish. It has an effect similar to, but lesser than, that of caffeine in the human nervous system, making it a lesser homologue. Theobromine is an isomer of theophylline, as well as paraxanthine. Theobromine is categorized as a dimethyl xanthine. Theobromine was first discovered in 1841 in cacao beans by Russian chemist Alexander Voskresensky. Synthesis"
"by Theophrastus in the fourth century B.C. for treatment of wounds, gout, and sleeplessness, and as a love potion. By the first century A.D. Dioscorides recognized wine of mandrake as an anaesthetic for treatment of pain or sleeplessness, to be given prior to surgery or cautery. The use of Solanaceae containing tropane alkaloids for anesthesia, often in combination with opium, persisted throughout the Roman and Islamic Empires and continued in Europe until superseded by the use of ether, chloroform, and other modern anesthetics. Atropine extracts from the Egyptian henbane were used by Cleopatra in the last century B.C. to dilate"
"Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; , ""sleep"") is the personification of sleep; the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. In the Greek mythology, Hypnos is the son of Nyx (""The Night"") and Erebus (""The Darkness""). His brother is Thanatos (""Death""). Both siblings live in the underworld (""Hades"") or in Erebus, another valley of the Greek underworld. According to rumors, Hypnos lived in a big cave, which the river Lethe (""Forgetfulness"") comes from and where night and day meet. His bed is made of ebony, on the entrance of the cave grow a number of poppies and other hypnotic plants."
"Oneirophrenia Oneirophrenia (from the Greek words ""ὄνειρος"" (""oneiros"", ""dream"") and ""φρήν"" (""phrēn"", ""mind"")) is a hallucinatory, dream-like state caused by several conditions such as prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, or drugs (such as ibogaine). Oneirophrenia is often confused with an acute case of schizophrenia due to the onset of hallucinations. The severity of this condition can range from derealization to complete hallucinations and delusions. Oneirophrenia was described for the first time in the 1950s but was studied more in the 1960s. Although it is still cited in diagnostic manuals of psychiatry, such as DSM-IV and in the International Statistical Classification"
"Greek ""rhododendron"" but also the Latin ""Oleander"" and ""Laurorosa"". The Egyptians apparently called it ""scinphe"", the North Africans ""rhodedaphane"", and the Lucanians (a southern Italic people) ""icmane"". Both Pliny and Dioscorides stated that oleander was an effective antidote to venomous snake bites if mixed with Rue and drunk. A 2014 article in the medical journal ""Perspectives in Biology and Medicine"" posited that oleander was the substance used to induce hallucinations in the Pythia, the female priestess of Apollo, also known as the Oracle of Delphi in Ancient Greece. According to this theory, the symptoms of the Pythia's trances (""enthusiasmos"") correspond"
"""oneirogen"" commonly describes a wide array of psychoactive plants and chemicals ranging from normal dream enhancers to intense dissociative or deliriant drugs. Effects experienced with the use of oneirogens may include microsleep, hypnagogia, fugue states, rapid eye movement sleep (REM), hypnic jerks, lucid dreams, and out-of-body experiences. Some oneirogenic substances are said to have little to no effect on waking consciousness, and will not exhibit their effects until the user falls into a natural sleep state. Oneirogen An oneirogen, from the Greek ὄνειρος ""óneiros"" meaning ""dream"" and ""gen"" ""to create"", is that which produces or enhances dream-like states of consciousness."
"Diascordium In pre-modern medicine, diascordium (medical Lat ""diascordium"", for ""diascordiōn"", from Gr , [a preparation] of scordium, , ""a strong-smelling plant mentioned by Dioscorides"", possibly Teucrium scordium), or diascord, is a kind of electuary, or opiate, first described by Fracastorius, and denominated from the dried leaves of scordium, which is an ingredient therein. The other ingredients are red roses, bole, storax, cinnamon, cassia lignea (coarse bark of ""Cinnamomum cassia""), dittany, tormentil roots, bistort, gentian, galbanum, amber, terra sigillata, opium, long pepper, ginger, mel rosatum, and malmsey. It was used against malignant fevers, the plague, worms, colic, to promote sleep, and"
"where the drug is taken to achieve a high or when the drug is continued long term against medical advice. Quazepam Quazepam (marketed under brand names Doral, Dormalin) is a relatively long-acting benzodiazepine derivative drug developed by the Schering Corporation in the 1970s. Quazepam is indicated for the treatment of insomnia including sleep induction and sleep maintenance. Quazepam induces impairment of motor function and has relatively (and uniquely) selective hypnotic and anticonvulsant properties with considerably less overdose potential than other benzodiazepines (due to its novel receptor-subtype selectively). Quazepam is an effective hypnotic which induces and maintains sleep without disruption of"
"has been used for a variety of respiratory ailments, insomnia, and skin disorders. However, there is insufficient evidence to support its effectiveness for these uses. The violet flower was a favorite in ancient Greece and became the symbol of Athens. Scent suggested sex, so the violet was an emblematic flower of Aphrodite and also of her son Priapus, the deity of gardens and generation. Iamus was a son of Apollo and the nymph Evadne. He was abandoned by his mother at birth. She left him lying in the Arkadian wilds on a bed of violets where he was fed honey"
"Mephedrone Mephedrone, also known as 4-methyl methcathinone (4-MMC) or 4-methyl ephedrone, is a synthetic stimulant drug of the amphetamine and cathinone classes. Slang names include bath salts, drone, M-CAT, White Magic and meow meow. It is chemically similar to the cathinone compounds found in the khat plant of eastern Africa. It comes in the form of tablets or a powder, which users can swallow, snort or inject, producing similar effects to MDMA, amphetamines and cocaine. In addition to its stimulant effects, mephedrone produces side effects, of which bruxism is the most common. The metabolism of mephedrone has been studied in"
"euphoric state, the psychedelic experience is often compared to non-ordinary forms of consciousness such as trance, meditation, yoga, religious ecstasy, dreaming and even near-death experiences. Most psychedelic drugs fall into one of the three families of chemical compounds: tryptamines, phenethylamines, or lysergamides. Although lysergamides are their own group they are a tryptamine. Many psychedelic drugs are illegal worldwide under the UN conventions, occasionally excepting use in a religious or research context. Despite these controls, recreational use of psychedelics is common. The term ""psychedelic"" is derived from the Greek words ψυχή (""psyche"", ""soul, mind"") and δηλείν (""delein"", ""to manifest""), hence ""soul-manifesting"","
"be combined with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor such as Syrian Rue (""Peganum harmala""), which grows throughout the Mediterranean. Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries () were initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are the ""most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece."" Their basis was an old agrarian cult, and there is some evidence that they were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenean period. The mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the underworld Hades,"
"""narcotic"" is believed to have been coined by the Greek physician Galen to refer to agents that numb or deaden, causing loss of feeling or paralysis. It is based on the Greek word ""ναρκωσις"" (narcosis)"","" the term used by Hippocrates for the process of numbing or the numbed state. Galen listed mandrake root, altercus (eclata), seeds, and poppy juice (opium) as the chief examples. It originally referred to any substance that relieved pain, dulled the senses, or induced sleep. Now, the term is used in a number of ways. Some people define narcotics as substances that bind at opioid receptors"
"Morpheus Morpheus ('Fashioner', derived from the meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's ""Metamorphoses"" he is the son of Sleep, who appears in dreams in human form. From the medieval period, the name began to stand more generally for the god of dreams, or of sleep. In Ovid's ""Metamorphoses"", Morpheus is one of the thousand sons of Somnus (Sleep). His name derives from the Greek word for form (""μορφή""), and his function was to appear in dreams in human guise. According to Ovid ""no other is more skilled than he in representing the gait,"