''Sacred Weeds'' was a four-part television series of 50 minute documentaries investigating the cultural impact of psychoactive plants on a broad array of early civilisations. The series was filmed at
Hammerwood Park
Hammerwood Park is a country house in Hammerwood, near East Grinstead, in East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building. One of the first houses in England to be built in the Greek Revival architectural style, it was built in 1792 as ...
by the producer, Sarah Marris, and her production company TVF. It was broadcast in the summer of 1998 on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, a British television network.
Dr Andrew Sherratt, then a
Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
in
European Prehistory
Prehistoric Europe is Europe with human presence but before the start of recorded history, beginning in the Lower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional irregularities of cultural development emerge and increase. The region o ...
at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, was the series host. Each episode began and ended with Sherratt inscribing his diary with his reflections on the series' scientific and cultural investigations. In each episode the series investigated one psychoactive plant and its cultural significance. Three specialists of various scientific disciplines were invited to monitor two volunteers who had taken each plant. After the four episodes, Sherratt assigned considerably more significance to the psychoactive properties of plants in ancient civilization and the prehistoric period than expert knowledge hitherto.
Part one: The Fly Agaric Mushroom
scientists:
*Michael Carmichael, Ethnobotanist/Anthropologist
*Dr Cosmo Hollstrom, psychiatrist and lecturer at
Imperial College
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
*Dr Joanna Iddon, from CeNeS Cognition
volunteers: Ed Taylor, Johnny Green
Memorable moments include a long haired participant in baggy clothes, athletically climbing a large tree and yelping with excitement. The clinical and skeptical approach of Dr. Cosmo contrasted with the psychological and forensic approach of Michael Carmichael. The two scholars debated the significance of research into altered states of consciousness.
Part two:
Salvia Divinorum
''Salvia divinorum'' (Latin: "sage of the diviners"; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a plant species with transient psychoactive properties when its leaves are consumed by che ...
scientists:
*Dr Françoise Barbira-Freedman, medical anthropologist and lecturer at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
*Dr Tim Kendall, psychiatrist and director of the Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies
*Dr Jon Robbins, pharmacologist at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
volunteers:
Daniel Siebert, Sean Thomas
Part three:
Henbane
''Hyoscyamus niger'', commonly known as henbane, black henbane, or stinking nightshade, is a poisonous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is native to temperate Europe and Siberia, and naturalised in Great Britain and Ireland.
...
''the witches brew?''
scientists:
*
Paul Devereux
Paul Devereux (born 1945) is a British author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the UK. Devereux is a co-founder and the managing editor of the academic publication ''Time & Mind – the Journal of Archaeology, C ...
, author and researcher of the cultural importance of hallucinogenic plants
*Dr
Diane Purkiss, historian and lecturer at the
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
*Dr Elizabeth Williamson, from the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
's
School of Pharmacy
The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from a recognized university. In many countries, this involves a four- or five-year course to attain a bachelor of ...
volunteers: Paul Rousseau, Jim Boyd
Part four: The Blue Lily ''flower power?''
scientists:
*Michael Carmichael, Ethnobotanist/Anthropologist
*Prof. Alan Lloyd, Egyptologist and chairman of the
Egypt Exploration Society
The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization. The society was founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole in order to examine and excavate in the areas of Egypt and Sudan. The intent was to study and ana ...
*Dr Susan Duty, pharmacologist at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
volunteers: Robert Barnes, Marie McCartney
The series ended with the investigation of the psychoactive effects of the
Blue Lily (Nymphaea caerulea), a sacred plant in ancient
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. Michael Carmichael suggested that the psychoactive effects of the blue lily and other psychoactive plants established a new foundation for understanding the origins of philosophy and religion in ancient Egypt. Alan Lloyd, the Egyptologist took a more cautious approach. After witnessing the effects of the plant in two volunteers, all parties agreed that it was a psychoactive plant. Sherratt accepted the new paradigm for the origins of ancient philosophy and religion in his summation of the series.
Video
Sacred Weeds at Top Documentary Films
External links
Michael Carmichael's websitePaul Devereux's website
Channel 4 original programming
1998 British television series debuts
1998 British television series endings