Dale Pendell (April 14, 1947 – 13 January 2018) was an American poet, ethnobotanist, and novelist. Writing in an evocative style all his own, he fused
science,
folklore, and
poetry in describing the relationship between psychoactive plants and human beings. A long time student of
ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...
, Pendell discussed historical and cultural uses of "power plants" in his works. He read and distilled the literature of pharmacology and neuroscience, of ethnobotany and anthropology, of mythology and political economics as they intersect with the direct experience of human psychoactive use.
His publications include the Pharmako Trilogy: ''Pharmako/Poeia'' (1994), ''Pharmako/Dynamis'' (2002), and ''Pharmako/Gnosis'' (2005), all published by
Mercury House. He covered all the major categories of psychoactives and detailed the use, the pharmacology, the chemistry, the political and social historical implications and effects of the use of psychoactives.
He was also a myth critic. Certain of his works comment on the origins of cultural myths.
Pendell also delved into politics, introducing the concept of "Horizon anarchism" at his
Burning Man
Burning Man is an event focused on community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance held annually in the western United States. The name of the event comes from its culminating ceremony: the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, referred ...
2006 Palenque Norte lecture.
Podcast 055, "Horizon anarchism", Burning Man, 2006
/ref>
Bibliography
*''The Gold-Dust Wilderness'' (1971)
*''Physics for the Heart'' (1985)
*''Chasing the Cranes'', with Steve Sanfield
Steven Sanfield (born August 3, 1937 – January 28, 2015) was an American poet, children's book author, and Freedom Rider. He published over 30 books during his lifetime. The University of California Davis library holds a collection of his writin ...
, (1986)
*''City Limits Blues'' (1986)
*''Rough Cuts & Kindling'' (1986)
*''Swirling'' (1986)
*''Mokujiki: Thirteen Tanka'', with Kazuaki Tanahashi, (1988)
*''Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft'' (1995, Mercury House)
*''Living With Barbarians: A Few Plant Poems'' (1999)
*''Pharmako/Dynamis: Stimulating Plants, Potions, & Herbcraft'' (2002, Mercury House)
*''Pharmako/Gnosis: Plant Teachers and the Poison Path'' (2006, Mercury House)
*''Inspired Madness: the Gifts of Burning Man'' (2006)
*''Walking with Nobby, Conversations with Norman O. Brown'' (2008, Mercury House)
*''The Language of Birds, Some Notes on Chance and Divination'' (2009)
*''The Great Bay: Chronicles of the Collapse'' (2010) (2010, North Atlantic Books)
*''Equations of Power'' (2013)
*''Salting the Boundaries'' (2014)
*''Seeking Faust'' (2014)
*''Jeremy and the Mantis'' (2018, Mercury House)
References
External links
Official site & blogErowid's Dale Pendell vaultErowid review of Pharmako/Gnosis'Magical Practice'
a discussion with Dale at the World Psychedelic Forum, Basel, 2008 (MP3 available)
Dreamflesh.com review of Pharmako/Poeia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pendell, Dale
2018 deaths
American psychedelic drug advocates
Psychedelic drug researchers
1947 births
