Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) and traditional entheogenic substances

(from A.Hofman) 

In July 1975 I was visiting my friend Gordon Wasson at his residence in Danbury, when suddenly he asked me the following question: did he believe. I that the primitive man, in ancient Greece, could have discovered some method to isolate an entheogen from ergot that could have provided him with an experience comparable to that given by LSD or psilocybin? I replied that it might well have been that way and I promised to send you, after I had better thought about it, a comment on our present knowledge on the subject; which, as I suspected then, would support my tentative position. Two years have passed, and now here is my answer.

Cornezuelo is the Castilian name of a fungal product, the sclerotium of a fungus that mycologists know as Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul. It is a parasite of rye and other cereals such as barley and wheat, as well as some wild pastures. Other species of the Claviceps genus, such as C. paspali Stev. and Hall, C. iiigricans Tul. and C. glabra Langdon, among others, parasitize many kinds and varieties of grass. The ergot itself lacks a uniform chemical composition: it occurs in "chemical" or "biological" races that differ from each other especially in the composition of the alkaloids they contain. (Chemists define alkaloids as alkaline substances that contain nitrogen and that represent the active ingredients, from a pharmacological point of view, of many plants.) Thus, in Switzerland there are three varieties of ergot of] rye: 1) In the Swiss plain one that contains mostly ergotamine alkaloid; 2) In Valais one with alkaloids of the ergotoxin group, and 3) In Grisons one that does not contain alkaloids. In addition, in other classes of ergot - wheat, barley, millet, tares, etc. - there are large variations in the alkaloids they contain, sometimes according to geographical location.

By far the most important of all types of ergot is rye, a brown-violet body that appears on the spikes and causes grain hypertrophy. In English the ergot of rye is called horned rye, spiked rye, spurred rye, and more commonly ergot of rye, which is a translation of the French term ergot de seigle (in the scientific nomenclature, Secale cornutum). The word ergot is defined in the Petit Larousse as “petit ongle pointu derriére le’pied du coq” (“small pointed nail on the back of the crow's foot”) but the origin of the French term ergot is uncertain. Other French designations are blé cornu, seigle ergoté, seigle ivre. It seems that there are more variants in German than in other languages: Mutterkorn, Rockeiimutter, Afterkorn, Todtenkorn, Tollkorn and many more. In German folklore there was a belief that when the cereal rippled with the wind the mother of the grains (a demon) passed through the field; his children were the wolves of rye (ergot). According to our argument, we observe that two of the names mentioned, seigle ivre ("intoxicated rye") and Tollkoriz ("mad grain") reveal a knowledge of the entheogenic effects of ergot. This popular awareness of the ergot aftermath about the mind shows an intimate knowledge of its properties, at least among herbalists, deeply rooted in European traditions.

The ergot of rye has a historical past. Once a fearsome poison, it has become a rich source of valuable pharmaceutical products.

During the Middle Ages there were strange epidemics in Europe in which thousands of people lost their lives, caused by the bread made with rye contaminated by ergot. These epidemics were presented in two forms: ergotismus convulsivus, characterized by epileptiform symptoms and nervous convulsions, and ergotismus gangraenosus, in which a dominant feature were the gangrenous manifestations that caused mummification of the extremities. Ergotism was also known as ignis sacerd ("sacred fire") or as "fire of San Antonio", because San Antonio was the patron of a religious order founded to pay attention to the victims of this disease. The cause of such epidemics - contaminated with ergot - was discovered only in the seventeenth century, and thereafter the outbreaks of poisoning by ergot have been only sporadic.

The ergot was mentioned as a remedy for the first time in 1582, by the German doctor Adam Lonitzer, who reported that midwives used it to induce births.

The first scientific communication on the applications of ergot as an uterotonic agent was presented in 1808 by the American physician John Stearns: "Account of the pulvis parturiens". But already in 1824 Dr. David Hosack, too

The first scientific communication on the applications of ergot as an uterotonic agent was presented in 1808 by the American physician John Stearns: "Account of the pulvis parturiens". But already in 1824 Dr. David Hosack, also an American, recognized the dangers of using ergot to expedite births, and recommended that the drug be used only to inhibit post partum hemorrhage. From that date on, ergot has been used in obstetrics, especially for that purpose. '(Dr. Hosack was an eminent man. He was the doctor of many of the distinguished New Yorkers of the time, and accompanied Alexander Hamilton to Weehawken , on the occasion of his tragic duel with Aaron Burr. This came to my attention through the admirable biography of Hosack that Christine Robbins wrote.)

The last and the most important chapter in the history of ergot examines it as a rich source of alkaloids with pharmacological applications. More than thirty alkaloids have been isolated from the ergot and it is unlikely that many more can be discovered. Hundreds of chemical modifications of these natural alkaloids have been prepared and investigated from the logical pharmaceutical point of view. Today all these alkaloids can also be obtained by total synthesis.

The alkaloids with the most important medicinal applications come from the ergot of rye. The first that had a wide therapeutic use was ergotamine, which A. Stoll isolated in 1918. Ergotamine is the essential ingredient of pharmaceutical preparations such as Cafergot and Bellergal, medicines used against migraine and nervous disorders. Two especially useful modern preparations are Hydergina, developed by A. Stoll and A. Hofmann in the Sandoz laboratories in Basel, which contains hydrogenated ergotoxin alkaloids and is used in the treatment of some geriatric alterations, and Dihydergot, which contains dihydroergotamine as an active ingredient and is used in the therapy of circulatory disorders.

Research on ergonovine alkaloid, which is the specific uterotonic principle of ergot, soluble in water, is of special importance for the issues we are dealing with. In 1932 H. W. Dudlev and C. Moir discovered, in England, that water-soluble ergot extracts, which did not contain any of the water-insoluble alkaloids of the ergotamine-ergotoxin type, induced intense uterotonic activity.

This observation led, three years later, to the isolation of the alkaloid causing this action, simultaneously in four different laboratories that called it “ergometrine”, “ergobasin”, “ergotocin” and “ergostetrin”, respectively. The International Pharmacopoeia Commission proposed a name that was accepted internationally to replace such synonyms: that is, idergonovine ”.

In 1937, from natural lysergic acid I prepared ergonovine, which due to its chemical composition is the propanolamide of lysergic acid as shown in the image. Lysergic acid is the common nucleus of most ergot alkaloids. It is extracted from special ergot crops, and at present it would also be possible to prepare it by total synthesis, if it were not because such a procedure is too expensive. I used the method developed for the synthesis of ergonovine in order to prepare numerous chemical modifications of said substance. One of these ergonovine derivatives, partly synthetic, was lysergic acid butanolamide. Today it is used in obstetrics with the trade name of Methergina to contain postpartum hemorrhage and has practically replaced ergonovine.

Another derivative of lysergic acid that I synthesized in the course of these works, with the intention of obtaining an analeptic (that is, an agent with stimulating properties of respiration and circulation), was lysergic acid diethylamide (Fig. L) . Pharmacological examinations revealed that the compound had a clearly intense uterotonic activity, almost as vigorous as that of ergonovine. In 1943 I discovered, by undergoing experiments with the drug, the high entheogenic potency of lysergic acid diethylamide, which became known worldwide by its code name in the laboratory: LSD-25.

My interest in the entheogenic agents, originated in 1943 from my work with the LSD, led me to meet Gordon Wasson, a forerunner as an ethnomicologist and also a precursor in the study of the ancient fungus cult in Mexico. Roger Heim, at that time head of the Laboratoire de Crvptogainie and director of the famous Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, who Wasson invited to study and identify in the field the divine fungi, sent me samples of them in order to analyze Its chemical composition.

Together with my laboratory assistant, Hans Tscherter, I was able to isolate the entholenic principles of the sacred fungi of Mexico, which I called psilocybin and psilocin. In the company of my colleagues at the Sandoz Research Laboratories I managed to elucidate the chemical structure of psilocybin and psilocin, as well as synthesize them.

Inspired by the conversations with my friend Wasson and encouraged by our good success with the entheogenic fungi, I decided to also address the problem presented by another Mexican entheogenic plant, the ololiuhqui. With the help of Wasson I obtained a large amount of authentic ololiuhqui seeds, of the two species of wonder that the Mesoamerican Indians have used: seeds of Turbina corymbosa (L.) Raf. and from Ipomoea violacea L. When we analyzed them, we arrived at an unexpected result: these old drugs that we were willing to call “magic” and that the Indians consider divine, contained as psychoactive principles some of our already familiar ergot alkaloids. The main components were lysergic acid amide and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide, both water-soluble alkaloids, closely related to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), as is evident even for those who are not chemical (Figure 1). Another constituent of the ololiuhqui alkaloids was ergonovine, the ergot principle of ergot.

The entheogenic property of these simple lysergic acid amides, closely related to LSD, is well established. The question that then arose on its own was whether ergonovine - an alkaloid component not only of ergot but also of ololiuhqui- possessed entheogenic activity. In light of its chemical structure this did not seem unlikely: it does not differ much from LSD. But one can ask why, if it is an entheogen, this surprising fact has not been communicated, given that it has been used in obstetrics during the last decades. No doubt the answer lies in the extremely low dose of ergonovine that is used to contain postpartum hemorrhage, that is, 0.1 to 0.25 mg. The effective dose of the lysergic acid amide is 1 to 2 mg orally. So, I decided to administer a corresponding dose of ergonovine.

April 1, 1976

12:20 h: 2.0 mg of ergonovine acid maleate, containing 1.5 mg of ergonovine base, ingested in a glass of water.

1:00 pm: slight nausea, same effect that I have always experienced in my trials with LSD or psilocybin; tired, need to lie down; With eyes closed, colored figures.

1:30 pm: the trees in the neighboring forest seem to be animated; Its branches move threateningly.

2:30 pm: intense desire to dream, inability to work systematically; with eyes closed or open, beset by sensations and mollusc forms.

4:00 pm: the motifs and colors have become clearer, but they still contain hidden dangers.

5:00 pm: after a brief nap a kind of inner explosion of all my senses awakens me.

6:00 pm: An unexpected visit forces me into activity, but throughout the afternoon I lived more in an inner world than outside.

10:00 pm: all the effects disappeared, normal sensations.

It was an experience carried out without a rigorous procedure, but more proof that ergonovine has a slight entheogenic mood-modifying activity, provided it is taken in the same amount as that of an effective dose of lysergic acid amide, the main constituent of ololiuhqui Its potency corresponds approximately to one twentieth of what LSD has, and about five times that of psilocybin.

There is one more finding that could be of the utmost importance to consider Wasson's question. The main components of Mexican marigold seeds are: 1) Lysergic acid amide (= "ergina"), and 2) Lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide. Such are also the most important ergot alkaloids that grows in the wild grass Paspalum distichum L. This grass grows around the entire Mediterranean basin and is often infected by Claviceps paspali. In 1960, F. Arcamone et al. 'Were the first to discover these alkaloids in the ergot of P. distichum.

Among the ergot classes produced by the different species of the Claviceps genus and its numerous host cereals and wild grasses-, of course there are some that contain entheogenic alkaloids, the same alkaloids that exist in the entheogenic wonders of Mexico. These alkaloids, mainly lysergic acid amide, lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide and ergonovine, are soluble in water, in contrast to non-entheogenic alkaloids that have medicinal applications, such as ergotamine and ergotoxin. With the techniques and equipment available in antiquity it was thus easy to prepare an entheogenic extract

In 1960, F. Arcamone et al. 'Were the first to discover these alkaloids in the ergot of P. distichum.

Among the ergot classes produced by the different species of the Claviceps genus and its numerous host cereals and wild grasses-, of course there are some that contain entheogenic alkaloids, the same alkaloids that exist in the entheogenic wonders of Mexico. These alkaloids, mainly lysergic acid amide, lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide and ergonovine, are soluble in water, in contrast to non-entheogenic alkaloids that have medicinal applications, such as ergotamine and ergotoxin. With the techniques and equipment available in antiquity it was thus easy to prepare an entheogenic extract from the appropriate ergot types.

What were those appropriate ergot types that the ancient Greeks could dispose of? There was no rye in their land, although there was wheat and barley, and Claviceps purpurea measured in both. We analyze in our laboratory the ergot of wheat and barley, and we find that they contain basically the same alkaloids as that of rye, that is, ergonovine and those of the group of ergotoxin and ergotamine, and sometimes also traces of Lysergic acid amide.

As I said before, ergonovine and lysergic acid amide, both entheogenic, are water soluble, while the other alkaloids are not. As we all know, ergot differs in its chemical composition according to geography and with the host plant. We have no way of knowing what the composition of the ergot of barley or wheat that was harvested in the Rariana plain, next to Eleusis, in the second millennium BC. But it is certainly not absurd to suppose that the barley grown there was the host of a ergot that contained, perhaps among others, soluble entheogenic alkaloids. The neighborhood with the fertile plain will undoubtedly have influenced the election of Eleusis to raise the temple of Demeter there, and the formation of the bouquet of vigorous myths around this place and Triptolem, which still today exert their fascination on us.

The separation of the entheogenic agents, through their simple dissolution in water, of the non-soluble alkaloids - ergotamine and ergotoxin - was well within reach of the possibilities open to primitive man in Greece. An even simpler method would have been to resort to some kind of ergot such as that grown in Paspalum distichum grass, which contains only alkaloids that are entheogenic and could even have been used directly as a powder. As I said before, P. distichum grows everywhere around the Mediterranean basin. During the many centuries when the Eleusinian mysteries kept the world of ancient Greece fascinated, could the hierophants of Eleusis not have expanded their knowledge and honed their skills? For the Greek world, as for us, the mysteries are linked to Demeter and Core; they along with Triptólemo are the famous mythical progenitors of the cultivation of wheat and barley.

But in the course of time, the hierophants could easily have discovered the Claviceps paspali, which grew as a parasite in the Paspalupii distichziiii grass. Then they could have obtained their entheogen directly, pure and without any need to dissolve it.

But if I mention this it is only as a possibility or a probability, and not because P. distichitm is needed to answer Wasson's question.

Finally, we must also comment on a ergot that parasites a wild grass called Lolium lemulentum L. in the scientific nomenclature. This herb, which we call tares in Castilian, is widely known in English as darnel or cockle or, in the Bible, tares, and is a pest for grass crops. Sometimes it is also called in English wild rye grass (literally, "wild rye grass"), which is an unfortunate name because wild rye has nothing to do with true rye (in Spanish it is called ballico): rye from ivild rye grass has a totally different etymology. In classical Greek the tares were aira, and in classical Latin lolium. Its name in French is ivraie and in German Taumellolch, terms both pointing towards one, belief in its entheogenic activity by popular knowledge of traditional European herbalists. A mention of ivraie has been found in the year 1236, and it can be assumed that the term is much older.

The analysis of Lolium temulentum in my laboratory, as well as a large botanical, chemical and pharmacological study conducted by I. Katz, showed that this plant does not contain alkaloids or possess any pharmacological activity. But the species of the genus Lolium (L. temulentum and L. perenne) are notorious prey of the Claviceps fungus. Thus, the entheogenic reputation of the tares should be attributed to its infestation by ergot. Ergot samples growing in L. temulentum and L. perennial collected in Germany, France and Switzerland revealed a wide variation in the alkaloid content. Some possessed significant amounts of ergonovine together with alkaloids of the ergotamine and ergotoxin group.'In ancient Greece there may have been a kind of weed of the tares that contained mostly entheogenic alkaloids such as those found in the ergot of Paspalum .

In conclusion, I now answer Wasson's question: the answer is yes; Primitive man in ancient Greece may have obtained an entheogen from ergot. He could have extracted ergot from wheat or barley. A simpler procedure would have been to use the ergot of the common Paspalum grass. This is based on the assumption that the herbalists of ancient Greece were as intelligent and skilled as those of pre-Hispanic Mexico.

(from "The road to Eleusis", Albert Hofman)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

* The mandatory reference monograph on botany and the history of ergot is that of G. Barger: Ergot aizd Ergotisiii, Gurney and Jackson, London, 1931.

* In his monograph Die Mietterkoriialkaloide (F. Enke Verlag, Stuttgart, 1964), A. Hofmann reviews the results of medical, pharmacological and chemical research on ‘ergot alkaloids carried out in laboratories around the world.

* I. Katz: “Contribution to I’étude de I’ivraic enivrante (Loliiiiil teiizíileizttiiii L.).” Thesis presented at the Polytechnique Fédérale group, Zurich, 1949.

* H. Kobel, Sandoz Rescarch Laboratories, Basel. Personal communication.

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