Has anyone else noticed that invertebrates love to dream?...or so it seems!
Last year a morning glory introduced spider mites to my beloved salvias...last summer was spent in a desperate battle against the sap-sucking little buggers, but the most astounding example was the mystery of who/what was munching large chunk out of the Salvia's leaves. Late one night, after some intensive detective work, I discovered the culprit: a monstrous yellow slug was treking in from the garden, up the steps, through the cat-flap, past a whole collection of other plants (non-entheogenic but nevertheless tasty), 10 meters through the kitchen and across the living room to have dinner in my little indoor bay window garden!!!
I previously believed that psychoactive plants produced these active compounds (among other reaons) as an insect/pest deterrent, but now I'm starting to think that this is an old gardener's myth...because they don't seem to work - in fact I would go so far to say that insects and other invertebrate pests (e.g. slugs) LOVE psychoactive plants and will go out of their way to feast on these delicacies...the burning question is WHY??*
There was also an article in the newspapers a while ago featuring an interview with a chap who was involved in planting a medicinal herb garden (including plants like henbane etc.) in Scotland and said that the garden was a magnet for critters.
I have a feeling that us humans are not the only ones who are interested in exploring consciousness
*The whole thing was made more bizarre by the long-running joke I had with my then-boyfriend about him being a slug shaman (i.e. a shaman who works with the great slug spirit)