The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs

This stunning encyclopedia examines the botany, pharmacology, history, preparation, dosage, and practical use of more than 400 erotically stimulating substances from antiquity to the present day. Richly illustrated with more than 800 color photographs.

Christian Rätsch, Ph.D., is a world-renowned anthropologist and ethnopharmacologist who specializes in the shamanic uses of plants. He is the author of Marijuana Medicine and The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants and coauthor of Plants of the Gods. Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Ph.D., is an art historian and anthropologist and coauthor, with Christian Rätsch, of Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas, Witchcraft Medicine, and Pagan Christmas. Both authors live in Hamburg, Germany.

Preface

Introduction

What Are Aphrodisiacs?
Aphrodite and Venus
What Are “Agents of Pleasure”?
What Is an “Intoxicant” or “Addictive Drug”?

How Does One Use Aphrodisiacs?
On Expectations, Disappointments, and Desires

How Do Aphrodisiacs Work?
Dosage, Set, and Setting

Who’s Afraid of Aphrodisiacs?
On Desire and Its Demonization
How Did It Come to This?

The Five Senses--Our Sources of Erotic Experience
Vision
Hearing
Touch
Smell
Taste
Fire, Water, Air, and Earth
To Experience with All of Our Senses?
Which Senses Are Still with Us?
The Forgotten Sixth or Seventh Sense
The Power of the Senses over the Course of Time

Aphrodisiacs in Art
Grape, Vine, and Wine
Poppies and Opium
Hemp, Cannabis, and Hashish
Coca Leaves and Cocaine
The True Character of Aphrodisiacs in Art
A Look at Aphrodisiacs Today
Aphrodisiacs and Morality in Art
Eroticism in the Art of Polytheistic Cultures
Eroticism in the Art of Monotheistic Cultures
The Perception of Eroticism, Sexuality, and Aphrodisiacs--Beyond Art

The Encyclopedia from A to Z
The Structure of the Monographs
Pharmacratica Aphrodisiae: Legal Issues
About the Images

Appendix. A Short History of Books on the Topic of Aphrodisiacs and Love Agents

Bibliography

Resources

Acknowledgments

Index