by Anthony Henman

How can we recognise in “teaching plants” the role which they have played, and continue to play, in the indigenous cultures of the Americas ? How to consider them autonomous subjects, active in the history of the biosphere, and not simply objects of our needs and desires ? Using the examples of coca leaf and the sanpedro cactus, I will suggest the need for a concept of inter-subjective reciprocity, involving an ongoing exchange of representations and lived experiences between our species and theirs. I will argue that the only way to understand their “spirit” is to observe the plants on a daily basis, and – without any preconceived expectations – periodically to absorb their psychoactive properties.