Psychoactive Plants & Fungi: A Cultural Guide to 42 Botanicals That Expand the Mind by Liam Engel: Psychoactive Plants & Fungi is a vivid, accessible introduction to forty-two remarkable botanicals that have captivated, healed, and transformed people throughout history. From everyday stimulants like coffee and tea to rare ceremonial plants like iboga or kola nut, each profile explores the cultural origins, traditional uses, and mind-altering effects of these botanicals—many of which remain central to spiritual practices, social customs, and even modern wellness trends. Richly illustrated and global in scope, the book brings together folklore, pharmacology, and anthropology to show how psychoactive species have shaped human experience—both ordinary and extraordinary. This is not a field guide or a how-to manual, but a cultural companion for the curious reader: part ethnobotanical history and part celebration of our long and complex relationship with the plant and fungi kingdoms.
