Shamanism: setting the stage -- The magic in food -- The search for the original tree of knowledge -- Plants and primates: postcards from the stoned age -- Habit as culture and religion -- The high plains of eden -- Searching for Soma: the golden vedic enigma -- Twilight in Eden: Minoan Crete and the Eleusinian mystery -- Alcohol and the alchemy of spirit -- The ballad of the dreaming weavers: cannabis and culture -- Complacencies of the peignois: sugar, coffee, tea, and chocolate -- Smoke gets in your eyes: opium and tobacco -- Synthetics: heroin, cocaine, and television -- A brief history of psychedelics -- Anticipating the archaic paradise.
