RIP Christian Rätsch

[donfoolio]

I post this here, because I cannot open a new thread in the announcements.

The ethnophramacological writer and researcher Christian Rätsch died September 17th. He was wordlfamous for his book "enzyclopedia of psychoactive plants. "

I am not sure that there are already articles in English, so I post the memorial from his edition nachtschatten in Switzerland.

In memoriam Christian Rätsch - Lucys Rausch

Nachruf auf Christian Rätsch (20. April 1957 bis 17. September 2022) Von Claudia Müller-Ebeling, Markus Berger und Roger Liggenstorfer «Ich muss nie wieder ein Buch schreiben!», antwortete der legendäre Forscher und Autor Christian Rätsch, bei [...]

lucys-magazin.com

Rest in peace!

 

[tryptamine9]

Oh no. I am really sad.
I met him once when he spoke to us about the 100th birthday of Albert Hofmann. They were friends and Christian told us what it was like to celebrate that day.
He died way to young. I will miss him!
RIP.

 

[Hyper Turtle]

Oh wow, i hadn't heard yet. Rest in peace Christian Rätsch, most important of the psychedelic and ethnobotanical writers for my 'upbringing'! May your eternal journey be as magical as the one that found an end now.

I am a really lucky person, having seen both him and Albert Hofmann in person - even both at the same congress once!

It was in Basel, late 90s or early 2000s. In addition to talking on stage, he did an audio-visual performance called "Ayahuasca", afaik the only ever performance of the album (same name) he made with musicians whose names i can't remember. I had spent my last money for the congress itself and couldn't afford to buy the album - i've been looking for it ever since with no success. If anyone can point me to a copy, i'd be very very greatful.

Funny to think that after that point, it took me almost 20 more years to actually find my way to DMT

 

[downwardsfromzero]

That is sad news - he left us way too soon (but, thankfully, not any sooner)!

I attended one of his lectures a couple of years ago and sort of almost met him both before and after the event. He did some kind of incense ceremony so we buggered off to the botanical greenhouses instead :lol: Good lecture, though - even if in my case it felt largely like preaching to the converted. The thing that stuck with me the most was the passion with which he pointed out how ridiculous it is for any group of persons to say that some natural plant is illegal.