Jonathan Ott

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Jonathan Ott
File:Ott jonathan 2008 hanna jon.tif
Jonathan Ott in 2008
Born(1949-01-06)January 6, 1949
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedJuly 5, 2025(2025-07-05) (aged 76)
OccupationAuthor
Years active1975–2025
Known forEntheogen
Scientific career
Author abbrev. (botany)J.Ott

Jonathan Ott (January 6, 1949 – July 5, 2025) was an American ethnobotanist, writer, translator, publisher, natural products chemist and botanical researcher of psychoactive substances and their cultural and historical use, and helped coin the term entheogen.[1][2][3]

Writings

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Ott wrote eight books, co-written five, and contributed to four others, and published many articles in the field of entheogens. His comprehensive 1993 book, Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History has been described as one of the important works on the subject of entheogenic drugs.[4] It describes over 1,000 plants and chemical compounds.[5] He collaborated with other researchers like Christian Rätsch, Jochen Gartz, and the late ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson. He translated Albert Hofmann's 1979 book LSD: My Problem Child (LSD: Mein Sorgenkind), and On Aztec Botanical Names by Blas Pablo Reko, into English. His articles have appeared in many publications, including The Entheogen Review, The Entheogen Law Reporter, the Journal of Cognitive Liberties, the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs (AKA the Journal of Psychedelic Drugs), the MAPS Bulletin, Head, High Times, Curare, Eleusis, Integration, Lloydia, The Sacred Mushroom Seeker, and several Harvard Botanical Museum pamphlets. He was a co-editor of Eleusis: Journal of Psychoactive Plants & Compounds, along with Giorgio Samorini.[3]

Botanical research

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File:World Ayahuasca Conferences 2014 (Ibiza) -AYA2014.jpg
Ott in 2014 at the World Ayahuasca Conference in Ibiza (second from left)

Ott had experience of field collecting in Mexico, where he lived and managed a small natural-products laboratory and botanical garden of medicinal herbs. A number of his ethno-botanical products have been studied to determine their possible benefits to individuals suffering various mental illnesses. In his book Ayahuasca Analogues, he identifies numerous plants around the globe containing the harmala alkaloids of Banisteriopsis caapi, which are MAOIs, and plants containing dimethyltryptamine, which together are the chemical base of the South American Ayahuasca brew.[citation needed]

Arson

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In March 2010, Ott's home in Mexico was destroyed[3] by arson. While most of his books survived the fire, Ott's laboratory and personal effects were destroyed in the blaze. Books given to Ott by Albert Hofmann were reportedly used as fuel.[6]

Death

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Ott died on July 5, 2025, at the age of 76.[7][3]

Works

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Books

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  • A Conscientious Guide to Hallucinogens: A Comprehensive Guide to Hallucinogens, Natural and Synthetic, Found in North American and the World with Joe E Axton and Jeremy Bigwood (1975) Do It Now Foundation, Institute for Chemical Survival
  • Hallucinogenic Plants of North America (1976), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Teonanacatl: Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of North America (Co-edited by Jeremy Bigwood) (1978), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • LSD: My Problem Child (1980) McGraw-Hill Book Company Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (translation only)
  • The Cacahuatl Eater: Ruminations of an Unabashed Chocolate Addict (Natural Products Company) (1985) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Persephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion with R. Gordon Wasson, Stella Kramrisch, and Carl A. P. Ruck (1986) Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • The Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson by Robert Gordon Wasson, Thomas J. Riedlinger (1990) contributor
  • Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History (1993), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Ayahuasca Analogues: Pangaean Entheogens (1995), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Plant Intoxicants: a Classic Text on the Use of Mind-Altering Plants by Ernst Bibra and Jonathan Ott (1995) Nature
  • Age of Entheogens & the Angels' Dictionary (1995), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Pharmacophilia: The Natural Paradise (1997), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Shamanic Snuffs or Entheogenic Errhines (2001), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  • Ometochtzin: Las Muertes de Dos Conejos (2001)
  • Drugs of the Dreaming: Oneirogens: Salvia Divinorum and Other Dream-Enhancing Plants with Gianluca Toro and Benjamin Thomas (2007) Body, Mind & Spirit
  • The Road to Eleusis (2008) By R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Carl A. P. Ruck, Huston Smith (contributor)

Articles

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The standard author abbreviation J.Ott is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Road to Eleusis (2008) By R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Carl A. P. Ruck, Huston Smith pg. 139
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Sources

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  • The Road to Eleusis (2008) By R. Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, Carl A. P. Ruck, Huston Smith
  • Psychedelics Encyclopedia by Peter G. Stafford, Jeremy Bigwood (1992) Page 379
  • Researching Paganisms by Jenny Blain, Douglas Ezzy, Graham Harvey (2004) Page 87
  • Brain Boosters: Food & Drugs That Make You Smarter by Beverly A. Potter, Sebastian Orfali, Potter & Orfali, Gini Graham Scott (1993) Health & Fitness - Page 191
  • Yajé: The New Purgatory: Encounters with Ayahuasca by Jimmy Weiskopf (2005) Page 145
  • Toads and Toadstools: the Natural History, Folklore, and Cultural Oddities of This Strange Association by Adrian Morgan (1995) Page 116
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