Müller-Ebeling Claudia - The Encyclopedia of Aphrodisiacs: Psychoactive Substances for Use in Sexual Practices

Acknowledgments

The insight or view that perfection is unattainable and that science is a patchwork should not hinder anyone from continuing to build, and to achieve that which is possible.

HERMANN HESSE

The research that has gone into this Encyclopedia began long before it became a concrete project. Many people were directly or indirectly involved, and their support enriched our creative powers. If we have forgotten to mention the names of anyone who played a role in this project, we hope that you will forgive us.

First and foremost, we would like to thank Paul and Lore Rtsch as well as Albert and Anita Hofmann, who provided us with shining examples of how only those who have wandered together through the valleys can reach the ecstatic heights of loveand they did this into what is commonly referred to as old age!

We thank Berthold Schiede, Stephan Rtsch, and Sebastian Rtsch for the special gift of sibling solidarity. We share the precious gift of lasting friendship with: Klaus Narwark and Claudia Rseler, Nazifa and Khalid Qazi, Uli and Paul Grossman, Andreas Moser, Klaus Schuffels, and with Conny and Hartwig Kopp. Thank you for standing with us from afaryou should know that we too stand with you!

To the publishing staff who helped birth this bookthe head of AT Verlag, Urs Hunziker (and his wife Dorothea), Monika Schmidhofer, our editor, and Adrian Pabst, the person responsible for the look and feel of this Encyclopediawe thank you for your characteristically professional support in transforming our manuscript into its finished form: without your efforts, your overtime, and your sleepless nights, this Encyclopedia would have never seen the light of day!

For this English edition, we are grateful to the following people at Inner Traditions/Park Street Press: Jon Graham (acquisitions editor); Jeanie Levitan (managing editor); Priscilla Baker (typesetter), who performed miracles executing the layout in its now reordered English alphabetization; and in particular, Laura Schlivek (project editor), whose attention to detail, botanical knowledge, and willingness to always go the extra mile (even through the night!) made this English edition possible. We also thank John R. Baker, whose expertise in our subject area provided essential support during the editorial process.

At the 1986 Frankfurt Book Fair, our Isoldes Love Potion both began and strengthened our friendly and inspirational collaborations with the following individuals: Roger Liggenstorfer, Agnes Tschudin, Dieter Hagenbach, Werner Pieper, Michael Gnther, and Franz-Theo Gottwald. We are also indebted to the dedicated editors of a number of periodicals who commissioned us to write articles about aphrodisiacs, especially Ernesto Blume, Mike Barten, Jrg auf dem Hvel, Conny Schnfelder, Mathias Brckers, and Maggie Hall.

For advice concerning content matters, we wish to give a special thanks to Michael Schlichting. This Encyclopedia has profited greatly from his medical knowledge. The following friends and colleagues have provided us with valuable discussions and suggestions, friendly support, and insights into both the highs and the lows: in Germany and Switzerland, Nana Nauwald, Bruno Martin and Anupama Grell, Peter Hess, Patrizia Ochsner, Stefan Trebes (thanks for saving us through the mail!), Christian Beck and Christian Steup (for the chemical formulas) as well as other like-minded members of the European College for the Study of Consciousness (ECSC), and to Gerald Steinke and Naikan; in Australia, Torsten Wiedemann and Daniel, Steffen, and the Brit Piers Gibbon, Erik van Keulen, and Des Tramacchi; in Mexico, Jonathan Ott and the Lacandon; in Peru, Guillermo Arvalo and the Shipibo, Boa and Joel; in the United States, our true elders Ralph Metzner, Donna and Manolo Torres, Robin Lloyd, and Karen B. Song; in Canada, Rob Montgomery; in Greece, Orstes Davias.