Henbrain: A story about trepanation and medieval potions
Trepanation is an outdated name for surgical intervention, in which a hole is drilled into the human skull, the earliest evidence of trepanation dates to approximately 7 thousand years ago, in Ancient Greece, North and South America particularly Peru, Russia, and China.
This procedure was done for various ailments, such as head injuries, treat pain and esoteric practices mainly to remove the spirits once trapped inside one’s head. Physicians would believe that by drilling a hole thru one’s skull the spirits inside one’s head would have an exit, therefore the patient would be free from mental illnesses. In some religions trepanning, someone could also be seen as a ritual of passage, and the objective would be for the spirits to enter and leave one’s brain to connect with their ancestors and divine.
The techniques and location can vary by sex and medical aspect, scraping was more often used in males, while in females grooving was applied. The size and shape of the lesion may also be connected to the method, in grooving the shape of the hole is often subcircular while during scraping the hole is usually more oval as scraping needs more space. The differentiation between the size of the holes indicates that no template was used during the procedure. The typical small diameter less than 40 to 50 mm of ancient trepanations used by many authors (Campillo, 1984; Jordanov et al., 1988; Piek et al., 1999; Weber and Wahl, 2006) prevent complications, especially severe blood loss during the operation. In various samples collected in the Russian empire, the holes are generally large, the holes are more than 40 mm wide, and the inner diameter more than 40 mm as well.
Archaeologically the reasoning for the trepanning can be observed when the surgical intervention was performed because of cranial trauma or tumors as these operations may be directly visible in the bone, however, mental illness, chronic pain, epilepsy, mania, and the esoteric prepositions may not be verified on the bones.
The area perforated on the skull can be related to medical aspects, like specific areas or ideas where the pain could be located. In ethnographic analogies demonstrate that trepanations caused by ritualistic purposes area was related to the idea about where spiritual sources were located.
These procedures can only be performed by a qualified surgeon who operates quickly to prevent severe blood loss. As the size of the hole drilled into the skull of the patient the riskier and the more complicated it is, the longer it takes for one to heal and the chances of survival are lower.
However, there are exceptions, Hugo Bart Huges who promoted trepanation to create a permanent high by opening similar to a baby’s fontanelle, would allow the blood to pulse around the brain with every heartbeat, Joseph Mellen, a disciple of Huges tried to recreate Huges trepanation with a hand drill, his efforts were described in the memoir Bore Hole, as “trying to uncork a bottle from inside”, Mellen tried the procedure once again with the aid of his friend Amanda Fielding, however, the results were not what they have expected, Mellen tried to keep drilling while under the influence of LSD and ended up losing consciousness. They have retried the procedure again, yet the hole they managed to achieve was too small to have any effect. This led to the fourth try of Mellen’s trepanation, this time with an electric drill, however, the drill burned during the mid-procedure, he had to walk downstairs and ask for the help of his handy neighbor, and finally the next day he had successfully completed the operation. Which led to the
1970’s movie Heartbeat in the Brain, recorded by Mellen, directed and produced by Amanda Fielding. Learning from her previous mistakes Fielding performed a successful homemade trepanation with a dentist drill, she became a leading propagandist for the benefits of trepanation in Berkeley Foundation for further research for the possible benefits of the cause.
Just like Huges, other believers of Homo sapiens correctus (the designation of those with holes in their skulls by Huges), raised, personalities like Heather Perry, who used a Black and Decker trepanning herself on live TV and Peter Halvorson who trepanned himself in Amsterdam after meeting with Huges, in 1997, Halvorson funded his website International Trepanation Advocacy Group, this website brought several members to do DIY trepanations.
Anthropologically speaking, trepanning wasn’t the only practice being done to aid in mania, insomnia, used as an anesthetic and spiritual beliefs in medieval times.
Henbane, Hyoscyamus Niger has been used since ancient Greece, named as “plant of Apollo”, Apollo being the Greek god of healing and disease, ritualistically the plant was blended with other herbs, inducing hallucinatory states to commune with the divine. The plant was also used by the Greeks and Gauls to poison their arrows and javelins.
In the middle ages, this herb gains its recognition as the “Witches Herb” or the “Witches brew” and took part in sedation, calming, and treatment of various forms of mania, often seen as a connection to evil spirits, and oppositely causing mania depending on the dosage, witches would make potions recurring to alchemy, Henbane was one of the main ingredients used as an ointment, this ointment was believed to make one fly, as the herb gave ointment was believed to make one fly as it gives the hallucinatory sensation of flying. This potion was a note for the flying witch broomstick archetype, who took the potion would have a sense of body suspension and flight and a sense of amnesia the next day.
In Northern Europe, the plant was used as a flavor enhancer for beer, one of the side effects of the beer brewed with Henbane was to make people thirstier, which was an amazing selling point, however, high doses can cause delirium, seizures, tachycardia and in some cases death. The reason why these effects occur is the alkaloids that the plant contains, those being Hyoscyamine, Scopolamine, and Atropine.
All of the compounds listed above have a clinical role, Atropine has been used to treat symptoms of low heart rate, reduce salivation and bronchial secretions before surgery, and as an antidote for overdose of cholinergic drugs and mushroom poisoning. Hyoscyamine has been used to control symptoms associated with gastrointestinal disorders. Besides its despicable media reputation as a rape drug or devil’s breath scopolamine has been used to treat motion sickness, postoperative nausea, vomiting, and amblyopia.
These practices are still done today, Trepanning is done by health care professionals, under a sterile environment just with an updated name, Craniotomy. Amanda Fielding is still promoting the benefits of Trepanning and raising funds for further research, and Henbane although it’s considered illegal, as previously stated the alkaloids are used clinically for several procedures.