2010/01/07 by Volker Schier · 1 citation
Medicine · Psychology · #Saffron Plant Research Studies #Crocus sativus #Psilocybin #The Renaissance #Mood #Hallucinogen #Trance #Fetishism #Psychology #Traditional medicine #Art #Sociology #Art history #Social psychology #Medicine #Anthropology #Psychiatry
paper · doi:10.2752/174589310x12549020528176
openalex publication_date 2010/01/07 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Saffron is a substance that today has only marginal significance in Western culture. This was different in the past: during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the unique sensorial qualities of saffron were employed socially to encode the dried stemma of the crocus sativus L. as an object of conspicuous consumption reserved for the wealthy. Newly discovered sources demonstrate that the perception of saffron was a complex phenomenon that builds on the sensorials but surpasses them: as a tonic, mood elevator, antidepressant, and hallucinogenic drug saffron could be used to achieve various altered perceptions ranging from heightened sensitivity to states of trance. Employing the Marxian notion of the creation of value and of commodity fetishism I analyze the disparate utilitarian and exchange values assigned to saffron.