Spanish explorers recorded the earliest use of peyote some 2,000 years ago when they first came to the Americas, with evidence pointing towards the indigenous Indians taking it for another couple thousand of years before that (since Europeans didn't even know the Americas existed before this time). The use of peyote was a sacred part of Indian life; being used for deep introspection, to treat and heal ailments, and for spiritual ceremonies. At the height of the social revolution of the 60s, prominent artists and musicians turned to peyote as another way to explore the world around them, and bring awareness to different forms of psychoactive drugs. The use of peyote may not be as prevalent as LSD, but it's a natural drug that comes from the Earth for people to experience, if they choose. Here is a look into the hallucinogenic world of peyote.

A Brief History

Source

Peyote is a small, spineless cactus native to southwestern Texas and throughout Mexico, being primarily found in the Chihuahuan desert and the state of San Luis Potosi. Peyote is well known for its psychoactive alkaloids, mainly mescaline. Peyote is used as an entheogen and used as a supplement during various transcendence practices which include; meditation, psychonautics, and psychedelic psychotherapy. Peyote is most prominently known for its long history of ritualistic and medicinal use by indigenous Americans.

The earliest recorded uses of Peyote came from an early Spanish chronicler, Fray Bernardino de Sahagn, who estimated through events recorded in Indian chronology that Peyote was known to the Chichimeca and Toltec Indians at least 1890 years before the arrival of the Europeans. Meaning that the religious, ceremonial, and healing uses of peyote dates back over 2,000 years.

Names And Ingredients

Source

Peyote is also known by it's botanical name of, Lophophora williamsii. The main ingredient which produces the psychedelic trip associated with peyote is mescaline. Mescaline is a naturally-occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class. The slang terms for peyote include: Bad seed, mesc, hikori, half moon, hyatari, P, nubs, seni, and tops.

How It's Taken

Source

The top part of the cactus which grows above ground, also known as the crown, has disc-shaped buttons that are cut above the root and dried. These "buttons" are what people ingest to induce a trip. Buttons are chewed or can be soaked in water to make a tea or other type of drink. The taste of the cactus is really bitter, so users will often grind it into a powder to be put in a capsule, or smoked with a leaf material such as marijuana or tobacco. The average human dosage is between 200-400 mg -- about 12-16 buttons -- with some taking 40-60 buttons in a 12 hour period.

How Do You Obtain It

Source

The hunt for Peyote is literally a hunt. Back in the days of the indigenous Indians, pilgrims would walk almost 200 miles as part of the journey's ritual to obtain the cacti. Indians in the United States today have it much easier. They can legally obtain peyote through direct collection or through purchase. United States federal law protects the harvest, possession, consumption and cultivation of peyote as part of "bonafide religious ceremonies" under federal statute 42 USC 1996a, "Traditional Indian religious use of the peyote sacrament." If someone does not belong to the Native American Church, then peyote is still a Schedule I controlled substance, and illegal.

Popularity / Who Does It?

Source

Native American Indians use peyote in ritualistic spiritual ceremonies. To them, "Peyote is everything, it is the crossing of the souls, it is everything there is. Without peyote nothing would exist." During the psychedelic revolution of the 60s, authors and musicians used the drug as well to "expand" their minds. Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, experimented with peyote. Beat poet Allan Ginsberg said his poem "Howl" was inspired by his use of peyote, and Hunter S. Thompson recounted his experiences with mescaline in his novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was brought to life in the film version by Johnny Depp.

Has Anyone Ever Died?

Source

Mescaline occurs naturally in the peyote cactus, and is one of the safest psychedelics known. There have been no verified human deaths from mescaline ever, except for one still unconfirmed report of a person who died during military experiments with the drug, after receiving a 15 gram dose intravenously (or about 150-200mg/kg). Although peyote isn't proven to kill it's users, taking enough of it can lead the mind on at trip it may never soon forget.

Effects - Good Trips

Source

The peyote ritual usually consists of sitting in a teepee and staring into a large fire for 12 hours or more, succumbing to the trance-like state the drug induces. Ingesting peyote triggers vomiting, which is a sign of "purification," necessary for the Spirit's entry into the body. The prominence of color becomes fierce, and the color's continually become more brilliant and intense. People see recurring visual patterns that include geometric shapes, angular spikes, and fractals that start off simple and then turn complex. The experience is described as more mellow than LSD, and being more introspective and spiritual than other hallucinogens. Peak effects hit 2-3 hours after taking peyote, and run their course in about 12 hours.

Side Effects / Bad Trip

Source

A bad trip isn't something that any user wants to experience, but can happen from time to time. The main risk of a bad trip centers on the fear of dying, and the feeling of completely losing control. Usually the thought, "I took too much," comes to mind. One of the other side-effects is that peyote and mescaline are expensive, and due to street drug economics, other drugs may be substituted -- LSD, PCP, or amphetamine-based psychedelics -- and bathtub made psychedelics aren't recommended for anyone to take.

Tags: