Since the late 1800s, a nativistic Indian movement called the peyote cult (or peyote religion) has spread across native North America, centered on the Prairies and Plains. Its central ritual involves consuming the peyote cactus, which contains hallucinogenic mescaline. Pre-Columbian Mexicans used peyote in public ceremonies, but the modern form is a distinct religious complex promoting health, happiness, and welfare. The text examines conditions for the cult's diffusion, asking why it spread to some areas and was obstructed in others, noting that changes in the North American Indian situation at the end of the nineteenth century enabled religious innovations and the introduction of this foreign movement.
The Spirit Lodge is a form of shamanism used mainly for divination, not healing. It includes shamanistic trance and helping spirits, but lacks the curing activity typical of shamanism. Divining in this context resembles shamanistic pole-climbing performances and may have originated from them. The shaman does not undertake soul journeys to distant places during the conjuring performance, except among Arctic peoples, where such journeys are standard. Instead, spirits are summoned and sent on necessary expeditions. These spirits have various categories, but their leader, the control, is often a ghost. The spirits visit the shaman while he is in trance; deep ecstasy involving soul journeys or possession can occur but is not typical.