Hallucinogenic drugs in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.
Neurologia (Barcelona, Spain) January 1, 2015 F J Carod-Artal 112 citations
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, including the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec, used a variety of psychoactive plants and fungi for magical, therapeutic, and religious purposes. Hallucinogenic cactus (peyote), mushrooms (teonanacatl, Psilocybe spp.), and seeds of ololiuhqui (Turbina corymbosa) induced altered states of consciousness in healing rituals and religious ceremonies. The Maya drank balché (honey and Lonchocarpus extract) for group intoxication. Bufo toad skin, jimson weed, wild tobacco, water lily, and Salvia divinorum also provided psychoactive effects. Archaeological evidence includes mushroom stones from 3000 BC and peyote use over 5000 years ago. Sixteenth-century chroniclers like Fray Bernardino de Sahagún documented these practices, which local shamans and healers continue today.