Aztec entheogenic complex
Encyclopedia
The ancient Aztecs employed a variety of entheogen
ic plants and animals within their society. The various species have been identified through their depiction on murals, vases, and other objects. The plants used include ololiuqui (Rivea corymbosa
), teonanácatl (Psilocybe
spp.), sinicuichi
(Heimia salicifolia
), toloatzin (Datura
spp.), peyotl
(Lophophora williamsii) and many others.
. Olmec
burial sites with remains of the Bufo toad (Bufo marinus), Maya
mushroom effigies, and Spanish
writings all point to a heavy involvement with psychoactive substances in the Aztec
lifestyle.
The Florentine codex
contains multiple references to the use of psychoactive plants among the Aztecs. The 11th book of the series contains identifications of five plant entheogen
s. R. Gordon Wasson, Richard Evans Schultes
, and Albert Hofmann
have suggested that the statue of Xochipilli
, the Aztec 'Prince of Flowers,' contains effigies of a number of plant based entheogens.
The plants were primarily used by the priests, or tlamacazqui, other nobility, and visiting dignitaries. They would use them for divination
much as the indigenous
groups of central Mexico
do today. The priests would also ingest the entheogens to engage in prophecy
, interpret visions
, and heal.
in 1941 by Richard Evans Schultes
. The name Ololiuqui refers to the brown seeds of the Rivea corymbosa
(Morning Glory) plant.
Tlitliltzin was identified later as being Ipomoea violacea
by R. Gordon Wasson. This variation contains black seeds and usually has bluish hued flowers.
The seeds of these plants contain the psychoactive d-lysergic acid amide, or LSA. The preparation of the seeds involved grinding them on a metate
, then filtering them with water to extract the alkaloids. The resulting brew was then drunk to bring forth visions.
The Florentine Codex
Book 11 describes the Ololiuqui intoxication:
The morning glory
was also utilized in healing rituals by the ticitl. The ticitl would often take ololiuqui to determine the cause of diseases and illness. It was also used as an anesthetic to ease pain by creating a paste from the seeds and tobacco
leaf, then rubbing it on the affected body part.
genus of mushroom has a long history of use within Mesoamerica. The members of the Aztec upper class would often take teonanácatl at festivals and other large gatherings. According to Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc
, it was often a difficult task to procure mushrooms. They were quite costly as well as very difficult to locate, requiring all-night searches.
Both Fray Bernardino de Sahagún
and Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
describe the use of the mushrooms. The Aztecs would drink chocolate
and eat the mushrooms with honey
. Those partaking in the mushroom ceremonies would fast
before ingesting the sacrament
. The act of taking mushrooms is known as monanacahuia, meaning to "mushroom oneself".
Perhaps the best known uses of the mushrooms are among the feasts of Montezuma
. At his coronation ceremony, many prisoners were sacrificed, had their flesh eaten, and their hearts removed. Those who were invited guests to the feast ate mushrooms, which Diego Durán
describes as causing those who ate them to go insane and many to take their lives.
(alternate spelling sinicuiche) among the Aztecs. R. Gordon Wasson identified the flower on the statue of Xochipilli
and suggested from its placement with other entheogens that it was probably used in a ritualistic context. Multiple alkaloids have been isolated from the plant; with cryogenine
, lythrine, and nesodine being the most important.
Sinicuichi
could be the plant tonatiuh yxiuh "the herb of the sun" from the Aztec Herbal of 1552. tonatiuh means sun. This is interesting because today in Central and South America, sinicuichi
is often called abre-o-sol, or the "sun opener." Tonatiuh yxiuh is described as being a summer blooming plant, as is Heimia.
The Herbal also includes a recipe for a potion to conquer fear. It reads:
One of the effects of sinicuichi
is that it adds a golden halo or tinge to objects when ingested.
species, Datura stramonium
and Datura innoxia, with strong hallucinogenic qualities. The plants typically have large, white or purple hued, trumpet-shaped flowers and spiny seeds pods. The active alkaloids are atropine
, scopolamine
, and hyoscyamine
.
The use of datura
spans millennia. It has been employed by both many indigenous groups in North, Central, and South America for a variety of uses. Called toloache today in Mexico, datura
species were used among the Aztec
for medicine, divination, and maleovalent purposes.
For healing, tlapatl was made into an ointment which was spread over infected areas to cure gout
, as well as applied as a local anesthetic. The plants were also utilized to cause harm to others. For example, it was believed that mixitl would cause a being to become paralyzed and mute, while tlapatl will cause those who take it to be disturbed and go mad.
. Its use in northern Mexico
among the Huichol has been written about extensively. Peyotl was identified from the Xochipilli
statue. It is thought that since peyote
only grows in certain regions of Mexico
, the Aztecs would receive dried buttons through long-distance trade. Peyote was viewed as being a protective plant by the Aztec
. Sahagún suggested that the plant is what allowed the Aztec
warriors to fight as they did.
. It's not entirely known whether or not this plant was used by the Aztecs as a psychotropic, but Jonathan Ott
(1996) argues that although there are competing species for the identification of pipiltzintzintli, Salvia divinorum
is probably the "best bet." There are references to use of pipiltzintzintli in Spanish
arrest records from the conquest, as well as a reference to the mixing of ololiuqui with pipiltzintzintli.
Contemporaneously, the Mazatec, meaning "people of the deer" in Nahuatl
, from the Oaxaca
region of Mexico
utilize Salvia divinorum
when Psilocybe spp. mushrooms are not readily available. They chew and swallow the leaves of fresh salvia
to enter into a shamanic state of consciousness. The Mazatec use the plant in both divination and healing ceremonies, perhaps as the Aztecs did 500 years ago. Modern users of Salvia have adapted the traditional method, forgoing the swallowing of juices due to Salvinorin A
being readily absorbed by the mucous membranes of the mouth.
(Nicotiana tabacum
), or picietl in nahuatl, was also used among the Aztecs. This plant was identified on the Xochipilli
statue as well as on other items such as snuff boxes. The Aztec
smoked and chewed tobacco, and possibly drank infusions of the plant to induce visions. Certain rites and ceremonies required the use of tobacco. One dedicated to Tlaloc
involves chewing tobacco to enter an altered state:
Entheogen
An entheogen , in the strict sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context. Historically, entheogens were mostly derived from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts...
ic plants and animals within their society. The various species have been identified through their depiction on murals, vases, and other objects. The plants used include ololiuqui (Rivea corymbosa
Rivea corymbosa
Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa ((syn. Rivea corymbosa), the Christmas vine, is a species of morning glory, native throughout Latin America from Mexico in the North to Peru in the South and widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a perennial climbing vine with white flowers, often...
), teonanácatl (Psilocybe
Psilocybe
Psilocybe is a genus of small mushrooms growing worldwide. This genus is best known for its species with psychedelic or hallucinogenic properties, widely known as "magic mushrooms", though the majority of species do not contain hallucinogenic compounds...
spp.), sinicuichi
Sinicuichi
Heimia is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Argentina north to the southernmost United States...
(Heimia salicifolia
Heimia salicifolia
Heimia Salicifolia is a species of flowering plant in the Loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It is native to the Americas, ranging from the southwestern United States through Mexico and Central America to Argentina...
), toloatzin (Datura
Datura
Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. Its precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe...
spp.), peyotl
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
(Lophophora williamsii) and many others.
History
There are many pieces of archaeological evidence in reference to the use of entheogens early in the history of MesoamericaMesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. Olmec
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco....
burial sites with remains of the Bufo toad (Bufo marinus), Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
mushroom effigies, and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
writings all point to a heavy involvement with psychoactive substances in the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
lifestyle.
The Florentine codex
Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is the common name given to a 16th century ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Bernardino originally titled it: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana...
contains multiple references to the use of psychoactive plants among the Aztecs. The 11th book of the series contains identifications of five plant entheogen
Entheogen
An entheogen , in the strict sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context. Historically, entheogens were mostly derived from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts...
s. R. Gordon Wasson, Richard Evans Schultes
Richard Evans Schultes
Richard Evans Schultes may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants , for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and...
, and Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss scientist known best for being the first person to synthesize, ingest and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide . He authored more than 100 scientific articles and a number of books, including LSD: My Problem Child...
have suggested that the statue of Xochipilli
Xochipilli
thumb|300px|right| Image of Xochipilli.Xochipilli was the god of art, games, beauty, dance, flowers, and song in Aztec mythology. His name contains the Nahuatl words xochitl and pilli , and hence means "flower prince"...
, the Aztec 'Prince of Flowers,' contains effigies of a number of plant based entheogens.
The plants were primarily used by the priests, or tlamacazqui, other nobility, and visiting dignitaries. They would use them for divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
much as the indigenous
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
groups of central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
do today. The priests would also ingest the entheogens to engage in prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
, interpret visions
Vision (religion)
In spirituality, a vision is something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy, especially a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation.Visions generally have more clarity than dreams, but traditionally fewer psychological connotations...
, and heal.
Ololiuqui and Tlitliltzin
Ololiuqui (Coatl xoxouhqui) was identified as Rivea corymbosaRivea corymbosa
Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa ((syn. Rivea corymbosa), the Christmas vine, is a species of morning glory, native throughout Latin America from Mexico in the North to Peru in the South and widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a perennial climbing vine with white flowers, often...
in 1941 by Richard Evans Schultes
Richard Evans Schultes
Richard Evans Schultes may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants , for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and...
. The name Ololiuqui refers to the brown seeds of the Rivea corymbosa
Rivea corymbosa
Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa Turbina corymbosa ((syn. Rivea corymbosa), the Christmas vine, is a species of morning glory, native throughout Latin America from Mexico in the North to Peru in the South and widely naturalised elsewhere. It is a perennial climbing vine with white flowers, often...
(Morning Glory) plant.
Tlitliltzin was identified later as being Ipomoea violacea
Ipomoea violacea
Ipomoea violacea is a perennial species of Ipomoea that occurs throughout the tropics, growing in coastal regions. It is most commonly called 'Beach Moonflower' or 'Sea Moonflower' as the flowers open at night...
by R. Gordon Wasson. This variation contains black seeds and usually has bluish hued flowers.
The seeds of these plants contain the psychoactive d-lysergic acid amide, or LSA. The preparation of the seeds involved grinding them on a metate
Metate
A metate is a mortar, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican culture, metates were typically used by women who would grind calcified maize and other organic materials during food preparation...
, then filtering them with water to extract the alkaloids. The resulting brew was then drunk to bring forth visions.
The Florentine Codex
Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is the common name given to a 16th century ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Bernardino originally titled it: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana...
Book 11 describes the Ololiuqui intoxication:
It makes one besotted; it deranges one, troubles one, maddens one, makes one possessed. He who eats it, who drinks it, sees many things which greatly terrify him. He is really frightened [by the] poisonous serpent which he sees for that reason.
The morning glory
Morning glory
Morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux...
was also utilized in healing rituals by the ticitl. The ticitl would often take ololiuqui to determine the cause of diseases and illness. It was also used as an anesthetic to ease pain by creating a paste from the seeds and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
leaf, then rubbing it on the affected body part.
Teonanácatl
Literally "god mushroom"—compound of the words teo(tl) (god) and nanácatl (mushroom)—the PsilocybePsilocybe
Psilocybe is a genus of small mushrooms growing worldwide. This genus is best known for its species with psychedelic or hallucinogenic properties, widely known as "magic mushrooms", though the majority of species do not contain hallucinogenic compounds...
genus of mushroom has a long history of use within Mesoamerica. The members of the Aztec upper class would often take teonanácatl at festivals and other large gatherings. According to Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc
Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc
Fernando or Hernando Alvarado Tezozómoc was a colonial Nahua noble. A son of Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin and Francisca de Moctezuma , Tezozómoc worked as an interpreter for the Real Audiencia...
, it was often a difficult task to procure mushrooms. They were quite costly as well as very difficult to locate, requiring all-night searches.
Both Fray Bernardino de Sahagún
Bernardino de Sahagún
Bernardino de Sahagún was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain . Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, he journeyed to New Spain in 1529, and spent more than 50 years conducting interviews regarding Aztec...
and Fray Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Fray Toribio de Benavente also known as Motolinia was a Franciscan missionary and among the first 12 clerics to arrive in New Spain in May 1524.-Life and times:...
describe the use of the mushrooms. The Aztecs would drink chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
and eat the mushrooms with honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
. Those partaking in the mushroom ceremonies would fast
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
before ingesting the sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
. The act of taking mushrooms is known as monanacahuia, meaning to "mushroom oneself".
At the very first, mushrooms had been served...They ate no more food; they only drank chocolate during the night. And they ate the mushrooms with honey. When the mushrooms took effect on them, then they danced, then they wept. But some, while still in command of their senses, entered and sat there by the house on their seats; they did no more, but only sat there nodding.
Perhaps the best known uses of the mushrooms are among the feasts of Montezuma
Montezuma
Montezuma, Moctezuma, Moteczoma, Motecuhzoma, Moteuczomah, Mwatazuma, are variant spellings and may refer to:*Moctezuma II , ninth Aztec Emperor, ruler at the beginning of the Spanish conquest of Mexico...
. At his coronation ceremony, many prisoners were sacrificed, had their flesh eaten, and their hearts removed. Those who were invited guests to the feast ate mushrooms, which Diego Durán
Diego Durán
Diego Durán was a Dominican friar best known for his authorship of one of the earliest Western books on the history and culture of the Aztecs, The History of the Indies of New Spain, a book that was much criticized in his lifetime for helping the "heathen" maintain their culture.Also known as the...
describes as causing those who ate them to go insane and many to take their lives.
Sinicuichi
Not much is known of the use of sinicuichiSinicuichi
Heimia is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Argentina north to the southernmost United States...
(alternate spelling sinicuiche) among the Aztecs. R. Gordon Wasson identified the flower on the statue of Xochipilli
Xochipilli
thumb|300px|right| Image of Xochipilli.Xochipilli was the god of art, games, beauty, dance, flowers, and song in Aztec mythology. His name contains the Nahuatl words xochitl and pilli , and hence means "flower prince"...
and suggested from its placement with other entheogens that it was probably used in a ritualistic context. Multiple alkaloids have been isolated from the plant; with cryogenine
Cryogenine
Cryogenine, also known as vertine or -4,5-dimethoxy-2-hydroxylythran-12-one, is a biphenylquinolizidine lactone alkaloid from the plants Sinicuichi and H. myrtifolia...
, lythrine, and nesodine being the most important.
Sinicuichi
Sinicuichi
Heimia is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Argentina north to the southernmost United States...
could be the plant tonatiuh yxiuh "the herb of the sun" from the Aztec Herbal of 1552. tonatiuh means sun. This is interesting because today in Central and South America, sinicuichi
Sinicuichi
Heimia is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Argentina north to the southernmost United States...
is often called abre-o-sol, or the "sun opener." Tonatiuh yxiuh is described as being a summer blooming plant, as is Heimia.
The Herbal also includes a recipe for a potion to conquer fear. It reads:
Let one who is fear-burdened take as a drink a potion made of the herb tonatiuh yxiuh which throws out the brightness of gold.
One of the effects of sinicuichi
Sinicuichi
Heimia is a genus of flowering plants in the loosestrife family, Lythraceae. It contains two or three species of closely related shrubs commonly known as sun opener or shrubby yellowcrest. They are native to the Americas, from northern Argentina north to the southernmost United States...
is that it adds a golden halo or tinge to objects when ingested.
Tlapatl and Mixitl
Tlapatl and mixitl are both DaturaDatura
Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. Its precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe...
species, Datura stramonium
Datura stramonium
Datura stramonium, known by the common names Jimson weed, devil's trumpet, devil's weed, thorn apple, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed, datura, pricklyburr, devil's cucumber, Hell's Bells, moonflower and, in South Africa, malpitte and mad seeds, is a common weed in the...
and Datura innoxia, with strong hallucinogenic qualities. The plants typically have large, white or purple hued, trumpet-shaped flowers and spiny seeds pods. The active alkaloids are atropine
Atropine
Atropine is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid extracted from deadly nightshade , Jimson weed , mandrake and other plants of the family Solanaceae. It is a secondary metabolite of these plants and serves as a drug with a wide variety of effects...
, scopolamine
Scopolamine
Scopolamine, also known as levo-duboisine, and hyoscine, is a tropane alkaloid drug with muscarinic antagonist effects. It is among the secondary metabolites of plants from Solanaceae family of plants, such as henbane, jimson weed and Angel's Trumpets , and corkwood...
, and hyoscyamine
Hyoscyamine
Hyoscyamine is a tropane alkaloid. It is a secondary metabolite found in certain plants of the Solanaceae family, including henbane , mandrake , jimsonweed , tomato and deadly nightshade...
.
The use of datura
Datura
Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. Its precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe...
spans millennia. It has been employed by both many indigenous groups in North, Central, and South America for a variety of uses. Called toloache today in Mexico, datura
Datura
Datura is a genus of nine species of vespertine flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae. Its precise and natural distribution is uncertain, owing to its extensive cultivation and naturalization throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the globe...
species were used among the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
for medicine, divination, and maleovalent purposes.
For healing, tlapatl was made into an ointment which was spread over infected areas to cure gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
, as well as applied as a local anesthetic. The plants were also utilized to cause harm to others. For example, it was believed that mixitl would cause a being to become paralyzed and mute, while tlapatl will cause those who take it to be disturbed and go mad.
Peyotl
The cactus known as peyotl, or more commonly peyote (Lophophora williamsii), has a rich history of use in MesoamericaMesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
. Its use in northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
among the Huichol has been written about extensively. Peyotl was identified from the Xochipilli
Xochipilli
thumb|300px|right| Image of Xochipilli.Xochipilli was the god of art, games, beauty, dance, flowers, and song in Aztec mythology. His name contains the Nahuatl words xochitl and pilli , and hence means "flower prince"...
statue. It is thought that since peyote
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii , better known by its common name Peyote , is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.It is native to southwestern Texas and Mexico...
only grows in certain regions of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the Aztecs would receive dried buttons through long-distance trade. Peyote was viewed as being a protective plant by the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
. Sahagún suggested that the plant is what allowed the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
warriors to fight as they did.
Pipiltzintzintli
R. Gordon Wasson has posited that the plant known as pipiltzintzintli is in fact Salvia divinorumSalvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...
. It's not entirely known whether or not this plant was used by the Aztecs as a psychotropic, but Jonathan Ott
Jonathan Ott
Jonathan Ott is an ethnobotanist, writer, translator, publisher, natural products chemist and botanical researcher in the area of entheogens and their cultural and historical uses, and helped coin the term "entheogen".-Writings:...
(1996) argues that although there are competing species for the identification of pipiltzintzintli, Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...
is probably the "best bet." There are references to use of pipiltzintzintli in Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
arrest records from the conquest, as well as a reference to the mixing of ololiuqui with pipiltzintzintli.
Contemporaneously, the Mazatec, meaning "people of the deer" in Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
, from the Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
region of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
utilize Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...
when Psilocybe spp. mushrooms are not readily available. They chew and swallow the leaves of fresh salvia
Salvia
Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, with approximately 700-900 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. It is one of several genera commonly referred to as sage. When used without modifiers, sage generally refers to Salvia officinalis ; however, it is...
to enter into a shamanic state of consciousness. The Mazatec use the plant in both divination and healing ceremonies, perhaps as the Aztecs did 500 years ago. Modern users of Salvia have adapted the traditional method, forgoing the swallowing of juices due to Salvinorin A
Salvinorin A
Salvinorin A is the main active psychotropic molecule in Salvia divinorum, a Mexican plant which has a long history of use as an entheogen by indigenous Mazatec shamans...
being readily absorbed by the mucous membranes of the mouth.
Picietl
TobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
(Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana tabacum, or cultivated tobacco, is a perennial herbaceous plant. It is found only in cultivation, where it is the most commonly grown of all plants in the Nicotiana genus, and its leaves are commercially grown in many countries to be processed into tobacco. It grows to heights between 1...
), or picietl in nahuatl, was also used among the Aztecs. This plant was identified on the Xochipilli
Xochipilli
thumb|300px|right| Image of Xochipilli.Xochipilli was the god of art, games, beauty, dance, flowers, and song in Aztec mythology. His name contains the Nahuatl words xochitl and pilli , and hence means "flower prince"...
statue as well as on other items such as snuff boxes. The Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
smoked and chewed tobacco, and possibly drank infusions of the plant to induce visions. Certain rites and ceremonies required the use of tobacco. One dedicated to Tlaloc
Tlaloc
Tlaloc was an important deity in Aztec religion, a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. In Aztec iconography he...
involves chewing tobacco to enter an altered state:
In another ritual a priest would climb a mountain naked and painted black, carrying fir boughs and a conch trumpet. He would chew tobacco and periodically blow the horn. After piercing his ears and thighs with spines to let blood, he would retrace his steps stumbling.
Sources
- De Rios, Marlene Dobkin. "Hallucinogens, cross-cultural perspectives." University of New Mexico Press. Albuqueque, New Mexico, 1984.
- Dibble, Charles E., et al. (trans). "Florentine Codex: Book 9." The University of Utah. Utah, 1959.
- Dibble, Charles E., et al. (trans). "Florentine Codex: Book 11 - Earthly Things." The School of American Research. Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1963.
- Elferink, Jan G. R., Flores, Jose A., Kaplan Charles D. "The Use of Plants and Other Natural Products for Malevolent Practices Among the Aztecs and Their Successors." Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl Volume 24, 1994.
- Furst, Peter T. "Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens." Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, Illinois, 1972.
- Gates, William. "The De La Cruz-Badiano Aztec Herbal of 1552." The Maya Society. Baltimore, Maryland, 1939.
- Hofmann, Albert. "Teonanácatl and Ololiuqui, two ancient magic drugs of Mexico." UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics. Issue 1, pp. 3–14, 1971.
- Ott, Jonathan. "On Salvia divinorum" Eleusis, n. 4, pp. 31–39, April, 1996.
- Schultes, Richard Evans. "The Plant Kingdom and the Hallucinogens." UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics. Issue 4, 1969.
- Steck, Francis Borgia. "Motolinia's History of the Indians of New Spain." William Byrd Press, Inc. Richmond, Virginia, 1951.
- Townsend, Richard F. "The Aztecs." Thames & Hudson Inc. New York, New York, 2000.