- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Deserts of the Rio Grande valley in Texas and northern and central Mexico
North America · Herb · № 903
Lophophora williamsii
Herb · North America
Peyote
Lophophora williamsii
A small, spineless, blue-green cactus with a long taproot. Contains mescaline and over thirty other alkaloids. After a few hours mescaline brings colourful visions that last up to half a day, often after a phase of nausea and vomiting.
Safety notes
Vomiting, anxiety and panic are common; dangerous with heart disease and mental vulnerability. Mescaline is on List I of the Opium Act; growing the cactus as an ornamental is allowed, but preparing or using it is a criminal offence. Peyote grows very slowly and is threatened in the wild by overharvesting: it is a sacred plant of living religions, do not buy wild peyote. This information describes traditional use and is no encouragement or advice. Use is at your own risk; the makers of this site are not responsible for the consequences. Never alone, never together with alcohol, other drugs or medicines, not in pregnancy, with heart disease or mental illness (also in the family), and do not drive. In an emergency call 112.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Healing traditions of the Americas: Vomiting and anxiety are common; dangerous with heart disease. Do not buy wild peyote. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.
Preparation
The top of the cactus, the 'button', is cut off above the root so the plant can sprout again, and dried in the sun. In Native American Church ceremonies the dried buttons are chewed or drunk as tea during an all-night meeting in a tipi, around a fire and a crescent-shaped altar, with song, prayer, drum and rattle led by a 'roadman'. The Huichol and Tarahumara in Mexico eat the cactus on pilgrimages and at festivals. The amount of mescaline varies greatly from button to button.
Use in traditions
The Aztecs already knew the cactus as peyotl. At Shumla Cave in Texas buttons have been found that radiocarbon dating puts at some 5,700 years old. Spanish clergy banned its use; by 1720 it was forbidden throughout Mexico. Around 1880 a new peyote ceremony arose among the Kiowa and Comanche, from which the Native American Church emerged in 1918; it regards peyote as a sacrament and rejects alcohol. Every year the Huichol make a sacred pilgrimage to Wirikuta to gather peyote.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Healing traditions of the Americas
Attributed effects
As a sacrament of the Native American Church, in healing and on the pilgrimages of the Huichol.
Preparation and amount
The dried buttons are chewed or drunk as tea during a night-long ceremony with prayer and song.
Caution: Vomiting and anxiety are common; dangerous with heart disease. Do not buy wild peyote. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)