Teonanácatl (sacred mushrooms)

Psilocybe mexicana (en andere Psilocybe-soorten)

Small mushrooms containing psilocybin and psilocin. After half an hour to an hour they bring visions and an altered sense of time and space that last several hours.

Safety notes

Can cause anxiety, panic and psychosis; a 'bad trip' can lead to dangerous behaviour. Confusion with poisonous mushrooms can be fatal. In the Netherlands psilocybin and psilocin are on List I and the mushrooms themselves have been on List II of the Opium Act since 2008; so-called truffles (sclerotia) are not covered. 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: Confusion with poisonous mushrooms can be fatal. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.

Preparation

Among the Mazatec of Oaxaca the mushrooms are eaten fresh and in pairs during a night-time healing ceremony, the velada, led by a curandera or curandero, with chants, prayers and candles; traditionally they are gathered before dawn around the new moon and sometimes first blessed on the church altar. Psilocybe species closely resemble poisonous mushrooms; confusing them can be fatal.

Use in traditions

The Nahuatl name means 'flesh of the gods'. Spanish chroniclers described its use among the Aztecs, and the church tried to stamp it out, so it stayed hidden for centuries. Only in the 1930s were the species described botanically. In 1955 the Mazatec curandera María Sabina let R. Gordon Wasson take part in a velada; his article in Life (1957) brought streams of outsiders to her village, which she later regretted. In 1958 Albert Hofmann isolated psilocybin from cultivated Psilocybe mexicana.

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

To find the cause of illness and to heal, and for contact with the divine.

Preparation and amount

Eaten fresh and in pairs during a night-time velada led by a curandera.

Caution: Confusion with poisonous mushrooms can be fatal. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.

Sources

All herbs from Central America and the Caribbean →