“The Divine Cactus”
PEYOTE
-Kelsey Brown
PEYOTE
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Peyote’s botanical name is Lophophora Williamsii
Common street names include “buttons,” “cactus,” or
“mesc”
Small, spineless cactus that grows mostly below ground.
Peyote is a hallucinogen.
It is used for religious ceremonies and rites of passage.
Peyote is cut up into little V shaped pieces called
“buttons”
The “buttons” are either set in the sun to dry out and
ingested orally, or soaked in a liquid to drink.
HOW IT WORKS ON THE BRAIN
The main ingredient in peyote is the
hallucinogen molecule, mescaline.
 The general effective dose would be about
200mg of mescaline, which is equivalent to
about 5 “buttons.”
 The mescaline molecule resembles the
molecule for serotonin and norepinephrine.
 It attaches to the serotonin 2A receptors in the
brain.
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CLASSIFICATION
Peyote is classified as a Schedule I Drug by the
Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention Control
Act.
 This means it has a high potential for abuse
and that there is no
medicinal use
accepted for it yet.
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SIDE EFFECTS
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Some short-term effects would be increased blood pressure,
heart rate, and body temperature. A loss of appetite is also
common, as is a feeling of weakness. The effects are said to
last up to twelve hours commonly.
“On some trips, users experience sensations that are
enjoyable. Others can include terrifying thoughts and anxiety,
fear of insanity, fear of death, or fear of losing control.”
There are some long term effects from taking peyote. Some
users have flashbacks of their hallucinations after long
periods of time without ingesting the drug. The reason for
this is unknown, as it does not happen to all users.
THE LEGEND OF GRANDFATHER PEYOTE
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The legend goes that a grandmother and her grandchild
were on a vision quest to find help for their sick tribe. They
had been wandering for two days without food and water and
had become weak and lost. They decided to rest on top of a
hill one evening to try to figure out what to do next when a
vision of a figure floating in the sky appeared to them. This
was Grandfather Peyote. He told them to eat from the peyote
cactus that grew near where they rested. He told them that
the peyote cactus would make them stronger. The
grandmother and grandchild did as they were told, and
immediately felt better. Grandfather Peyote also told them to
take the peyote plant back to their people and feed it to
them to heal their sickness.
THE LEGEND OF GRANDFATHER PEYOTE
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Again, the grandmother and grandchild did as they
were told. But they were lost and could not find
their way back to their tribe. They prayed to
Grandfather Peyote to help them find their way. He
appeared yet again and pointed them in the
direction of their home. When they returned, they
found many people had died. They called for a
gathering in a teepee and had the people of the
tribe eat the peyote plant to cure their illness. They
immediately felt better. This is how the peyote
ritual began.
RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES
There are many different ways to worship the peyote plant. A few of the
most common religious ceremonies are:
 Vision Quests
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Teepee ceremonies
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This is where you wander alone in the desert with no food or water, just
peyote, in search of the meaning of life, to speak with the deceased, or
to find out what you should do with your life. It is common for people on
vision quests to be accompanied by an animal guide or protector.
These are held in a teepee and represent the first peyote ceremony.
They usually last all night and are celebrated in the form of a prayer
circle. There are drums and dances, and it is lead by a “Road Chief”
Annual pilgrimages
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This form is the typical form for the Huichol tribe. This is where you are
lead by a group leader to harvest the peyote plant. It is similar to a vision
quest because you are searching for the meaning of life, but you are in a
large group.
PEYOTE HISTORY
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In the year 1521, Spanish conquers and European
explorers discovered the peyote culture for themselves
while in Mexico. During these times intoxication from
anything “non-alcohol” was forbidden by the Catholics
and Europeans that came to Mexico.
They thought of the cactus to be a plant of “satanic
trickery” and considered its use as bad as cannibalism;
therefore, they tried to stamp it out of the culture.
Their efforts, of course, were unsuccessful because it
was so firmly engrained into the religious culture. It did,
however, force the use of the cactus to become more
secretive and hidden even to this day.
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Peyote grows naturally in
Mexico and the southern
states of the U.S such as
Texas.
It is available to purchase
online on various websites in
either seed or root form.
It is a slow growing cactus
and can take up to four years
for the seedling to grow to
even the size of a dime.
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT PEYOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Levinthal, Charles F. Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
2010
Sixth Edition. Pg. 154-155
2. “Peyote.” Drug Guide. February 28, 2011. <http://www.drugfree.org/drugguide/peyote>
3. Leo Mercado. “Peyote FAQ.” Erowid. September 1, 2009. March 29, 2011
<http://www.erowid.org/plants/peyote/peyote_faq.shtml>
4. Black Elk. “Vision Quest.” Crystal Links. March 30, 2011
<http://www.crystalinks.com/visionquest.html>
5. Leonard Crow Dog. “How Grandfather Peyote Came to the Indian People.”
American
Indian Myths and Legends. March 28, 2009. March 30, 2011
< http://www.hoboes.com/Politics/Prohibition/Notes/Indian_Myths/ >
6.“A History of Peyote.” The Shaman’s Well. February 26, 2011.
<http://www.shamanswell.org/shaman/history>