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W
Publisher’s Note
elcome to another issue of Dragibus Magazine. While we are in
full winter on my half of the rock, you can see that summer is
in full bloom on the other side, as is evident by our cover photo
(and a few more inside). I hope everyone enjoyed their solstice and the
accompaning holidays.
We have a great issue for you with a with a lot of interesting articles that we hope you will enjoy. We have an entry from K. Trout with
an excerpt from the upcoming third edition of ‘Sacred Cacti’, another flavorful beer with a juniper ale recipe, a short introduction into the Piper
genus, as well as a pictorial from an exhibit of shamanistic artwork of the
Americas.
I leave you with these pictures of a flowering Salvia divinorum
and hope you enjoy this issue.
Steve R.
Dragibus Publishing
Publisher/Editor
Steve Rudd
PO BOX 1271
Snellville, GA 30078
[email protected]
Contributing Writers
Simon Ralli Robinson, Eli Szabady, Brett
Lothian, K. Trout, Casi Witherite
Copy Editor
Casi Witherite
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Dragibus Magazine
Cover background photo
by Brett Lothian
4
Table of Contents
4
Altered States of Consciousness and the Shamanic Path to Wholeness
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12
15
17
28
30
15
Juniper Ale
An Introduction to the Piper Genus
Healing Addiction with San Pedro
An excerpt from ‘Sacred Cacti’ Third Edition
Shamanistic Artwork of the Americas
Book Review: ‘Spiritual Growth with Entheogens’
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Altered States of Consciousness and the Shamanic Path to Wholeness
Healing with natural plant hallucinogens and the spirits of nature
By Simon Ralli Robinson
More than 30 years ago Fritjof Capra wrote ‘The Tao of Physics’ highlighting the remarkable similarities between Eastern religions
and Western quantum physics. These insights, as Capra openly revealed in the preface, were inspired by his own personal experiences. This is what he called ‘power plants,’ plants which have been ingested by shaman for millennia, revered by peoples across the
world as Gods, for their hallucinogenic properties, resulting in such extraordinary changes to their consciousness. For many, this
cannot be distinguished from the spiritual and religious revelations of our greatest mystics and sages.
Capra was by no means the first scientist to gain deeper insights into the natural world from natural and synthetic hallucinogens.
Alan Rees, writing in ‘The Mail on Sunday’, revealed the following story, which he subsequently confirmed with Crick in person:
“Dick Kemp told me he met Francis Crick at Cambridge. Crick had told him that some Cambridge academics used
LSD in tiny amounts as a thinking tool, to liberate them from preconceptions and let their genius wander freely to
new ideas. Crick t1old him he had perceived the double-helix shape while on LSD.” 1
The classic psychedelics are considered to be LSD, Psilocybin, DMT and mescaline. The two chemical groups into which these
drugs are classified are the tryptamines and the phenethylamines. Tryptamines include DMT, psilocybin, LSD, and Tabernanthe
iboga. Phenethylamines include mescaline found in the peyote cactus and the lesser-known San Pedro cactus.
In the Amazon basin, indigenous and mestizo shaman drink the mystical brew ayahuasca. It is referred to by many different
names, such as yagé, caapi, and ‘vine of the souls’ or ‘vine of the dead.’ The name ayahuasca, as well as referring to the drink, also
refers to the vine Banisteriopsis caapi. This vine contains three monoamine oxidase inhibitors, harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine, which are hallucinogenic at sufficient dose levels.
Shaman refers to the vine, of which there are a number of varieties, as the base of the drink. The light, or the source of hallucinations, come from either the leaf of the chacruna plant, Psychotria viridis, or from the leaves of the huambisa plant, Diplopterys
cabrerana. These leaves contain N,N-dimethyltrypamine, or DMT, which is also present in the human brain. However, the hallucinogen is not active orally, since called monoamine oxidase, a stomach enzyme blocks it. The active ingredients in Banisteriopsis
caapi inhibit the stomach enzyme enabling the N,N-dimethyltrypamine to enter the brain.
The ayahuasca vine and the chacruna leaves are the basic ingredients of the ayahuasca drink. Different shaman will often add additional plants, such as toé, tobacco, pucha pari, marosa etc, for many different properties such as cleansing, spiritual protection,
enhancement of visions, and healing.
While illegal in many countries due to the active ingredient DMT being a class A category drug, ayahuasca is legal in Peru, and
also Brazil, where a number of syncretic churches incorporate ayahuasca into their
Christian and mystical services. Thousands of ‘ayahuasca tourists’ fly to Peru each
year to take part in ceremonies and it is increasingly becoming available in North
America, Europe and Australia; although those who do drink it rarely do so for
purely recreational use.
The side effects of ayahuasca can include severe vomiting and diarrhea. The visions
if seen can provoke utter terror in those who experience them. Visions are only
likely to be experienced if the drinker has undertaken a period of detoxing and
abstinence from many different foods including coffee, alcohol, red meat, sugar,
spices and salt, and therefore it is almost impossible for people to abuse. Ayahuasca
is far more likely to provide some of the harshest lessons in life to those who attempt to do so.
Until around 1990, the main scientific interest in ayahuasca had been in botany,
chemistry, human neuropharmacology, and anthropology. Benny Shanon, a cognitive psychologist is the first and perhaps only psychologist to attempt to chart the
phenomenological ayahuasca experience from a psychological perspective (Shanon, 2002). Ten years of research contributed to the most comprehensive psychological study of ayahuasca undertaken. With over 2,500 user reports analyzed,
complemented by Shanon’s own personal experiences of around 130 ceremonies, a
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“Nobel Prize genius Crick was high on LSD when he discovered the secret of life” Alun Rees, Mail on Sunday, 8th August 2004
Dragibus Magazine
huge number for a scientist to have taken part in. Shanon asked the question “What is experienced when one drinks ayahuasca?”
and his analysis answered by looking at the experience from many different perspectives:
•
Structural Typology
•
Style of visual images
•
Interaction and Narration
•
The Contents of Visions
•
The Themes of Visions
•
Ideas, Insights and Reflections
•
Alterations to consciousness and perception of time
•
Non-visual perceptions
•
Stages and progression of visions within and across ceremonies
More recently, Shanon (2010) has expanded his topological framework to examine in more detail the deep epistemological questions of meaning and interpretation of those who experience ayahuasca at its most ineffable and transcendental levels, and for
whom orthodox theories of psychology become woefully inadequate:
Psychological Knowledge
Ayahuasca can provide novel insights and self-understanding. Ayahuasca is often described as being the equivalent of receiving
years of psychoanalysis in just one or two sessions.
Knowledge Related to Nature and Life
Ayahuasca drinkers will often experience a profoundly close link to nature, animals, plants and minerals, especially when it is
drunk in the natural setting of the Amazonian rainforest. These experiences can be extraordinary for those who have them. For
example, transforming into an eagle and flying above the rainforest canopy, really experiencing what it is like to be that animal or
plant or tree.
Philosophy and Metaphysics
Ayahuasca can generate philosophical and metaphysical ideations and reflections. For me, I have received deeply intuitive understandings of the symbolism of the ankh, Thoth, David Bohm’s implicate order framework of quantum physics, and the Tao. These
experiences utterly defy any attempts to capture in words, reflecting the teachings from many Eastern religions that true reality is
beyond language, words and human understanding.
Artistic Performance and Creativity
When under the influence of ayahuasca, the level of musical,
singing and occasionally dancing performances is greatly enhanced. I have found that when singing icaros, sacred healing
songs of which I have been taught, I have sung with a delicacy,
intonation and vibrato that I could never think of achieving
outside of an ayahuasca ceremony.
Specialized and Factual Knowledge
Shanon emphatically states that he does not believe in
paranormal or parapsychological phenomena and is explicit
in stating that he has found no evidence of the obtaining of
new factual evidence through drinking ayahuasca. This is in
direct contrast to Stanislav Grof, who does provide compelling
evidence that this is the case with those who are administered
LSD in a supportive psychotherapeutic context (Grof, 2009).
Only a very tiny proportion of Shanon’s research has been
with indigenous or Mestizo shaman, who for centuries and
more probably millennia have drunk ayahuasca in order to
be able to diagnose illness in patients ‘supernaturally’. They
do so in partnership with the spirits of the plants, who they
refer to as los doctores. Shanon collated personal reports of
the phenomena, but did not complement these with any other
forms of analysis or experimentation. Shanon’s interpretation
is that “what ayahuasca furnishes is heightened insight and
comprehension which are based on already existing empirical
knowledge and long-term practice” (Shanon, 2010).
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Shaman in the Amazon who are healers and who drink ayahuasca to diagnose illness are more
commonly known as curanderos. Their training and experience with ayahuasca generally starts
when they are in their teens. They will, from an early age, be taught by a teacher, their maestro
to recognize thousands of plants and their healing properties. However, to really get to know
ayahuasca and to really get to know the spirits of the plants, the apprentice curandero has to
spend not months but years alone in the rainforest, without clothes, just a blanket, following an
extremely limited diet of mainly fish, plantain and other jungle fruit. In these years of solitude,
the apprentice will drink both ayahuasca and samples of every plant, flower, or tree that they
will be using as future medicines to become intimate with the properties of that plant.
The curandero heals in partnership with the spirits of the plants and it is this that the plants
teach the shaman how to do. The shaman heals holistically, by determining what ‘illness’ is
trapped within the patients soul or spiritual body. This form of illness is conceived as an energy
imbalance, where perhaps emotions and negative thinking become trapped in the body; resulting in more physical illnesses in the physical body. In order to heal a patient, the plants will
Making ayahuasca with toé (datura)
show the shaman where in the spiritual body these concentrations of negative energy are and
the shaman will then use a combination of techniques to extract them. These include the singing
of sacred songs, icaros, while playing shacapa, an instrument made from dried leaves of the carrizo plant, blowing tobacco smoke,
blowing sacred breath into the spiritual body (soplas), and also sucking the energy out of the body (chupas).
Following a sudden growth of interest with westerners in the last 20 years, a number of books about ayahuasca have been published, but very few have documented in any detail the incredibly rich and sophisticated pharmacological knowledge and conceptual frameworks of illness of the curandero (Luna, 1984; Beyer, 2009). There have been no medical studies of this healing modality,
despite much anecdotal evidence of its efficacy, and despite shamanism being the oldest spiritual and healing practice; although the
relatively new multidisciplinary ethnopharmacology is starting to redress this issue.
The approach I have taken with my research with ayahuasca has been to complement both the works of Shanon and Beyer with a
comprehensive and structured phenomenological account of my own experiences as an apprentice ayahuasca curandero (Robinson, 2010). I first travelled to Peru in 2008 to participate in a two week ayahuasca retreat in order to heal some deep psychological
traumas from the past. I decided to return to Peru in 2009, simply to participate in some further ayahuasca ceremonies with Javier
Arevalo, but to my surprise and without asking, was taken on as his apprentice.
Javier continually emphasized to me that the visions experienced by both an apprentice and maestro shaman are qualitatively different to those of participants or patients. Javier initiated me into the secrets of the shacapa, taught me icaros, and how to perform
the sopla; the sacred healing breath on a patient. Within any literature on curanderos, it is extremely rare to read an account by a
westerner who has been taught how to perform a diagnosis, via conscious communication with the spirits of plants using the full
range of shamanic techniques, as I have attempted to do so. Here is one such experience:
I was still drinking ayahuasca cielo, but this was slightly more concentrated than previous, and the visions were
increasing in intensity, luminosity and vividness.
I learned that the intricate patterns I had been seeing were plant doctors. The doctors would fly around me, enveloping me in their blankets of matrices of light. I was ‘told’ that plant spirits have temples too. I saw elements of female
spirit doctors but did not see them in their entirety. I sensed a female plant doctor next to me and saw lines of energy
of light being sewn into me, but I could not distinguish between what was the doctor and what was me. Both she and
I were pure consciousness without physical bodies. Robinson, S. (2011)
The first thing I should say is that I had to learn how to move from head consciousness to heart consciousness, to really trust ayahuasca not fight it, and this lesson was probably the hardest. This lesson involved a shamanic initiation by the ayahuasca, whereby
my body was slowly killed off; one vital organ at a time. This was not a visual hallucination, this was having the experience in the
total belief that it is happening to you. For me it was terrifying to the point where a trained therapist had told it had been the worst
psychotic episode she had ever witnessed. Many people do not go back to ayahuasca having experienced the legendary terrors that
it can bring, but I did.
Javier structured my lessons so that initially I would be drinking quite mild ayahuasca. I was slowly introduced to los doctores, or
perhaps they slowly introduced themselves and showed me how they help the shaman diagnose illness not through any form of
empirical language-based knowledge, but in a more visual, direct and intuitive way. It is this form of knowledge of a curandero that
Shanon makes no reference to, which I feel reflects his lack of this specific form of experience with ayahuasca. In each ceremony
the doctores were teaching me by showing me how they were healing my own body and again it is rare in the ayahuasca literature
to read accounts of experiences inside the ‘body’.
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Dragibus Magazine
For the following ceremony I went back to drinking huambisa. Very early on in the ceremony I realized that I would
continue to be cleaned out. As was normal now, a doctor came to me to open me up. I was shown white light in
my heart and then grey. I knew that my heart was going to be cleaned out and I was told that the seven dwarves
represented the seven chakras. I had a very intense and difficult time, as one by one, each chakra was cleaned out of
negative energy.
For each one, it was as if I was in a dramatic Catholic confession and I remember coming out with a vast number
of confessions relating to each chakra. In between chakras, I had to purge a number of times. Although I have no
chance of recalling all that I had said, it was along the lines of for example, not always speaking the truth for the
throat chakra, not always feeling love with a woman for the heart chakra, all the time I have been blind to the truth
for the third eye chakra.
When it came to clearing out my base chakra, I had the most amazingly vivid vision of a Viking-like sailing boat
with a dragon head. A female entity was on board this ship. I think at the time I felt that it was to distract me from
some uncomfortable healing, since the colour of everything in this vision was mainly brown. Other writers have had
and have written about very similar visions, including Michael Harner’s first.
Although it is nigh on impossible to explain what an ineffable experience is, I will try. Ayahuasca can be said to
make your body ‘transparent’ and I certainly found this to be the case. Lying down in the darkness of a temple in the
rainforest, listening to Javier’s beautiful icaros calling the doctores to us, around an hour after first ingesting the brew,
I would sense the them approach me. I would often experience them not as Beyer did, taking on a human form, but
as fantastic matrices of light, highly organic matrix structures, dancing as they flew, fusing with my own consciousness so that we would become one. My physical body would gradually begin to melt into nothingness and I would
experience a vast expansion of my own consciousness which would correspond with seeing the doctores expand in
many dimensions. Their canopies of light would unfold in such a-way that if was like being in a hyper-dimensional
brilliantly electroluminescent cathedral, looking up at an ever expanding ceiling of beams, arches and patterns that
would stretch into an impossible vastness, which was me, or our, expanded consciousness. Robinson, S. (2011)
They would then inside of this space ‘fly’ to any particular part of my body requiring treatment and they could show me symbolically where the negative energy was. Of course this energy had to be expelled and this is done via the purge, via either vomiting or
diarrhea, or both. When working with a patient, the doctores are able to be extremely precise in locating the area of the body that
the illness is in. In one patient, a very young child, I was shown dark menacing insects in his urinary system and was shown the
achiote plant which was to be used as the cure. Javier after the ceremony confirmed that the child did indeed have an infection in
this area and that the achiote was the correct plant for the cure.
Are the visions of the shaman qualitatively different from participants or patients? A curandero will have drunk ayahuasca thousands of times. This is unlike the vast majority of westerners who travel to Peru and the wider Amazon
to take part in perhaps only one, two, or a very small handful of ceremonies. These initial ceremonies by westerners
can be spectacular, for example with reports of metamorphosis into eagles, flying over the canopy of the rainforest.
But Javier was clear that these are just providing a very cursory insight into the spiritual world. What I experienced
was initially disorientating, going far beyond any form of words, going far beyond any kind of world that had the
structure of three dimensions and time; one that could only be experienced with a
parallel and extreme alteration and expansion to my consciousness.
In this ceremony, we were joined by Mirla’s sister and her baby who was suffering
from an infection. I had not spoken to Javier about the baby’s illness in detail and did
not know any other details. Again, we drank my ayahuasca and because of my previous experience, I was not expecting many strong visions.
I first saw a baby, from the top of its legs to its shoulders, wearing just a nappy and
then the vision went to its genital area. This threw me somewhat. I immediately
thought that perhaps this was a vision of myself and that I was about to have some
kind of rebirth experience, but I soon realized that I was seeing the baby that I was
trying to diagnose. I saw his penis and the vision went inside his penis; into his urinal
system. There I saw a number of black fly-like insects which I knew represented negative energy and the illness.
With my eyes open, from the floor of the center of the room I saw the head of what
looked like a huge insect with razor-sharp teeth. As it grew upwards and much larger,
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and began to slide towards the baby, it seemed to be more plant-like. It was a doctore and was going to devour some
of the negative energy in the baby. As it reached the baby, the baby let out a small cry. I was shown the achiote plant
and told that this was needed as a medicine for the baby. Shortly afterwards, Javier got up and walked towards the
baby to work on his body with his shacapa and some barely-audible gentle icaros. Robinson, S. (2011)
Time and again, those who have ingested ayahuasca and other hallucinogens report that they experience reality as an undivided
wholeness and also that both time and space are perceived to cease to exist. It is intriguing to speculate that perhaps one of the effects of hallucinogens in the brain is to enable the person to experience the implicate order of David Bohm (1980) directly. Bohm’s
concept of wholeness and the implicate order certainly can be seen as very shamanic in nature (and can also be likened to the
metaphysics of for example Taoism or Hinduism). Javier continually emphasised the fact that this world was an illusion and that
only the spiritual world mattered, or was the true reality. I asked for clarification, in terms of the relationship of this world to the
spiritual world and rather than giving a Platonic or dualist account, Javier said that although the material world was a part of the
spiritual world, it was just one tiny fragment, mirroring the way in which Bohm describes the relationship of the explicate to the
implicate.
The concept of expansion came up many times in ceremonies, and in one in particular, ayahuasca told me that science could only
advance if it made the transition from reduction to expansion. I feel that it is now time that we expanded our thinking away from a
reliance on reductionism, expanding our scientific thinking to include what are actually very ancient concepts of wholeness. These
can really only be experienced in an intuitive mode of consciousness and natural plant hallucinogens, if treated with the reverence
and respect of our indigenous people across the planet, promise to guide us on our journeys to wholeness, and open up a vast new
expanse of knowledge that is holistic in every sense of the word.
About the author
Simon Ralli Robinson, 43, has been on a shamanic path for the last twelve years and is accomplished in the technique of shamanic drumming.
He has undertaken a shamanic apprenticeship and initiations with Maestro Shaman Javier Arevalo Shuhuano in Iquitos, Peru, and also taken part
in San Pedro ceremonies in Cusco under the guidance of Lesley Myburgh.
In addition to his travels to Peru, has lived in Varanasi, India, learning yoga, and has performed ceremonies in Arizona with Grandfather Martin,
the world-renowned elder of the Hopi people.
He is the author of the book The Shaman and Snow White: Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Shamanic States of Consciousness and Certificate 18 Healing and
the music CD Shamanic Drumming and Shacapa Meditation.
References
Beyer, S.V.
2009 Singing to the Plants A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon University of New Mexico Press
Bohm, D.
1980 Wholeness and the Implicate Order Routledge
Capra, F.
1975 The Tao of Physics Shambhala
Grof, S.
2009 LSD: Doorway to the Numinous Park Street Press Originally published as Realms of the Human Unconscious (1975) The Viking Press
Luna, L.E.
1984 The Concept of Plants as Teachers among four Mestizo Shamans of Iquitos, Northeastern Perú. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 11, 135-156
Robinson, S.
2010 Ayahuasca Curanderoo: How rainforest shaman heal by communing with the spirits of plants: A first-person phenomenological investigation and the teaching of Maestro Shaman Javier Arevalo Shahuano MSc Dissertation, Schumacher College
Robinson, S.
2011 The Shaman and Snow White: Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Shamanic States of Consciousness and Certificate 18 Healing, Lulu.com
Shanon, B.
2002 The Antipodes of the Mind Charting the phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience Oxford University Press
Shanon, B.
2010 The Epistemics of Ayahuasca Visions. Phenomenology of Cognitive Science, 9(2), 263-280
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Dragibus Magazine
Juniper Ale
Words and Photos by Eli Szabady
What do the words “drug-war” and “Cannabaceae” bring to
mind? Your first thought probably wasn’t hops, but Cannabis is not the
first member of the Cannabaceae family to be the focus of a “drug-war”
and drug legislation. In seventeenth century Europe, a different drugwar—perhaps the first on record—revolved around another member of
the cannabaceae family. Unlike Cannabis, hops (Humulus lupulus) was
not suppressed. Rather, it was used to suppress what was viewed as a
pervasive drug problem.
In Europe, before hops were established as the standard brewing
adjunct used for bittering and antiseptic properties, a great number of
herbs and trees were being employed for these purposes. Probably the
best remembered of these herbal beers is gruit; a beverage made with
yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sweet gale (Myrica gale), and wild rosemary (Ledum palustre sometimes called marsh rosemary). One or more
of these herbs would usually be mixed with malted barley, though occasionally malt-less gruits were made. Brewers would flavor this mixture
with a number of other herbs to make beverages distinct to a particular
region or ale house1.
Although hops have a long history of use in brewing, they were clearly not the preferred botanical for preserving and flavoring beer for many centuries. As Stephen Bruhner
points out in Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, “Many [different] herbs were commonly used
in ale [preservation]; for instance wormwood and juniper. But hops possess two characteristics notably different from the herbs they replaced. They cause the drinker to become drowsy
and they diminish sexual desire–quite the opposite of the other herbs used in beer.2” The
sedating effect of hops was desirable for commercial brewers associated with the Protestant
establishment. Bhruner goes on to note that the church’s demand for sedating beers manifest
in legislation aimed at making hops the dominant adjunct by regulating and taxing other
herbs and beverages like gruit: “The literature of the time, denoting the “problems” associated
with the gruit herbs, contradict contemporary beer historians and are in actuality some of the
first drug control manifestos on record. The laws that eventually passed in the sixteenth to
eighteenth centuries [regulating gruit herbs] are the first drug control laws on record.3” Over
time, this institutional pressure, designed to suppress what was viewed as undesirable drug
use, narrowed a wide spectrum of brewing traditions into a much more homogenous commercial enterprise. The result is has been a much more limited view of what “beer” can be.
Juniper has a long tradition of use as medicine, antiseptic, incense, brewing additive,
Top: An juniper berry about to open
and is a plant of great religious and spiritual significance. In the shamanic cultures India,
Bottom: A fully opened juniper berry Tibet, and Pakistan, Drooping Juniper4 (Juniperus recurva) is frequently burnt as incense to
induce trances and conjure visions5. In Europe Juniper spp. were commonly used in the pro6
duction of absinthe , and in parts of Asia mixed into tobacco snuffs7, and combined with Cannabis ruderalis (weedy hemp), thyme,
and wild rosemary and burned as shamanic incense8. In Scandinavia and North America a water extract of Juniper was often used
as a cleanser and antiseptic9.
Although not commonly used in commercial beers today, juniper makes a perfect adjunct for home-brewers interested in
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experimenting with hop-less brewing. It has excellent antiseptic qualities, and its spicy earthy flavor is a refreshing balance to the
sweetness of malt that the bitterness of hops cannot offer. Although beers of this style are not as potent as some of their European
gruit counterparts, they offer a subtlety in flavor and effect that is quite unique. The recipe offered here attempts to recreate Sahti,
the traditional juniper beer of Scandinavia, using a modern approach. Hopefully this recipe for a dark juniper ale with strong notes
of roasted and smoked barely does justice to a rich brewing tradition and a beverage widely regarded as “healthy” by the people
who perfected it long ago.
Equipment
12-16 quart stainless steel pot
Large metal or plastic spoon (not wood)
Fermenting vessel (preferably 6 gal)
Air lock
Approximately 52 bottles (12 oz.) and caps
Bottle capper
Siphon tube
Strainer
Sanitizer (no-rinse sanitizer or bleach solution)
Food Thermometer
Grain bag, cheese cloth, muslin, etc.
Recipe – Extract (5 Gallons)
4 lbs. Amber malt
2 lbs. Plain dark malt
6 oz. Roasted barley
2 oz. Black patent
¼ oz. Smoked Barley malt
2 lbs. Juniper branches
(use only fresh growth tips with berries, approx. first 6” of branch)
1 packet English Ale yeast
¾ c. Corn sugar (priming)
2 ½ tsp. Gypsum (optional)
¼ tsp. Irish moss (optional)
Procedure – Extract
1.
Pour two gallons of water into a large pot (at least 16
quarts). Add the juniper branches to the water. If branches are harvested when the bush is not producing berries, dried berries can
generally be purchased at home brewing stores, and/or you can increase the branches to 3 pounds. Place your grains in a mesh or
muslin sack and put the sack in the water along with the juniper. Place the pot over medium heat. Bring the water to temperature
slowly, and make sure you don’t rush this part of the process. Once the liquid has reach 170-175°F remove the grain sack. Let the
juniper continue to soak until the water reaches 190-195°F.
2.
Strain the plant matter from your juniper extract and replace the liquid in the pot. Bring to a boil stirring frequently.
3.
Slowly add the amber and dark malt extracts; stirring until completely dissolved.
4.
Return to a boil. Set a timer for 60 minutes. Stir frequently.
5.
Cool the liquid as quickly as possible to an appropriate temperature for your yeast strain.
6.
Once cool, strain or siphon the liquid into a clean fermenter. Pitch the yeast. Set the airlock in place and let ferment in a
cool area of your home.
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7.
Once fermentation has ceased rack the liquid, prime with ¾ cup corn sugar, and bottle.
8.
Allow to bottle condition for at least 1 month before drinking.
Dragibus Magazine
Recipe – All-grain (5 gallons)
7 lbs. 2-row malt
1 lbs. Roasted barley
½ lbs. 100L crystal malt
½ lbs. Black Patent
2 oz. Smoked Barley malt
3 oz. Flaked Rye
3 lbs. Juniper branches
¾ c. Corn sugar
Gypsum (optional)
Irish moss (optional)
*Additional equipment is needed for the all grain recipe
Procedure – All-Grain
This recipe uses a single infusion mash. However, an extract of the
juniper is made to be used as the strike water.
1.
Pour 3 gallons of water into a large pot. Add 2 – 2 ½
pounds of juniper branches (be sure to reserve enough branches for
step 2). Slowly heat the mixture to 190-195°F. Remove from heat
and allow the mixture to cool to approximately 168° degrees.
2.
As the extraction is cooling to the proper temperature, line the bottom of your mash tun with the remaining juniper
branches. You want a layer thick enough that you cannot directly see the bottom of the mash tun, but not so thick as to impede the
flow of liquid through the mash tun.
3.
Once your water has reached the proper temperature very carefully strain it into the mash tun so as not to disturb the
layer of branches. This can be tricky to negotiate. You may need to pour in a gallon or two of water, then some grain to hold the
branches in place, then the rest of the water, followed by the rest of the grain. Seal the mash tun and allow to rest for 60 minutes.
4.
Drain the first wort from the mash tun, and sparge with 5 gallons of 170-175 water. You should end up with approx. 6 gallons of wort.
5.
Boil the wort for 60 minutes then remove from heat. Cool the liquid as quickly as possible.
6. Once the liquid has cooled to the appropriate temperature for your yeast, strain
to a clean fermenter. Pitch the yeast. Set the
airlock in place and let ferment in a cool area
of your home.
7. Once fermentation has ceased rack the
liquid, prime with ¾ cup corn sugar, and
bottle.
8. Allow to bottle condition for 1 month
before drinking.
Brewing Notes and Tips
In the all-grain recipe I have attempted to
recreate the process of straining the mash
through Juniper branches that was traditionally used in the production of Sahti10.
This process seems to have filled two roles:
filtering the mash from the liquid and adding
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additional color and flavor to the brew. Most modern home brewers using all-grain techniques will likely prefer to use a mash tun
with a false bottom that already serves the purpose of separating the wort from the grain. For this reason, lining the bottom of the
mash tun with juniper branches is not necessary. You can instead use all three pounds of juniper in the initial extraction. This will
slightly alter the color and flavor profile of the end product.
Spice it up a little! Add other herbs and spices at the beginning of the boil. Some nice choices might include yarrow, sweet gale,
wild rosemary, sweet or bitter orange peel, ginger, anise, or even hops. Start with 1oz. or less if you are not familiar with the herb/
spice.
Malt and roast your own grains for a more authentic and unique brewing experience.
References
1
Stephen H Bruhner. Sacred and Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation (Boulder: Siris Books, an Imprint of
Brewers Publication, 1998) 169.
2
Ibid. 172.
3
Ibid. 173.
4
Ratsch only includes a full discussion of this particular low, bushy species of juniper in his The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants (starting on pg. 306) as this particular species has a long history of shamanic use. It is also one of the few species of juniper that has been investigated for psychoactive compounds. However, he conjectures that the essential oil of this species is likely
very similar to that of Juniperus communis. Page 308 of this text gives a chemical analysis of several species. He also mentions that
all juniper species are used in a similar fashion throughout the world.
5
Christian Ratsch. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants (Rochester: Park Street Press, 1998) 307.
Ratsch also notes that Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala) seeds may have been crushed and added to a fire along with juniper
to induce visions.
6
Ibid. 70.
7
Ibid. 382.
8
Ibid. 142.
9Bruhner, Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers, 243.
10
Bruhner gives a lengthy discussion of the traditional process for brewing this type of beer in Sacred and Healing Beers pgs
225-233.
An introduction to the Piper genus
Words and Photos by Steve Rudd
Additional Photos by Planter
Piper is a genus of flowering plants mainly found
in the understory of tropical rainforest, though not
always. There are over a thousand species in the
Piper genus. Many species have been used medicinally or as a spice for flavoring food for thousands
of years. The majority of Piper species are vines or
herbaceous shrubs. Most prefer shade and a welldraining organic soil and seem to root easily, even
throwing out advantageous roots in higher moisture.
Probably the most famous and widely known Piper
species is Piper nigrum, the source of black pepper,
white pepper, and green pepper. The different pepper ‘varieties’ are harvested at different times and
prepared using different methods. Black pepper
is used throughout the world as a culinary spice
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Piper nigrum (Black Pepper) growing up a tree
Dragibus Magazine
and medicine. It has been used to treat many ailments in traditional and folk medicine including stomach disorders
and digestion problems, scabies, dandruff and head lice, vomiting, diarrhea, gastric symptoms, arthritis, asthma, fever,
coughs, among many others. It has been used as a food seasoning, stimulant, appetite suppressant, and aphrodisiac.
Very few studies have been conducted testing the medicinal benefits of black pepper. However piperine, the chemical
that gives black pepper its spiciness, is known to have antimicrobial properties and can increase the absorption of other
herbs and nutrients. As a spice, it is the most used in the world. It has been found in tombs dating back to over 9000
BCE, was the reason for the search for new trade routes to India, and has even been used as currency.
There are several species in the genus that are used like or in place of black pepper. Piper longum (long pepper) has
a long history of use as a spice, and even considered more pungent than black pepper and the preferred medication
and spice where available. The taste is spicier, yet sweeter, than black pepper and is more like the chili pepper (Capsicum species). The use of long pepper dropped with the discovery of the easier to grow chili pepper and possibly other
economic factors. Although long pepper is spicier, its use most likely died out because of Piper nigrum’s shorter trade
route, and therefore cheaper price, and the ease of cultivation of the newly discovered Capsicum species. Long pepper
has been in use for as long as black pepper, if not longer, and its history is mixed with that of black pepper; the two species being used interchangeably and often confused with each other.
Piper auritum (Hoja Santa)
While Piper longum is probably the second most popular Piper
species used as spice internationally, there are several other species of Piper that are also used for their spicy flavor. Because of
the readily availability of P. nigrum, many of these species are not
known outside of the areas in which they naturally grow. Piper
retrofractum (Balinese or Javanese Long Pepper) is used for green
peppercorn spice and like P. longum is considered more pungent
than P. nigrum. Piper cubeba (Cubeb, Java pepper or tailed pepper)
is also used much like black pepper and is also grown for essential
oils. The essential oil of P. cubeba is used in flavoring gin and cigarettes. Cubeb is used as an aphrodisiac and to strengthen memory.
Ashanti Pepper (Piper guineense) has a flavor that is similar to that
of cubeb pepper, but they are considered fresher in flavor and less
bitter. The leaves are used as a flavoring for stews in Nigeria. Piper
lolot (Lolot) is used in as a flavoring wrap for grilling meats in Lao
and Vietnamese cuisine. Piper aduncum (Matico) is used as a condiment and for flavoring cocoa. It is antiseptic and was used for
stopping hemorrhages, treating ulcers, and used much as P. cubeb
is. Piper borbonense is a wild pepper that grows in Madagascar that
has an earthy and woody taste, with a citrus floweriness that gives
some freshness to the palate.
Piper auritum (Hoja Santa) is used as in tamales, and
as a wrap for fish and meat in parts of Mexico and
South America. It is used as fish bait and for flavoring the fish by feeding it to them after they have been
caught. The leaves contain an essential oil that is high
in safrole.
Piper betel is best known for its stimulant effect and
use as a wrap for betel nut (Areca catechu) that is
chewed as a quid. It is also chewed as a quid without
arecha nuts, usually substituting tobacco instead. It is
also used as a food wrap and flavoring. Piper sarmentosum is used in many Southeast Asian cuisines as a
wrap or as a salad. It is known as ‘wild betel’ and the
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Piper betel growing over a wall
13
leaves are often confused with P. betel.
Close-up of Piper betel leaf
of ratio of the kava-lactones.
Piper methysticum var. methysticum (Kava Kava) root is made into an intoxicating drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. It has been used as
an alcohol substitute and acts on the same receptors in the brain (GABA).
Kava and alcohol are known to enhance each other’s effects. The effects of
kava are sometimes compared to alcohol, without the mental disruption
that alcohol has. Kava contains a blend of resinous compounds known as
kava-lactones. There are over a dozen known kava-lactones with varying effects. The dried root may yield up to 20% of kava-lactones that is usually a
mix of 3 major kava-lactones with traces of others. Piper methysticum is no
longer considered to be a true species, but instead is believed to be a sterile
cultivar(s) of Piper wichmannii that have mutated. P. wichmannii is not
known to be used as kava due to its less desirable effects; probably because
There are also a few
plant species that are
considered ‘peppers’
that are outside the
Piper genus. We have
already mentioned the
most widely known of
these, the chili pepper,
but there are a few others worth noting. Zanthoxylum spp. (Sichuan
pepper, Szechwan pepper or Szechuan pepper)
is a common spice used
in Asian cuisine. Sichuan pepper has a unique
aroma and flavor that
is not hot or pungent
like black, white or chili
peppers. Instead, it has
slight lemony overtones
and creates a tingly
numbness in the mouth
that sets the stage for
hot spices. Schinus molle
(Peruvian Pepper Tree)
is not related to black
pepper but the pink/red
berries are sold as pink
peppercorns and are
sometimes blended with
Two varieties of Piper methysticum (kava kava). Hiwa (left) and Nene (right). Notice the darker purple color of commercial pepper. It
the stem of the Hiwa strain.
is also believed that the
14
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fruits of S. molle were used extensively in the Central Andes around 550-1000 AD for producing chichi; a fermented alcoholic beverage. Tasmannia lanceolata seeds and bark have been used as a substitute for black pepper, to flavor wasabi,
and as a fish poison.
Also worthy of further study, are the two related genera: Macropiper and Peperomia, although Macropiper’s status as a
genera is up for debate. Both Macropiper and Peperomia spp have been used similarly as various Piper species and are
also known for their peppery spiciness. Macropiper excelsum is believed to have been used in parts of New Zealand as a
kava substitute for 1000 years and is still sold in tea bags in the area. The Piper and related genrea are full of interesting
plants and compounds. From the spiciness of black pepper to the relaxing effects of kava kava, pepper plants are used
for a variety of reasons and many warrant further study.
Healing Addiction with San Pedro
By Brett Lothian
Recently an old friend had come back into my life after a number of years. We
had caught up a few times and had few drinks; laughed about old times. My friend
had seen my facebook posts about sacred cacti and was intrigued. I didn’t think
too much of it at the time, but he seemed interested into why I was so interested
in them. Then he told me he was still taking “Ice” as in crystal meth amphetamine
and it all became clear. He was looking for help and didn’t know how to get it.
I was working security in nightclubs in a major city when meth first started getting around in this country. Drugs were everywhere and I played along. Gave
everything a go; it all seemed to be pretty harmless until I was given meth for the first time in a toilet by the local
drug dealer. Not ten minutes later I wanted more, and that was when I realized this might not be a good thing. Still, I
wasn’t paying for meth and people were giving it to me, so I kept consuming when offered. I wanted to keep the party
life going. I didn’t realise at the time, but this a typical drug dealer tactic; get them hooked for free and then they have
a customer. This would become a customer with a voracious appetite. I managed to keep under control, as the drug
never really did that much for me. This seemed to be an ego drug; not giving me a real high or altering my perspective.
Fortunately I was lucky.
I saw what meth was doing to others around me; the unfortunate ones who did get something out of it. What I saw I
did not like. People that I was close to were going off the rails in a bad way and all too quickly. Over time I came to realise that meth was bad news; a life sucking abyss of desperation and paranoia. Thankfully I was going the other way in
my drug use. Thus, a movement from the party scene drugs into the more spiritual aspects of mind altering substances.
A good friend began introducing me to San Pedro, DMT, Salvia and Entheogens in general. In perspective, I see now
that he saved my life from a world of pain. Eventually I moved away from the party scene altogether. I moved from the
city to the country side and my life improved a great deal. I tried to get a lot of my former friends away from the party
drugs, particularly the meth, but they were just not ready. Delving into the dark places of their psyche was even scarier
to them than what the meth was doing. So I moved on and just left it all behind. If it was meant to be, my friends
would find their way one way or another.
Over the years I became more and more interested in Entheogens and began growing them myself. They helped me
enormously, not just to get off the party drugs, but to better understand myself and my place in the world. After a
while, consuming drugs seemed to be the last thing that interested me. I was a totally new person, much happier
and devoted to more spiritual endeavours. Every now and then someone from my past would look me up, we would
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15
catch up and they would discover I was not who I used to be and they would move on again. Still for the large part
trapped in the party cycle, running away from some inner pain they could not yet deal with. But my friend who for the
purposes of this article I will call “Bill” was different. He stuck around, stayed in contact and even became further interested in the plants I was growing. Similarly, Bill wanted to know more just like I had many years ago with my friend
who had introduced me to Entheogens. I knew that Bill was ready to begin the healing.
So I sent my friend Bill a message that we should catch up, he agreed and seemed quite excited by the idea of sharing
a San Pedro brew with me. I knew by now that he had done at least a little research and was prepared to try something
new. The day before he was due to arrive I prepared the brew; one I knew would effective and very potent. I knew Bill
would need strong medicine after years of hard drug abuse. A subtle trip was simply not going to get the job done.
Above all, he needed to be broken down and rebuilt from scratch.
The brew I made consisted of two foot of potent Trichocereus bridgesii ‘Eileen’ as the base, a handful of Gingko biloba leaf and five Green tea bags which contain the flavonoids Kaempferol and Quercetin (which are also contained in
Trichocereus bridgesii) and act as a mono amine oxidase inhibitor. A teaspoon of Griffonia simplicifolia seed powder
and two Macuna pruriens seeds to boost serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, which increase potency. Three
tablespoons of Coca leaf powder and a handful of Sida rhombifolia leaf which are stimulants, also to increase potency.
A handful of Iboga leaves, six Datura innoxia seeds, fourteen Hawaiian woodrose seeds, a handful of Marijuana leaf,
a handful of Wild dagga leaf, a handful of Tagetes lucida leaf which I find add greatly to the visionary content of the
experience. Finally some raw sugar syrup was also added for taste.
Bill arrived at my house around six the next day; obviously strung out and still using meth. I knew that look anywhere.
We decided to go to his house for the brew. On the drive he told me that he had not slept for a week and was still using
heavily. He even tried to get me to go halves in some more meth with him but I refused. I told him the brew would
be more than enough and we would not have to pay. As he was broke, he agreed and seemed quite relieved actually.
We got back to his house and began to drink the medicine, sipping about half slowly over an hour to let our stomachs
absorb without purging.
At first the brew was affecting me much more, which was no surprise. However, Bill had not had any sleep and was no
doubt deficient in neurotransmitters. We decided to go outside into the night and enjoy a bush walk by the river near
his house. The mood was pleasant and cheerful and the night seemed inviting. Again we
talked about old times and caught up on what had been going on in our lives recently. Everything was going well. We got a fair way into the bush and Bill became exhausted; both
mentally and physically. Everything was becoming a little too much for him, so I pushed
him to go further. I felt he needed to go far beyond what he thought he was previously capable of. At this point, the mood had changed from pleasant to somewhat adversarial. Bill
was not happy to confront the dark side of what he had been doing, but I knew he needed
to. He was no danger to me and I would not let him be a danger to himself. Either way,
Bill just needed to be pushed, whether he liked it or not. I took him almost to the point of
break down; he just could not go any further so we decided to make the trip back. Which
reassured him somewhat and he found an extra gear to continue. As it always is, the trip
back was of course easier and we returned to his house within an hour or so.
The remaining half of the brew was finished after returning and we sat down for a long
talk. Bill began to become extremely paranoid and confused. For the next few hours he poured out his soul. Importantly, this was a cleansing of the crap he had been dealing with; getting all the darkness out into the open. This was
not a concern. The release needed to be accomplished even though a lot of it was directed at me. He took out a lot of
his pain and suffering on me which was accepted. I knew it was not personal; it was the meth coming out. Besides, I
was seeing some really cool psychedelic visions and just blocked out the crap. I was enjoying myself regardless. Soon
enough, he became exhausted of the shit that had been plaguing him, now he was not only physically and mentally
exhausted, but emotionally as well. From here we could rebuild.
From this point I decided it was time for me to speak. Bill needed to understand that things did not have to continue
the way that they had been for him. He had to know there is a better way. I went back through all the things he had
16
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been saying; showing him that although he thought he
was in control he was not. The meth had been controlling him and he needed to stop feeding the addiction.
Thus, cutting the toxic drug out of his life and all that it
brings; it was not serving him in anyway. Of course, Bill
knew all of this, but he needed to hear it from someone
who had been there and had seen the underbelly of the
party scene and the parasites that feed on it. Nevertheless, Bill had to hear the realities from someone that had
found a way out.
Soon after I became exhausted myself and we just sat
around; allowing the experience of the evening l to sink
in. At last we gave ourselves the time to integrate what
had been an extraordinary experience; going to hell and
back again. I drifted off into visions of other realms and
just let go of all the negativity we had to deal with. Why
stay in a dark place when there is so much beauty. There
was too much beauty we had decided, to stay in that
dark place. There was no longer any need to talk, just to
be.
Later my phone rang arousing me from my visions; my
girlfriend checking up on me. I asked her to come and
pick me up as Bill was asleep by now; getting his first
sleep for a week. I awoke the next day to a message from
Bill thanking me for the time and telling me that he felt
his soul had been cleansed. This made me happy as I
knew he had gotten what I had hoped he would from the
experience. He was resolved to finally leave the meth behind and get on with the beautiful things in his life. I know this
was only the first step for him which is not easy. Meth is an addictive mistress, but at least now he can see the way out
and wants that more than to stay where he was.
In the few months since this all happened we have caught up a few times and shared a few more brews, each time more
positive and enjoyable than the first. Bill has stayed away from the meth and his former friends still stuck in that place.
He has made real positive changes to his life, attitude and is well on the way to health along the medicine path. It was
the extra nudge that he needed. He has even started growing a San Pedro that I gave him. Even growing the plant has
become a healing and enjoyable experience. It is the least I could do, as I will never forget my friend many years ago
doing the same for me. We are here to help each other, despite the pressures of a dog eat dog world. Together, we can
find better ways.
About the author. Brett Lothian is an author, activist and amateur Ethno botanist. His work can be found online
at http://trichoseriousethnobotany.blogspot.com/
An Excerpt from Sacred Cacti
By K. Trout
The following is a small portion of the Lophophora williamsii entry in Sacred Cacti Third Edition. This book is not yet available but
we wanted to offer interested readers a taste of the good things to come.
The references mentioned in this work can be found in a free PDF at http://www.troutsnotes.com/sc/Ref_SC3_Trout.pdf.
www.dragibusmag.com
17
Chapter 4: The mescaline containing species
This particular material appears to represent a form of Coahuilan
L. williamsii that is in need of futher work; hopefully with an eye
for disentangling it from the mess currently surrounding the name
decipiens.
See Anderson and/or Benson and/or BrAvo.
See also more comments and illustrations under Lophophora
williamsii below.
Lophophora williamsii echinata sensu Weniger
wild plant in habitat
151
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Sacred Cacti 3rd ed.
Lophophora williamsii williamsii
wild plant in habitat in Jim Hogg County, Texas
152
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Chapter 4: The mescaline containing species
Lophophora williamsii growing east of Rio Grande City in Starr County, Texas
153
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Sacred Cacti 3rd ed.
Lophophora williamsii williamsii
wild plant in habitat in Jim Hogg County, Texas
Planchas like this but over a meter across have been reported.
Plant above is growing in association with cenizo Leucophyllum frutescens.
Although to some readers it may not seem like it, most references
in the body of literature surrounding peyote have been omitted.
The volume of papers and books written about peyote would
form a small library in and of itself and is long overdue for a
real bibliography. I have endeavored only to provide enough
material for interested readers to find the rest easily.
154
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Chapter 4: The mescaline containing species
Lophophora williamsii (Lemaire ex SaLm-Dyck)
couLter
Mescaline is present in highly variable amounts.
(0.1)-0.9-6.0-(6.3) % has been reported in dried plants
Commonly averaging 0.1-0.2 % in fresh.
Lophophora is known to mean “I bear crests” (in reference to the
hairy tufts) [from the Greek; lophos: “crest” and phoreo: “I carry”.
Pizzetti 1985]. See the lower right photo on the previous page.
The name williamsii is said to be in honor of C.H.Williams - a
former British ambassador to Bahia according to Hunt 2006.
rümPler (in Förster 1885) also commented that it was named
for C.H. Williams, who was said to have traveled in Bahia, Brazil.
The rationale underlying this name choice is presently unclear to
this author.
Croizat gave the name as Anhalonium williamsii. His description
of it as grey-green suggests he referred to Lophophora williamsii.
Rumpler mentioned that its country of origin was unknown to him.
This plant has been known under many names. It perhaps was
most commonly known as Anhalonium lewinii. There is evidence
that Anhalonium williamsii was at least sometimes the cactus now
known as Lophophora diffusa. See discussion and references under
L. diffusa, Anderson 1980, Bruhn & holmstedt 1974 or ott 1993.
Lophophora williamsii happily growing in Australia (from seed)
Common names used for or names applied to peyote
azee (’azee’) [14], ’azee’ diyiní [14a], ’azee’ yit’aalii [14b], ’azee’
ch’íidii [14c], bacánoc [37], the bad seed [27] (an erroneous name),
bee-sugar [33], beyo [17], biisung [1, 7], biote [37], biznaga [43],
cactus [27], cactus buttons [27], cactus-pudding, camaba [37],
challote (a trade name in Starr County, Texas), chaute, chief [27],
chiee [37], ciguri [37], devil’s root, diabolic root, the divine cactus,
divine herb [37], dream buttons [46], dry whisky, dumpling cactus,
foutouri [8, metaphorical name meaning “flower”], gicuri [21],
green whiskey [27], hahaayanx [2], hicoli [21], hicore, hícori [8],
hícouri [8], hículi [37], hícuri [8], híkoli [21], híkori [21], híkuli
[8, 21], híkuri [8], hikúri [37], hi-kuri [51], hi-kuri waname [51],
ho [13], hos [13], ho-as [11], hoos [36], ho-se [11], houanamé [21],
houatari [6], houtari [6], huaname [21], huatari [6], huñka [25], hus
[35], icuri [37], indian dope, jícoli [21], jícori [8], jículi [37], jicuri
[21], jicurite [37], jíkuli, jikuli [55], jíkuri [21], joutori [21], kamaba
[22], kamba [22], kóp [5], likuri [45], L.S.D. cactus [29], makan
[1, 15], medicine, medicine of God [37], medizin [37], mescal,
mescal bean [32], mescal button, mescale, (all names including
‘mesc-’ or variants are erroneous), mescalito [27], mezcal buttons
[37], moon [27], Mr. William’s Echinocactus [54], muscale buttons
[41], natáinoni [1, 9], naw-tai-no-nee [1, 9], nesac’ [24], nezats [24],
nicouri [30], nonc-gáien [23], o-jay-bee-kee [1, 17], ololiuqui (An
erroneous name), P [27], pajé [3], pee-yot [9. Now also means
“medicine”], Peiotl, Peodi [47], peote, pejori [16], pejote, pejuta
[1, 37a], pellote, peotl [37], peyiotl [44], peyori [18], peyot, péyotl,
peyotlkaktus [37], peyotlevye (?) [52], péyotl xochimilicensis
[42], péyotl zacatecensis [40], peyotyl [49], pezote, piote, piotl,
piule (An erroneous name), pi.yot [9], raíz diabólica (By ortegA),
Rauschgiftkaktus [37], the sacred mushroom [28] (An erroneous
name), Schnapskopf [31], sei [10], seni [10], señi [37], sugar [33],
teocomitl ahuitzyo [26], teonanacatl [28] (An erroneous name),
topi [27], tuna de tierra, turnip cactus, ubadama [34], uocoui [37],
walena [1, 20], waname [51], wanamo [51], wanamu [51], watara
[6], whiskey barrel cactus [38], whiskey cactus, whiskey root, white
mule, William’s aloëcactus [53], William’s Echinocactus [54],
wo-co-wist [4], wohoki [4], wokow [4], wokowi [4], wokwi [4],
the wonderful herb [50], woqui [4], xícori [8], xwucdjuyahi [12],
xucladjin-dei [36], xucladjinłndei [39]
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1. Pre-peyote word meaning “Medicine”, currently used to designate
Lophophora williamsii.
2. Arapaho
3. Coahuilteco
4. Comanche (wokwi and wokowi were said by mooney to be
generic terms for cacti. steWArt similarly gives w gwe i-a as a
word for ‘cactus’.)
5. Comecrudo or Carrizo of Tamaulipas
6. Cora of the Tepic Mountains [rätsch 1998 also gives “chiee”
as a Cora name for peyote]
7. Delaware
8. Huichols of Jalisco (and Nayarit)
9. Kickapoo
14c. Navajo name meaning “Ghost medicine” ; derogatory name
is used by nonpeyotists. Translated as “Devil medicine” in 1940
Tribal Council hearings. [See Note 10]
15. Omaha
16. Opata
17. Otomi
18. Pima of the Gila River region.
19. Shawnee
20. Taos
21. Tarahumare of Chihuahua
22. Tepehuane of Durango [rätsch 1998 spells “camaba”]
23. Tonkawa of southern Texas
24. Wichita of Oklahoma
Lophophora williamsii grown through grafting
Lophophora williamsii growing wild in South Texas
10. Kiowa (Sei is said by Mooney to be generic for all cacti
originating as an older name for prickly pear cacti.)
11. Kiowa Apache
12. Lipan (meaning “pricker one eats”)
13. Mescalero Apaches
14. Navaho (The word ’azee’ means medicine and is used by
traditional Navajos to refer to any medicinal substance or
material used in a curing ceremony)
14a. Navajo name meaning “Holy medicine”
14b. Navajo name meaning “chewing medicine”; name is used by
nonpeyotists
25. Winnebago of South Dakota (“The Father Peyote”)
26. Said to have been used by the ancient Aztecs; schultes 1937b
cited mArtinez 1928
27. Said to be names used by drug users in the late 1970’s, by
Anderson 1980 and/or listed as a street name by mArnell (ed)
1997. The latter also gives “buttons” and “tops” as names for
the drug.
28. This is in error but is still occasionally encountered in literature,
probably originating with William E. Safford’s mistaken
proposal, (among other places in sAFFord 1916a) that the identity
of Teonanacatl, the sacred mushrooms, (at that time not yet
rediscovered by Western scholars since the persecution of the
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Chapter 4: The mescaline containing species
Catholic Church had driven their use to exist only in secrecy),
was in fact dried peyote buttons.
Safford’s reasoning was that, despite peyote and mushrooms being
mentioned separately as two obviously different plants, the latter
specifically said to be a fungus, they were probably confused by a
writer who had never seen the fresh plants [Note 12].
29. Given as a synonym in roWley 1978. Rowley is the only one
I know of who has ever used this name.
30. Said by Anonymous 1959 to be used by “the Huichols of Jalisco
and the Tarahumares of Chihuahua.”
31. rAuh 1978
32. This name actually belongs to the seeds of Sophora secundiflora,
a small leguminous shrub or tree.
Confusion on this point is widely encountered.
Contrary to some popular assertions, the origins of
the word mescal have nothing to do with this plant.
Two separate theories have arisen as to how the ‘red bean’, as it
has usually been called, came to be called the ‘mescal bean’, in
one version it was used as an additive to increase the strength of
mescal, the other has it arising from a separate etymological origin.
Mooney’s assertion that the Mescalero Apaches derived their
name from mescal (due to their use of peyote) is pointed out by
LaBarre and others to be in error as the Mescaleros were known
by this name long before they became aware of peyote or began
to use it.
33. Said by LaBarre to have been the names used by John Wilson
(Caddo-Delaware),
34. Japanese name for peyote: FujitA et al. 1972.
ペヨーテ
35. Given as a name for peyote by steWArt 1987, page 360, in entry
63. Origin is not clear in his note.
36. Given as names used by ‘Apaches’ (Mescalero?). xucladjin-dei
is said to be an aboriginal name that has fallen into disuse. Boyer
et al. 1968 [in hArner (ed.) 1973]
37. Listed as names by rätsch 1998: page 327.
rätsch listed many other names that are also in this list. I made
note only when his list contained names that were not already
included.
37a. Said to be a Dakota word for medicine.
38. Given as the common name by schneck.
39. xucladjinłndei is given in cAstetter & oPler 1936 as the name
used by the Mescalero Apache meaning “cactus which they eat”.
40. Name used by Francisco Hernandez and its first binomial.
41. Erroneous name encountered in some of the early literature.
42. Another name used by Hernandez; thought by Anderson 1980
to refer, instead, to Cacavalia cordifolia.
43. Word meaning “carrot”: a generic term used for many cacti.
44. Word used in a French language publication by Benzi 1969.
45. Word given as a Huichol name. evAns 1979.
46. Name used in a 1941 New York Sunday News article
47. Name used in a 1938 Gardenerville Record-Courier (Nevada)
article
49. Spelling sometimes appearing in Bulletin on Narcotics articles
50. Name used by hoeBel 1950
51. Names given in thord-grey Tarahumara-English Dictionary
52. Russian version of A. Gottlieb’s book has title “Peyotlevye
Kaktusy”
53: Name given in rümPler 1886
54: Name given in hooker 1847
55: Name given in de Félice 1936
Common names above were collected from many sources,
the list above being far from complete. Most are included by
SchuLteS 1937b. Some are simply different spellings (orthographic
renderings) of the same name by people from different linguistic
backgrounds. Names with no reference given were encountered in
multiple sources and usually had no locale of usage attributed to
them (most are English or Spanish).
Peyote is the name that is most frequently used by tribes in the
United States and by some in Mexico. Its origin is not clear and
various explanations have been proposed. (See schultes 1937b
above, lABArre 1989 and Anderson 1980 for good discussions.
Peiotl is the name used by Fr. Bernadino de Sahagún when
describing its use by the Mexican Chichimeca Indians in 1560.
Erronous names were a result of confusion with morning-glory,
psilocybin mushrooms or, in the very first example (the “Bad Seed”),
possibly Datura.
Atropa belladonna fruit is also called “Moon” (or “Moon pods”) in
street vernacular and it is unclear if this drug parlance misnomer is a
result of a similar state of confusion or if it is in reference to peyote’s
association with moon rites. I have encountered ground Datura
stramonium seeds being sold as dried peyote; during the 1970’s
[Note 11]. Sacramental drugs do not belong in the black-market.
Names equating peyote with alcohol or other drugs are usually
derogatory and were generally coined by opponents who
were ignorant concerning its actual effects and/or had specific
depreciatory intent.
A number of names appear as purported street names for peyote:
Bad seed, Britton, Half moon, Hikori, Hikuli, Hyatari, Nubs, P,
Seni, Tops, Topi. It might be questioned how widely peyote has
actually been available as a street drug under any of these names.
indiAnA Prevention resource center 2008
wild Lophophora williamsii in Wiricuta
Photo by Hjeran
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Lophophora williamsii echinata sensu Weniger in habitat
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Chapter 4: The mescaline containing species
Other names encountered in connection with Peyote
Chiculi hualala saeliami: Said by A.V. Frič to be the name used
by the Tarahumara for the rare red flowered peyote he encountered
in the Sierra Bola, near San Pedro, Coahuila. [Believed to be the
plants much later named Lophophora fricii]. Frič believed this plant
to be that referred to as “Híkuli walula saelíame”.
Ear-eating: Said by lABArre to be a term used by some Anadarko
Delaware for peyote eating.
Grandfather or Grandfather Peyote: Sometimes used to speak
in reverence of the plant. Often used to refer to a large consecrated
peyote that is kept in a prominent and sacred place during the peyote
ceremony. (frequently referred to as the ‘chief peyote ’.) Normally
it is never eaten. So far, only one reference to them actually being
eaten was encountered. This was in an African-American peyote
church that once existed. [see smith 1934.] steWArt 1987 includes
Voget’s mention of a Montana Crow stating that he thought the Chief
Peyote could be eaten but did not know of any instance.
Hogimá: A Shawnee name for the “peyote chief” (a special button
or plant which is used in ceremony, also as a fetish or for power
acquisition but rarely if ever eaten.)
Hatzimouika: Huichol tutelary deity for peyote (female).
Híkuli walúla sälíami: Hikuli of great authority. An especially
large peyote surrounded by smaller plants, viewed by the Tarahumari
as its servants. Special reverence is paid to these plants in deference
to their peyote deity (male). [see lumholtz 1902] Possibly the same
as thord-grey’s Hi-kuri waru-ra seriame. Said to be the most
powerful peyote and to grow buttons up to 12 inches in diameter.
Thord-Grey suspected it was a mythical plant.
Hi-kuri owa-me: “Peyote medicine” peyote prepared as drink
by Tarahumara shaman [thord-grey], owa-me is the Tarahumara
word meaning “medicine”
Hi-kuri waname: [thord-grey], [Also given as Híkuli wanamé
“The Superior Peyote” by later authors] Tarahumara name thought
to refer to an especially powerful peyote but it is also thought by
others to refer to a Mammillaria or another cacti. [also encountered
as Híkuli houanamé; Híkurí-íkuríwa is thought to mean the same.]
Hi-kuri wikara-re: Peyote song (Tarahumara)
Mother Hurimoa: Thought to refer to the Cora peyote goddess.
Seimayi: Kiowa peyote goddess (meaning “Peyote woman”)
Rhaïtoumuanitarihua-hicouri: Huichol differentiation of one of
two “kinds” of peyote; this one is thought to have less physiological
effects. Meaning “Peyotl of the Goddesses”
Tzinouritehua-hicouri: Huichol differentiation of one of two
“kinds” of peyote; this one is thought to be more active and more
bitter. Meaning “Peyotl of the Gods”
According to ABerle the following three Navajo terms are used
in ceremonies to refer to the peyote
ni’iln’íí’ sizínii “that which stands in the middle of the earth”
yak’ashbąąh doo bínii ’ohí “nothing is hidden from it from
horizon to horizon”
nihook’eh doo bínii’oh “nothing is hidden from it (even) in a
storage crypt”
Many other cacti are equated with peyote or held in similarly
high regard. None are known to contain proven hallucinogenic
substances unless at exceedingly trace levels. See Bye 1979,
Bruhn 1973, Bruhn & Bruhn 1973, lABArre 1989, schultes
& hoFmAnn 1980, M.S.smith 1998 & M.S.smith 2000 for
ethnobotanical information on other cactus species thought to
be potentially active.
Mescal [Note 13] is a drink prepared from Agave species. It
arises from the Náhuatl word Mexcalli; for the Agave which is
used to make the alcoholic drinks pulque and the mescal which
was distilled from the plant after the Spanish invasion. Mescal
buttons as used for peyote arises from early confusion of the
effects of peyote with that of alcohol. As ott 1993 points out,
in Europe they certainly had nothing else they could describe it
in terms of, and many of the early common names used equated
its action with alcohol, such as ‘Dry whisky’, ‘Whisky cactus’,
‘Whiskey root’ or ‘White mule’, a post Civil War name for the
plant, which Ott mentions refers to ‘moonshine’ or home-made
liquor [Note 14]. Similarly, Rauh’s word: ‘Schnapskopf’ means
‘liquor head’.
schultes 1937b accurately points out that many native
users resent the use of the name mescal, as the associations
with alcohol and its attendent evils are totally inaccurate. He
also mentions that most of peyote’s opponents have objected
to its use due to a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of
its effects based on the mistaken presumption that they were
similar to alcohol. [Similarly have been presented, by its
opponents, the absurd notions that it was variously marijuana,
cocaine or opium-like]
It should be suspected that use of the name “LSD cactus” was
intended to similarly cast undeservedly perjorative connotations
by linking the cactus to the wild oversensationalism and
demonification of LSD by the press. Whoever coined the word
obviously had no experience with either peyote or LSD.
Mescaline is ‘LSD-like’ only in the same sense that beer is
‘whisky-like’ or opium is ‘heroin-like’; perhaps even less so.
While there may be some underlying truth on a generalized
and superficial level, this is a deliberate mischaracterization
certain to cause a gross misunderstanding of its effects by the
uninitiated.
Numerous other plants are also called peyote or by the local native
name used for peyote. Some are cacti but many are not. None are
known to be hallucinogenic but many are toxic. Not all are active
or even used by people for any purpose. Good discussions or a
listing: See Bye 1979, Bruhn 1973, Bruhn & Bruhn 1973, ott
1993, lABArre 1989, ochoterenA 1926, rätsch 1998, schultes
1937a & 1937b, slotkin 1955 & smith 1998/2000.
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Folk uses of Lophophora williamsii
Occurrence and distribution
Peyote’s sacramental history is of extreme age. Archeologically
we cannot know for certain how long it has been used ritually &
gathered by humans in Texas; only tht it has been occurring for at
least some thousands of years. (A similar age in Mexico according
to dAvis 1997)
Sahagún, writing in the 16th century, thought it had, at that time,
been in active use for at least 1800 years. Since Aztec manuscripts
were systematically destroyed soon after the invasion it is not clear
how he arrived at this figure.
The archaeological record indicates that Peyote has been collected
and used by native people inTexas & northern Mexico for more than
5000 years. terry et al. 2006
It is widely employed as a curative and panaceae.
Often ingested but frequently regarded as a magical charm or
amulet.
Peyote grows isolated or in groups. It is usually found in
calcareous deserts, on rocky slopes of low hills, ridges, alluvial
fans, flats or in dried river beds.
Often they are found in limestone, flaky limestone or partly
limestone soils; on slopes of small hills, especially if overlying rocks
are caliche [or, in some cases, white volcanic ash.] Also, found in
gravel or stony soils. morgAn 1983 found populations to be more
abundant on east and south facing slopes.
A partial list of uses by Indigenous people:
aches (eaten)
antiseptic decoction
arrow wounds (powder used
to clean and to pack)
blindness
breast pains
bruises (decoction topically
applied)
childbirth
Considered a cleaning and
healing medicine.
colds
consumption (ie tuberculosis)
counter witchcraft
cramps
cuts
diabetes
endurance (used by “the
auxiliary forces of the
conquistadores, in order
not to feel fatigue on their
marches”)
fainting spells
fever
fractures (decoction topically
applied)
grippe
headache
healing wash
to “Hear” approaching
enemies
hemorrhages (as powder)
hiccoughs
infections
influenza
intestinal ills
joint pain (topical)
pains (eaten)
panacea
paralysis
pneumonia (eaten)
protection (physical, health
& spiritual)
pulmonary troubles in general
rheumatism (topical or eaten)
rubbed on knees to give strength
in walking
scarlet fever
scorpion stings
skin diseases
snake-bite (as poultice)
sores (as poultice)
To rid mind of spells and
supernatural dangers
spasms
stimulant used during games and
races
swooning
tonic (Acazee used it during ball
games)
“tonic aperitif.” (according to
Mooney)
toothache
tuberculosis (eaten)
venereal diseases
witchcraft (to protect against or to
dispell)
wounds (packed into; especially if
large and open) Applied as dry
powder to deep wounds
“...eaten at death-feasts to fortify
the living against death”
See lABArre or Prieto or schultes
1940 for references and more
details.
Lophophora williamsii
grown in Texas from European seed
It occurs in limestone deserts and, often dense, thorny desert scrub,
From 50 meters to nearly 1850 m in the state of San Luis Potosí.
Anderson 1980
Occurrences along the Rio Grande near Reynosa, Taumaulipas
are less than 50 m while occurrences in San Luis Potosí exceed
1800 m. Anderson 1969;
Below 3000 ft. (1,000 m) usually. lAmB & lAmB 1974;
At 150-1200 ft. (50-400 m) Benson 1982
Peyote occurs in many soil types. These are usually limestone but
may be rocky or even gravely. Soil types in Texas, discussed by
morgAn 1983, include: Catarina-Copita, Copita, Jimenez-Quemado,
Zapata (caliche soils), Maverick and Garceno. “All tend towards
upland shallow to moderately deep, calcareous, clayey loams.”
lABArre notes that in the northern portion of its range it occurs
in primarily calcareous and argillaceous soils of the Cretaceous
formations.
Widely distributed in Chihuahuan Desert and Tamaulipan
Brushland of the Rio Grande Plain, of Texas, also south of Shafter,
and, prior to its damming, at the mouth of the Pecos River, and
from Laredo southeastward to McAllen. (almost to Brownsville
[Anderson 1995])
In Texas; originally near the Rio Grande from highly localized
spots in Presidio through Starr Counties, as far south as the edge of
far western Hildago Co. (they have been reported near Brownsville
but this is clearly in error, see fig. 97, page 84 in Britton & rose
1922 which seems to use that as the closest known landmark), and
eastward into part of Jim Hogg Co. It was once so abundant in Starr
county that portion of the Bordas Escarpment has been referred to
as The Peyote Gardens (leading some authors to assume cultivation
occurred there). Prior to that a portion was a porcione (a Spanish
land grant) named El Peyote. The vast majority of Starr County has
been cleared at least once.
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Shamanistic Artwork of the Americas
Words and Photos by Steve Rudd
Additional Photos by D. Grace
Located in Atlanta, Georgia, Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum recently
featured an exhibit on shamanistic artwork and the visionary experience. ‘For I am the
Black Jaguar’: Shamanic Visionary Experience in Ancient American Art features works
that capture that visionary experience. The title of the exhibit is based on a quote from
a Taulipang shaman of northern Brazil, “Call upon me for I am the black jaguar…I
drive away the illness…” The pieces showcase the many elements of trance consciousness, including the shaman “transforming into an animal such as a powerful black
jaguar, an enormous whale shark, a predatory owl, or a venomous rattlesnake. Animal
selves and spirit companions are considered to be guides to the shaman in caring for his or her community, the animals’ powers
augmenting the shaman’s innate healing abilities.” The following quotes and images are from the exhibit.
“Although the small figure makes no overt reference to the vine pattern,
her body is dramatically twisted, possibly from scoliosis. In the ancient
Americas, an unusual body that mimicked that of an animal-self or conceivably a sacred plant form was often elevated as a spiritual marking.
‘Disabilities’ were often considered divine.”
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“Music and movement not only
delineate the sacred time and space
of ceremony, but they induce trance
itself, creating the same brain wave
patterns as deep meditation or
consuming sacred plants.”
Top Right: A collection
of flutes and whistles used
during shamanic ceremonies.
Left: A pair of shaman ear
plugs.
Bottom Left: Mask exhibiting features of both life and
death.
Bottom Right: A shaman vessel and statue featuring shamans in a
trance position.
Opposite Page: Ayahuasca
vessels and a small twisted
figure statue. Notice the
twisting vines and jaguar
markings.
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“Animals can also be shown with a head at each end, as in the caiman figure atop the large incense burner from ancient Costa Rica
(opposite page). Incense was burned to signal the beginning of
rituals and can act as a trigger for trance. Thus, the type of biceAbove: Flute in the shape of a Jaguar
Shaman seated on his two headed bench.
phalic beings one is prone to see during the ritual were logically
placed on the object that invoked them. The smoke would gather Above Right: Two-headed shaman incense
burner.
in the vessel and billow out the holes located below and in this dual
figure, giving an ethereal, wavering look - as if one were already on Opposite Page (Clockwise): Jaguar
Vessels, Two-headed crocodile incense
the Other Side. Its zigzag emanations swirling out from each head burner, Vessels and statues for coca
add more intentionally bizarre elements often included in visionary shamans (notice the puffed up cheeks),
and a shamans tray with praying mantis
depictions - showing energy, power, perhaps the arresting sound of design.
crocodiles bellowing. Eight eyes, two on each head and two on each
emanation, represent otherworldly sight and multiplying effect typical of visionary perception.”
Book Review
Spiritual Growth with Entheogens:
Psychoactive Sacramentals and Human Transformation
Review by Casi Witherite
Spiritual Growth with Entheogens: Psychoactive Sacramentals and Human Transformation
contributes continued research to an often misunderstood and questionable field of study.
More than twenty-five spiritual leaders, scientists, and psychedelic visionaries contribute
to various spiritual encounters through the guided use of entheogens. In addition, this
book includes personal accounts of Walter Pahnke’s Good Friday Experiment as well as a
twenty five year follow-up with its participants.
The contributors share personal experiences and weigh in on ceremonial use of psychedelics, psychoactive sacraments in the bible, and myths surrounding the use of LSD. It
reveals entheogens as catalysts for spiritual development and direct encounters with the
sacred. The two dozen essays in this book examine the safe use of entheogens for humans
in order to seek the higher power of his or her purpose in the universe. Further, Spiritual Growth with Entheogens attempts to give perspective and expand the reader’s consciousness without being overly assertive. It
attempts to advance the common cultural view of psychedelic drugs for a higher purpose. In conclusion, anyone who values the
potential of entheogens and would like to expand their knowledge on this topic should add this book to their collection.
About the Editor: Thomas B. Roberts, Ph.D., is professor emeritus at Northern Illinois University and a former visiting scientist at
Johns Hopkins. The coeditor of Psychedelic Medicine and the author of Psychedelic Horizons, he has spoken at international conferences on entheogens, consciousness, and psychedelic science.
Thomas B. Roberts, Editor, Spiritual Growth with Entheogens: Psychoactive Sacramentals and Human Transformation (Rochester,
N.Y.: Park Street Press, 2012; paperback, reissue of the hardcover edition of 2001, with an altered title and a new foreword).
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