The Magical Mystery of Plants

Cacti

They have been used for thousands of years by the native peoples of the Americas. The Peyote cacti is probably the most well known of all hallucinogenic cacti and is the slowest growing cacti in the world, taking up to 10 years to grow to the size of a small apple. The peyote cactus has a religious significance to the Tarohumare, Huichol, and other Mexican Indians. The Tarahumare believe that when Father Sun left earth to dwell above, he left peyote, or hikuli, to cure man’s ills and woes. They also believe that the peyote sings and talks as it grows and when gathered it sings happily in its bag all the way home. The effects on the mind and body are so utterly unworldly and fantastic that it is easy to understand the native belief that the cactus must be the residence of spirit forces or a divinity. The most spectacular of the many effects is the kaleidoscopic play of rich, coloured visions.

An intoxicating drink called cimora is made from the San Pedro cactus. Short lengths of the stem, often sold in native markets, are sliced like loaves of bread and then boiled in water for several hours, sometimes with superstitious objects such as cemetery dust and powdered bones. Cimora is the basis of a folk healing ceremony that combines ancient indigenous ritual with Christian elements. The power of San Pedro is supposed to extend beyond medicine; it is said to guard the house like a dog and has the ability to whistle in such an unearthly manner that intruders run for their lives in terror.

Ayahuasca

It means “vine of the soul”, and is used by the shamans of the indigenous Western Amazonian tribes in religious and healing ceremonies. In addition to its hallucinogenic properties it is used for its healing properties as a purgative that cleanses the body of parasites and aids digestion. Yekwana medicine men mimic the roars of jaguars and Tukano Ayahuasca-takers sometimes experience nightmares of jaguar jaws swallowing them up or huge snakes slithering towards them and coiling around their bodies. Visions of brightly coloured snakes are seen climbing up and down the house posts. Shamans of the Conibo-Shipibo tribe acquire great snakes as personal possessions to defend themselves against these other worldly snakes.

Psychotropic

Plants are rich in alkaline substances such as nicotine and cocaine that produce a stimulant effect and may have helped people to endure their harsh lives. Until recently Australian Aborigines used the nicotine-rich plant pituri to help them endure desert travel without food. Andeans still chew coca leaves to help them work at high altitudes. In Pacific cultures where chewing betel nut is still widespread, it is seen more as a source of food and energy than as a drug. Some drugs do have real nutritional value. For example, 100 grams of coca leaf contains calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins A, B2 and E. Some scientists argue that in some particularly tough environments, people’s diets may have been so poor that they struggled to produce enough chemicals to help the brain function normally.

Today many psychtropics are chemicals that don’t occur in nature, such as LSD, ecstasy and angel dust, and are used for reasons that are totally at odds with the motives of tribal peoples. People of the modern world not only use drugs for the mind-altering effects and feelings of well-being; they may also look for the approval of their peers, the relief from the stresses of modern life or to rebel against the constraints of authority.