cs also believed it protected them from all danger. Opposition to the use of peyote by the Aztecs was strong among the Spanish conquerors. One early Spanish church document linked eating the plant to cannibalism. The Spanish tried to eliminate the use of peyote because they saw the religious hold it had on the Indians. By 1720, the eating of peyote was prohibited throughout Mexico. Despite four centuries of persecution, the use and importance of peyote have spread beyond its early limited confines. Today it is so strongly anchored in native lore that even Christianized Indians believe that a patron saint walks the hills where peyote grows.The effects of peyote 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 colored visions. Hallucinations of hearing, feeling, and taste often occur as well.The intoxication may be divided into two periods: one of contentment and extra sensitivity, followed by artificial calm and muscular sluggishness at which time the subject begins to pay less attention to his surroundings and increases his “meditation”. Before visions appear, there are flashes and disturbances in color, which are not explainable. The visions often follow a sequence from geometric figures to unfamiliar objects that vary with the individual. In addition to the hallucinogenic plants used by primitive peoples, numerous other species containing biodynamic principles are known to exist. Many are common household varieties like catnip, cinnamon, and ginger. No reliable studies have been made of the hallucinogenic properties of such plants. Some of the effects reported may have been imaginary; other reports may be outright hoaxes. Nevertheless, many of these plants do have a chemistry theoretically capable of producing hall...
