Entheogenic drugs and the archaeological

record
Entheogenic drugs have been used by various groups for
thousands of years. There are numerous historical reports
as well as modern, contemporary reports of indigenous
groups using entheogens, chemical substances used in a
religious, shamanic, or spiritual context.[1]

Maya have religious texts that have survived to this day.

The Maya religion displays characteristic Mesoamerican
mythology, with a strong emphasis on an individual being a communicator between the physical world and the
spiritual world. Mushroom stone egies, dated to 1000
BCE, give evidence that mushrooms were at least revered
in a religious way.

Common era

The late Maya archaeologist, Dr Stephan F. de Borhegyi, (better known by his contemporaries as Borhegyi)
published the rst of several articles in which he proposed the existence of a Mesoamerican mushroom cult
in the Guatemalan highlands as early as 1000 B.C This
cult, which was associated from its beginnings with ritual human decapitation, a trophy head cult, warfare and
the Mesoamerican ballgame, appears to have had its origins along the Pacic coastal piedmont. Borhegyi developed this proposition after nding a signicant number
of small, mushroom-shaped sculptures in the collections
of the Guatemala National Museum and in numerous private collections in and around Guatemala City. While the
majority of these small stone sculptures were of indeterminate provenance, a sucient number had been found
during the course of archaeological investigations as to
permit him to determine approximate dates and to catalog
them stylistically (Borhegyi de, S.F., 1957b, Mushroom
Stones of Middle America, in Mushrooms, Russia and
History by Valentina P. Wasson and Robert G. Wasson,
eds. N.T.)

A Finnish study assayed psilocybin concentrations in old

herbarium specimens, and concluded that although psilocybin concentration decreased linearly over time, it was
relatively stable. They were able to detect the chemical in
specimens that were 115 years old.[2]

New World

The Maya, Olmecs, and Aztecs have well-documented

entheogenic complexes. North American cultures also
have a tradition of entheogens.

2.1

Olmec entheogens

The Olmec (12,000 BCE to 400 BCE) lived in Central

America and are largely viewed by many as the mother
culture of Aztecs and Maya. The Olmecs left no written
works on their belief structures, so many interpretations Quoting archaeologist Stephan F. de Borhegyi......
on Olmec beliefs are largely based on interpretations of
murals and artifacts. Archaeologists state three reasons
My assignment for the so-called mushfor believing that the Olmecs used entheogens:
room cult, earliest 1,000 B.C., is based on the
excavations of Kidder and Shook at the Ver1. Burials of Bufo Toads with priests
bena cemetery at Kaminaljuyu. The mushroom stone found in this Pre-Classic grave,
2. The use of entheogens in later Olmec-inspired culdiscovered in Mound E-III-3, has a circular
tures
groove on the cap. There are also a number of yet unpublished mushroom stone speci3. Sculptures of shamans and other gures have strong
mens in the Guatemalan Museum from HighTherianthropic imagery.
land Guatemala where the pottery association
would indicate that they are Pre-Classic. In
each case the mushroom stone fragments has
2.2 Maya
a circular groove on the top. Mushroom stones
The Maya (250 BCE to 900 CE) ourished in Central
found during the Classic and Post-Classic peAmerica and were prevalent even until the arrival of the
riods do not have circular grooves. This was
Spanish. The Maya religious tradition is extremely comthe basis on which I prepared the chart on
plex and very well-developed. Unlike the Olmec, the
mushroom stones which was then subsequently
1

4
published by the Wassons. Based on Carbon
14 dates and stratigraphy, some of these PreClassic nds can be dated as early as 1,000
B.C. The reference is in the following.....(see
Shook, E.M. & Kidder, A.V., 1952. Mound EIII-3, Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala; Contributions
to American Anthropology & History No. 53
from Publ. 596, Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. (letter from de Borhegyi to Dr.
Robert Ravicz, MPM archives December 1st
1960 )

WORLD RELIGIONS

hallucinatory drugs, Ego death). One image, in particular, shows a man who has formed into one common form
with a mushroom.
There are several Paleolithic sites that display therianthropic imagery. However, there is some debate as to
whether or not sites like Lascaux or Chauvet were entheogenically inspired.

4 World religions

There have been several reports stating that the Bible and
The most direct evidence of Maya entheogen use comes
the Vedas have several references to entheogenic drugs.
from modern descendents of the Maya who use entheogenic drugs today.

4.1 Manna and mushrooms

2.3

Aztec

2.4

Native Americans of the southwest

United States
4.2 Soma

Some researchers speculate that Manna, the food that the

Israeli tribes harvest, was actually an entheogenic drug.
The Aztec entheogenic complex is extremely well doc- The Bible as quoted in Exodus 16:14 reads:
umented. Through historical evidence, there is proof
that the Aztecs used several forms of psychoactive drugs.
And when the dew that lay was gone up, beThese drugs include Ololiuqui (the seed of Rivea corymhold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a
bosa), Teonancatl (translated as mushroom of the
small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on
gods, a psilocybe mushroom) and sinicuichi (a ower
the ground. And when the children of Israel
added to drinks). The Xochipilli statue, according to
saw it, they said one to another, It is manna:
R.G. Wasson, gives the identity of several entheogenic
for they wist not what it was. And Moses said
plants. Other evidence for entheogenic use of the Aztecs
unto them, This is the bread which the Lord
comes from the Florentine Codex, a series of 12 books
hath given you to eat.
vividly describing the use of entheogenic drugs within
Aztec culture and society.
Some point to the similarities of psilocybe and the biblical
description of manna as evidence.

There are several contemporary indigenous groups who Main article: Botanical identity of Soma-Haoma
use entheogens, most notably Native Americans of the
southwest United States. Various tribes from California
have been known to use strong alcoholic drinks as well as In regard to the Vedas, the religious texts of the Hindu
religion, there has been speculation on the nature of what
peyote to achieve visions and religious experiences.
Soma, the food of the gods, actually was. In the Vedas it
states:

3
3.1

Old World
Paleolithic

During the Paleolithic, there is ample evidence of drug

use as seen by preserved botanical remains and coprolites.
Some scholars had suggested that the Flower Burial in
Shanidar Cave, a Paleolithic site in Iraq, was evidence
of a shamanic death ritual, but more recent evidence and
analysis has contradicted that claim. The most direct evidence we have from the Paleolithic in terms of art comes
from Tassili, Algeria. From this region, there are several
therianthropic images portraying the painter and the animals around him as one (an often cited eect of many

Splendid by Law! declaring Law, truth

speaking, truthful in thy works, Enouncing
faith, King Soma!... O [Soma] Pavmana,
place me in that deathless, undecaying world
wherein the light of heaven is set, and everlasting lustre shines.... Make me immortal in that
realm where happiness and transports, where
joy and felicities combine...
Amateur mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson suggested
that soma is y agaric, a mushroom commonly used by
Siberian shamans, however, linguistic and ritual evidence
has established that haoma was most likely a variant of
Ephedra.

See also
List of Entheogens
Entheogenic use of cannabis

References

[1] Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology - JuremaPreta (Mimosa tenuiora [Willd.] Poir.): a review of its
traditional use, phytochemistry and pharmacology. scielo.br. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
[2] Ohenoja E, Jokiranta J, Mkinen T, Kaikkonen A,
Airaksinen MM. (1987). The occurrence of psilocybin
and psilocin in Finnish fungi. Journal of Natural Products 50 (4): 74144. doi:10.1021/np50052a030. PMID
3430170.

Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of Mexico and Central America, William Morrow (1990). ISBN 0688-11280-3.
Demarest, Arthur. Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall
of the Rainforest Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Dibble, Charles E., et al. (trans). Florentine
Codex: Book 11 - Earthly Things. The School of
American Research. Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1963.
Furst, P. T. (with contributions from Wasson and
others) 1972 Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of
Hallucinogens
Hofmann, Albert. Teonancatl and Ololiuqui, two
ancient magic drugs of Mexico. UNODC Bulletin
on Narcotics. Issue 1, pp. 314, 1971.
McKenna, Terence. Food of the Gods. (New York,
Harper Collins) p. 84.
Wasson, R. G., S. Kramrisch, J. Ott and C. A. P.
Ruck. (1986). Persephones Quest: Entheogens and
the Origins of Religion. ISBN 0-300-05266-9
Roberts, T. B. (editor) (2001). Psychoactive Sacramentals: Essays on Entheogens and Religion. San
Francosco: Council on Spiritual Practices.
Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (19952002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen
Chrestomathy. Online archive.
Roberts, T. B. Chemical InputReligious Output:
Entheogens. Chapter 10 in Where God and Science
Meet: Vol. 3: The Psychology of Religious Experience Robert McNamara (editor)(2006). Westport,
CT: Praeger/Greenwood.

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