The Peyote Way: Desert Wisdom & The Red Road 🌵

The deliberate, but unhurried growth habits & impressive resilience of the peyote cactus is perfectly aligned with the message it shares — that true understanding & knowledge are acquired over time.

Aug 10, 2023

Peyote is a plant. Peyote is a medicine. Peyote is a religion. Peyote is a way of life.

This ancient and revered cactus grows slowly and steadily in the desert — slow is the medicine, and slow are its teachings.

So, if you're looking for a straightforward 'guide to peyote' or a quick how-to for peyote ceremonies, in kind with the mysterious ways of the medicine itself, there isn't one. There can't be.

Peyote is a medicine of many teachings; it teaches humility, diligence, and perseverance. It teaches commitment, courage, and surrender. Peyote teaches gratitude and love.

What is Peyote?

Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a species of cactus found in the Southern United States and Mexico.

It’s a very unassuming cactus — it’s small, has no spines, and doesn’t grow much larger than a pin cushion. A single peyote cactus is referred to as a “button.”

Despite its humble appearance, the peyote cactus contains the highest concentration of mescaline of any other cactus at around 3–6% of the dried weight.

Peyote grows exceptionally slowly — taking between 10 and 15 years to reach maturity. The average user requires several buttons of peyote cactus for a single dose. An experienced peyote user may take as many as 15 or 20 buttons at a time.

According to some traditions, peyote is curative with various topical medicinal properties used to treat aches, bites, bruises, burns, and scratches. For this reason, peyote can be found in gels, salves, pastes, and creams that can be spread on the skin to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.

The Huichol (Wixárika) people ingest peyote orally in small doses. This is said to have an analgesic effect that can dull headaches and relieve minor aches and pains.

In its most infamous use, the cactus is considered a sacrament and medicine that helps the user release spiritual or energetic traumas.

The History of Peyote

This isn’t the first article about the holy peyote cactus and the exceptional states of consciousness it produces written by a white person; that was Friar Bernandino de Sahagún in the 16th century. And since then, much has been misconstrued about the mysterious ways of peyote medicine, since often the unknown provokes fear.

Peyote medicine and the peyote ceremony have been under scrutiny for a long time, simply for being unknown by those in power.

Peyote shares a similar history with other psychedelic and entheogenic friends, like psilocybin mushrooms which have historical mention in ritual use from as far back as 3000 BC and appeared in psychedelic artwork as far back as 10,000 years ago.

And cannabis — the real veteran of the group — is noted for its existence almost 12,000 years ago.

Although peyote is ascribed to an entirely different way of life than psychedelic mushrooms or marijuana, all three are naturally occurring organisms with psychoactive effects and rich medicinal properties.

Each of these medicines has been misunderstood and, as a result, criticized, discredited, and even outlawed. Yet, each also offers users the chance to explore altered states of consciousness and can lead to a stronger sense of self and a sense of connection to what the Lakota people call Wakan Tanka, or The Great Mystery, the divine spirit.

The Peyote Ban

As early as the 1880s, the United States government made attempts to ban the peyote plant and the affiliated peyote meetings. This is ironic, considering that the psychoactive cactus has been around for centuries, with carbon dating back to almost 4000 BC — significantly longer than the United States has been an independent nation or even a concept.

Peyote dates back to the indigenous Huichol tribes of Mexico, who were ever on the peyote hunt. For almost 20 centuries, it's been revered for its medicinal uses. During the last two centuries, the plant spread to what is known today as the Southwestern United States, the home of Southern Plains Indians.

The wise peyote has been sitting patiently in the desserts for much longer, though. Mescaline, the active psychedelic ingredient found inside peyote, was identified in radiocarbon dating samples as far back as 5,700 years ago.

Peyote Travels North

Many accounts suggest that the peyote cactus originated in modern-day Mexico during the times of the Aztecs, then made its way north to the Plains Indians.

If that's true, it happened in curiously aligned timing. Given the complexity of the period and the Native American Genocide, it's plausible that the grand intelligence of the peyote plant helped it make the migration north; it's plausible that the mystical nature of mescaline came to provide strength, guidance, solace, spiritual enlightenment, reinstitution of faith, and much more to the indigenous people during a time of despair and atrocity.

Sadly, the puritanical ways of the United States at the time only served to further annihilate the chance for this curative medicine to reach the people, bring them together, or offer its healing qualities, physically and spiritually.

What is a Peyote Ceremony?

A peyote ceremony, more commonly known as a peyote meeting, is a prayer.

In oversimplified terms, it's a gathering of people to eat peyote. What happens in a peyote meeting, as with most hallucinogens, defies explanation, and happens in otherworldly places and other realms of time and space.

There are many ways to take peyote. Many ideas, belief systems, traditions, and practices have emerged from peyote medicine, a medicine of the heart.

Within a single school of thought, the traditions of a peyote meeting can vary from one roadman to another and even from one meeting to another.

According to some traditions, there are right and wrong ways, policies and procedures, and strict rules to follow. For others, as long as there is respect, there is no 'wrong way.'

Psychospiritual Implications

Although in Western philosophy we tend to believe the world and its workings follow a consecutive timeline, the Native Americans view the unfolding of time and events in a circular way.

The energy of give and take, often referred to as ‘karma’ in the modern world, or ‘reciprocity’ to the natives, is not always so straightforward. For this reason, it’s often considered that the peyote meeting is the culmination and the answer to the prayers, rather than the inception of the prayer being called in.

From the perspective of the reciprocal nature of the universe, the prayer is simultaneously happening, being answered, and the path ahead unfolding, all in the same moment. Pair this with the time-warping side effects of hallucinogens, throwing off the bodily circadian rhythm with an all-night ceremony, and being inside a tipi without a clear sense of what ‘time’ it is, and you’ve got the recipe for a powerful vortex of change that has effects down to the cellular level.

Needless to say, a peyote meeting can be a powerful driver of shift and change in human consciousness. Peyote can help relatives tap into the ancient connection to the cyclic nature of the universe and their integral role within it.

Many of those who walk the red road and take the journey of peyote medicine claim to feel profoundly impacted by the experience — heart, mind, and spirit.

Peyote Needs Help

The rising interest in psychedelics and the emergence of psychotourism industries in Mexico have led to a dramatic disappearance of the glacially slow-growing peyote cactus from its natural habitat.

Groups such as the Native American Church have been working hard over the past several decades to protect this important sacrament — but as psychedelics continue to grow in popularity, more unethical and illegal harvesting is bound to occur.

Here are a few ways you can help:

1. Support Peyote Conservation Organizations

The best way to help protect peyote is to support an organization dedicated to its conservation. We recommend orgs such as the Wirikuta Preservation Project, PeyoteWay.org, or the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative.

2. Grow Your Own Peyote

You can find peyote plants or seeds for sale from places like Sacred Buttons or Smart Seeds Emporium.

In (most) of the US, peyote plants are legal — it’s only the dried powder or pure mescaline extracts that are illegal.

Peyote is surprisingly easy to grow at home. It thrives with a little bit of abuse — water very rarely, and make sure it’s getting blasted with as much direct sunlight as possible.

In more northern climates, you’ll definitely need to provide some artificial lighting during the winter months and keep it away from air conditioner vents or cool windowsills.

3. Use Synthetic Mescaline Instead

If you want to try mescaline — use mescaline — you don’t need to consume sacred cacti to experience the powerful psychedelic qualities of their active ingredient.

Mescaline is arguably one of the most underrated psychedelics available. This beautiful compound was even listed as one of Alexander Shulgins magical half-dozen — which was a list of his and his wife’s favorite psychedelics of all time.

Mescaline was the catalyst for many of the greatest thinkers of our time — Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Nick Sand, and numerous others.

Synthetic mescaline is relatively easy to make and can be created without damaging a single cactus.

4. Spread the Word

A lot of people using peyote don’t know the extent of the danger it’s in right now and may unknowingly contribute to its demise by ordering peyote powders online from unethical vendors.

By informing others about the delicate situation with peyote, we may be able to dissuade people from ordering this psychedelic from unscrupulous vendors or attending psychedelic retreats that haven’t found a sustainable source of this impressive medicine.

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Credits & Shoutouts:

Article by Jenne Marley
Artwork by Dikigiyat
Edited by Justin Cooke