Psychedelic Chavín culture
 

in Chavín culture, we have "a wealth of circumstantial evidence relating to altered states of consciousness" (389)
 
the San Pedro cactus, native to the region, is used to make Huachuma, a "mescaline-based infusion"
 
vilca leaves, also native to the region, "contain a powerful hallucinogen. Released when the leaves are ground up and snorted, it induces a gush of mucus from the nose, as faithfully depicted on sculpted heads that line the walls of Chavin's major temples"

>from David Graeber and David Wengrow's Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021)

> tagged with #psychedelia, #south_america, #prehistory, #hallucinations, #drugs

> created December 16, 2025 at 1:17:13 PM


> part of unfinished everything


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