file:///C|/My%20Shared%20Folder/PEYOTE.TXT

THE PEYOTE RELIGION AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANSBy Patty YuenINTRODUCTIONThe use of Peyote has long been referred to as a cult "...which wefound springing into existence when old ways of life (of the AmericanIndian) are being destroyed by a powerful and technologically moreadvanced culture ..." thus also classifying it as a revitalizationmovement.Today, peyote use has become the most popular, and one of the mostdurable of all the religious movements created by American Indians as aresult of the suffering as the effects of domination by Americansociety. Peyote use (in the United States) has thus evolved into whatis more accurately described as a religion: a system of symbols whichproduces powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations byformulating conceptions of a general order of existence.The rite as it came to the United States was aboriginal in character,and had no hint of influence of any other religion. Today, the Peyotereligion can be characterized as the combination of beliefs tinged withChristianity and rituals which are distinctly Indian. The peyote cactusis central to the religion for its effects after ingestion and for itssymbolism. For them, the cactus is the basis for their communicationwith God, and their cure for all bodily and spiritual ailments--apalladium, power and panacea.In spite of opposition from traditional and Christian Indians, whooppose the cult fear and hate Peyote, and from the Indian Service,doctors, missionaries, and traders, the religion has been passed fromthe land of the ancient Aztec empire to the Mexican Indians, andbeginning in 1870's, spread to the United States, especially in thePlains, where nearly all groups use it. It is today one of the majorreligions of most Indians of the United States between the rockyMountains and the Mississippi, from the territories spanning fromNevada to Wisconson, and even up to Southern Canada and parts of theGreat Basin. The appeal of peyote is based upon the visions it induces,and its "medicine power," and its availability in doctoring isculturally based upon the aboriginal vision quest of the American

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Indians and the ideological premises of this quest.PEYOTEThe PlantPeyote, or Lophophora williamsii is a small, low-growing spinelesscactus, and ranges in shape from a turnip to carrot-shape. It does nothave branches or leaves, but has tufts of hair or fuzz which are saidto cause sore eyes or blindness. The flesh and roots are eaten bypeyotists. The rounded top surface, which alone appears above the soil(and which cut off and dried, popular method of preparation, becomesthe peyote-button) makes it difficult to find. It grows mainly in areasof Texas and Mexico, and was first discovered in 1560. It contains ninenarcotic alkaloids, the most important of which is mescaline, whichproduces profound sensory and psychic derangements, or hallucinationslasting about twenty-four hours. It is this property of the peyotewhich led the native American Indian to value and use it religiously.It is interesting to note that throughout the world, people use manysubstances to create special psychological states such as the opiates,marijuana, coca, alcohol, etc. These are often used in magicalcontexts, for instance, for divination, to create a trance, visions, ordreams. But peyote is the only substance known which is used to createa special psychological state in service of religious ends. Cultmembers face persecution and imprisonment in order to use peyote forreligious purposes. Another interesting point is that given the widerange of the plant genera in Eastern and Western worlds, why is it thatin America, the American Indians knew of some forty local species of hallucinogens, while the rest of the world had scarcely half a dozen.Physiology of Peyote IntoxicationPhysiologically, the most noted characteristics of peyote is itsproduction of visual hallucinations or color visions, as well as thederangements of olfactory, auditory, and touch senses. Typically, thefirst stage in the reaction to the ingestion of peyote is exhilaration(which may result in the allaying of hunger and thirst on the longpilgrimage to peyote land n order to obtain the drug, to give couragein war, and strength in dancing, and racing, etc.) which is produced bythe strychnine-like alkaloids, followed by the second stage,

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characterized by profound depression, nausea and wakefulness, mildanalgesia, and a sensation of fullness in the stomach or loss of appetite. If dosage continues, there may be active nauseam and afeeling of tightness in the chest, some muscular tetany (particularlyevident in the jaw muscles), and finally, under the influence of themorphine-like alkaloids,heightened sensitivity to nuances of sound,color form and texture. If dosage continues, b rilliant color visionsare produced with eyes open or closed. There are no ill after-effects,and peyote is not known to be habit-forming. It is in the latter stagewhere "running amok," witchcraft-suspicion, psychic fear-states,euphoria and feeling of brotherhood, partial anesthesia, the "sufferingto learn something" (characteristic of the Plains vision quest),hallucinations which teaches the worshiper sacred songs of peyote, and"learning" of painting and bead designs, symbolical birds and feathers,etc.Reasons for the Use of Peyote in Ritual Practice"For American Indians from the most ancient times, this experience(induced by peyote) of `medicine power' -- sought ...everywhere atleast by shamans or medicine men..." -- motivated American Indians toexplore a plant that resulted in such impressive experiences by theworshippers. The question arises, why are these characteristics of peyote so important to a religion? The visions are not critical to thepeyotist, as one may have been led to believe; in fact they are rare orabsent in a large percentage of cases, and even disvalued by manypeyotists, although welcomed by many others.What I found to believe that makes peyote so religiously important isthe feeling of personal significance of external and internal stimulithat hallucinogenics, in particular peyote, creates because thephysiological reactions occur in the person, subjectively. Each personis experiencing his own similar, but distinct reaction, and examininghis own thoughts, which cannot be exactly the same as the nextperson's. "Personal significance heightens the religious experience inthe peyote meeting because it supplies evident proof that something isbeing done to and for the human organism and it is felt as a power."This feeling of personal significance asks, "What does this mean forme?" For example, if the worshipper is ill, he will be able to ask hisown bodily sensations and the events of the meeting for anunderstanding of why he is ill and whether he is likely to get better.