——— Peahures

Transforming the Past: Questioning the Future

Chris Hergesheimer, OP Contributor

 

na desert, seven hours north of the
| Mexican Capital, flanked by the bar-
ren high Sierra, exists for some a
spiritual homeland. In a desert, seven
hours south of the Texas/Mexican bor-
der, exists for some a great place to get
high. In a desert, an ancient pilgrimage is
colliding with increasing modernity and
tourism. We must tread carefully, my
friends. If not, in future times, those who
journey to this desert—above all else to
maintain their crucial ancient mytholo-
gies—may find it stripped clean of
peyote. They may find their complex cul-
tural universe crumbling around them.
Peyote, a small, bitter, green cactus,
which grows in the Mexican desert, has
been a naturally powerful source of
visions and healing to many indigenous
groups for centuries. In Mexico, the tradi-
tion is believed to go back 7,000 years.
The small, spineless cactus contains
mescaline, an effective hallucinogenic
when ingested in the right quantities.
However, is it simply a matter of quanti-
tye? Anyone entranced by the earliest
writings of Carlos Castenada can ingest a
peyote button if they try hard enough.
But what was Don Juan’s lesson from it
all? Simply, that one must undergo rigor-
ous training and ritual. One must seek the
answers to questions before he/she can
understand, even in the slightest, what a
material manifestation of power and wis-
dom the peyote really is.
Those who feel this way and who use
it ritually cannot separate peyote from cre-
ation and their existence. This gift, the

peyote, which according to legend was left
in the tracks where the sacred deer
walked, was given to them by a universal
power much greater than themselves. A
power that moves in and through all
things, sustaining life and keeping the bal-
ance.

The High Sierra, S.L. Potosi State,
Mexico

A Land Rover groans to life. It chokes out
exhaust as it precariously descends the
narrow road from the mountains and then
races into the heart of the desert.
Foreigners both young and old ride down
into the peyote fields, excited at the
prospect that they too might become con-
nected to this sacred place through
peyote. Beer bottles and garbage are seen

remains—their temples and artifacts.
When the key component of millennia of
tradition can be bought and sold in a nine-
dollar package deal, we must recognize a
growing problem. Perhaps our own soci-
ety’s de-contextualized and de-ritualized
view of this sacrament, in a world where
spiritual tradition is embedded in a ritual
we know little about, is at the root of this
problem.

After some hours, a peyote button,
half a century old, lies half eaten on the
sand. By 4pm the travelers are on their
way back up the crumbling road to the
mountain town. No night around the fire
watching spirits dance in the shadows was
had. No fasting. No singing or dancing.
There was no one to lead and guide them,

 

-

 

Me

in places along the road, mocking the
starkness of the hallucinatory landscape.
The light changes from bright to dim and
the rushing clouds cast spectre-like shad-
ows along the sand. An endless stretch of
desert glimmers beyond. The wind rushes
against their faces and the excitement
grows. The truck stops. Its passengers
flood out like ants into the surrounding
area to make their own search. The
drivers claim they can’t show any-
one where it grows—it’s
illegal—but if they take
you close by and you find
it for yourself, well, at
nine dollars a person
for the return journey
the
desert, it’s a lucrative

to and from

business opportuni-
ty that can’t be
missed.

One would think
that it would be in the
locals’ interest to pre-
serve traditions much in
the same way they attempt

to preserve their material

Peyote, a small, bitter, green cactus,
which grows in the Mexican desert, has
been a naturally powerful source of
visions and healing to many indigenous
Lroups for centuries.

oo

 

a

except a sly driver who claims
that he ate 12 in one go.
Little respect was given
and generally no signifi-
cant effects were
perceived by any who
had embarked on

 

this seven-hour enlightenment journey.
The power sits idle in their stomachs and
their minds. At the same time, as the sun
sinks towards the horizon in the desert
below, some 15 or 20 peyote buttons have
been severed from their earthly power
source to feed the whims and fancies of
anyone who pleases.

If the desire to eat peyote conflicts
with your thoughts about disturbing or
disrespecting a profound ritual, perhaps
you are feeling how you should. However,
if travels in Mexico bring you here
because the desire to try to step into a
world unimaginable is overwhelming, ride
a horse or walk down the desolate stone
road from the mountains so you feel the
pain of the journey. Eat nothing and
drink only water for at least a day before.
Have a fire and stay awake all night with
someone who can guide you and keep
watch over you, then stay another day.
Ponder the vastness of the universe, of
the earth, its people, and the power of
creation until you feel overwhelmed—
then at peace. Maybe this way the peyote
gives itself willingly. If you are truly ready
and it is willing, only you will know. What
is sacred to one may be profane to anoth-
er, but in my opinion, their sacred place is

not ours to transform.

 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

Mmm...Peyote buttons

havember 10/a0au