When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico half a millennium ago, they sought to convince Indigenous people that consumption of peyote, an inconspicuous cactus that contains the psychedelic drug mescaline, was akin to devil worship.
But the draconian measures imposed by the Spanish did not stop the consumption of the hallucinogenic drug, it just forced the ceremonies into more secrecy. Peyote remains central to the traditions of the Wixárika – more commonly known as the Huichol – who are native to the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range in north-west Mexico. It is woven into their origin story and considered a way of connecting with ancestors, deities and the natural world. These sacred rites may date back thousands of years.
Today, however, scarcity looms for the thornless, button-like cactus – which occasionally produces pink flowers but otherwise sits camouflaged beneath the desert shrubs. This is due to both booming demand for peyote and deforestation caused by the expansion of the agribusiness sector in the central state of San Luis Potosí (and beyond).
