Editing Entheogen (section)

=== Americas ===
{{See also|Aztec use of entheogens|Entheogenics and the Maya}}
Entheogens have played a pivotal role in the spiritual practices of most American cultures for millennia. The first American entheogen to be subject to scientific analysis was the [[peyote]] cactus (''Lophophora williamsii''). One of the founders of modern ethno-botany, [[Richard Evans Schultes]] of [[Harvard University]] documented the ritual use of peyote cactus among the [[Kiowa]], who live in what became Oklahoma. While it was used traditionally by many cultures of what is now Mexico, in the 19th century its use spread throughout North America, replacing the [[toxic]] [[Calia secundiflora|mescal bean]] (''Calia secundiflora''). Other well-known entheogens used by Mexican cultures include the [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]ic [[Aztec]] sacrament [[pulque]], ritual tobacco (known as 'picietl' to the Aztecs, and 'sikar' to the [[Maya people|Maya]] (from where the word 'cigar' derives)), [[psilocybin mushroom]]s, morning glories (''[[Ipomoea tricolor]]'' and ''[[Turbina corymbosa]]''), and ''[[Salvia divinorum]]''.

''[[Datura wrightii]]'' is sacred to some Native Americans and has been used in ceremonies and [[rite of passage|rites of passage]] by Chumash, Tongva, and others. Among the Chumash, when a boy was 8 years old, his mother would give him a preparation of ''momoy'' to drink. This supposed spiritual challenge should help the boy develop the spiritual wellbeing that is required to become a man. Not all of the boys undergoing this ritual survived.<ref name=Garcia>{{cite book | author=Cecilia Garcia, James D. Adams | title=Healing with medicinal plants of the west - cultural and scientific basis for their use | publisher=Abedus Press| year=2005 | isbn=0-9763091-0-6}}</ref> ''Momoy'' was also used to enhance spiritual wellbeing among adults. For instance, during a frightening situation, such as when seeing a coyote walk like a man, a leaf of ''momoy'' was sucked to help keep the soul in the body.

The mescal bean ''[[Sophora secundiflora]]'' was used by the [[shamanic]] hunter-gatherer cultures of the [[Great Plains]] region. Other plants with ritual significance in North American shamanism are the hallucinogenic seeds of the [[Ungnadia|Texas buckeye]] and jimsonweed (''[[Datura stramonium]]''). [[Paleoethnobotany|Paleoethnobotanical]] evidence for these plants from archaeological sites shows they were used in ancient times thousands of years ago.<ref>{{cite book |title=Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices and Cultures |date=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=18}}</ref>

==== South America ====
[[File:Colcoca02.jpg|thumb|left|Coca leaves]]

The [[Tairona]] people of Colombia's [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]] chewed the [[coca]] plant before engaging in extended meditation and prayer.<ref name="banrep.gov.co">{{cite web |author=Museo del Oro, Banco de la República |url=http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/eng/expo_bogota3c.htm |title=Museo del Oro, Colombia |language=es |publisher=Banrep.gov.co |access-date=2012-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511180916/http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/eng/expo_bogota3c.htm |archive-date=11 May 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

[[Nicotiana rustica]] is used in the [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon]] by Mapacho,<ref>{{cite book | date = 1992 | title = Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge - A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution | publisher = Bantam | isbn = 0-553-37130-4 | page = 196 | chapter = Shamanic Tobaccos}}</ref> and tobacco shamans known as tobaqueros.<ref>{{cite web|title=Meeting The Tobacco Spirit - Reality Sandwich|url=http://realitysandwich.com/217970/meeting-the-tobacco-spirit/|website=Reality Sandwich|date=27 March 2014 }}</ref>

A ritual use by the [[Quechua people]] involves drinking [[guayusa]] infusion to have foretelling dreams for successful hunting expeditions.<ref>{{cite book|title=Notas de un botánico en el Amazonas y los Andes|last=Spruce|first=R.|publisher=Colección Tierra Incógnita|year=1996|location=Quito, Ecuador}}</ref>

[[Trichocereus macrogonus var. pachanoi|''Trichocereus macrogonus'' var. ''pachanoi'']] has a long history of being used in Andean [[traditional medicine]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bussmann |first1=Rainer W |last2=Sharon |first2=Douglas |date=2006-11-07 |title=Traditional medicinal plant use in Northern Peru: tracking two thousand years of healing culture |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=2 |pages=47 |doi=10.1186/1746-4269-2-47 |doi-access=free |issn=1746-4269 |pmc=1637095 |pmid=17090303}}</ref> Archaeological studies have found evidence of use going back two thousand years, to [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] culture, [[Nazca culture]], and [[Chavín culture]]. In 2022, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture declared the traditional use of San Pedro cactus in northern Peru as [[cultural heritage]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-17 |title=Declaran Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación a los conocimientos, saberes y usos del cactus San Pedro |url=https://elperuano.pe/noticia/197142-declaran-patrimonio-cultural-de-la-nacion-a-los-conocimientos-saberes-y-usos-del-cactus-san-pedro |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=elperuano.pe |language=es}}</ref>