A Brief History of Psychedelic Medicines

Psychedelic medicine is far from being a recent discovery; psychedelics have been used throughout history, all over the world. These medicines may come from fungi, mold, plants, toad secretions, or made in a laboratory. No matter their source, throughout history, humans have discovered ways to experiences non-ordinary states of consciousness, and sought their help for healing of the mind, body, and spirit. This post will very briefly outline the history of the most popular psychedelic medicines.

Peyote/Mescaline

The psychoactive substance mescaline medicine comes in the form of a small cactus, called peyote. It’s use among the Aztecs and in pre-Aztec spiritual and healing rituals dates back at least 5,500 years. Indigenous use of peyote migrated north, and combined with Christianity to become the Native American Church in the late 1800s, and they continue to work with this medicine today. 

San Pedro/Mescaline

San Pedro is another psychoactive mescaline-containing cactus, and it’s historical use began at least 3,000 years ago around modern-day Peru. Sometimes called the “medicine of the Andes” due to its proximity to the Andes mountains, it was also called on for spiritual purposes and in healing ceremonies. 

Psilocybin

Psilocybin is the psychoactive ingredient in “magic mushrooms” and has a deep history in the Americas. Indigenous use in Latin America for spiritual and healing purposes has occurred for millennia. Evidence points to Mayan use of these mushrooms dating back to 500 BCE. In the 1950s, a Life Magazine article chronicled two caucasian, North American’s psilocybin experience with an Indigenous Mexican healer, Maria Sabina, and gained notable interest.

Ayahuasca

Indigenous Latin Americans have been making the DMT containing brew ayahuasca for 1,000 - 2,000 years, from archaeological evidence. It is made from combining two plants, a DMT containing vine and leaves of a plant that inhibits the absorption of the DMT, known as an MAO-inhibitor. The name ayahuasca means “vine of the soul” or “vine of the dead” because it provides access to normally invisible and immaterial worlds. 

5-Meo-DMT

This form of DMT can come from several different plants in Latin America, and also from the venomous secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad. When coming from the toad venom, this form of DMT is also commonly called Bufo. The use of this toad venom from archaeological evidence in Mesoamerican culture dates back at least 3,000 years. This form of DMT was also synthesized in a laboratory in Japan in the 1930s, and the synthetic version is also used today. 

LSD/LSA

LDD (lysergic acid diethyhlamide), or “acid”, does not occur in nature, but was discovered in 1938 in Switzerland by a chemist who was investigating byproducts of ergot. Ergot, and other fungi that grow on domesticated grains and grasses, produce LSD-like compounds, like LSA (lysergic acid amide). The use of LSA goes back thousands of years and was used in both ancient Greece and in the Americas. The Aztecs utilized the seeds of an LSA containing vine. The Greek Elusinian Mysteries is a ritual dating back to 400 CE where participants drank an ergot-containing drink called kykeon.

MDMA

MDMA is also often labeled an empathogen due to its effects of increasing connection and empathy, and is less traditionally psychedelic in nature. While there can be overlap with the drug “molly” or “ecstasy”, those often contain additional compounds or sometimes no pure MDMA at all. It was discovered by a German pharmaceutical company in 1910 as an agent to stop abnormal bleeding. It sat on the shelf and was rediscovered in the 1970s by another chemist, who after discovering its effects began employing it in individual and group therapy. 

Ketamine

Ketamine is not a traditional psychedelic, but was developed as an anesthetic and has similar effects of classical psychedelics at certain dosages. It was made in the 1960s as an alternative to PCP or “angel dust” and is still used as an anesthetic today. Its use in psychiatry began in 2000, when Yale researchers discovered the rapid antidepressant effects of certain dosing.