and was regarded as a panacea. Indigenous peoples have treated the peyote cactus as a sacrament for at least 10,000 years in Mexico, and at least 7,000 years in the United States (www.well.com). The Native American Church serves as a modern embodiment of this ancient religious way of life. In 1970, the state of Texas peyote for use by Native Americans in religious ceremonies; a federal law confirming this protection was enacted in 1995. Aside from this use, peyote is a controlled substance, illegal in all 50 states (www.encyclopedia.com).
             Another hallucinogen that perhaps is the most famously associated with shamanism in the Old World is the Fly Agaric, or Amanita muscaria. It is a distinctive mushroom with typically a bright, blood-red cap up to several inches across, flecked with white warts, the remains of the young mushroom's veil. It is supported by a thick, hollow, tubular white stripe or stem, ranging from a few inches to nine inches tall (www.ayla.brinkster.net).
             Amanita muscaria is used as a sacred, ritualistic mushroom by numerous shamanic tribes across the northern reaches of Eurasia, from the Baltic Sea to the easternmost extent of Siberia. More distinctively it is used by Siberian reindeer-herder tribes, such as the Koryak, the Chukchi, the Ostyak, the Yukagir, and the Kamchadal. Most information provided about the use of this mushroom has been produced by prisoners of war, travelers, explorers, and anthropologists since 1658. Not all Siberian peoples use(d) the mushroom, but those that did held it central to their religious, and shamanic practices (www.ayla.brinkster.net). In many tribes its use was limited to the shaman, who might eat a number prior to performing a séance, but in others, such as the Koryak and Chukchi, it could be consumed more generally, though primarily among the men of the tribe.
             The mushrooms were usually dried and would be strung together in threes, which was considered the ...