Hernandez (1651) in referring to the mushrooms implied that the Nahuatl word "Teyhuintl" could be described "as causing uncontrollable laughter." Another historian, Jacinto de Serna (1892) later referred to some mushrooms as "Quatlannamacatl" and Benavente, a Spanish monk (cited in Kingsbourough, 1848), referred to some mushrooms as "Teunamacatl" ("bread of the Gods"). In a study on pagan rites and idolatries, Benavente had also mentioned the word "teonanácatl" and described the effects of the sacred mushrooms as follows: "They had another drunkeness which made them more cruel; which was of some small mushrooms. . .and after a while they were seeing a thousand visions, especially of snakes, and as they went completely out of their minds, it seemed to them that their legs and bodies were full of worms which were eating them alive, and thus half raving, they went out of the house wishing that somebody would kill them, and with that bestial drunkeness and the trouble they felt, it would happen sometimes that they hanged themselves. And they were also against others much more cruel. They called these mushrooms "Teonanácatl", which means "Flesh of the Gods" (the demon they adored). And in that manner, with that bitter food, thier cruel God held communion with them ( also cited in Knauth, 1962:263).

 

In 1574, Antiqúedades Mexicanas was published by André Thévet as Histoyre du Mechique (written by Andrés de Olmos in 1543). In this volume, Thevet referred to the sacred mushrooms as "Teonanacatl (=carne de dios a del diablo", "meat of the Gods or of Satan"). Later, (Tula, 1640) described the mushrooms as "Hongos que embelezan." Serna (1892), in describing a Coloquio which appeared in a volume entitled "El Teatro de Nueva España en Siglo", referred to the sacred mushrooms as "hongol demonico ydolo" (idolic demonic mushrooms) (see Wasson, 1973, 1980:213).

 

The Dominican Friar Diego Durán referred to the sacred mushrooms as "unos hongos monteses" and Orozco y Berra (circa 1870's) stated that the mushrooms seemed to produce "a state of intoxication with frightening hallucinations."

 

The Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún later described the sacred mushrooms as "hongos malos que emborrachan" (=evil mushrooms that inebriate) and even went so far as to boldly claim "aún provocan lujuria" (they [the mushrooms] provoked lust). Here is Sahagún's description referring or even alluding to the mushrooms association as a possible aphrodisiac: "There are some small mushrooms in the region which are called teonanácatl; these grow under the grass (hay) of the fields and pastures. They are round, having rather high stipe, slender and terete. When eaten, they have a bad taste, hurting the throat, and they cause intoxication. They are medicinal for fevers and for rheumatism. Only two or three need to be eaten. Those who eat them see visions and feel a faintness of heart. And they provoke to lust those who have eaten a number, or even a few of them" (cited in Schultes, 1940). Wasson (1980) suggested that Sahagún may have inserted this latter statement into his writings "to excite the 16th century readers seeking always the fountain of youth and new aphrodisiacs." Another historian, Francisco Flores (1886-1888), had also suggested that the sacred mushrooms were but "one of the many aphrodisiacs found in Nueva España."

 

The Nahuatl word teonanácatl was not meant or used by the ancient Aztec to describe any one single species of mushroom as Schultes (1939, 1940) first suggested, but most likely referred to several varieties of mushrooms. Many of the entheogenic species employed by the Aztecs as well as by their contemporary ancestors belong to the genus Psilocybe. However, some scholars have suggested that some of the mushrooms species referred to as teonanácatl may have belonged to the genus Panaeolus (see accompanying paper on Panaeolus species in Mexico). Current reseach indicates that native healers living in remote mountain villages in Mesoamerica do not refer to any of the sacred mushrooms as teonanácatl.

 

In the early 1900's, a noted botanist W. E. Safford (1915) claimed that the sacred mushrooms were non-existent and that teonanácatl was actually the dried button of the peyote cactus. Thirty-four years later, Singer (1949-1951) became the first investigator to published a correct identification by indicating that teonanácatl was actually a mushroom.

 

Noted ethnopharmacologist Jonathan Ott (1993) discussed and suggested the probability that some species of the sacred mushrooms were known of and once used traditionally by the ancient Mayan. Ott, in referring to the possible use of the sacred mushrooms by the Mayan, mentioned two phrases found in a dictionary of the Cakchiquel languange written by Friar Thomás de Coto (1983) who described effects very similar to those attributed to an entheogenic mushroom experience. Ott noted that the phrases K'aizalah ocox and Xibalbai ocox could be interpreted as "mushrooms that made one lose ones judgement" and another phrase Quècc'im [kekqim] tiqhuhiriçan could imply mushrooms "that inebriate" (Garza, 1990; Mayer, 1977).

 

In 1957, only 7 species of entheogenic mushrooms were known by western science to be employed ceremoniously by some primitive tribal groups in Mesoamerica. By 1962, Guzmán had identified more than 14 species. In 1983, Guzmán published his monograph on "The Genus Psilocybe" and reported that more than two dozen species are currently used by various groups of primitive peoples residing in México. Ten years later, Allen, Gartz, and Guzmán (1992), reported a worldwide distribution of 135 species of psilocybian mushrooms (a revised and updated version of this paper will be soon be published, 1997-98) and one year later, Ott (1993) described 146 species.

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