Mescaline Cacti
San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) & Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)
Active ingredient - Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine)
Mescaline-containing Cacti can be found growing natively throughout a large geographic region, from the southern United States to high in the Andes mountains of Peru & Bolivia. These Cacti are documented to have been used in religious ceremony by indigenous peoples for at least 5,500 years, and have also been referred to in the works of several famous 20th century philosophers and authors - perhaps most notably Aldous Huxley, who wrote "The Doors of Perception" about his Mescaline experiences. By far the most well known mescaline-containing Cacti species are; San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) & Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)
Echinopsis Pachanoi (San Pedro) cactus is a fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes Mountain regions of South America. It can grow at elevations up to 3000m, and like Peyote is (legally) cultivated as an ornamental around the globe. Called "Huachuma" by indigenous South Americans, this Cacti has been used in spiritual or divinatory ceremonies for Millenia.
Lophophora Williamsii (Peyote) is a small, spineless cactus which contains several psychoactive alkaloids, most notably Mescaline. It grows natively from the Southern United States to Southern Mexico, however is also cultivated as an ornamental cacti around the world. In most jurisdictions Peyote is legal to cultivate, and will contain on average between 1-3 percent Mescaline (by dried weight).
Mescaline is a naturally occurring alkaloid of the phenethylamine family whose effects are roughly analogous to those of LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. While the effects (including synesthesia, visual hallucination, and profoundly altered thoughts) are similar, mescaline is often reported to produce a distinctly more spiritual or divinatory experience. Mescaline also differs from most other psychoactive substances in its duration, which can be up to 24 hours (nearly 2x as long as most other psychedelics).
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Yet another key difference between Mescaline-containing cacti and other psychedelics is that consuming cacti will often elicit what's known as "Purging". It is commonly reported that within 2 hours after ingesting Mescaline cacti (in either a tea or reduction), the body undergoes a 30-60 minute period of intense vomiting and gastrointestinal distress. This can be exhausting, but once done you will be floating in a multiverse of oneness with everything. Here, colours fluoresce, and a sense of languid serenity that cannot be supplanted reigns supreme. In this temporary alternate universe, all is well and conversation is easy.