Ayahuasca traditions
For hundreds of indigenous Amazonian peoples — Shipibo, Asháninka, Yawanawá, Tukano, and many others — the brew known by names including ayahuasca, yagé, and caapi is the central ceremonial medicine. The vine Banisteriopsis caapi is paired with a DMT-bearing plant (typically Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys cabrerana). The vine is consistently spoken of as the elder spirit — the teacher — while the leaf provides vision.
The primary vine used in traditional ayahuasca brews. Contains powerful beta-carboline MAO inhibitors that allow DMT from other plants to become orally active.
Small shrub whose leaves are the most common source of N,N-DMT in traditional ayahuasca brews.
Amazonian vine whose leaves are a potent source of N,N-DMT, frequently used as an alternative or complement to Psychotria viridis in ayahuasca.
Mesoamerican sacred plants
The Aztec and earlier Mesoamerican cultures held multiple sacred entheogens in active ceremonial use: teonanácatl (psilocybin mushrooms), ololiuqui (Rivea corymbosa seeds), and peyote (Lophophora williamsii). The Mazatec lineage preserved through María Sabina is one direct living thread of this older complex, including the use of Salvia divinorum in night-time divination.
Slow-growing, spineless cactus containing mescaline. One of the most ancient and culturally significant entheogens of the Americas.
Rare perennial herb in the mint family containing salvinorin A, a unique kappa-opioid agonist with extremely potent and short-acting dissociative-psychedelic effects.
Small psilocybin mushroom historically used in sacred mushroom ceremonies by the Mazatec and other indigenous groups in Mexico.
Climbing vine whose seeds contain LSA (ergine). One of the most important entheogens in ancient Mesoamerican cultures.
Andean curanderismo
San Pedro (Huachuma) and other mescaline cacti have been used for at least three thousand years in the high valleys of the Andes. Curanderos work in mesa ceremonies that synthesize pre-Columbian, Catholic, and modern healing frameworks. The cactus itself is considered a teacher and a healer; the experience is described as opening rather than fragmenting.
Fast-growing columnar cactus native to the Andes containing mescaline. Central to traditional Andean shamanism for thousands of years.
Fast-growing columnar cactus from Bolivia containing mescaline. Popular in both traditional and modern entheogenic use.
Bwiti — the tree of life
The Bwiti religion of the Fang, Mitsogho, and other Gabonese peoples centers on Tabernanthe iboga, called "the tree that allows men to see the dead." The root bark is taken in multi-day initiation ceremonies as a passage of rebirth. The same compound, ibogaine, has emerged in the West as one of the most promising tools for interrupting opioid addiction.
Siberian shamanism
The red-and-white fly agaric mushroom, Amanita muscaria, has been used in shamanic practice across Siberia, parts of Northern Europe, and the circumpolar Arctic. The pharmacology — muscimol as a GABA-A agonist — produces a profoundly different qualitative state from the tryptamine entheogens: dreamy, sedative, episodically vivid, sometimes deliriant.
Jurema ritual
In the Caatinga dry forest of northeastern Brazil, indigenous and Afro-Brazilian traditions have long used Mimosa tenuiflora (Jurema) as a visionary medicine. The root bark is the source. Contemporary Jurema practice continues actively in some communities, often blended with other ceremonial elements.
Native American Church
Peyote ceremonies — protected in U.S. law for enrolled members of the Native American Church — are one of the largest continuous indigenous psychedelic traditions in the Americas. The Half Moon and Cross Fire variants both treat peyote as a sacred medicine rather than a drug. Sustainable peyote populations are now under significant pressure.
Modern rediscovery
Many of the species in the atlas have entered modern Western awareness only in the last century — Wasson and Sabina with the Psilocybe mushrooms, Schultes with the Amazonian botanicals, Davis with the Sonoran toad. The modern story includes legitimate clinical research, vibrant underground practice, and serious tensions around extraction, commodification, and respect.
One of the most widely cultivated and studied psilocybin-producing mushrooms. Cosmopolitan species with a distinctive golden cap and strong blue bruising reaction.
Highly potent wood-loving psilocybin mushroom famous for its wavy cap margin and intense blue bruising. One of the strongest naturally occurring species in temperate climates.
One of the most potent psilocybin-containing mushrooms in the world. Produces exceptionally high levels of psilocybin and psilocin.
Large toad native to the Sonoran Desert whose parotoid glands contain significant amounts of 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenine.
Fast-growing tree native to Southeast Asia whose root bark and phyllodes are rich in N,N-DMT and other tryptamines.
Tropical climbing vine whose seeds contain significant amounts of LSA (ergine), a naturally occurring lysergamide.