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Herbs That Madden, Herbs That Cure: a History of Hallucinogenic Plant Use in Colonial Mexico

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Herbs That Madden, Herbs That Cure: a History of Hallucinogenic Plant Use in Colonial Mexico Herbs That Madden, Herbs That Cure: A History of Hallucinogenic Plant Use in Colonial Mexico Melissa June Frost Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, México Bachelor of Arts, University of Oregon, 2010 Master of Arts, University Virginia, 2012 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese University of Virginia August, 2017 ii © Copyright by Melissa Frost All Rights Reserved August 2017 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... v Introduction ................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter One ................................................................................................................................... 1 By the Art of the Devil: Mapping Hallucinogenic Plant Use in Early Modern Spain through Folklore and Discourses of Demonology Chapter Two ................................................................................................................................ 46 Sacred Hallucinogens in Pre-Columbian Nahua Communities and Beyond: Evidence of Patterns of Consumption Past and Present Chapter Three ............................................................................................................................ 101 When Cultures of Consumption Collide: (Mis)Perceptions of Traditional Hallucinogen Use and the Role of the Inquisition in New Spain Chapter Four ............................................................................................................................. 159 The Herb Spoke from My Breast: A Seventeenth-Century Case of Traditional Hallucinogen Use in New Spain Epilogue ...................................................................................................................................... 189 Incorporation, Interaction, and Opposition Glossaries .................................................................................................................................... 193 Works Cited ............................................................................................................................... 196 iv Abstract “Herbs That Madden, Herbs That Cure: A History of Hallucinogenic Plant Use in Colonial Mexico,” considers the development of the hybrid culture of hallucinogen consumption that developed in New Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Indigenous, European, African, and Asian peoples participated in the unsanctioned divinatory and medicinal use of psychoactive plants such as peyote, ololiuqui and teonanácatl mushrooms. Knowledge exchange related to these substances implied significant inter-caste interaction and influence, to the dismay of the missionary mendicant orders and the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The perpetuation of pre-Columbian forms of hallucinogen use exacerbated the efforts of the Catholic Church to eradicate remnants of Indian idolatry. The primary hindrance faced by Spanish colonial authorities regarding hallucinogen use was that colonizers generally failed to recognize the scope and importance of sacred hallucinogenic plants for Nahua peoples. The process of recognition took nearly a century, between the conquest of 1521 and the official publication of the edict against peyote in 1620. European alcoholcentrism and the weight of Renaissance demonology in the European imagination obscured the ability to perceive and eradicate hallucinogen use amongst surviving Indian communities during the earliest decades of the Spanish colonial enterprise. Inquisition transcripts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries demonstrate that Spanish clergy focused on the physical destruction of idols while neglecting other forms of worship such as hallucinogen use. This study traces the chronology of discourses that surrounded hallucinogen use in early modern New Spain by following the evolution of public and official discourses through European witchcraft treatises, colonial Natural Histories, Nahua codices, and Inquisition trial transcripts. v Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the support and love of many people. First and foremost I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Fernando Operé, for his constant encouragement, patience, and feedback over the last three years. His extensive expertise and unique point of view as a historian encouraged me to grapple with the most pressing questions related to my topic. I am grateful to Professor Ricardo Padrón for his continued enthusiasm for this project, even in its earliest stages, when it was born as a chaotic epiphany in his Discourses of Empire in the Hispanic World class. Many thanks are due to Professor Allison Bigelow for offering her warm advice and encouragement throughout my writing process, and for sharing her extensive bibliographical knowledge that has been central to my work. Professor Carrie Douglass generously gave her time and guidance by way of many productive conversations concerning medicine and anthropology, all of which have helped me frame my approach. Miguel Valladares-Llata worked tirelessly to track down even the most obscure of references to help strengthen my argument and methodology. Professor William Van Norman’s feedback on my first two chapters will be essential as I take this project forward. I owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Miruna Achim for her support and advice on how to navigate the Archivo General de la Nación. Her input related to my project and archival research saved me during my trips to Mexico City. I was stunned by the generosity of Professor Linda Arnold, who graciously shared all her research and resources when we met by chance at the AGN. Her contributions have significantly strengthened this project and facilitated my work. I would also like to thank my dear professors from the University of Oregon: Leah Middlebrook, Amanda Powell, Barbara May, and Luis Verano for telling me years ago that I was destined to write a dissertation. I would not have made it this far without your encouragement. vi So many of my peers at the University of Virginia have seen me through this process. For all your camaraderie and support, thank you. In particular, I would like to thank Stephanie Gates, my writing buddy, for helping me overcome my bouts of writer's block. Zack, Desiree, Sharrah, Diana, Paula, Esther, and Alicia, thank you for your friendship throughout the years. Adriana, our long walks and discussions combined with your constant encouragement were essential. My dear friend and hermana del alma Gaby Miller deserves all my gratitude for being nothing short of a dissertation angel. To the faculty and staff of the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, thank you for the emotional, financial, and academic support I have been so fortunate to receive over the past seven years. You are truly a family away from home, and for that I am grateful. And finally, I am eternally indebted to my loving family for all their love and support. My parents John and Krystal provided me with not one but two unique views of the world. My older siblings Blubird, Mysti, and Travis offered the right combination of torture and support that undoubtedly constituted my earliest preparation for the rigors of writing a dissertation. River, love of my life, thank you for carrying me through the toughest times with patience and laughter. Oliver, Theo, and Vandal, you are my guiding lights, and I love you. And finally, all my loving gratitude goes to my Grandma June, to whom I dedicate this work, for giving me her name and her fortitude. vii Introduction On April 6th, 2013 a 70-year-old Wixárika elder was arrested by the Mexican federal police in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and charged with organized crime and drug trafficking (“Acusan a indígenas”). At the time, the elder marákame (shaman) Don Cruz Silvestre was in possession of a significant quantity of the hallucinogenic desert cactus, peyote. Following the arrest, the federal police transported Don Silvestre along with his young grandson and five other men to the Puente Grande maximum-security prison in the state of Jalisco, the same prison that the infamous drug lord Chapo Guzman escaped from in 2001. This facility houses some of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartel members and violent criminals. Don Silvestre’s arrest incited outrage amongst indigenous and civil rights organizations in Mexico and around the world. Although peyote is technically an illegal drug in Mexico, traditional use by the Wixárika (of the Huichol peoples) is protected by the San Luis Potosi State Constitution, the Mexican Constitution, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Thousands of Huichol people make the yearly peyote pilgrimage. In addition to consuming peyote on the journey, they also collect large quantities to take home to their communities for medicinal and ceremonial purposes throughout the year ( Furst “To find our life” 154). In addition to legal protections regarding ceremonial use, the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples (CDI) protects the right for the Huichol community to legally transport the hallucinogenic cactus across state lines between San Luis Potosi and
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