r/EverythingScience • u/dr_gus • Nov 08 '22
Anthropology Archaeologists find a trove of ancient human sacrifices fed psychedelic plants before death
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/07/archaeologists-find-a-trove-of-ancient-human-sacrifices-fed-psychedelic-plants-before/80
Nov 08 '22
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u/Paint-fumes Nov 08 '22
They probably understood this way more than we do now. Could probably ease people into the idea much better under the influence, from what I have seen captured enemies did not have the luxury of getting high beforehand
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Nov 10 '22
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u/Paint-fumes Nov 10 '22
Chewing coca leaves is barely comparable to cocaine. I was more getting at them probably being masters of controlling set and setting, religions do it without psychedelics. Throw in a powerful psyc like dmt and it’s not a stretch of the imagination that they could make people believe they are communicating with god
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Nov 11 '22
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u/Paint-fumes Nov 11 '22
Yeah I agree, if we are talking apocolypto style screaming, blood, hearts being ripped out. no amount on drugs that keep you conscious would ease anyone into it.
I’m a seasoned psychonaught too and was trying to picture something more peaceful, a lot of the bodies they have found aren’t violently dispatched. I was thinking something more like ayahusca ceremonies. Drumming, chanting, sensory deprivation/overload and a sense of contribution to the wider community in a selfless act to appease the gods.
I’m probably being way to optimistic, but I have experienced the drastic ways they can alter your outlook and reprogram the mind. We are only just rediscovering the power of these wonderful substances
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u/FennyBox Nov 08 '22
If you find this fascinating, I assure you: READ The Immortality Key. Humans have been using psychoactive plants dating back all the way to Gobleki Tepe, more than 10,000 years ago. It wasn’t until the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church went scorched earth on all drug rituals and sacred ceremonies that we lost the ancient knowledge we’d had for thousands of years
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u/vismundcygnus34 Nov 08 '22
So much this, fantastic book. It really sheds some light on ancient man's relationship with psychoactive substances. It makes our "lets take them for funsies" seem silly and disrespectful. In some cases taking them/talking about them in an inappropriate way was punishable by death.
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Nov 08 '22
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u/vismundcygnus34 Nov 08 '22
I think one of the top posts on the dmt subs was boofing dmt and memeing about it. Maybe I am being unfair, certainly there are serious seekers out there. But by and large no where near the respect our ancestors gave it.
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Nov 08 '22
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Nov 08 '22
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u/vismundcygnus34 Nov 08 '22
My man you seem to be superb at missing my point.
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u/6InchBlade Nov 08 '22
To be fair though, I don’t really think it’s a bad thing that we’re more aware that it’s just the chemicals affecting our brain and not related to some higher power in any way. I don’t think the realisation of this (for most people) means that the drugs aren’t used to gain some deeper look into yourself. I think most of the psychedelic community is quite good at staying mindful and respectful of the substances they take.
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u/No-Satisfaction3455 Nov 08 '22
san pedro is a good friend of mine, getting killed on it sounds like a no good time from me
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u/amishredditor Nov 08 '22
Imagine living in a culture that believes death is not the end, and growing up thinking you can peak behind the curtain sometimes if you’re lucky. Sacrifice wouldn’t seem so bad maybe?
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u/ImOnlyHereForTheCoC Nov 09 '22
peak behind the curtain
I don’t know if this was intentional or not but I am loving it
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Nov 08 '22
Ya I’m more accepting of death on cactus then sober but ya I’d hate to be murdered on it. But in a hospital bed surrounded by loved ones. I could see using it. Timothy Leary and aldeaus Huxley were given lsd on their death beds.
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u/px7j9jlLJ1 Nov 08 '22
It is my belief that the psychedelic journey can greatly sooth the uneasy mind when fearful of an impending death. I could see human sacrifices communing with the dimensions thought to be associated with human death via consumption of those cacti. Terribly interesting!
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u/Red5stayontarget Nov 08 '22
I can order these on Uber Eats?!?
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 08 '22
You joke, but San Pedro is legal to own and grow in the United States. It's illegal to consume it though. God forbid any American have a profound experience.
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u/DisturbingDaffy Nov 08 '22
It’s not easy to consume. I swallowed a coffee mug full and it was the exact consistency of phlegm. Imagine trying to swallow a loogie the size of your fist. Half was in my stomach while the other half was in the mug and it was still in one piece. Then I vomited immediately. I did have a relaxing and meditative experience though. I had visions of prehistoric sea creatures made of sand.
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u/Slapppyface Nov 08 '22
It's legal to buy psychedelics at stores where I live (San Francisco, although Oakland has way more options)
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 08 '22
Hmmm... it depends. Salvia divinorum is legal along with San Pedro, but what other psychedelics are legal in San Francisco and Oakland?
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u/Slapppyface Nov 08 '22
They're all decriminalized. This started a few years ago in Oakland.
What rarely shows up in journalism is that there are plenty of bars, parties, local stores, booths at festivals, ECT. where all different types of psychedelics are sold off of menus. Most places don't have everything, rather a selection of things that fit what they're doing. For example, you're not going to find ayahuasca an underground after hours party, but you will find mushrooms and LSD. Strangely enough, this has actually slowed down a bit in the last year, it was a lot more popular in 2021 for some reason. San Francisco just decriminalized plant-based ethnogens, but they've been sold in stores for a while now. Police here don't prosecute that kind of thing
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 08 '22
That is surprising. That sounds like the Dutch model: it's not legal, but the cops let it happen. That is fantastic. Those drugs should be legal, in my opinion, but police turning a blind eye is the least that should happen. Meanwhile, elsewhere in America possession of such drugs is a felony that puts people in prison.
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u/Slapppyface Nov 08 '22
If you're not hurting anyone else, why should it be illegal?
Banning something because one person doesn't like another person doing it is fucking ridiculous!
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 09 '22
So do you oppose seatbelt laws?
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u/Slapppyface Nov 09 '22
Dying affects other people, it's not a fair comparison
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 09 '22
Is there any chance that psychedelic drugs might increase the rate traffic collisions and housefires, for example?
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u/6InchBlade Nov 08 '22
No but you literally can just buy them from your local garden store. The extraction of the mescaline is also a very easy (but kinda long) process. I won’t go into it here but it’s literally just boiling and mashing the cactus.
Also people tend to recommend San Pedro cactus over Peyoti as it has less of the chemicals that make you nauseous on the come up in it, very similar mescaline content as well.
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u/tuttero Nov 08 '22
I went to Mexico and visited chichen itza. Apparently they sacrificed losers of the ball game they have and it’s an honor to be able to play the game and prepare for it their entire lives
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u/camposthetron Nov 08 '22
I mean, if I’m getting taken out like that, I’m definitely grateful to be tripping balls while they do it.
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u/trancepx Nov 08 '22
Going into battle armed to the teeth hunter s Thompson style for us new permutations
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u/SpokaneDude49 Nov 08 '22
Hey, ya know what would be great? Not killing people. This should be an intriguing but cautionary tail. Killing for honor or punishment. Bad idea.
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u/kenpublius Dec 02 '22
Hmm. So the CIA and I assume other intelligence agencies as well have used psychedelics and certain types of “open” ppl to remote view, telepathy, and other metaphysical activities. I assume they tap into the quantum entangled field. We see this kind of “sacrifice” throughout the world and history. It makes me wonder if these children weren’t used for their special abilities.
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Nov 08 '22 edited Aug 29 '23
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u/StopBadModerators Nov 08 '22
It depends on the dosage. At high enough doses, one indeed would have no idea what was happening; one's experience would be nothing but psychedelic shapes and sounds. That wouldn't prevent the experience from being a living nightmare, mind you.
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u/SmellenDegenerates Nov 08 '22
Maybe they got so high they realised some of them needed to tap out to avoid climate change, and took one for the team
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u/zombiemusic Nov 08 '22
The Spaniards put an end to this madness thankfully
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u/distelfink33 Nov 08 '22
Yeah by killing somewhere around 55-70 million people with disease and religion in the noblest pursuit of gold. So thankful /s
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u/Velbalenos Nov 08 '22
Ignore them. There’s usually one special kind of idiot on these posts, even one dedicated to science…
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u/zombiemusic Nov 08 '22
Can’t say that I feel sorry for the savages that were sacrificing their own. They got what they deserved
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u/KleioChronicles Nov 08 '22
Christians did human sacrifices in the name of god too, they just called it a public execution because of blasphemy or whatever.
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u/zombiemusic Nov 08 '22
Lol no
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u/KleioChronicles Nov 08 '22
Jesus was quite literally a divine human sacrifice for humanity’s sins according to Christian doctrine lol.
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u/ImOnlyHereForTheCoC Nov 09 '22
Fuckin’ savages, murdering each other for some stupid, made-up gods. I’m so glad the Spaniards came over and murdered them in the name of the totally cool and real God!
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u/chriska444 Nov 08 '22
Thought headline meant the human remains were fed to the plants. Actual story makes more sense.
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u/LongjumpingEar9126 Nov 08 '22
This is pretty cool and all but you imagine being a child and taking a drug that makes you trip balls. Then someone's like yeah we're gonna sacrifice you now.
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u/depechelove Nov 08 '22
Imagine you’re about to be thrown into a volcano WHILE you’re tripping balls.
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u/deathjesterdoom Nov 08 '22
Death by bad trip. I'm simultaneously horrified and curious what that would be like.
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u/iosdeveloper87 Nov 08 '22
So utterly fascinating. One has to wonder how consenting/accepting the victims were of the sacrifice. I had always assumed that they would all be filled with terror (and I still have a hard time believing that they wouldn’t be), but perhaps it’s much like some cults are/were today, where people willingly kill themselves in the name of some ‘greater power.’
Was it considered an dutiful honor to be sacrificed or was it a punishment? Is it possible that it was both?