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Native American Church Notes1. Aztec and Toltec religious roots: 3 "substances" used
hallucinogenic mushroom
seeds/stems of ololiuqui vine
knobs & tap roots of a cactus--peyote
2. Virgin of Guadalupe in reality was Tonantzin or the "Mother of Aztec Gods"
3. Spanish adopted "drug use" consumed ololiuqui vine, called "Semillas de la Virgin"
4. Heretic priests named a northern mission: El Santo de Jesus Peyote
5. English name for peyote is mescal, since the principal alkaloid is mescaline
6. Kiowa
Cheyenne
Arapaho
Taos Pueblo
7. Peyote in sufficient quantities will produce hallucinations: 40 buttons or 1/25th of a gram
8. Hallucinations: astral objects surrounded by magnificent colors
9. Overdosing on peyote requires one hundred times the amount taken at a peyote meeting
10. Overdosing draws oxygen from the brain, that produces same symptoms as exertion at high altitudes
11. Peyote contains eight different alkaloids: some are stimulants, others depressants
12. Peyote is not habit-forming or addictive
13. Peyote has been used as a source of visions for over 400 years.
WHEN DEFINING A RELIGION: IT MUST HAVE THESE 3 THINGS
1.ETHICS (RULES OF BEHAVIOR)
2.RITUAL (PEYOTE MEETING)
3.DOCTRINE PHILOSOPHY (CODE OF ETHICS)
1. LOVE YOUR FELLOW MAN
2. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR FAMILY
3. SELF-RELIANCE
4. NO USE OF ALCOHOL
PEYOTE CEREMONY OR RITUAL
1. Leader is the Roadman or Road Chief: has feathered staff and rattle
2. Altar holds a large button called the "Peyote Chief"; usually on crescent shaped mound
3. Drum Chief uses a water drum
4. "Cedar Man" carries cedar
5. Fire Man sits near the door, and tends to the fire ( a fireplace is inherited, gifted or purchased)
6. Water woman
7. Four Herbs used:
peyote
tobacco
cedar
sage
8. Ritual held in a tipi, lasts from 8 p.m. Saturday night until noon on Sunday
9. Participants are served water, corn, meat and fruit
10. Sponsor (by one desiring special prayers for illness or misfortune in their family) of the ceremony holds a feast
BASIC ELEMENTS OR DOCTRINE
1. Power of the Great Spirit is in peyote
2. By taking peyote under proper conditions a person incorporates some of the Great Spirit's power- which has spiritual effects.
3. Peyote also used medicinally (traditional Indian belief is that disease is supernaturally caused)
4. Peyotists have feeling of spiritual love for one another- a state of communiality is established and maintained from being part of the congregation
5. Doctrine and rites are only learned through direct revelation
BASIC BELIEFS
1. Indian has direct access to God through peyote
2. Peyote supplies a goal of inner peace
3. Religion of miraculous curing, special and transcending knowledge, incentive to work, and release from guilt.
4. Indian learns God's ways from Peyote and learned from elders.
5. If Peyote Road is faithfully followed then life is tranquil and you will have bliss in the next world.
6. Those who lapse will suffer, they will experience nausea when taking peyote.
7. Purposes for a "tipi meeting" accomplished through joint efforts of all present through prayer:
-to cure,
-avert evil,
-promote good and
-as thanks for blessings
8. Hallucinations are discouraged, seen as lack of purity. Prayer through mediator (Father Peyote) and made while smoking tobacco.
9. Peyotism is transition between Indian's old world and the white man's new world. It is a defense against the consequences of white domination: it helps them remain Indian in the larger non-Indian society. Social and supernatural accommodation to dominate subordination. Plains people accepted peyote because of cultural genocide.
10. Close to church service, but there is no governing body to dictate kind of service held.
11. Services are adapted to from each tribe's customs of prayer.
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