Ololiuhqui, the psychoactive plant of the Mexican plateau
Danilo Anton

Ololiuhqui or coatl-xoxouhqui ( Turbina corymbosa ), also called «seeds of the Virgin» is a vine with bell-shaped flowers that grows in the valleys of Central Mexico. 
Since ancient times native people ground the seeds and prepared them moist producing a substance with visionary properties.
The name ololiuhqui, which in Nahuatl means «round thing», probably derives from the shape of the root.  
The name coatl-xoxouhqui, «green serpent», which is another name given to this plant, is probably related to visions of shapes and colors produced during its ingestion reminding the configuration of the aerial organs of the plant.
The most important active ingredients of ololiuqui are hydroxyethylamide amide and lysergic acid, which are related to  ergot alkaloids.

The Tree of Life and Teotihuacán 

Ololiuhqui consumption appears to have been an essential element in the evolution of religious and spiritual systems of aboriginal Mexico. While references are relatively rare, there is indirect evidence that its role in Mesoamerican native societies was very important.
In the Teotihuacan culture, which flourished in the early centuries of the Common Era ololiuhqui was a very important spiritual element.
The paintings of Teotihuacan reveal symbolic graphic versions of this vine. In one of them, a central deity appears located on the root of the plant from where the winding stems and the flowers rise culminating in a characteristic bell shaped form.
From the tree foliaje many seeds spill were painted as a “rain» received by two priests who are located on both sides of the picture.
We do not know for sure who were the people who inhabited the Valley of Mexico at the time of the height of the Teotihuacan culture.
The main archaeological evidence consisting of pyramids and remains of other buildings of Teotihuacan have been insufficient so far to fully reconstruct the spiritual functioning of these ancient societies. Not even its original name or the ethnic composition of its population is known (Lopez Lujan, 2000).
 However, we think that the Teotihuacán people may be related to present day otomian ethnic nations. (to be continued).
From "Peoples, Drugs and Serpents", Danilo Anton, Piriguazu Ediciones.