Cimora

Cimora has been used extensively throughout history, with historical references to the San Pedro Cactus in early Chavín culture dating as far back as 200 BC.^[12] In fact, Dobkin De Rios argues that the use of psychedelics such as cimora shaped these people and their religion, which has in turn shaped the importance of cimora in modern day ritualistic healing.^[13] The Spanish colonisation of South America involved the widespread suppression of local culture, medicine and religion by the conquistadors.^[14] Despite this, the traditions of San Pedro survived in the form of cimora, though the ritual picked up elements of Catholicism as well as the traditional Mochican religion.^[3] The first attempt to document the use of hallucinogens in traditional shamanistic rituals in Peru was made by Chiappe and Millones.^[10]

Traditionally, the preparation of the cimora brew involves the collecting of four of the San Pedro Cacti, and slicing these into cross sections, similar to a loaf of bread.^[7] These slices are then boiled for several hours, creating the brew which can then either be consumed on its own, or with other boiled plants which can be added to the mixture. While most of the San Pedro cactus used are the seven ribbed species, the rarer four ribbed cactus is often used for particularly difficult healing cases, as the four ribs are seen to symbolise what is known as the “four winds” and “four roads”, which are symbolic as they are said to have supernatural powers.^[7] In preparation for the healing ceremony, the patients must bring offerings such as a bottle of alcohol, a bag of sugar, scented water and red perfume.^[3]

Traditionally, cimora is used by Peruvian medicine men and women, or herbalists, known as curanderos, for the treatment of illnesses.^[11] This cult-like religion has elements of the ancient Mochican religion, combined with elements of the more modern Catholicism.^[3] This is seen, for instance, in their use of Christian elements such as crosses in the mesas of curanderos.^[15] The mesa is an altar-like table adorned with numerous “power objects” such as crosses, pictures of saints stones, swords and other such objects,^[4] which are said to have either a positive or negative nature, said to represent good and evil.^[15] The use of guinea pigs by healers as a tool to diagnose ailments has also been noted in Peruvian ceremonies.^[10] There are also a number of traditional elements involving the usage of cimora by the South American Shamans.^[3] These elements include:

1. A belief in 'spirit guardians'.
2. The geographical significance, given supernatural power by animal features, such as a serpent.
3. The disease or illness being engaged in physical combat.
4. The use of magical plants with spiritual power.
5. The belief that the cause of the illness is due to spiritual or supernatural causes.

Currently, the most common use of cimora and San Pedro is to treat ailments that are thought to have been caused by witchcraft.^[13] However there are also recreational users of the brew, for the psychedelic effect of the mescaline found in the Trichocereus pachanoi cactus.^[16] While the growth of San Pedro is legal, the use of San Pedro for its mescaline is illegal in some countries, and decriminalised in others.^[4]

Cimora and its healing properties have been attributed as the inspiration behind Tomás Tello's album Cimora,^[17] showing how influential the brew is still up until today.

Many ethnobotanists have sought to define what species of plants that go by the term cimora. Differing opinions have been the subject of discussion and journals, and Schultes has described accurately identifying what goes by the name of cimora as “one of the most challenging problems in the ethnobotany of hallucinogenic plants”.^[18] The main source of the problem is differing uses of the word cimora to describe multiple things, both the brew as well as a range of other plants. For instance, Cruz-Sanchez used the term cimora to describe a way of blending plants to brew an intoxicating broth, made from the San Pedro cactus amongst other things,^[3] as well as referring to a number of unidentified plants in the region by their Peruvian name that sounded similar to cimora. Friedberg suggested instead that it was not a brew made from cactus but instead labelled it as an Amaranthaceae plant of the Iresine genus.^[13] Later, Schultes questioned earlier work by Friedberg, in particular the use of the word 'timora' to describe a "magic and dangerous herb", and postulated that 'cimora' and 'timora' might instead be two versions of the same word.^[18]