Preparing & Consuming San Pedro

This film does not officially advocate the consumption of San Pedro—as candidly explained in About the Film. But it is an undeniable fact that the experience of preparing and consuming San Pedro has the potential, in the right circumstances, to fundamentally alter our lives and the nature of our existence.

For those who wish to learn more, below is a list of articles written by the filmmaker about the preparation and consumption of San Pedro and the interior journey that tends to follow. Also included is an important article published in VICE Magazine about the alarming decline of the wild Peyote population.

• DIY Mescaline: How to Explore San Pedro Without a Guide

• Micro-Dosing Mescaline: Comparing San Pedro to LSD and Psilocybin

• DIY Psychedelics: Why Grow & Prepare Your Own Plant Medicine

• Macro-Dosing Mescaline: The Danger of Not Consuming Enough San Pedro

• Ayahuasca or San Pedro: Which Works Better?

• The Decline of American Peyote (VICE Magazine)

Re-Wilding San Pedro

The psychedelic cactus known by the names San Pedro, Huachuma, and Echinopsis pachanoi is native to the Andean highlands of Ecuador and Peru. It can now be found as an ornamental plant in many countries around the world, but it has become scarce in the wild.

The story of San Pedro’s botanical cousin and northern counterpart—Peyote—offers a cautionary tale. Both species of cactus contain high concentrations of the psychoactive compound known as mescaline, for which they have been consumed and revered for thousands of years. This tradition, when applied to the mass consumption patterns of the 21st century, poses an existential threat to these plants. The unsustainable harvest of Peyote in its native range (northern Mexico and the southwestern United States) is already threatening the species with extinction. Climate change is not helping.

In the wake of making “Kissing Gaia,” a covert alliance of ethnobotanists, conservationists, and plant medicine guides are taking pre-emptive action to help San Pedro avoid a similar fate in Ecuador.

How Re-Wilding Works

1. Identify 10 wilderness sites in the highlands of Ecuador that a) are projected to have optimal growing conditions for wild San Pedro even in the midst of a changing climate, and b) are either protected in a national park or are otherwise so remote that adverse human intervention is unlikely.

2. Propagate cuttings from wild San Pedro cacti in a specialized nursery.

3. Transplant the young cacti in each of the 10 wilderness sites.

4. Tell nobody where they are.