San Pedro ceremonies typically take place at night, usually in front of a mesa — an altar adorned with sacred objects such as shells, feathers, ceramics, or images of saints that hold significance to the shaman or patient. Sacred tools such as incense and musical instruments are also used.
Currently in Peru, both the shaman and the patient ingest the San Pedro elixir after fasting for 24 hours. The shaman and patient may be accompanied by others as support. These other people are not necessarily shamans or patients but drink the elixir to strengthen the ritual.
The San Pedro ceremonies remained unadulterated for upwards of a thousand years. It was only after the Spanish conquest that the huachuma cactus took on the name “San Pedro” — Saint Peter, the Christian saint said to hold the keys to Heaven’s gates. The renaming is a clear indicator that the Spanish colonists were aware of the plant’s ability to take one into the sacred realms.
