Incan rituals - not for the squeamish

[pau]

did I spell squeamish right? Anyway, saw this today, and ... well, you'll understand. The full source report in pdf format can be accessed by academic professionals by following the links in the Journal Of Archaeological Sciences report below.

Ritual Drug: Sacrificed Children Found with Cocaine and Ayahuasca in Their Bodies During Inca Sacrificial Rites

Experts believe the hallucinogenic plants were used on Inca children before being killed during sacrificial rites.

www.natureworldnews.com

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352409X22000785#!

Have a nice day everybody, and give you kids a hug.

 

[RhythmSpring]

No offense, but who wrote this?

"These plants affect an individual's perception of emotions, space, and time, as per the Amherst College in Massachusetts, United States."

Cocaine a) isn't hallucinogenic and b) it wasn't cocaine--they were chewing coca leaves. Sure, it's a good theory that they were given coca to help numb the pain, but really... this article needs to be way clearer than it is for me to trust it.

 

[Loveall]

I think they mean cocaine the molecule was found in the analysis of fingernails/hair (not that a powdered drug extract was in use).

The suggestion that aya and coca leaf were used for their anesthetic effects seems like a projection of western medicine. Not clear if that intent had anything to do with the Inca ritual.

Child sacrifice is something I don't understand

 

[Tomtegubbe]

Having encountered briefly some of the darker tones of the hyperspace, I can easily image that some dark entities can lure people in power to do something as brutal as human sacrifice perhaps just in order to fool them. That history alone should serve as a reminder that psychedelics alone are not the highway to happiness but can actually lead to bad things if those who take them are not well-versed in their moral integrity. Believe not every spirit.

 

[dreamer042]

Socha, Dagmara M., et al. "Ritual drug use during Inca human sacrifices on Ampato mountain (Peru): Results of a toxicological analysis." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 43 (2022): 103415.

Hallucinogenic plants and psychotropic stimulants performed an important role in the beliefs, rituals and divination practices in the ancient Andes. The aim of this article is to present the results of toxicological studies of two individuals immolated over 500 years ago during a capacocha ritual on the mountain of Ampato mountain in southern Peru. The capacocha was one of the most significant ceremonies carried out in the Inca Empire. During the ritual, the Incas sacrificed children and young women who were supposed to be beautiful and unblemished. The hair and nails of two Ampato mummies were examined using LC-MS/MS for the presence of coca alkaloids and metabolites (cocaine, benzoylecgonine, cocaethylene), mescaline, tryptamine, harmaline and harmine. The results of the study show that during the last weeks of the victims’ lives, they chewed on coca leaves and were intoxicated by ayahuasca, a beverage made primarily from the Banisteriopsis caapi. In modern medicine, the properties of harmine led to the use of ayahuasca in the treatment of depression. Chroniclers mentioned the importance of the victims’ moods. The Incas may have consciously used the antidepressant properties of Banisteriopsis caapi to reduce the anxiety and depressive states of the victims.

 

[fink]

The word victim might not be more than our wish to impose modern western criminality to the ceremonies. Many cultures considered being sacrificed a great honour.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

The Amherst college document was beyond basic!

There's a link to the journal article in a similar recent thread, so it seems like a good idea to combine this discussion with the one there. They'll get merged in due course. Merged

 

[dreamer042]

Oh I totally missed that, yep I'll merge it in.

 

[PolarisZ]

It says a lot about the mindset of the researchers that they assume the Aya was being used for its antidepressant effects. Assuming that priests performing human sacrifice were thinking in utilitarian terms, as opposed to darkly spiritual.

 

[RoundAbout]

It says a lot about the mindset of the researchers that they assume the Aya was being used for its antidepressant effects. Assuming that priests performing human sacrifice were thinking in utilitarian terms, as opposed to darkly spiritual.

Here's a quote from the main text that describes the precedent for their assumption a little (beyond MAOI use as an antidepressant). I would guess that it is also difficult to get speculations about dark spirituality etc. published.

The information about using stimulants during rituals appears in the chronicles. According to Francisco de Avila (1966 [1598]), the Incas gave the children chicha so they would go happy to Viracocha (the Creator, a main deity of the Inca pantheon). Other chroniclers mentioned that alcohol was used to dull the victims’ senses and calm them down before death (Cobo, 1990 [1623]; Ramos, 1976 [1621]:81). The studies of the hair of the other capacocha victims from Cerro Esmeralda, Llullaillaco and Sara Sara revealed that the children and young women immolated during the rituals were chewing coca leaves during their last weeks (Besom, 2000, Wilson et al., 2013). An analysis of some of the mummies showed the presence of cocaethylene, which means that chewing coca leaves was combined with the drinking of alcohol (most probably chicha; Wilson et al., 2013). Quids of coca leaves were found inside the mouths of the older females found on Llullaillaco and Cerro Esmeralda (Besom, 2000, Wilson et al., 2013).

I do think this is quite speculative though:

Ogalde and his team (et al., 2009) suggest that the lianas of Banisteriopsis caapi could be used alone as medicine in Azapa Valley. The positive results for the infant imply a more therapeutic than vision inducing purpose. Harmine works as a MAOI and blocks the metabolism of serotonin and dopamine (Fábregas et al., 2010, Osório et al., 2015). The antidepressant action after drinking the decoction can last for a couple of weeks.

They acknowledge the spiritual angle a little as well:

The consumption of the hallucinogenic ayahuasca could have been related to the desire of communication between the victims and the spiritual world.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Child sacrifice is something I don't understand

I don't either, but I thought this was interesting:

Nevertheless, the Ampato #3 individual had suffered from the malformation of the transverse foramen, which could have caused alterations in blood circulation and nerve damage (Fig. 3; Cai et al., 2018, Goray et al., 2005, Socha et al., 2021a, Socha et al., 2021b). An injury to this region causes blood circulation impairment, chronic headaches, hypoxia, loss of consciousness caused by abrupt movements of the head, partial paralysis, temporary blindness and vertigo (Cai et al., 2018, Sultana et al., 2020). According to the chroniclers, body malformation and congenital impairment of the victims could be desirable because it was interpreted as evidence of the interference of gods (Arriaga, 1968 [1621]: 214–215).

I do recall a story about native americans putting children with birth defects, disabilities etc. into dedicated pits in the desert to die (presumably before they become more of a burden). The story I read or heard had them tying their horses and walking the kids a short distance to the pits because the stench of fear/death was too disturbing for the horses. This ritual is a little more ceremonious at least I suppose. I'm not implying all child sacrifices were disabled though.

 

[Loveall]

I've also heard that the most beautiful, intelligent, and healthy children were chosen for sacrifices to honor the gods. Can't find the reference now.

Doesn't make sense to me.

I try to ground myself (mindset/beliefs) in the physical. What is healthy. Otherwise, it seems to me that mind and beliefs can wonder into bizzare territories.

From this point of view, smoking cigarettes is a form is social insanity when it is seem as normal. Sedentary and stress inducing lifestyles too. High rates of suicide and mental health are not something to gloss over. Rates of heart disease off the charts. These things should be front and center in my opinion, but socially we seem to focus on other things, which to me seem less relevant.

 

[AstralRoots]

I've also heard that the most beautiful, intelligent, and healthy children were chosen for sacrifices to honor the gods. Can't find the reference now.

Doesn't make sense to me.

I try to ground myself (mindset/beliefs) in the physical. What is healthy. Otherwise, it seems to me that mind and beliefs can wonder into bizzare territories.

From this point of view, smoking cigarettes is a form is social insanity when it is seem as normal. Sedentary and stress inducing lifestyles too. High rates of suicide and mental health are not something to gloss over. Rates of heart disease off the charts. These things should be front and center in my opinion, but socially we seem to focus on other things, which to me seem less relevant.

I am with you though I've studied the psychology of those that think/act these ways enough to understand their tenacity. A literal inability to feel is a textbook quality of the primary psychopath. It's impossible to know what that's like as being a being that feels so widely it's sometimes hard to exist here...

The increase in suicdality and even sociopathy is certainly an absolute travesty. Regarding the latter one could make the case that it is resultant of more people though I suppose more research could be done. SSRIS take the place of plants like Syrian Rue and numbing agents are normalized by many parents which often leads to very dark places in the psyches of those within such morasses.

I've often wondered if it's all linked to broken hearts. Needs unmet. This thread is related to a thread I just posted so I'm happy to have stumbled upon this one. I am at least glad to know I'm not the only one in this community nor the world that think-feel on these imv extremely important arenas.