The Mayans were definitely “heavy drug users”. In fact, they got to the point where they thought it would be a good idea to start getting high off toad excretions. Their toads of choice had salivary glands that created a toxic liquid called bufotoxins that caused those who came in contact with it to hallucinate.
The Mayans made an even more potent psychedelic vehicle when they would scalp the toads, and dry their skins and mix it with alcohol and tobacco. This potent mix made the hallucinations even more powerful. How innovative, huh?
Mayans Would Often Try to Communicate With Their Gods, By Giving Themselves Enemas
Look, even the most advanced ancient civilization in the world is bound to have some wacky ideas. You don't get yourself to the top of the technological ladder without a few looney ideas along the way. Don't forget that the guy who invented the radio was put in an insane asylum by his friends when he told them about his idea of a way to communicate through the air without wires. Anyway, the Mayans were a very religious and spiritual empire and tried many ways to communicate with their many gods and deities to gain their favor and attempt to predict the future.
One such attempt was made by the Mayans getting themselves drunk to the point of seeing themselves talking to spirits and attempting to gain some spiritual insight from these encounters. The problem with getting yourself wasted on highly alcoholic substances with a few psychedelic agents thrown in for good measures, is that you tend to vomit the contents of the beverage out a short time after putting it in your body. One way the Mayans found to circumvent that problem, was by injecting the mixed liquid straight into their rears via an enema. This practice was put into art by Mayan pottery that suggests these spiritual enemas were actually quite a common thing. It seems that the Mayans were even more advanced than our modern counterparts when it comes to harmless mind and consciousness-altering substances. While we're on the subject of psychedelics and other Woodstock related experiences, we thought you'd be interested in learning more about the Mayan’s insanely large collection of mushrooms! Up next…
They Were Master Collectors of Many Kinds of Psychedelic Mushrooms
There is a common theory amongst the supporters of mind-altering drugs that psychedelics that when used properly, can elevate people to higher levels of consciousness and induce their inner genius to awaken. This has been seen multiple times throughout history, with iconic figures such as Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who's been known for using various psychedelics in his youth and going through several spiritual experiences. Going back to ancient times, many historians suggest that the Mayans had at their disposal over 50 kinds of psychedelic mushrooms which were often used to induce spiritual and religious experiences.
The correlation between the Mayan’s propensity for spiritual hallucinations and their advanced development and understanding of never before seen technology would probably never be properly investigated due to the vast amounts of missing and destroyed documents. Either way, it's a very interesting subject that will, unfortunately, be forever relegated to the category of speculation, but it's certainly fun to speculate. If you think having an arsenal of hallucinogenic mushrooms at their disposable was special, wait until you hear about what they did with toads…
Mayans Believed Sacrificing Blue People Caused Rain to Fall
Various nations and religions have attached different meanings to colors. For example, the United State's flag is made out of three colors — white, red and blue. The white color signifies purity, the red color is meant to show bravery, and blue is the color of vigilance and justice. One of the most important colors for the Mayans was blue, it played a very big role in their art because it signified first and foremost, the color of their rain god, Chaak. This meant that anyone who disrespects the color does it at their own peril of draught and death of crops.
Mayans would ask Chaak, the rain god, to provide them with rain by sacrificing a human they had painted...you guessed it, blue. That person would get thrown into the altar alive and while their beating heart was cut out and taken straight out of their chest. As mentioned previously, the higher the status of that person, the more “fitting” and “appeasing” the sacrifice was considered for Chaak.
The Mayans Pioneered The Modern Day Sauna
In today’s health-conscious world, the benefits of taking a dry or wet sauna are substantiated, sitting in a sauna for 15 to 30 minutes can do wonders for your cardiovascular system, relieve stress, detox your body and help rejuvenate the cells. There was one empire that had been using them long before Rome ever came to power.
The Mayans had been using saunas for well over 3,000 years ago, thanks to some fantastic technologies they discovered. Sweat baths were discovered by archaeologists in northern Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador, with some of them being 1,000 years older than Jesus Christ. These structures were built as a way for the Mayans to cleanse themselves by sweating out toxins, most likely before or after the crazy enema-induced mushroom trips they were taking. These were made of stone and adobe, and were fully functional.