Short answer
People in Mesoamerica used psilocybin mushrooms ceremonially for centuries before European contact. The Aztecs called them teonanácatl, and Spanish chroniclers described their use in the 1500s. The Mazatec healer María Sabina introduced them to the outside world after a 1955 visit from R. Gordon Wasson, whose 1957 LIFE magazine article made "magic mushrooms" famous. Albert Hofmann isolated psilocybin in 1958, research flourished, prohibition followed around 1970, and modern clinical research revived it from the late 1990s on.
Key takeaways
- Mesoamerican peoples used mushrooms in healing and religious ceremonies for centuries, and possibly millennia.
- Spanish colonizers recorded and suppressed the practice in the 1500s.
- María Sabina's 1955 ceremony with R. Gordon Wasson brought the mushrooms to global attention, at a real cost to her community.
- Research boomed in the 1960s, was shut down by about 1970, and restarted in earnest in the 2000s.
Timeline
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| Ancient era | Mushroom-shaped stone sculptures appear in the Maya highlands. Whether they relate to psilocybin is debated.1 |
| 1500s | Spanish chroniclers describe Aztec ceremonies using teonanácatl, and the Church works to suppress them.1 |
| 1955 | R. Gordon Wasson attends a velada led by María Sabina in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca. |
| 1957 | LIFE publishes Wasson's "Seeking the Magic Mushroom." The phrase sticks.3 |
| 1958 | Albert Hofmann isolates and names psilocybin.4 |
| 1960 to 1962 | Harvard Psilocybin Project, including the Good Friday Experiment. |
| Late 1960s to 1971 | Federal prohibition, Schedule I, and international control. |
| 2006 | Landmark Johns Hopkins study on psilocybin and mystical experience.5 |
| 2020 | Oregon voters legalize regulated psilocybin services. |
| 2026 | Two positive Phase 3 trials; Compass files with the FDA.6 |
Mesoamerica: the deep history
The strongest evidence for ancient psilocybin use comes from Mexico and Central America. Spanish friars who arrived in the 1500s recorded that the Aztecs ate mushrooms they called teonanácatl during feasts and religious ceremonies, sometimes with honey, and described the visions that followed. To the colonizers, it looked like idolatry, and they set out to stamp it out.1
They didn't succeed. In the mountains of Oaxaca, Mazatec communities quietly kept mushroom ceremonies alive for another four centuries, blending them with Catholic elements. Older artifacts, like mushroom-shaped stones from the Maya highlands, hint that the tradition may be much older, though archaeologists still argue about what those stones represent.12
María Sabina and the banker
R. Gordon Wasson was a vice president at J.P. Morgan with an unusual hobby: the study of mushrooms in human culture. In 1955, he traveled to Huautla de Jiménez and took part in a velada, an all-night healing ceremony, led by the Mazatec curandera María Sabina. In 1957, he described it in LIFE magazine under the headline "Seeking the Magic Mushroom," introducing millions of readers to the idea.3
For María Sabina, the attention was a disaster. Her village filled with seekers, hippies, and eventually authorities, and she faced suspicion and hardship from her own community. In later interviews, she said she regretted sharing the ceremony with outsiders. It's a story worth remembering as psilocybin becomes a business: the knowledge came from Indigenous people who paid a price for sharing it.
Hofmann, Sandoz, and the first research boom
Mushroom samples from Mexico made their way to Albert Hofmann at Sandoz in Switzerland, the chemist who had discovered LSD. In 1958, he isolated the active compound and named it psilocybin, and soon after, he synthesized it.4 Sandoz began supplying it to researchers under the name Indocybin.
The early 1960s were a heady time. At Harvard, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert launched the Harvard Psilocybin Project. In the 1962 Good Friday Experiment, divinity students received psilocybin or a placebo before a church service, and most of those given psilocybin reported profound religious experiences.2 The research was promising and, by modern standards, often sloppy. Leary was fired from Harvard in 1963.
Prohibition and the long silence
By the late 1960s, psychedelics had become symbols of the counterculture and the antiwar movement. The political backlash was swift, and psilocybin was placed in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970. Research nearly stopped for three decades. The full story, including the political motives, is in why are shrooms illegal?
The revival
Research crept back in the 1990s and broke through in 2006, when Johns Hopkins published a rigorous study showing psilocybin could produce lasting, meaningful mystical experiences in healthy volunteers.5 Trials for cancer distress, depression, and addiction followed. In 2020, Oregon voters approved the first legal psilocybin services in the U.S. And in 2026, Compass Pathways began submitting its FDA application after two successful Phase 3 trials for treatment-resistant depression.6
For where things stand now, see psilocybin for depression and psilocybin laws by state.
Common questions
What does teonanácatl mean?
It's a Nahuatl word usually translated as "flesh of the gods," though some scholars prefer "divine" or "wondrous mushroom." The Aztecs used it for the psilocybin mushrooms eaten in ceremonies.
Who was María Sabina?
María Sabina was a Mazatec curandera, or healer, from Huautla de Jiménez in Oaxaca, Mexico. She led mushroom healing ceremonies called veladas. After she shared one with R. Gordon Wasson in 1955, her village was overwhelmed by outsiders, and she later expressed regret about revealing the ceremony.
Did ancient cultures outside the Americas use magic mushrooms?
Possibly. Rock art in Algeria and Spain and various ancient artifacts have been interpreted as depicting mushroom use, but those readings are debated. The Mesoamerican evidence is by far the strongest.
Sources
- Carod-Artal FJ. Hallucinogenic drugs in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures. Neurología. 2015. doi.org/10.1016/j.nrl.2011.07.003
- Nichols DE. Psilocybin: from ancient magic to modern medicine. The Journal of Antibiotics. 2020. doi.org/10.1038/s41429-020-0311-8
- Wasson RG. Seeking the magic mushroom. LIFE. May 13, 1957.
- Hofmann A, et al. Psilocybin, a psychotropic substance from the Mexican mushroom Psilocybe mexicana. Experientia. 1958. doi.org/10.1007/BF02159243
- Griffiths RR, et al. Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance. Psychopharmacology. 2006. doi.org/10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5
- Compass Pathways. Second quarter and first half 2026 financial results and business highlights. August 5, 2026. seekingalpha.com
This article is for education only and is not medical or legal advice. Psilocybin is a Schedule I substance under U.S. federal law. Talk with a licensed clinician before making decisions about your health. In a crisis, call or text 988.