Salvia
Timeline
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| Unknown |
| Salvia divinorum may have a long history of use in divination and healing ceremonies in Central America, but how far back its history goes is unknown. |
| By the time S. divinorum was first described by ethnobotany in 1938, its cultivation appears to have been well established in parts of Mexico. The first published report of S. divinorum describes a cultivated plant grown in gardens for ceremonial/entheogenic use. There is also speculation that S. divinorum is a cultigen, meaning that it is a domesticated strain that does not grow wild. Both of these suggest its use by humans may be considerably older than the twentieth century, but there is no strong evidence.
R. Gordon Wasson's hypothesis that S. divinorum was ritually used by the Aztecs also supports a theory of antiquity. However, even Wasson himself was tentative about his hypothesis, and his identification of S. divinorum as the pipiltzintzinli of the Aztecs is far from certain. |
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