Before the molecule had a name
The material trace, the Andean record, and living people and responsibilities — peyote and San Pedro enter through their own records.
Published · Ebook edition available · The Spore Patch Ltd
The Psychedelic Evidence Atlas
Volume V · Mescaline
The fifth volume of Richard L. Pope's nine-volume audit turns to mescaline — through the distinct histories of peyote and San Pedro, early chemical investigations and modern human research. It examines altered perception, claims of benefit, documented risks, and the responsibilities surrounding conservation and Indigenous traditions.
At its heart are extended readings of Aldous Huxley and Carlos Castaneda: writers whose influence invites both personal reflection and careful questioning. The volume makes room for wonder while asking what each source can actually support.
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The governing principle
Evidence belongs first to the thing actually studied
A cactus, a chemical compound and a written account are not interchangeable evidential objects. Where a claim moves between containers — from plant history to chemistry, from personal narrative to measured effect — the move is stated rather than assumed.
Volume V structure
How the mescaline volume is built
Twelve chapters, with an evidence overview, a reader's guide and chapter source notes — bringing scientific evidence into conversation with cultural history and literature.
Two plants, two histories
Peyote — peoples, places and continuity; San Pedro — names, plants and preparations. Neither history is collapsed into the other.
From plant to compound
The chemical investigations that made mescaline measurable, and how the compound is measured — dose, kinetics and the limits of each method.
The writers and the experience
Huxley's doorway, Carlos Castaneda's teacher and the evidence, and what language can and cannot carry of the experience itself.
Claims and risks
Claims of benefit weighed against the studies behind them, and the documented risks read in their contexts.
Conservation and what remains
Authority and conservation responsibilities, and what the evidence leaves us with at the end of the audit.
Apparatus
Notes and chapter-level sources
Superscript links lead to notes within each chapter, and bracketed references identify chapter-level selected sources, so that each claim can be traced back to the literature it rests on.
Chapter-owned findings
Findings apply to the preparations, populations, methods and periods described; qualifications and unresolved questions remain part of the account rather than being smoothed away.
Three strands, three standards
Scientific research, cultural history and literary criticism are given space for their different contributions. Chapter length does not indicate the strength of an evidence base, and the source notes identify each strand's limits.
The author
Richard L. Pope
Author of The Fungal Evidence Atlas and The Psychedelic Evidence Atlas, published by The Spore Patch Ltd. No academic affiliations, qualifications, awards or endorsements are claimed, and none should be inferred.
The Psychedelic Evidence Atlas, Volume V: Mescaline. First edition, 2026. Published by The Spore Patch Ltd as a reflowable EPUB 3 ebook. Text copyright Richard L. Pope.
Availability
Published · Ebook edition available
This edition is a digital publication only. The Spore Patch Ltd sells digital publications and does not sell mushrooms, supplements or remedies.
- Title
- The Psychedelic Evidence Atlas — Volume V: Mescaline
- Publisher
- The Spore Patch Ltd
- Edition
- First edition, 2026
- Format
- Reflowable EPUB 3 ebook
- Price
- £7.99
- File size
- Approximately 2 MB
- Contents
- Twelve chapters, with an evidence overview, reader's guide and chapter source notes
- ISBN
- No ISBN assigned for this edition
- Delivery
- Download link delivered by email after checkout
This volume is an evidence audit. It is not medical, psychological or legal advice, and nothing in it encourages the obtaining, possession or use of any controlled substance.