1750: Padre Veigl encounters Ayahuasca
Author: Franz Xaver Veigl (1723-1798)
Date: 1750s (exact date unclear)
Source: Veigl, “Provinciae Maynensis in America Medidionali, ad annum usque 1768,” in Christoph Gottlied von Murr, Journal zur Kunstgeschichte und zur allgemelnen Litteratur.
Partial translation
[from pages 138-39]
They usually strive for the rank of Curácam, which is esteemed for its courage or rather the reputation of magical skill. For they scarcely attribute any events, such as diseases, death, good or bad fortune, the abundance of hunting and fishing, floods, plagues etc., to any other cause than the magical arts of others; to him who seems the most skilled and prepared is given the credit for defending the family from external evils. They often aim for this reputation of magical expertise, to obtain gifts and favors from others, and even to terrify others, boasting that snakes, tigers, storms, and diseases hang on their nod. And although they deceive the credulity of others mostly by tricks and vain boasting, it is nonetheless too well-known by our learned age that the commerce, which is often thought to really intercede between barbarians and the demon, actually exists.
There is no nation, regardless of how varied the word in their language, that is so rude as to not know the demon, indeed not even to summon him by his proper name. The meaning of the term specter [spectrum] is varied. In it, three things are known: that it is incorporeal by nature, but can assume any sensible form at its discretion, far above human power, as all experience testifies, although opinions differ whether a certain species of divinity is to be believed [to exist] in it. There is nothing that I can say about this superstitious cult, which is strictly considered to be heretical, when thinking about it. They fear the devil with a certain fervent fear, as if he could harm them in many ways when offended, and they love him as their benevolent protector against evil, indeed, who sometimes gives them pleasant joys; for they are sometimes instructed in diabolical dances among, clad in human form, where any unspeakable lusts are exercised with an incubus or a demonic ox, as is certainly known from reliable witnesses, whether by actual corporeal manifestation or by mere imaginative fantasy.
It is widely known that after drinking the juice of the Campana, or that which they call hayac huasca, one is presented with absolutely enormous visions, and indeed these visionaries [visionarios], incapable of controlling their minds, seem to swiftly journey through remote and diverse paths while alive, and only after several days have passed do they return to themselves and their senses…
[from pages 55-56]:
Without doubt, there is a superstition around a drink brewed from the bark of what is called Hayac huasca or ‘bitter rope,’ which seizes the fully susceptible for a long-lasting rapture, during which they dream wonderful dreams and see what they wish to know in visions. I knew a man who, whenever he pleased, was seized by that repeatedly used potion and drawn to diabolical dances where unspeakable things were being performed; whether true or merely imagined, it is not clear. I believe it to be true, because it is proven by many testimonies that, during the frenzy, the enthusiasts sometimes actually run wildly. A similar effect occurs when drinking the juice of the Floripondium, which is also called Belladonnabecause of the similarity of its flower's shape, which is not at all rare there. They also abuse, among various ceremonies for superstition, the smoke and juice of tobacco, as well as their Aji or Utschu, especially the red one, for love sorceries. They also have certain roots, commonly named Piri piri, which when rubbed in a certain way, they can control, according to their will, the weather, with a certain number of thunderstorms; with this, some of the savages, traveling abroad, on the day before, signal their arrival to those at home so that a solemn feast can be prepared in time.
But why mention these and many other sorts of magic, with which some savages have been found to perform wonders, cause various harms, even death, and sometimes predict the future or things happening far away? Many of those who sell themselves as magicians are not actually so, but only deceive the credulity of others with vain trifles, obviously to gain a certain authority with reverential fear.
…
It is equally well known that they believe in the ability of demons to communicate with them through the voice of a tiger or a serpent, or even through a certain monkey or a familiar parrot, to direct or even terrify them. Hence, it is not surprising that the barbaric ignorance believes in the opinion that most birds and quadrupeds possess a mind and intelligence equal to or even superior to our own. They even believe in a Pythagorean metempsychosis, that the spirits of deceased humans migrate to the brutes. They are completely careless about the immortality of the human soul, the rewards or punishments that may come after death, or even the ultimate cause of all things and the supreme Lord of the universe. They are only concerned with their domestic poverty and extreme laziness. They are content with the success of this life, to an extent beyond necessity, and they never exert themselves, leaving everything to blind chance. They are solely focused on the present and, above all, on raising their minds beyond what the senses perceive, without any education…. Undoubtedly, these people are carnal, even after several years of instruction, they barely grasp the spirit and duties of Christianity, rather conforming externally to Christian behavior like beasts than with genuine religious spirit. However, they are surprisingly agile and clever in learning foreign languages, music, and any mechanical work, especially those that serve their desires, and they are believed to excel our ordinary people in the liveliness of their senses and imagination.”
Passages from Veigl’s Latin account of ayahuasca, which are translated above.