Mauri cuts the needles away from the stock.

In a recent trip to Peru we had the opportunity to meet a village shaman who was kind enough to share his San Pedro and show us his customary way to prepare San Pedro. Mauri cut two pieces of San Pedro from a plant he had growing in his court yard. Each piece was about 35 cm long and about 7 cm in diameter, enough for two good experiences. Mauri first preparee the cactus by cutting away the needles. He did this by making two wedge-shaped cuts along the needle rows thus removing the needles from the stock. The next step involved removing the waxy outer skin from the cactus body thus exposing the slimy green xylem. He then proceeded to cut the green layer away from the stock. He explained that the green  was the  part containing the psycho-active components and should be seperated from the white core. The white material, he continued, will make you sick when consumed. He then boiled the green layer in about two liters of water for about four hours. He used a cloth to filter out the remaining pieces. He refered to the remaining pieces as cookies. Not the kind of cookies (my) grandma makes.

There was about 500 ml of light green liquid left. Mauri instructed us to share the liquid and cookies. He recommended that we not eat for several hours before partaking and do not eat any meat the day of the experience. Unfortunately, time did not permit us to share the experience with Mauri, but his kindness, guidance, and expertise in preparing San Pedro was evident throughout our experience. Que te vaya bien, amigo.

Mauri then removes the green material