An example of San Pedro Cacti

An excerpt on ingestion from "Peyote And Other Hallucinogenic Cacti"

The most common method of use is simply to chew up and swallow the fresh or dried buttons after removing the tufts and sand. This is the way it is almost always done at Indian ceremonies. Most people find the taste of this cactus unbearably bitter. The Indians, however, feel if ones heart is pure, the bitterness will not be tasted. Many have found that by not cringing from the taste, but rather letting ones senses plunge directly to the center of the bitterness, a sort of separation from the offensive flavor is experienced. One is aware of the bitterness, but it no longer disturbs him. This is similar to the practice of bringing ones consciousness to the center of pain so that detachment may occur. It is not a difficult trick, but it takes some mental discipline. People who cannot endure the bitterness of peyote often go to various extremes to get it into the system without having to taste it. One fairly effective method is to drink unsweetened grapefruit juice while chewing it. The acids in the juice somewhat neutralize some of the bitter bases. Another method is to grind the dried buttons in a pepper grinder and pack the pulverized material into OOO capsules which are washed down with warm water. This is an effective method but it can take 20 capsules or more to get a 350mg dose of mescaline. Often people will boil the buttons in water for several hours to make a concentrated tea. A cup of this decoction can be swallowed in a few hasty gulps. Another preparation that is occasionally used is a jello-type dessert made with the fresh or dried plant. If spoonfuls are swallowed whole the gelatine serves as a sort of shield protecting the taste buds from contact with the bitter material. It also slows down the the absorption of the drug in the digestive tract. This can be of value. It is generally recommended that anyone consuming peyote or mescaline ingest it gradually during a period of an hour or take two half doses 45 minutes apart. This is done to reduce the shock of the alkaloid to the system. Nausea or queasiness is sometimes experienced half an hour or so after taking peyote or mescaline. This usually passes in less than an hour. A sip of grapefruit juice will sometimes dispel the sick feeling. During the peyote ceremony Indians encourage vomiting rather than restraint if the urge presents itself. Throwing up, they believe, is apurging of both physical and spiritual ills. Most tribes fast for at least a day before taking peyote. This can also help to minimize gastric distress. One should not have eaten for at least 6 hours before taking either mescaline or peyote.

A method which avoids both the bitterness and the nausea is the rectal infusion. 8-16 grams of dried peyote is ground into a fine powder and boiled in a pint of water for 30 minutes. It is then strained and further boiled to reduce it's volume to one half pint. After cooling, this is taken as an enema using a small bulb syringe and retained for at least two hours. If there is any fecal matter in the lower bowel, a small cleansing enema should be taken and thoroughly expelled before having the peyote infusion. Otherwise much of the drug will be taken up by the feces and later voided.