OVERVIEW

5-MeO-DMT is a tryptamine-based psychedelic. While this compound has been found in one toad species and numerous plants, it was first discovered and synthesized in 1936 by two Japanese chemists named Hoshino and Shimodaira. 

In its synthesized form, 5-MeO-DMT is known as the pure molecule or Jaguar (“Jag” for short). Psychedelic pioneer Ralph Metzner coined this name in his 2013 book, The Toad and the Jaguar.

A crystalline powder material, Jaguar, usually presents itself in a white to slightly off-white beige color. Also referred to as “The Pure Molecule,” the use of

Also naturally produced within nature, 5-MeO-DMT can be found within the parotoid glands of the Sonoran Desert toad, also known as Incilius Alvarius or Bufo Alvarius toad. The secretion is ethically milked from the first two parotoid glands, expressed onto a piece of glass, and dried where it is collected for later use. The dried venom is pale, translucent in color, and has a texture similar to dried crystalline flakes of honey. Containing anywhere from 10% – 30% 5-MeO-DMT, the secretion also contains up to a dozen other tryptamines and alkaloids.

It is important to note that while 5-MeO-DMT is related to dimethyltryptamine (DMT), they are two very different compounds. With the addition of a methoxy group in the R5-MeO position, 5-MeO-DMT is considerably more potent and produces an exceptionally different experience to DMT.

The most common plant sources of 5-MeO-DMT are Anadenanthera peregrina (yopo) and Virola theiodora. Both are used in Central and South America to make psychoactive snuff used in traditional shamanic and entheogenic contexts by Indigenous people.

HISTORY

Most of the documented history and archeological evidence of 5-MeO-DMT use is focused on Central and South America in the form of snuff. This psychoactive preparation is made from the seeds of Anadenanthera peregrina, Anadenanthera colubrina, or Virola theiodora, which are dried and ground and combined with a natural alkali such as wood ash or lime made from snail shells. This powder was then forcibly blown into ritual participants’ nostrils through wood or bone tubes. There is archeological evidence of variations of the practice going back thousands of years. Pipes made of puma bone found with Anadenanthera seeds in the Humahuaca gorge in Argentina have been radiocarbon dated to around 2000 BC, and snuff trays and tubes have been found throughout Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico, sometimes dating back 1000 years. Indigenous people were still using these snuffs for shamanic purposes at the time of Spanish colonization, and these practices were reportedly observed by Friar Ramon Pane in the 14th century.  There is no archeological or historical evidence proving the ancient or ceremonial use of 5-MeO-DMT from the Sonoran Desert Toad. While these are the facts, there has been some debate within the 5-MeO-DMT community after a theory of indigenous use was suggested during the World Bufo Alvarius Congress in 2018.