A few of the estimated two hundred mushroom stones that escaped destruction , despite the concerte3d efforts of misdirected Catholic missionaries. The smaller mushroom stones are the ones found with metates, which were presumably used for grinding the sacraments prior to used (Borhegi 1961).
Chroniclers of the Spanish Conquest reported the ritual use of hallucinogenic mushrooms among the Aztecs. They called their sacred mushroom Teonanacatl, which means “Gods flesh” “Teo” meaning god in the Aztec language.
Ruiz de Alarcon reported in the early 1600s that the indigenous peoples believed that their sacred plants were gods, and described a “tawny-colored mushroom made into a drink from its pressed-out juices”.
According to testimony recorded in 1554 in the Colonial document entitled El Titulo de Totonicapan, the Quiché Maya revered mushroom stones as symbols of power and rulership, and before them they performed rituals (of blood sacrifice)to pierce and cut up their bodies. (Sachse, 2001, 186).