TL;DR

  • Sixteenth-century sources describe teotlaqualli (“divine food”) as a black unguent used to anoint priests; compositions include picietl (tobacco), ololiuhqui (morning-glory seeds), soot, and ashes of venomous animals (spiders, scorpions, snakes) (Durán; Elferink 1999; Carod-Artal 2015). 1 2 3
  • Pharmacology fits a transdermal platform: nicotine (MW 162, pKa≈8.0) is well-documented for skin delivery (≈21 mg/24 h patches), with absorption strongly pH-dependent toward alkaline conditions. Ash raises pH, increasing free-base nicotine; soot/abrasion and occlusion further boost flux. 4 5
  • Ololiuhqui seeds contain ergolines (notably ergine/LSA; MW 267; logP ~1.1–1.5). Molecule size is <500 Da (the skin “rule-of-500”), making dermal uptake plausible in an alkaline, lipid-rich paste, though unproven in vivo. 6 7 8
  • “Venom-ash” contributes alkaline mineral lime (CaO/Ca(OH)₂; from bone/animal ash), likely denatures peptide toxins yet elevates pH and irritates the stratum corneum—penetration enhancing rather than pharmacologically venomous. 9 10 11
  • Hypothesis: teotlaqualli induced fearlessness, trance, and vivid mentation primarily via nicotine (high-dose dermal), with ergolines modulating cognition; ash/soot engineered the skin and vehicle. This yields specific, testable predictions with Franz-cell assays and LC-MS. 4 12

“They mixed these things with soot… and smeared themselves… to lose fear and speak to their gods.”
— Fray Diego Durán, Historia de las Indias de Nueva España (16th c.), as summarized in modern analyses. 3

Teotlaqualli, Re-read#

Ethnohistorical dossier. Colonial chroniclers repeatedly describe a dark paste—teotlaqualli/teotlacualli (“divine food”)—offered to the gods and smeared on priests before fearful rites. Recipes include picietl (tobacco) and ololiuhqui (Rivea/Turbina corymbosa) plus ashes of poisonous beasts (spiders, scorpions, vipers), with soot as the black matrix (Durán; Torquemada; summaries by Elferink; Carod-Artal). 13 14 3

Carod-Artal (neurology review) distills this succinctly: teotlaqualli is a dark unguent of N. rustica, ololiuhqui, and venom-ash, applied to skin; some scholars infer transdermal psychotropic action beyond pigmentary ritual. 3 Elferink’s article devotes itself to the composition, function (“to lose fear”), and contexts of application, collating the 16th-century testimony. 14

Botanical identities. Picietl is tobacco (frequently taken as N. rustica, “Aztec tobacco”), with colonial lexica likening it to henbane in odor/potency. Ololiuhqui seeds contain lysergic amides (LSA, iso-LSA), chemically established in the modern era (Hofmann et al.). 15 16 6

Ritual effect profile. “Loss of fear” and night-ceremony use map cleanly onto high-dose nicotine’s sedative/vestibular effects and its well-known capacity to induce vivid dreams when delivered transdermally through sleep. 17 18

A Dermal-Delivery Hypothesis (and why it’s chemically sane)

A. Platform engineering hidden in plain sight#

  • Nicotine is skin-permeant. Approved patches deliver ~21 mg/24 h systemically; plasma kinetics are well characterized. 4
  • pH drives nicotine flux. Nicotine (pKa≈8) permeates as free-base; raising pH (alkaline ash) increases the un-ionized fraction and mucocutaneous absorption (shown across smokeless and snuff products, and in Amazonian rapé where ash is deliberately added). 5 19
  • Ash is alkaline lime. Bone/animal ash is rich in CaO/Ca(OH)₂ / CaCO₃; wood ash also pushes pH > 11–12—precisely the direction that frees nicotine (and perturbs the stratum corneum). 9 10
  • Barrier perturbation. High pH and abrasives (soot/char) disrupt the acid mantle and lipid packing, measurably increasing skin permeability; micro-abrasion alone boosts flux several-fold. 20 21

B. Actives and their dermal plausibility#

IngredientPrincipal activesMW / logPDermal viability (theory)Functional role in paste
Nicotiana rustica (picietl)Nicotine (pKa≈8.0)162.2 / ~1.2Proven (patches 7–21 mg/day; pH-dependent free-base)CNS arousal/sedation; “fearlessness”; dream vividness. 4 5
Ololiuhqui (Turbina/Rivea corymbosa seeds)Ergine (LSA), iso-LSA267.3 / ~1.1–1.5Plausible (<500 Da rule; lipophilicity modest; likely enhanced by alkaline, lipid matrix & occlusion)Cognitive/perceptual modulation; symbolism. 6 7 8
Venom-ash (spider/scorpion/snake)Minerals (CaO→Ca(OH)₂), traces—Enhancer (pH ↑; irritant) rather than pharmacologically venomous; most peptide toxins denature with heatRaises pH; abrasiveness; color mythos. 9 11
Soot/charCarbon particles—Occlusion + micro-abrasionBlack color; physical penetration aid. 22

On ergolines: LSA sits well under the 500-Dalton skin cutoff, but is less lipophilic than LSD; real-world dermal effect thus hinges on vehicle/pH and residence time. Direct human transdermal evidence is lacking; test it (below). 8 7

On “venom”: Ashing largely destroys enzymatic venom proteins (though some heat-stable fractions can persist), making pH/abrasion the credible contribution. Symbolically potent; chemically, a delivery excipient. 11

Back-of-envelope dose physics (so we’re not hand-waving)#

Nicotine flux benchmark. A 21 mg/day patch (area ≈30–40 cm²) yields ~0.9 mg/h, i.e., ~0.02–0.03 mg/cm²·h. Spread over forearms/torso at >100 cm² with alkaline paste and occlusion, order-of-magnitude nicotine delivery could plausibly rise to several mg over a few hours, comfortably psychoactive and consistent with sleep/dream perturbations noted with overnight patches. 4 17

Ergoline co-delivery. LSA (MW 267; logP ~1.1–1.5) permeation could be sub-milligram over hours under favorable conditions—likely modulatory beside nicotine’s somatic “drive”. Only measurement will settle this. 7

How to Test the Hypothesis (safely, legally, reproducibly)#

  1. Ethno-recipe control. Prepare three blinded ointments in a neutral modern base (e.g., cocoa-butter/beeswax): T1 = tobacco extract only; T2 = T1 + alkaline ash (standardized Ca(OH)₂/wood ash); T3 = T2 + morning-glory seed extract (defatted ethanol; quantified ergolines). Keep pH, viscosity, and occlusion as variables. This is an in-vitro materials study, not human administration.
  2. Franz-cell assays (human skin/approved surrogates). Quantify nicotine and LSA flux vs time; manipulate pH (7–11), ash load, soot content, occlusion, and micro-abrasion (tape-strip). 23 24
  3. Chemistry. LC-MS for nicotine, cotinine, LSA; verify ash mineralogy (XRD) and paste pH; record vehicle rheology. 23
  4. Mechanism probes. Replicate with and without alkalizers to isolate the free-base effect; add benign penetration enhancers (PG) as controls. 25
  5. Safety note. Ergolines are vasoactive; nicotine is toxic in overdose. Keep this in vitro; any human work requires IRB, GMP sourcing, and clinical oversight.

Predictions. (i) Alkaline ash sharply increases nicotine flux (mirroring rapé/snus data); (ii) ergoline flux is vehicle-limited but nonzero; (iii) occlusion + mild abrasion boosts both; (iv) ratios track pH and residence time. 26 27

FAQ#

Q1. Was teotlaqualli truly psychoactive—or just paint?
A. Sources say priests anointed themselves to “lose fear”; recipes include tobacco + ololiuhqui—both psychoactive. A dermal mechanism is pharmacologically coherent; the soot reads as color and an occlusive/abrasive delivery aid. 14 28

Q2. Would “venom-ash” add pharmacology?
A. Mostly not; ash destroys most venom proteins, but provides alkali and mineral abrasives—which increase permeability and free-base nicotine. 11 10

Q3. Is ololiuhqui dermal at all?
A. Plausible on first principles (<500 Da; moderate logP), but unverified; hence the Franz-cell call. Oral routes are historically primary; dermal would have been opportunistic via the unguent. 8 7

Q4. Why fearlessness + vivid dreams?
A. High-dose nicotine via skin can cause sedation, dizziness, and intense dreams. Layer ergolines and ritual context, and you get the described priestly mindset. 17

Footnotes#

Sources#

Bottom line: Teotlaqualli reads like a deliberately engineered dermal system: alkaloids (nicotine, ergolines) + alkaline ash (pH booster/irritant) + soot (occlusion/abrasion) = fearless trance paint. The ethnohistory is solid; the pharmacology is testable—and likely to pass.

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