Oh those crazy Ancient Maya . . . They sure knew how to have a good time. In these two photos we see a terracotta figurine and a sculpture in relief, respectively, showing people happily getting enemas. The first statuette shows a woman giving herself one: she twists her face upwards, smiling in delight. The second image might as well be the Maya version of a rave or swingin’-’70’s-style fête. One man reclines in fancy regalia while positioning himself to receive an enema, while to his left another man drinks alcohol from an overflowing pot.
This W.A.S. (weird-a**-sh**. Sorry about the pun) became popular in the Classical Maya period (250-900 CE) as a way of getting high. Those who put psychoactive drugs into their recta (which included fermented beverages called _pulque_ and _balché_) could bypass the liver and stomach to deliver the drugs quickly without having them processed or causing nausea. States of ecstasy or divination were likely goals.
Such customs among the Maya speak to a culture that possessed a powerful aristocracy — the high-end artwork was the purveyence of the super-wealthy. The Maya territory was not unified politically, but had many rival wealthy families struggle for dominance. Competition to demonstrate high-class past-times like the ones featured in these images might explain why these practices were so popular.
Source(s): _Neurology_, vol 30, Issue 1, Jan-Feb 2015, pp. 42-49, GO Carod-Artal, “Hallucinogens in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Cultures.’ Https://doi.irg/10.1016/j.nrleng.2011.07.010.
