Picietl-tobacco: divine plant of the Aztecs

Among the many pre-Columbian civili-zations of America the tobacco plant was highly valued, but there were few civi-lizations where the plant was so highly appreciated as among the Aztecs in Mexico. Here the plant was called picietl, and it played a major role in many aspects of Aztec society, including medicine, religion and magic. The smoking of picietl-tobacco for recreational purposes, however, was strongly restricted and limited to members of the elite, because the use of the smoking tube, which was the device to smoke picietl, was a privilege of the upper social classes. The book dedicates attention to a number of aspects of the use of picietl among the Aztecs. It was one of the most important and frequently used medicines against a number of ailments with stress on the treatment of pain. The cure of some diseases had a magic religious background. The Aztecs considered picietl as a divine plant that was invoked in medical incantations and at the same time applied to the body. Among the religious-magic applications was further its use in divination, because the picietl possessed psychoactive properties. The difference in attitude and applications of picietl-tobacco among the Aztecs and that of tobacco in modern times is discussed.