Toad Venom (5-MeO-DMT, Bufotenine, Serotonin, N-Methylserotonin, Tryptophan, 5-MTOH, 5-MIAA, 5-HTP, Bufovirdine, Bufotalindin)
Toad Venom is the milky white substance that is excreted from the parotoid glands of the Sonoran Desert Toad, Incilius Alvarius (formerly called Bufo Alvarius). The substance can be collected with human manipulation, dried, and smoked for profound psychedelic experiences. The medicine is short-acting and ranges from 15-45 minutes in length. The effects of smoking toad medicine include ego dissolution, deep emotional release, feelings of leaving the physical body, and can sometimes include spiritual visions.
Toad Venom is composed of approximately 15%-20% 5-MeO-DMT and a mixture of other alkaloids including Bufotenine, Serotonin(5-HT), and 5-HTP. It has been credited with anti-depressant and anti-addictive effects. The venom also contains cardio-toxins that are burned away as the medicine is vaporized. The Sonoran Desert Toad is the only animal in the world that produces serotonergic substances in its venom and skin.
People who have experienced Toad Venom often report that it feels like a near death experience and ego death. When administered in the appropriate setting, it can be the death of negative thought patterns and self-destructive behaviors. Other benefits of 5-MeO-DMT include:
The purpose of taking 5-MeO-DMT is to integrate what is experienced during the ceremony into the participant's life in a meaningful way. Integration of this Medicine can be exemplified by healthy living and lifestyle choices. Being the best son, daughter, brother, sister, father, mother, husband, wife and friend one can be. Living the best life one can live. Some participants find it helpful to do continued integration therapy with Sacred Heart Sonora to learn how to make healthy lifestyle changes and integrate new perspectives.
Toad Venom is composed of approximately 15%-20% 5-MeO-DMT and a mixture of other alkaloids including Bufotenine, Serotonin(5-HT), and 5-HTP. It has been credited with anti-depressant and anti-addictive effects. The venom also contains cardio-toxins that are burned away as the medicine is vaporized. The Sonoran Desert Toad is the only animal in the world that produces serotonergic substances in its venom and skin.
People who have experienced Toad Venom often report that it feels like a near death experience and ego death. When administered in the appropriate setting, it can be the death of negative thought patterns and self-destructive behaviors. Other benefits of 5-MeO-DMT include:
- Mystical and Spiritual Experiences: Many individuals who have used 5-MeO-DMT report having intense mystical and spiritual experiences. These experiences often involve a sense of unity with all things, a dissolution of the self, and a feeling of interconnectedness with the universe.
- Rapid and Profound Transformations: Some users report experiencing rapid and profound personal transformations after using 5-MeO-DMT. These transformations can include shifts in perspective, insights into one's life, and changes in behavioral patterns.
- Mindfulness and Presence: 5-MeO-DMT experiences can lead to a heightened sense of mindfulness and presence. Users often describe being fully immersed in the present moment and having a deep awareness of their surroundings and internal sensations.
- Reduced Anxiety and Fear: While the experience of 5-MeO-DMT can initially be intense and overwhelming, some users report a sense of release from anxiety and fear after the effects subside. This can potentially lead to greater emotional resilience and a more relaxed outlook on life.
- Enhanced Creativity: Like other psychedelics, 5-MeO-DMT may enhance creativity and lead to novel insights and ideas. Some individuals report increased artistic expression and the ability to see problems from different angles.
- Treatment of Mental Health Conditions: While research is still in its early stages, there is growing interest in exploring the potential therapeutic use of 5-MeO-DMT for mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and addiction. Preliminary studies suggest that it may have the potential to alleviate symptoms in some individuals. (We have assisted over 100 clients come off of their anti-depressant medication (including SSRIs, SNRIs, and mood stabilizers). Of those people only one chose to return to antidepressants within 6 months of the experience.
- Transcendence of Ego: 5-MeO-DMT experiences often involve a dissolution of the ego or self-identity. This can lead to a sense of ego death, where the individual feels a profound sense of oneness with the universe and a detachment from their usual sense of self.
The purpose of taking 5-MeO-DMT is to integrate what is experienced during the ceremony into the participant's life in a meaningful way. Integration of this Medicine can be exemplified by healthy living and lifestyle choices. Being the best son, daughter, brother, sister, father, mother, husband, wife and friend one can be. Living the best life one can live. Some participants find it helpful to do continued integration therapy with Sacred Heart Sonora to learn how to make healthy lifestyle changes and integrate new perspectives.
The last time I sat with Bufo was pure surrender—surrendering even the idea of surrender. Every thought, every self-reference slipped away like water, leaving nothing to hold on to. In that letting go, there was a sweet freedom: life exactly as it is, without judgment, comparison, or even the faintest urge to change.
Bufo has dissolved me before—sometimes painfully, sometimes into the bliss of absolute oneness. I know what it means, experientially, to be the Eternal Now. But the real work begins when that sublime state fades, when life returns to the ordinary. Perhaps Bufo shows us the truth—presence, completion, infinite wholeness—but it is up to me to recognize it in the mundane as well as the ecstatic.
For me, Bufo is a powerful pointer, a cosmic embrace, an acceptance so deep it erases the need to know or want anything more. I will sit with Bufo again, out of love for the medicine and the relationship. But the greater medicine lies in living what it reveals—integrating what already is, into what already is." - Sacred Heart Sonora Client
The History and Significance of Bufo alvarius
The Sonoran Desert toad first came to scientific attention through the work of Italian pharmacologist Vittorio Erspamer, who in the 1960s analyzed amphibian secretions and identified many bioactive compounds found in Bufo species. In the 1980s, explorer and psychonaut Ken Nelson self-published Bufo Alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert, describing how the toad’s secretion could be collected, dried, and smoked to access its powerful psychoactive compound, 5-MeO-DMT. Nelson’s work inspired early psychedelic communities, including the Church of the Toad of Light, which treated the secretion as a sacrament.
Although there is no definitive historical record that Indigenous peoples of the Sonoran Desert region used the toad’s secretion ceremonially, if such practices did exist, they were likely kept secret. During Spanish colonization of Sonora, missionaries in the 1600s and 1700s were tasked with converting Indigenous populations, often eradicating their sacred traditions by condemning them as witchcraft or heresy. Ceremonial use of the toad’s secretion, which produces intense visionary states, would have been at high risk of suppression, underscoring the possibility that ancestral knowledge may have been preserved quietly or symbolically rather than openly.
Today, the Comcaac (Seri) people of Punta Chueca claim Bufo alvarius as part of their ancestral heritage, affirming that their ancestors worked with this medicine. Anthropologically, this is significant: spiritual truths are often preserved through oral history, myth, and symbolism, rather than written record, making them difficult to verify in a Western sense.
Conservation at Rancho Bufo Alvarius
Conservation of the Sonoran Desert toad is critical, as current collection practices put the species at risk. For many, Bufo alvarius is not just an animal but a sacred being, a living sacrament carrying a medicine that cannot be replicated by synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. Substituting synthetic compounds can intrude on the spiritual dimension of this work, severing it from the living relationship with the toad and the desert ecosystem. We are aware of campaigns promoting “leave the toads alone” and arguments that “synthetic is better,” but such claims can be offensive to those who view this medicine as sacred, and countless experiential accounts demonstrate that natural Bufo secretions and synthetic 5-MeO-DMT are not the same. We believe that all spiritual beliefs deserve respect and acknowledge that we live in a world that has a long history of using animal products for almost every part of life, which places this medicine within a broader context of human interaction with the natural world.
Rancho Bufo Alvarius is the conservation arm of Sacred Heart Sonora — while we offer ceremonies in Tulum, each summer we dedicate ourselves to hands-on conservation work with the toads at the ranch in Sonora. In collaboration with Dr. Gerardo Sandoval Isaac, we focus on habitat restoration, breeding, and responsible stewardship to ensure the species thrives. Rancho Bufo Alvarius, located in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, features two dedicated breeding pools and has been actively practicing conservation of Bufo alvarius since 2019. Each female toad can lay up to 8,000 eggs per season, and by protecting and nurturing these early life stages, the number of new toads can increase dramatically each year. Toads must also be allowed to mature for about three years before their secretion can be collected, emphasizing the importance of patience, respect, and long-term planning to safeguard this sacred medicine for future generations.