This art print features the three most significant Sacred Toads and Frogs, The Sonoran Desert/Colorado River Toad, the Cane or Marine Toad, and the Giant Leaf/Monkey Frog (known as Kambô or Sapo) - all original illustrations hand painted by me in watercolor which I then arranged into this educational botanical art poster.

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The Sonoran Desert Toad/Colorado River Toad's (Incilius alvarius, formerly genus Bufo) native habitat runs along the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

This is the most well-known "sacred toad", and for good reason. No other animal that we know of produces 5-MeO-DMT - a compound that is 4-6x more potent than regular DMT, and colloquially known as the "God molecule" due to its ability to invoke religious/spiritual experiences. The toad excretes high concentrations of the substance via its parotid glands (along with bufotenin and other toxins). The toad's other poisons are strong enough to kill a large dog, so caution must be taken to prepare the secretions before smoking (contrary to what popular culture may lead you to believe - "toad licking" is not widely practiced or advisable - it can actually make you extremely sick from various other pathogens present on their skin). 5-MeO-DMT is safe and completely non-toxic when the compound is isolated.

The trip usually lasts from 20-90 minutes, but feels like transcending time. It takes participants out of normal consciousness, into a state of temporary unconsciousness, with ego death making room for therapeutic exploration of the subconscious or an encounter with the divine. It has shown powerful emotional and spiritual healing effects. Some describe it "as a feeling of awareness, being connected to a higher power and feeling reborn" and often report altered mood and perception. Some even feel motivated to make major life changes due to their new outlook.

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The cane toad or marine toad (Rhinella marina, formerly Bufo marinus)- are reviled for their ugly appearance, their destructive invasiveness, and their toxicity due to the potent concentration of bufotenin in their parotid glands.

While not recommended AT ALL as this toxin is highly dangerous - some people choose to get high from these ugly dudes - by either smoking their dried out glandular secretions or boiling them and drinking the remaining soup.

Here's a fun excerpt from the AP from 1988:
"Outback Hippies Find Other Uses For Cane Toads:
...The preparation method involves boiling toads in a billy (a pot) for a few minutes. The toads are then removed, and the somewhat treacly substance behind is drunk.... an expert in cane toads, Dr. Robert Endean of Queensland University’s zoology department, said he was aware that people in the outback were getting high from chewing or smoking cane toad skins. ″It is definitely hallucinogenic,″ Endean told The Associated Press. ″It makes a good cocktail. But the toad is so ugly I would have thought just to look at it is enough to make most people think ’I’ll give that a miss.‴ The size of dinner plates, cane toads were introduced to Australia from South America about 50 years ago to control a beetle plague in the Queensland canefields. They are now found across northeastern Australia. "

The prominent parotid gland behind the cane toads' eyes contain large amounts of their potent bufo toxin. This deadly pus is secreted when they feel threatened or are attacked by a predator. These bulbous oozing glands, as well as their prominent eye ridge are what distinguish them from other similar toad species. They are the largest toad in the world, with the average size adult weighing nearly 3 pounds. Along with its toxins, another form of self defense for the cane toad is the capability of inflating its lungs, puffing up, and lifting its body off the ground to appear taller and larger to a potential predator. Since cane toads are already considered the largest species of true toad, they can appear truly massive (and terrifying) with this technique.
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Kambô or Sapo is a purification/cleansing ritual or "purge" performed by shamans using the secretions of the Phyllomedusa bicolor, a tree frog species from the Amazon Rainforest. The frog is tied up and poked with a sharp stick to provoke it to excrete its potent toxins in self-defense. The toxins are then applied to prepared burn wounds in the recipient's skin (afterwards, the frog is released- alive but likely traumatized, of course). More info from some academic sources below:

"During this purification ritual a shaman healer, from various South American countries, deliberately burns the right shoulder with a glowing stick from a fireplace. Excretions of Phyllomedusa bicolor are then applied to these fresh wounds. This ritual is used as a means of purification of the body. All the peripheral and most of the central effects of the secretion can be ascribed to the exceptionally high content of active peptides, easily absorbed through burned skin.

Women are usually wounded on the leg or foot for the administration of secretion on the damaged skin. Within minutes heart throbbing, sweating and nausea arise that lead immediately to severe vomiting. After a few more minutes, the effects disappear. This purification ceremony is not only used by local indigenous tribes, such as Matsés or Mayoruna, but also by urban people. It is said that the ritual brings luck to hunters, increases stamina and enhances physical and sexual strength."

"Acute Kambô effects are very different from those of serotonergic psychedelics. Experiences were reported to be dominated by strong physical reactions followed by a state of increased inwardness, psychedelic effects appear to facilitate loosening of ego barriers and increased connectedness with oneself and the outer world. Feelings of being energized with increased stamina and clarity of thoughts, following an initial state of physical sickness and exhaustion are reported."

Artwork Copyright Elizabeth England, All Rights Reserved