The motif of hallucinogenic substances, including mushrooms and cacti, functions as the primary mechanism through which the novel destabilizes historical certainty and explores the theme of The Contingency of Historical Events. These substances permit real and imagined worlds to overlap and intermingle, suggesting that history is not a fixed sequence of events but a product of perception and imagination. Moctezuma’s steady consumption of “magic mushrooms” propels his withdrawal from the political world into an interior, esoteric reality. This retreat is not merely escapism but a turn toward an alternate form of knowledge that makes his actions dangerously unpredictable. His reliance on altered states is a key factor in the power vacuum that develops, leaving the empire vulnerable. He ingests mushrooms not just for spiritual insight but also “to summon the sleep my fool of an uncle drove away” (71), indicating his use of them to manage the overwhelming pressures of his office by retreating from linear, cause-and-effect reality. The motif culminates in the novel’s counterfactual climax, where Cortés is compelled to consume a “cactus-of-tongues” (210) to communicate directly with Moctezuma. This shared hallucinogenic experience dissolves the barrier between history and dream, creating a narrative space where the known past can be rewritten. The drug does not just alter perception; it becomes the conduit for an alternate history, cementing the novel’s argument that historical outcomes are mutable and contingent on moments of profound imaginative rupture.