Central tenets of the NAC usually involve avoidance of alcohol, devotion to family, and right living in general. Probably the most simple, and possibly historically primitive, form of peyotism is the vision quest, alone in nature. Usually this involves fasting, solitude, and quiet but steady contemplation. Peyote is eaten or consumed as a tea and a vigil is kept until such time as the communicant comes to a sense of physical and spiritual completion. This way of experiencing the personal qualities of the experience sounds very much like traditional stories of the first person who was given peyote by Creator Spirit.
Several tribes relate the story of a man or woman lost in the desert.
Their wandering leaves them exhausted, starving, and dehydrated. Just at the point of giving up all hope of life comes a voice which instructs them to reach out and take hold of the soft and cool plant which grows just within reach of their outstretched hands. They are then told to eat it to quench their thirst for water, food, and guidance back to their home. A History, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1987. Anderson, E.F., Peyote the Divine Cactus, Univ. of Arizona Press, 1980.