Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico – Maria Sabina

Folkways Records FR 8975, this is a US pressing of the impossible to find “Mushroom Ceremony Of the Mazatec Indians Of Mexico” This recording, made by Gordon Wasson in 1956, attempts to chronicle a religious ceremony involving the ingestation of psychedelic mushrooms by Indians who are attempting to communicate with the Divine Spirit.

“HERE IS A SHAMANIC PERFORMANCE COMPLETE. DR WASSON, A PIONEER IN THE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF MUSHROOMS IN RELIGIOUS RITUAL, GIVES US A TRANSCRIPTION OF AN AUTHENTIC “CONSULTATION” OF THE SACRED MUSHROOM, IN SOUND. THE OCCASION WAS THE ILLNESS OF A YOUTH. THE MUSHROOM, THROUGH THE MOUTH OF MARIA SABINA, A FEMALE SHAMAN, DECREED THAT THE BOY MUST DIE. HE HEARD THE BAD NEWS AND DIED DAYS LATER. DR. WASSON TAPED THE ENTIRE VELADA. DR. WASSON IS ABLE TO PROVE THAT THE WORDS AND UNDOUBTEDLY THE CHANT ARE PRE-CORTES, GOING BACK FOR MANY CENTURIES. NOTHING LIKE THIS RECORD HAS BEEN DONE FOR THE NEW WORLD; IT IS RIVALED IN THE OLD WORLD ONLY BY THE VEDIC CHANTS OF INDIA”.

Recorded by V. P. & R. G. Wasson in Huautla de Jiménez, in the Mazatec Mountains in the northern corner of the State of Oaxaca, July 21, 1956.

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