The Shadow Side of the Psychedelic Resurgence
By: Dr. Denise Renye
As we’ve alluded to a few times, while the therapeutic and Western world is seeing a renewed interest in psychedelics, these medicines have been around and in use for thousands of years, not just since the 20th century. Nor are these medicines a Western invention: plant-based psychedelics have been used in religious rituals of African (e.g., Bwiti), South American (e.g., Amazon), North American (e.g., Aztec), and Central American (e.g., Maya and Inca) indigenous cultures, to name a few.
All too often, the psychedelic community neglects to pay homage to these indigenous traditions and healers. A famous example is that of María Sabina Magdalena García, more commonly known as María Sabina. She was a shaman and curandera, or medicine woman. Born around 1894 in a small town called Huautla de Jiménez, in southern Mexico, this Mazatec woman was exposed to hallucinogenic mushrooms, called “Los Niños Santos,” or “holy children,” from an early age at traditional ceremonies she attended with her father’s family.
Her life was not an easy, pampered one…by any means. She married at 14 and had three children with her first husband, Serapio Martínez, who died from an illness. Afterward, she supported her family by tilling land and raising chickens until she married a violent and alcoholic healer named Marcial with whom she had six children. Only one of those children survived. Also an adulterer, Marcial was killed by the children of his lover so it’s safe to say the relationship was a tumultuous one.
After his death, Sabina sold the chickens, purchased a mule, and started traveling around. Her sister became sick and Sabina used hallucinogenic mushrooms to provide a cure for her. After that, Sabina’s healing abilities became more well-known. Her healing ceremonies, called veladas, included not only mushrooms, but tobacco smoke, mezcal consumption, ointments, poems, dances, and incantations. Her use of the “holy children” was holy, a way to commune with God and heal those she could. She often said the mushrooms spoke through her and to her.
Word of her talents spread and eventually reached the ears of a Westerner: Robert Gordon Wasson. An American banker and ethnomycologist, he was attracted to Mexico after learning of Spanish codexes that spoke of Aztec mushroom rituals. He made several trips to Mexico and eventually reached Huatla de Jiménez in June 1955, where a local community leader introduced him to María Sabina. She was reluctant to perform a velada on him because he wasn’t sick but eventually agreed.
Wasson returned eight more times to Mexico, including with a photographer for Life magazine and a translator because Sabina didn’t speak Spanish, only Mazatec. In 1957, Wasson published his account with Sabina in the article, “Seeking the Magic Mushroom.” The article went viral, to borrow a modern term, and other foreigners started to seek Sabina out. The interest in her intensified when in 1968 Wasson published The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica. In it, he revealed more details about his mycological and anthropological research in Mexico, including specifically with Sabina.
According to an article in Faena, Sabina received numerous visitors who only wanted to use what was then known to them as “magic mushrooms” recreationally. They ignored the history of the Mazatec ancient practice and disrespected the culture and religion. Huautla de Jiménez became flooded with media figures, tourists, artists, intellectuals, anthropologists, researchers, and celebrities. Some of the more famous were Aldous Huxley, Alejandro Jodorowski, Carlos Castaneda, Albert Hofmann, John Lennon, and Walt Disney.
Community members started becoming disgruntled by these foreign invasions and didn’t like that Sabina was profiting from the sacred ceremonies. She was ejected from her village, her house burnt down, and she started traveling to other villages. She died in poverty while many others profited off her wisdom. To make matters worse, Sabina didn’t know how to read or write. She didn’t even speak Spanish! All her words, all her poems, everything she knew and shared was translated and recorded by others.
Sabina experienced classic colonialism. An outside, white, domineering force and culture took advantage of Sabina’s innate gifts and wisdom without considering the repercussions. Wasson was on a quest to satisfy his own curiosity and opened a Pandora’s box that ultimately harmed Sabina. These days, she is often forgotten or a sidenote in the history of psychedelics. She was the gateway, the bridge to the Western world, and yet is rarely respected for that. What happened to Sabina is not only an example of white supremacy and colonialism but also sexism.
Wasson, a man, became richer and more esteemed for something he learned from a woman. He profited off Sabina while she struggled to survive, as is so often the case. We frequently see what men are praised for, women are disparaged by. We can’t go back and change what happened to Sabina, but we can make sure her legacy isn’t forgotten and that means recognizing the crucial part she played in exposing the world to “magic” mushrooms.
Journal prompts
· If I engage with plant medicines, do I acknowledge their history and the culture they came from?
· How can I pay more respect to the cultures from which I may appropriating?
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References
Unknown. “María Sabina, A Most Fascinating Mexican Healer.” Faena Aleph. https://www.faena.com/aleph/maria-sabina-a-most-fascinating-mexican-healer. Accessed April 18, 2020.
Wasson, Robert Gordon. “Seeking the Magic Mushroom.” Life Magazine. May 13, 1957. https://bibliography.maps.org/bibliography/default/resource/15048
Yucatan Times. “María Sabina: Saint Mother of the Sacred Mushrooms.” Yucatan Times. February 13, 2022. https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2022/02/maria-sabina-saint-mother-of-the-sacred-mushrooms/