Respecting the Sacred Mushroom: The Initiation and Magico-Religious Healing Practices of María Sabina

In 1957, Gordon Wasson published an article called “Seeking the Magic Mushroom” in Life magazine where he described his ecstatic experiences in a healing ceremony led by the indigenous shamaness María Sabina. In doing so, Wasson revealed the millennial secrets of the Mazatec shamanic tradition to the Western world. The article led to foreigners invading Huautla de Jiménez—a poor, small and remote town in the mountains of Oaxaca—in search of God. They disrupted the daily lives of the locals and profaned sacred mushrooms by failing to respect Mazatec customs and rituals. Later in her life, Sabina lamented introducing Wasson to her ancestral practices. This paper introduces the audience to the initiation and magico-religious healing of María Sabina to contextualize her critique of foreigners’ use of sacred mushrooms. It argues that centering Sabina’s voice provides a basis for conversations about reparations for exploitation of indigenous sacred medicines.