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Mazatec Traditional Velada Mushroom Ceremony - Setting & Approach Options
 
Bancopuma
#1 Posted : 12/12/2018 11:56:53 PM

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I thought this may be of interest to some Nexians...there seems to be a considerable dearth of information out there on the Mazatec ceremonial approach to mushroom use, which seems a little strange given the considerable pragmatic and phenomenological experience these people have when it comes to using mushrooms, it seems likely they have wisdom to impart that could be of considerable benefit to fellow psilonauts. I'm intrigued about the retaining of focus and awareness during the mushroom experience emphasised here as oppose to surrendering to the mushroom trance to see how this modulates the experience. Some people may be interested in experimenting with such an approach themselves.

Quote:
My friend, Azure, has been working closely now with the Mazatecan elder, Natalia Martinez, featured in the documentary film The Little Saints by Oliver Quintanilla.

Natalia utilizes the traditional Mazatec altar as the focus during the velada, encouraging the participants to maintain their focus on the candles/images there and advises them to avoid "falling in" to the trance, but rather to maintain their intention on invoking the sacred as a focus of the work with the mushroom.

The typical Western approach, where one closes one's eyes and listens to music to guide the experience, Natalia calls the "lazy approach" and indicates it does not allow for the full potential of the mushroom to be manifested. For those training with her, she offers a dinner plate full of derrumbes (Ps. caerulescens) and encourages one to maintain awareness throughout the experience. This is a necessary training of attention which enables one to learn the art of directing the experience and working with what the mushroom presents to the undistracted mind. Natalia has been doing this work, up to three times weekly, for the past 40 years. She has an incredible energy for an 87-year-old woman. During the veladas, she will hold the hands of participants and transmits a strong healing energy. We have much to learn from the Mazatec elders.

The derrumbes are preferred by the Mazatecs because they are strong. They will use other species when they cannot find the derrumbes, but insist that they are not strong enough for deep healing work. The derrumbes also carry a heat into the body that has healing effects unique to them. That being said, we have recently been working with the pajaritos (Ps. mexicana) fruits and find them very clear and deep at 2 to 3 dried grams. Taking them once a week results in a set of experiences, each of which builds upon the previous. There is a spirit in the mushroom, The Little Saints (los Santos Niños) which has much to say. Having worked with them now for over 40 years, I am really happy to have connected with the traditional way of using them and am committed to following this path for the remainder of my life. I cannot see doing them in any other way

The act of focusing on images that carry the energy of the sacred makes a very big difference in how the experience opens up. The Little Saints become something that one takes into ones body for healing and transformative purposes. Utilizing it in this traditional manner, we believe it would qualify as a sacred plant tradition that would be protected under the Religious Freedom Act. The ultimate goal would be to test this in the courts and open the door to personal use protected by the constitution. This seems a more sane way to approach it, in my experience, than trying to medicalize it as a "drug" given by a mental health professional, which, frankly, even the thought of doing it this way I find aversive.

To further explore the differences in the traditional species, we are working wih 4 species traditionally used in Huatla and collected there by Azure, including Ps. mexicana (pajaritos), Ps. cubensis (San Isidro), Ps. caerulescens (derrumbes) and Ps. zapotecorum (also known as a derrumbe). Each species has its own signature and we are determined to map these characteristics out through extensive personal exploration. The Mazatec approach, of oourse, is to eat them often, taking them into the body, to fully experience their salutary and healing effects. I will continue this practice until my last breath goes out.


From:

https://mycotopia.net/to...itional-velada-ceremony/

*Photo credit: Oliver Quintanilla, Little Saints: http://littlesaintsmovie.com
Bancopuma attached the following image(s):
Natalia Martinez.jpg (114kb) downloaded 107 time(s).
 

Good quality Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) for an incredible price!
 
Jagube
#2 Posted : 12/13/2018 11:40:50 AM

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Thanks Bancopuma.

I've attended a traditional Mazatec mushroom ceremony in Huautla. The setting was quite christianized, with statues of Jesus and saints, and the curandera sang songs in both Mazatec and Spanish. I didn't know about the different types they used. It wasn't exactly the season for mushrooms and I don't know what type I was served, but it was fresh mushrooms. They were served with cacao beans and I didn't quite get what the purpose of the cacao was.
The experience wasn't overwhelmingly strong, but it was good.

In Huautla you can actually buy mushrooms at a high street pharmacy.

Near María Sabina's house on the outskirts of town there is a hill called Cerro de la Adoración with views of the town and the surrounding mountains, where people sometimes go to take mushrooms on their own in nature, which I didn't get a chance to do, but I imagine must be amazing. It's where, according to the legend, the eagle landed and made its nest that gave Huautla its Mazatec name meaning Eagle's Nest (Huautla is a Nahuatl name, which superseded the Mazatec one); there is a stone table at the top of the hill to commemorate that. The atmosphere there is very magical, it can be sunny and a cloud of fog can come anytime and shroud you and limit the visibility to an arm's length... a minute later it's gone and it's sunny again.

The Mazatecs also work with Salvia and morning glories, but it seems they prefer the mushrooms. Mushroom symbols all plastered over the town of Huautla - on buildings, colectivos (pick-up trucks that operate as collective taxis), etc.
 
smoothmonkey
#3 Posted : 12/14/2018 12:27:32 AM

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Thanks for sharing, Banco. I'd love to get a chance to work with a true mushroom shaman. For now, we are learning how to work with them on our own in a ceremonial setting. I like what the post says about maintaining awareness, which is easier said than done hehe..
असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
 
Bancopuma
#4 Posted : 12/17/2018 3:58:13 PM

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Jagube wrote:
I've attended a traditional Mazatec mushroom ceremony in Huautla. The setting was quite christianized, with statues of Jesus and saints, and the curandera sang songs in both Mazatec and Spanish. I didn't know about the different types they used. It wasn't exactly the season for mushrooms and I don't know what type I was served, but it was fresh mushrooms. They were served with cacao beans and I didn't quite get what the purpose of the cacao was.


Hey Jagube,

Cool, thanks for sharing. That natural setting sounds amazing. And yes I too have got the impression that the Psilocybe mushrooms are the most widely revered of the psychedelic teacher plants among the Mazatec. The Mazatec ceremonies are indeed quite Christianised through the influence of the Spanish-Catholic conquest of the region. The Christian elements of the ceremony don't resonate with me personally, but I think one can easily personally tailor their space or alter; mine for instance would be more Pantheistic in vibe and contain objects of nature instead of Abrahamic religious idols and images.

Fresh mushrooms might be a bit more effort to consume, but all of my most amazing and profound experiences have been through consuming fresh mushrooms, I think there is something to said for it. My fresh mushroom experiences always seem to have an extra 'alive' quality, some extra sparkle or property I don't tend to experience with dried mushrooms (this could simply be down to the loss of much of the more fragile psilocin following drying).

Consuming cocao alongside mushrooms is an ancient practice, interestingly practiced by the Aztecs as well as extant groups today like the Mazatec. I've read numerous accounts from psilonauts who have experimented with mushrooms alone and in combination with cocao that state the cocao can synergise with the mushroom experience in interesting ways and modulate the experience to some degree. It's interesting to note that psilocybin mushrooms were perceived as something resembling "god's flesh" and cocao as "food of the gods" by Mesoamerican cultures.

https://mycotopia.net/to...5547-cocoa-experiment-1/
 
Loveall
#5 Posted : 12/18/2018 1:22:46 PM

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Cacao is interesting.

The tree is in the genus Theobroma, which means "food of the gods" in Greek, this meaning was also mentioned above.

Some of my favorite info on its potential synergy with other compounds is in the podcasts below:

https://psychedelicsalon...hancer-called-chocolate/ (audio quality is low though)

https://psychedelicsalon...34-the-alchemy-of-cacao/

Cheers.
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💚🌳💚DMT salt e-juice HIELO TEK💚🌳💚
💚🍃💚 Salvinorin Chilled Acetone with IPA and Naphtha re-X TEK💚🍃💚
 
Jupitor
#6 Posted : 1/15/2019 7:57:01 AM

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I wish the mushroom knowledge had been as well preserved as the Ayahuasca knowledge. That thread from Mycotopia was fascinating and I hope those exploring the traditional Velada ceremony format continue to report their findings.

As far as cacao, it is clear to me that it is an important part of ancient mushroom mysteries. I have ordered a lot of ceremonial cacao to begin my work with it, with the goal of exploring its synergy with the mushroom.
 
 
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