At Chacruna - Mazatec Perspectives on the Globalization of Psilocybin Mushrooms

Rosalía Acosta López, Inti García Flores and Sarai Piña Alcántara

In the Sierra Mazateca of Oaxaca, health problems are treated by mushroom healers,  suction doctors, body cleansers, and snake-oil shamans who remove illness from people using various medicinal preparations such as mushrooms, morning glory seeds, shepherdess sage, cow’s tongue, rabbit yam, deaf man’s yam, hangover mint, and so on. In this study, we will focus on the so-called “magic mushrooms,” known as Ndí Xijtho or “little things that sprout from the ground” in the Mazatec language. In order to appreciate this people’s connection with the sacred mushroom over the past centuries, one must understand the relationship that various Mazatec families maintain with Ndi Xijtho as a means of healing and divination... continue reading.