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pturnbull's review
5.0
It's a remarkable experience, reading a poem used in a healing ceremony spoken by a Oaxacan Mazatec wise woman/shaman/healer under the influence of "the children," known to white North Americans as hallucinogenic mushrooms. Maria Sabina speaks from the point of view of the mushrooms. She speaks from a time when the forest and earth itself spoke to humans. She heals with words, she explains in the memoir included here. There are also short essays written by scholars who knew her and worked with her, as well as poems written about her and a helpful essay by Anne Waldman, whose "Fast Speaking Woman," was an "intuitive reworking" of Maria Sabina's chant.
I must note that Maria Sabina's poem is not exclusive of Christianity. She draws from Jesus, Mary, the saints, and President Benito Juarez. Sadly, Sabina notes that the mushrooms lost their powers in her older age, due to strangers using them outside of ritual. This is a cruel irony, because the strangers, North American seekers, were drawn to visit because they heard a 1956 Folkways record of her chant.
This book is a fascinating journey into the life of a poet and her culture.
I must note that Maria Sabina's poem is not exclusive of Christianity. She draws from Jesus, Mary, the saints, and President Benito Juarez. Sadly, Sabina notes that the mushrooms lost their powers in her older age, due to strangers using them outside of ritual. This is a cruel irony, because the strangers, North American seekers, were drawn to visit because they heard a 1956 Folkways record of her chant.
This book is a fascinating journey into the life of a poet and her culture.
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