The Mazatec Indians Use of Salvia
The Mazatec Indians are an indigenous tribe located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. They are a highly spiritual people. They make use of many plants in their quests for spiritual learning and enlightenment, including psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, tobacco, marijuana, morning glory seeds and even basil. They value one plant above all others for their spiritual journeys. Salvia divinorum is the most sacred plant for the Mazatec Indians.
The Mazatec Indians and salvia are inseparable.
The Mazatec shamans, or medicine men, use salvia divinorum to learn the ways of healing. An apprentice shaman will take salvia in order to go on a vision quest. In this vision knowledge is imparted from God and other various spiritual guides. The apprentice is supervised by his master, who is an old and wise shaman that knows all the ways of Mazatec spirituality.
Ritual fasting is undertaken before the vision quest. For a periods of anywhere from four to fourteen days, the user is not allowed to eat any spicy foods such as garlic or hot peppers. Also, abstinence from sexual activity and alcohol must be maintained during the fasting period.
The process of the salvia divinorum vision quest starts with the harvesting of the salvia leaves. Only fresh leaves will suffice for the Mazatec shaman. He will gather as many leaves as are needed for the vision quest. Anywhere from 20 to 40 leaves will be used for each individual, depending on the experience of the user and the purpose of the ritual.
After the leaves are harvested, the participants in the ritual calm themselves with meditation until nightfall. As night sets in, the salvia leaves are prepared for use in the ceremony. The shaman crushes the leaves two at a time by hand into a bowl of water. After all the leaves are crushed, the resulting preparation is poured through a sieve into a glass. The glasses are then covered to prevent any of the salvia’s essence to escape.
The shaman and the apprentice then engage in steady conversation for a few hours, because conversation is an important part of the learning process during the vision quest. After two to four hours, the salvia infusion is consumed by the participants.
As the salivia starts to affect the users, the shaman helps to guide the apprentice to heaven to speak with God or various other deities to learn about healing. If the ceremony is being performed by a group of shamans that are all experienced, then the purpose is usually divination. They believe that they can see the future, as well as learn how to cure sick patients.
After a successful ceremony, the shamans thank God and the plant for their assistance, and the remnants of the salvia are buried in a safe place to protect them from being defiled.
