The Mazatec are an
indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit the
Sierra Mazateca in the state of
Oaxaca and some communities in the adjacent states of
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
and
Veracruz.
Language family
The
Mazatecan languages are part of the
Popolocan family which, in turn, is part of the
Otomanguean language family.
Post-colonial period
The Mazatecs' religion represents a syncretism of traditional beliefs with Christian beliefs brought by the
Spanish conquistadors.
Traditional religious rituals
Mazatec tradition includes the cultivation of
entheogens for spiritual and ritualistic use. Plants and fungi used for this purpose include
psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive
morning glory seeds (from species such as ''
Ipomoea tricolor'' and ''
Ipomoea corymbosa
''Ipomoea corymbosa'' is a species of morning glory, native throughout Latin America from Mexico as far south as Peru and widely naturalised elsewhere. Its common names include Christmasvine, Christmaspops, and snakeplant.
Description and names
...
''), and perhaps most significant to the Mazatecs, ''
Salvia divinorum
''Salvia divinorum'' (Latin: "sage of the diviners"; also called ska maría pastora, seer's sage, yerba de la pastora, magic mint or simply salvia) is a plant species with transient psychoactive properties when its leaves are consumed by che ...
''. This latter plant is known to
Mazatec shamans as ''ska María Pastora'', the name containing a reference to the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
.
[Valdés ''et al.'' (1983)]
Notable Mazatecs
*
María Sabina
*
Julieta Casimiro
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers is an international alliance of indigenous female elders that focuses on issues such as the environment, internationalism, and human rights. The group met for the first time in October ...
See also
*
Indigenous peoples in Mexico
*
Mixtec
Notes
References
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External links
Article from the Catholic Encyclopedia
{{Authority control
Indigenous peoples in Mexico
Mesoamerican cultures
Sierra Madre de Oaxaca