Robert Gordon Wasson (September 22, 1898 – December 23, 1986) was an American author, ethnomycologist, and a Vice President for Public Relations at J.P. Morgan & Co.Biography

at Harvard University Herbaria. Archived fro
the original.
Wasson spent most of his career in banking in his position at J.P. Morgan. Later in his life, despite having little formal training in the field, he turned his interests to the study of hallucinogenic mushrooms, religion, and ethnomycology, publishing papers that received attention and acclaim. In the course of work funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Wasson made contributions to the fields of

ethnobotany Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of natural and social sciences that studies the relationships between humans and plants. It focuses on traditional knowledge of how plants are used, managed, and perceived in human socie ...

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

. In his 1968 published study on the botanical identity of soma–haoma, Wasson suggested that "soma" described in the ''Rigveda'' was the

fly agaric ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white- gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with distinctive white ...

mushroom, and "haoma" in the ''Avesta'' was a hallucinogen.

Career

Banking industry

Wasson began his banking career at Guaranty Trust Company in 1928, and moved to J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1934. That same year, he published a book on the Hall Carbine Affair, in which he attempted to exonerate John Pierpont Morgan from guilt with respect to the incident, which had been viewed as an example of wartime

profiteering Profiteering is a pejorative term for the act of making a profit by methods considered unethical. Overview Business owners may be accused of profiteering when they raise prices during an emergency ( especially a war). The term is also applied to ...

. As early as 1937, Wasson had been attempting to influence historians Allan Nevins and

Charles McLean Andrews Charles McLean Andrews, Ph.D, L.H.D. (1863 – 1943) was an American historian at Columbia University and Yale University professor whose "Colonial Period of American History, vol. 1 of 4," won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1935. He is author of the 1 ...

regarding Morgan's role in the affair; he used Nevins' report as a reference for his own book on the topic. The matter of Morgan's responsibility for the Hall Carbine Incident remains controversial. On July 16, 1941, the directors of Morgan & Co. appointed Wasson to the position of assistant secretary, and by 1943 he was vice president for public relations.

Ethnomycology

Wasson's studies in

ethnomycology Ethnomycology is the study of the historical uses and sociological impact of fungi and can be considered a subfield of ethnobotany or ethnobiology. Although in theory the term includes fungi used for such purposes as tinder, medicine ( medicinal ...

began during his 1927 honeymoon trip to the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

when his wife, Valentina Pavlovna Guercken, a

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

, chanced upon some edible wild mushrooms. Fascinated by the marked difference in cultural attitudes towards fungi in Russia compared to the United States, the couple began field research that led to the publication of ''Mushrooms, Russia and History'' in 1957. In the course of their investigations they mounted expeditions to Mexico to study the religious use of mushrooms by the native population, and claimed to have been the first Westerners to participate in a Mazatec mushroom ritual. It was the '' curandera'' María Sabina who both allowed the Wassons to participate in the ritual and who taught them about the uses and effects of the mushroom, after Wasson lied to her about being worried about the whereabouts and wellbeing of his son, as the ritual was traditionally used to locate missing people and important items. Sabina let him take her picture on the condition that he keep it private, but Wasson nonetheless published the photo along with Sabina's name and the name of the community where she lived. Though he faced no consequences for his deceptions, and indeed, profited greatly from the knowledge he gained from her, Sabina was subsequently ostracised from her community as a result of his actions, and her house was burned down after she was briefly jailed, her son murdered, and she eventually died in poverty. At the 1951 annual meeting of the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

, held in Rye, New York, on January 24-26, Wasson was appointed a member of the Executive Committee for a period of one year. Some of Wasson's colleagues, such as Ethel Dunn, disagreed with Wasson's conclusions regarding ''

Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white-lamella (mycology), gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with ...

''.

CIA funding

Wasson's 1956 expedition was fundedIrvin, Jan
"R. Gordon Wasson: The Man, the Legend, the Myth"
(Chapter 14). In: ''Entheogens and the Development of Culture''. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books (2013), pp. 565-619. Edited by John Rush. . by the CIA's MK-Ultra subproject 58, as was revealed by documents"J.P. Morgan & Co. (see Wasson file)."
MKUltra Subproject, no. 58 (doc: 17457). Washington, D.C.:

National Security Archive The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy, the N ...

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

. obtained by John Marks under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents state that Wasson was an "unwitting" participant in the project. The funding was provided under the cover name of the ''Geschickter Fund for Medical Research'' (credited by Wasson at the end of his subsequent ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' piece about the expedition).

Role in popularizing psilocybin mushrooms

In May 1957, ''

'' magazine published an article titled " Seeking the Magic Mushroom," which introduced

psychoactive A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system acti ...

mushrooms to a wide audience for the first time. Six days later, his wife Valentina's first-person account of their research expedition in Mexico was published on the cover of ''This Week,'' a Sunday magazine inserted in 37 newspapers that reach almost 12 million total readers. In his memoir, author Tom Robbins talks about the impact of this article on "turning on" Americans himself included. The article sparked immense interest in the Mazatec ritual practice among

beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti- materialistic lifestyle. They rejected the conformity and consumerism of mainstream American culture and expressed themselves through various forms ...

s and

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

s, an interest that proved disastrous for the Mazatec community and for María Sabina in particular. As the community was besieged by Westerners wanting to experience the mushroom-induced hallucinations, Sabina attracted attention by the Mexican police who thought that she sold drugs to the foreigners. The unwanted attention completely altered the social dynamics of the Mazatec community and threatened to terminate the Mazatec custom. The community blamed Sabina, and she was ostracized in the community and had her house burned down. Sabina later regretted having introduced Wasson to the practice, but Wasson contended that his only intention was to contribute to the sum of human knowledge.Estrada, Álvaro (1976)
''Vida de María Sabina: la sabia de los hongos''.
Mexico: Siglo Veintiuno Editores. .Letcher, Andy (2006). ''Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom''. England:

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

. pp. 97-98. .

Methodology

Together, Wasson and botanist Roger Heim collected and identified various species of family '' Strophariaceae'' and genus ''

Psilocybe ''Psilocybe'' ( ) is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Many species contain the Psychedelic drug, psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Taxonomy Taxonomic history A 2002 study of the ...

'', while Albert Hofmann, using material grown by Heim from specimens collected by the Wassons, identified the

chemical structure A chemical structure of a molecule is a spatial arrangement of its atoms and their chemical bonds. Its determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target m ...

of the active compounds,

psilocybin Psilocybin, also known as 4-phosphoryloxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-PO-DMT), is a natural product, naturally occurring tryptamine alkaloid and Investigational New Drug, investigational drug found in more than List of psilocybin mushroom ...

and

psilocin Psilocin, also known as 4-hydroxy-''N'',''N''-dimethyltryptamine (4-HO-DMT), is a substituted tryptamine alkaloid and a serotonergic psychedelic. It is present in most psychedelic mushrooms together with its phosphorylated counterpart psilocy ...

. Hofmann and Wasson were also among the first Westerners to collect specimens of the Mazatec hallucinogen '' Salvia divinorum'', though these specimens were later deemed not suitable for rigorous scientific study or

taxonomic classification In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given ...

. Two species of mushroom, ''Psilocybe wassonii'' R.Heim and ''Psilocybe wassoniorum'' Guzman & S.H.Pollock, were named in honor of Wasson by Heim and

Gastón Guzmán Gastón Guzmán Huerta (August 26, 1932 – January 12, 2016), a Mexican mycologist and anthropologist, was an authority on the genus ''Psilocybe''. Career He was born in Xalapa, Veracruz, in 1932. His interest in mycology began in 1955 when as ...

, the latter of whom Wasson met during an expedition to Huautla de Jiménez in 1957. Wasson's next major contribution was a study of the ancient

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

intoxicant soma, which he hypothesized was based on the psychoactive

(''Amanita muscaria'') mushroom. This hypothesis was published in 1967 under the title ''Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality''. His attention then turned to the

Eleusinian Mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries () were initiations held every year for the Cult (religious practice), cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are considered the "most famous of the secret rel ...

, the initiation ceremony of the ancient Greek cult of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

and

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

. In ''The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries'' (1978), co-authored with Albert Hofmann and

Carl A. P. Ruck Carl Anton Paul Ruck (born December 8, 1935, Bridgeport, Connecticut) is a professor in the Classical Studies department at Boston University. He received his B.A. at Yale University, his M.A. at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. at Harvar ...

, it was proposed that the special potion " kykeon", a pivotal component of the ceremony, contained psychoactive ergoline

alkaloids Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms i ...

from the fungus

Ergot Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''. The most prominent member of this group is '' Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that c ...

(''Claviceps spp.''). Several of his books were self-published in illustrated, limited editions, using handmade paper and printed in Italy, that have never been reprinted, with one exception. His last completed work, ''The Wondrous Mushroom'', initially part of the self-published works, was republished by

City Lights Publishers City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected t ...

in 2014.

Ethnography

Prior to his work on soma, theologians had interpreted the Vedic and Magian practices to have been based on alcoholic beverages that produced inebriation. Wasson was the first researcher to propose that the actual form of Vedic intoxication was

entheogenic Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancie ...

Legacy

Wasson donated his personal papers as a gift to the

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Botanical Museum, as part of the "Tina and Gordon Wasson Ethnomycological Collection." The thoroughly curated array of books, papers, and artifacts contained in the collection was fully settled into its new adoptive home by April 1982. Wasson's obituary in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' stated that together with his wife and co-author, Valentina P. Wasson, he had "illuminated the sanctity of psychotropic mushrooms, not only in Russia and Siberia, but also in the most ancient of Hindu scriptures, in the mystery cults of ancient Greece and among the native peoples of Mexico and Guatemala, both ancient and modern." In 2015, the

Mycological Society of America Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, ...

(MSA) created a new award named for both Gordon and Valentina in order to recognize non-professionals and people with non-traditional academic backgrounds who have made outstanding contributions to mycology.Weber, Evi, et al. (2015)
"Awards and Personalia: The Gordon and Tina Wasson Award."
''IMA Fungus'', vol. 6, no. 2 (2015), pp. 51–55. . The first "Gordon and Tina Wasson Award" was presented to

Paul Stamets Paul Edward Stamets (born July 17, 1955) is an American mycologist and entrepreneur who sells various mushroom products through his company. He is an author and advocate of medicinal fungi and mycoremediation. Early and personal life Stame ...

on July 29, 2015, by the organization's former president, D. Jean Lodge, during the MSA meeting in Edmonton, Canada.

Bibliography

Articles

* "Another View of the Historian's Treatment of Business." '' Bulletin of the Business Historical Society'', vol. 18, no. 3 (June 1944), pp. 62–68. . . * "The Etymology of Botargo," with John P. Hughes. ''

American Journal of Philology The ''American Journal of Philology'' is a quarterly academic journal established in 1880 by the classical scholar Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve and published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It covers the field of philology, and related areas ...

'', vol. 68, no. 4 (1947), pp. 414–418. . . * " Seeking the Magic Mushroom." ''

'', vol. 42, no. 19 (May 13, 1957), pp. 100-110, 113-114, 117-118, 120
Google Books.PDF.
Archived her

"The Hallucinogenic Mushrooms,"
with Valentina P. Wasson. '' Garden Journal'', vol. 8 (January/February 1958), pp. 1-6.
"The Divine Mushroom: Primitive Religion and Hallucinatory Agents."
''

Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society In academia and librarianship, conference proceedings are a collection of academic papers published in the context of an academic conference or workshop. Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the confer ...

'', vol. 102, no. 3 (June 24, 1958), pp. 221–223. .
"The Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of Mexico: An Adventure in Ethnomycological Exploration."
'' Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences'', vol. 21, no. 4 (February 1959), pp. 325-339. Originally presented at a meeting of the Division on January 23, 1959.
"The Hallucinogenic Fungi of Mexico: An Inquiry into the Origins of the Religious Idea among Primitive Peoples."
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 19, no. 7 (February 17, 1961), pp. 137-162. .
"A New Mexican Psychtropic Drug from the Mint Family."
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 20, no. 3 (December 28, 1962), pp. 77-84. . * "The Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of Mexico and Psilocybin: A Bibliography (Second Printing, with Corrections and Addenda)." ''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 20, no. 2 (March 10, 1963), pp. 25–73. .
"Notes on the Present Status of the Ololiuhqui and the Other Hallucinogens of Mexico."
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 20, no. 6 (November 22, 1963), pp. 161-193. . * "The 'Mushroom Madness' of the Kuma," with Roger Heim. ''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 21, no. 1 (June 11, 1965), pp. 1-31, 33-36. . * "Soma: Comments Inspired by Professor Kuiper's Review." ''

Indo-Iranian Journal ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on aspects of Indo-Iranian cultures. The journal was started by de Jong and Kuiper in 1957 with Ludwig Alsdorf, Harold Walter Bailey, Louis Renou, Sumitra Mangesh Katre ...

'', vol. 12, no. 4 (1970), pp. 286–298. .
"Drugs: The Sacred Mushroom."
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' (September 26, 1970), p. 21. * "The Soma of the Rig Veda: What Was It?" ''

Journal of the American Oriental Society The ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' is a quarterly academic journal published by the American Oriental Society since 1843. The editor in chief is Peri Bearman (Harvard University)."The Death of Claudius, or Mushrooms for Murderers."
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 23, no. 3 pp. (April 7, 1972), pp. 101-126. .
"The Role of 'Flowers' in Nahuatl Culture: A Suggested Interpretation."
''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 23, no. 8 (November 30, 1973), pp. 305-321. .
"The Last Meal of the Buddha."
''

Jonathan Ott Jonathan Ott (born 1949 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an ethnobotanist, writer, translator, publisher, natural products chemist and botanical researcher in the area of entheogens and their cultural and historical uses, and helped coin the term "' ...

. ''Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University'', vol. 29, no. 4 (Fall 1983), pp. 387-400. .

Books

''The Hall Carbine Affair: A Study in Contemporary Folklore''.
New York: Pandick Press (1941)
''Mushrooms, Russia and History''
with Valentina Pavlovna Wasson. New York:

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...

(1957)
''Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality''
(1968) * ''Maria Sabina and Her Mazatec Mushroom Velada''. New York: Harcourt (1976)
''The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries''
with Albert Hofmann and

. New York: Harcourt (1978)
''The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica''.
New York:

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

(1980). (Reprint by

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...

, 2012.)
''Persephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion''
with Stella Kramrisch, Jonathan Ott, and

. Ethnomycological Studies, no. 10. New Haven:

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

(1986)

Book contributions

* "Mushrooms." In: ''The Drug Experience: First Person Accounts of Addicts, Writers, Scientists and Others'', edited by David Ebin. New York: Orion Press (1961), pp. 311-334. * "The Divine Mushroom of Immortality" (Chapter 6). In: ''Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens''. New York: Praeger (1972), pp. 185-200. * "What Was the Soma of the Aryans?" (Chapter 7) In: ''Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens''. New York: Praeger (1972), pp. 201-213.

Book reviews

* Review of '' Full Employment in a Free Society'' by

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...

. ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...

'' (Summer 1945) * Review of '' The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge'' by Carlos Castaneda. ''

Economic Botany Economic botany is the study of the relationship between people (individuals and cultures) and plants. Economic botany intersects many fields including established disciplines such as agronomy, anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, economics, ethn ...

'', vol. 23, no. 2 (1969), p. 197. * Review of ''A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan'' by Carlos Castaneda. ''

'', vol. 26, no. 1 (1972), pp. 98–99. * Review of '' Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan'' by Carlos Castaneda. ''

''. vol. 27, no. 1 (1973), pp. 151–152. * Review of ''Tales of Power'' by Carlos Castaneda. ''

''. vol. 28, no. 3 (1974), pp. 245–246.

Correspondence

Letter
to

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...

(June 3, 1960)

Music

* Maria Sabína
''Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico''
(1957). Folkways Records R 8975 :: Recorded (on July 21/22, 1956) and produced with Valentina Pavlovna Wasson. Liner notes by R. Gordon Wasson. Folkways is now the nonprofit record label of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

.Staff writer
"Maria Sabína: Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico."
''

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...

''.

References

External links

LIFE Magazine article (May 13, 1957)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasson, R. Gordon 1898 births 1986 deaths Psychedelic drug researchers Ethnobiologists American psychedelic drug advocates Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Independent scholars Pulitzer Traveling Scholarship winners Psychonautics researchers