Hallucinating with God
The female mushroom healers from Huautla, Mexico
Tony Farfalla takes us to Huautla, Mexico, a remote town known for its female mushroom healers. He shares his profound experience with Abuelita Agustina, an 86-year-old curandera who uses psychedelic mushrooms in her healing ceremonies. Discover the history of mushroom use in Huautla, the impact of Maria Sabina (a renowned healer), and the unique blend of indigenous spirituality and Catholicism that informs Agustina’s practice. This fascinating article will leave you wanting to learn more about the power of these sacred mushrooms and the women who have guarded their use for generations.
The mushrooms are starting to take effect when Abuelita Agustina enters the room. The 86 year old Mazatec healer moves slowly across the dark room and takes a seat in a small wooden chair facing the altar built on the front wall of the wooden shack. The only light is from a yellow candle, made by her daughters, that burns in front of me on the floor. We sit in silence for some time, and then, an unexpected voice rings out from the abuelita. She begins to sing with the voice of a small girl. Clear and gentle and beautiful. She sings songs in Mazatec (her native language). She sings songs of praise; prayers for God, prayers for Mother Earth, prayers for me. Tears well up in my eyes, and I fall into another realm.
The small town of Huaulta feels almost like a dream. It is hidden high in the mountains of the northwestern region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Referred to as ‘Tejao’ in the native language, meaning ‘eagle’s nest,’ the name feels perfect as you look out over the town, and find yourself peering out above the clouds below. The nearest city is a 4 hour drive down winding broken roads, often washed out by rain. It takes effort to reach the small town, and in many ways, it was this remoteness that kept it a secluded refuge for many years. That is until the 1960’s when an infamous curandera (healer) began sharing the healing powers of the psychedelic mushrooms that grow throughout the region.
Maria Sabina is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of psychedelic mushrooms. She was a native Mazatec healer from Huautla who used the local mushrooms in her practice. While she witnessed the use of mushrooms in native ceremonies as a child, it wasn’t until she began eating them on her own that she cultivated her own practice including songs and prayers that she developed over time. But her international fame came from her offering of the local medicine to an American banker by the name of Gordan Wasson in 1955. Soon after, he published an article about the experience in Life Magazine and everything changed.
I stumbled upon Huautla many years ago, after working on a documentary about brujos (witch doctors) in the neighboring Catemaco region. Feeling a bit ‘off’ after some heavy experiences with the brujos, I was encouraged to travel to Huautla for a spiritual cleansing. I have since returned almost each year to continue my understanding of the town and the special gifts it offers. I also met Abuelita Agustina. She is one of the last curanderas who worked directly with Maria Sabina, and still offers ceremonies and healing to those who seek it. On my last trip, I spoke with Agustina in hopes of understanding more about the unique history and practice that she maintains.
Like Sabina, Agustina speaks Mazatec and understands a little spanish. She has spent her entire life if Huaulta, seeing the city change over the years, and watching the growth and withdrawal of the mushroom ‘industry’ before and after Sabina’s influence. She first consumed mushrooms with Sabina 50 years ago. “During this experience” Agustina tells me, “the mushrooms told me I needed to become a healer.”
She continued to work with Sabina, learning some of the songs and prayers, but soon she began to consume the mushrooms on her own and let her visions guide her. “The mushrooms taught me the songs that I sing. They showed me how to use the songs to guide people through their journey.”
When Agustina began working with Sabina, it was near the end of Sabina’s life. Since the publication of the Life Magazine article in 1957, Huautla had become the focus for mushroom seekers and psilocybin research. Over the next 15 years the city would see a massive influx of foreigners and a growth of a new trade: mushrooms. As coffee farmers struggled, many of the workers found a new income related to mushrooms. But with this growth came hardships. The local government began to close the city to foreigners, and Sabina was outcast. She eventually died in poverty. Only years later, would the world recognize her contributions. Now, at the entrance of the town, stands a large monument in honor of the curandera. A statue of Sabina standing on a giant mushroom, her arms outstretched towards the town.
“The foreigners were not a problem,” Agustina explains. “They came here for guidance and to be healed. So long as they had an experienced guide, and respected the mushrooms, it was a good thing.”
Since her first journeys with Sabina, Agustina has led hundreds of ceremonies. Not just for foreigners, but also for the local community. People still seek the help of a curandera to assist with mental and physical problems. “The medicine can open up the door in your mind, but it can also heal the body,” she says. “These small mushrooms have the healing power of God. The healing power of Christ.”
While psilocybin mushrooms are listed as an illicit substance in Mexico, they are permitted in certain indigenous area, such as Huautla. And although the Catholic Church does not support the consumption of them, the church in Huautla allows it. “The church here in Huautla understands the power of these mushrooms to heal,” Agustina tells me. “These mushrooms are the blood of Christ.”
Agustina, like most natives to Huautla, is a devote Catholic. Like Sabina, she believes the mushrooms are direct gifts from God; the blood of Christ on earth. The altar she sits in front of during each mushroom journey is adorned with dozens of catholic relics; rosaries, crucifixes, paintings of Jesus. For her, there is no separation between God and Mother Nature. The songs she found during her journeys are essentially hymns. Spiritual cantations calling on the saints and the natural world. Asking for guidance and healing.
I’ve lost track of time, and the candle seems to have burned nearly to the ground. Abuelita Agustina has grown quiet, and I feel myself coming out of a deeply profound state. I look up at a crucifix hung on the wall, the face of Jesus flickering in the dying light of the candle. It felt so odd to take psychedelics under the guidance of Catholicism, but that unease had been lifted with the delicate guidance of Agustina.
It is not uncommon for old knowledge and tradition to find a new vessel to continue its presence in a culture. With Agustina, the intent is beyond any religious implication. She prays for safety and health. It just happens to be folded into the catholic expression.
The smell of copal becomes present, and Agustina stands up from her chair. With a few leaves in her hand she gently brushes over my body, cleansing me. She says one final prayer of protection, and the ceremony ends.
Since the time of Sabina, Huautla’s fame has subsided. While there are still foreigners that make the pilgrimage to the remote town, seeking a curandera to guide them, it is much less than before. Agustina is one of the last remaining curanderas, but she has been training one of her daughters who will hopefully continue the tradition. “Women make better curanderas,” she explains. “They have more energy to help guide people, and they have a deeper connection to mother nature.”
Yet, while there seem to be fewer curanderas in Huautla, psilocybin use continues to grow throughout the world. Entering international markets, it is easier than ever to find ‘magic mushrooms.’ But Agustina warns that the medicine needs to be respected. “It is a good thing that mushrooms are being used” she says. “They can help people heal, in all parts of the world. But they need to be used with respect.”
The following day, I go on a walk with Agustina’s son Chucho. He has become a friend over the years, and assists Agustina in her old age. He is excited that his son will soon consume his first mushrooms with his grandmother. “Just one mushroom for the first time,” he says smiling at me.
As we walk through the forest, clouds wrap around the trees, and a waterfall can be heard in the distance. Maybe the effects of the mushrooms are still lingering, but the vibrancy and beauty of this place is striking. Chucho suddenly stops, his eyes locked on the ground. He moves towards a small mound of eroded earth, and points down. My gaze follows his finger towards a small, barely noticeable mushroom. “The blood of Christ?” I ask. Chucho smiles. “Exactly.”
Words & pictures by Tony Farfalla @tony_farfalla
www.tonyfarfalla.com