MUSHROOM CEREMONY OF MAZATEC INDIANS Folkways LP

$

87

Very nice first pressing of this sought after Folkways release - a landmark  in the history of psychedelic research.

Title: Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico

Label & Number: Folkways FR 8975

Year: 1957

from the Acid Archives:

Recording by Gordon & Valentina Wasson in Oaxaca, Mexico 

Participants: native Mexican curandera (witch-doctor) Maria Sabina, a male Mazatec indian, the Wassons and some research friends of theirs.

This field recording is of substantial historical interest, both as the earliest known vinyl document of people under the influence of hallucinogens, and as part of the Wasson couples legendary forays into remote Mexican mountains on the trail of an obscure mushroom cult. Wasson's exploits became the subject of a Life magazine article which is a watershed event in the history of psychedelics, and the psilocybin shrooms would attract interest from the whole academic/literary/ethno-botanic hallucinogen set in the late 1950s. Although the Mazatec mushroom culture has been well documented over the years, this particular LP has drawn less attention than Wasson's works and the many subsequent essays and books published, but is obviously worth attention.

The actual contents feature curandera Maria Sabina (who would later become famous, as part of the Wasson effect) eating the shrooms and setting out on a transcental journey to invoke the mushroom spirit, reporting with a steady flow of words her experiences. The reports are spoken in her native Mazatec dialect, but an ambitious translation/transcription attempt by a linguistic expert can be found on the accompanying booklet. The mushroom cult is eclectic, combining elements of Catholicism with a pantheistic strain, in a way typical for many surviving plant cults around the world. Her voice is an old woman's, often tired, sometimes venturing into sing-songy nursery rhyme structures, and during the beginning of side 2 (where she's peaking, bro) moving into a very rapid, unbroken flow of words. Rather remarkable, and according to those who have tripped with it, an efficient guide despite not being a successful invocation of the mushroom spirit . Sounds of nature, nightbirds, barking dogs, and frequent mutterings from Sabina's fellow Mazatec traveller are also audible.

Here is a Shamanic performance complete. Dr. Wasson, a pioneer in the study of the role of mushrooms in religious ritual, gives us a transcription of an authentic "consultation" of the sacred mushroom, in sound. The occasion was the illness of a youth. Through the mouth of Maria Sabina, a female Shaman, decreed that the boy must die. He heard the bad news and died a few days later. Dr, Wasson is able to to prove that the words and undoubtedly the chant are Pre-Cortes, going back for many centuries. Nothing like this record has been done for the New World; it is rivaled in the Old World only by the Vedic chants of India.

Record Grading: 

Goldmine visual grading used..

(M-) A nearly perfect record. Will show no signs of obvious play.

(VG+) Will show some signs that it was played and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it.

(VG)  Surface noise will be evident upon playing, especially in soft passages and during a song’s intro and fade, but will not overpower the music otherwise.

Condition:

Record: VG+/M-  gorgeous! faint sleeve marks. nice and glossy. no spindle marks on label.

Cover:   VG/VG+  no seam splits. light cover and spine wear. corner dings upper and lower left. light stains front cover. one ballpoint penmark back cover. one small check mark on back cover. insert is in like new condition.

Payment:

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International First Class -- $14.90 for first LP and $4.00 for each additional (up to 4 additional per order)

I no longer ship to Italy. No exceptions.

Last Thing: All items will be packaged carefully in a heavy cardboard record mailer. Record removed from outer sleeve to prevent seam splits during transport. Thanks and happy hunting.