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Maria Sabina (1894-1995)



Part of the UbuWeb Ethnopoetics collection.

Mushroom Ceremony Of The Mazatec Indians Of Mexico (1956)

  1. Chjon Nka
  2. Chjon Nca Catain
  3. Santo
  4. Papa Papai
  5. Na? Ai-Ni Tso
  6. Ji Ñai Na
  7. Jan Jesu Cristo
  8. Ji Ñai
  9. San Pedro
  10. Soso Soso
  11. Name Of Plants
  12. Pedro Martinez
  13. Don't Be Concerned, Old One
  14. Birds
  15. Humming, Etc
  16. Soft Singing
  17. Finale
  18. Sacred Mushroom Chant, 8:06


    Recorded in Huautla de Jiménez, in the Mazatec Mountains in the northern corner of the State of Oaxaca, July 21, 1956.

    María Sabina: from The Mushroom Velada

    A major Wise One (= shaman) among the Mazatecs of Oaxaca, Mexico, María Sabina received her poems/songs through use of the psilocybe mushroom at all-night curing sessions (veladas): a practice going back to pre-Conquest Mexico and witnessed by the Spanish chronicler who wrote: "They pay a sorcerer who eats them [the mushrooms] and tells what they have taught him. He does so by means of a rhythmic chant in full voice." The sacred mushrooms are considered the source of Language itself — are, in Henry Munn’s good phrase, "the mushrooms of language."

    The selection presented here departs from the more extended, even "grandiloquent" language of most of the Chants, relying in part on techniques of fragmentation & the use of non-semantic sound (meaningless syllables, humming, clapping, whistling, etc.) The session itself goes on for a whole night, with many of the images, "self"-namings, etc., established early & repeated throughout in full or fragmented form.

    Cayetano García, in whose home the session took place, acts also as the principal respondent. "The tone of voice in which this passage [begins]," writes Henry Munn, "is definitely playful, and at one point the man laughs with pleasure at her song. He thanks her for the beauty of her words."

     
    translation

    Ah, Jesu Kri
    I am a woman who shouts
    I am a woman who whistles
    I am a woman who lightnings, says
    Ah, Jesu Kri
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesusi
    Cayetano García
    [She calls his name to get his attention. "Yes," he
    responds, "Work, work."    ]
    Ah, Jesusi
    Woman santa, says
    Ah, Jesusi
    [Here she begins humming and clapping, uttering the
    meaningless syllables "so" and "si." Throughout the
    entire passage that follows she goes on clapping
    rhythmically in time to her words.    ]
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so si
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    Woman who resounds
    Woman torn up out of the ground
    Woman who resounds
    Woman torn up out of the ground
    Woman of the principal berries, says
    Woman of the sacred berries, says
    Ah, Jesusi
    Woman who searches, says
    Woman who examines by touch, says
    ha ha ha
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    She is of one word, of one face, of one spirit, of one light, of one day
    hmm hmm hmm
    Cayetano García
    [He answers "Yes …" She says, "Isnt't that how?" He responds:
    "Yes, that's it." She says: "Isn't that it? Like this. Listen."    ]
    Woman who resounds
    Woman torn up out of the ground
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesusi
    [In the background the man laughs with pleasure.]
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesusi
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so
    Justice woman
    hmm hmm hmm
    ["Thank you," says the man.]
    Saint Peter woman
    Saint Paul woman
    Ah, Jesusi
    Book woman
    Book woman
    Morning Star woman
    Cross Star woman
    God Star woman
    Ah, Jesusi
    Moon woman
    Moon woman
    Moon woman
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    Sap woman
    Dew woman
    [The man urges her on. "Work, work," he says.]
    She is a Book woman
    Ah, Jesusi
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so
    Lord clown woman
    Clown woman beneath the ocean
    Clown woman
    [The other words are unintelligible.]
    Ah, Jesusi
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so
    Woman who resounds
    Woman torn up out of the ground
    hmm hmm hmm
    Because she is a Christ woman
    Because she is a Christ woman
    ha ha ha
    so so so
    so so so
    so so so
    Whirling woman of colors
    Whirling woman of colors
    Big town woman
    Big town woman
    Lord eagle woman
    Lord eagle woman
    Clock woman
    Clock woman
    ha ha ha
    so so so
    so so so
    so so so
    [That’s it. Work, work," exclaims the man.]
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so
    hmm hmm hmm
    so so so
    so so so
    si si si
    si si si
    si si si
    so sa sa
    si si si
    so sa sa sa
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    hmm hmm hmm
    si so soooooooooiiiiii
    [The end of "so" is drawn out into a long tone. She calls,
    "Cayetano García." "Work, work," he relies. She goes
    on humming, clapping faster and faster. "Cayetano
    García," she calls again, in between her humming, almost
    as if she were animating him, bringing him to himself with
    her clapping. "Work, work," he says, "don’t worry." And
    the passage ends on an expiring "siiiiii."    ]
    You my Father
    You Christ
    You Christ
    Along the path of your soles, along the path of your feet
    Where you triumphed, Christ
    Where your saliva is, where your sweat is, Christ
    That is why I am searching for the path of your soles, that is why I
    am searching for the path of your feet
    Where you stopped, Christ
    Where you stopped, Father
    Where you stopped, Old One
    You are a respectable Father, an admirable Father
    You are a respectable Mother, an admirable Mother
    You are a green Father, a Father of clarity
    You are a green Mother, a Mother of clarity
    You are a budding Mother, a Mother of offshoots
    You are a green Mother, a Mother of clarity

    Father Jesus Christ
    We go to you speaking poorly and humbly, holding out our hands to
    you in supplication
    With all of the santos
    With all of the santas
    Because there are santos, because there are santas
    Because there are santos, because there are santas
    All the clean spirits
    All the good souls
    It is a clean soul
    It is a well-prepared soul
    It is a respectable soul
    It is a radiant soul
    Greenness and sap
    Flower of the dew
    Flower in bud
    Translucent flower
    Flowering flower
    Respected flower
    Ah, Jesus Christ
    It is a flower of fresh water
    A flower of clear water
    Fresh flower
    Translucent flower
    Because there are clean flowers where I am going
    Because there is clean water where I am going
    Clean flower, clean water
    Fresh flower
    Growing flower
    Mine that is increasing
    Green mine
    Budding mine
    There is no wind, there is no spit, there is no garbage, there is no
        dust
    There is no whirlwind, there is no weakness in the air
    That is the work of my santos, that is the work of my santas
    Ah, Jesus Christ
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesusi
    Ah, Jesus Christ
    He is the santo
    Ah, she is the santa
    Ah, he is the santo
    Ah, she is the santa
    Ah, he is spirit
    Ah, he is spirit
    Ah, it is light
    Ah, it is dew
    Ah, it is sap
    Ah, it is sap
    Ah, it is greenness
    Jesus Christ
    Jesus
    Jesus Christ
    There is no resentment, there is no rancor, there is no insult, there is no
        anger
    It is not a matter of insults, it is not a matter of lies
    It is a matter of life and well-being, of lifting up, of restoring
    ["Thank you," says the man.]

    Source: Álvaro Estrada, María Sabina: Her Life and Chants, Ross-Erikson Publishers, 1981. Recorded July 21-22, 1956, by R. Gordon Wasson in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca (Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico, Folkways Records, FR 8975). -- Jerome Rothenberg





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