july 25

The Huichol Indians

Text: Ellement

-Who are they?-

A small tribe of aproximately 15,000 people living in the North Central zone of Mexico in the Mountains of Jalisco and Nayarit. They are direct descendents of the Aztecs ancient people who escaped of the spanish conquers and the Jesuits missionaries to innaccesible hidden lands.

Called by themselves as wixarikas (whit out an exactly translation but may mean healers), are the only culture in Mesoamerica who has an almost pure culture, that has not been touched by the christian influence. Their cosmology, mithology and rituals are pre-european. They have no history of war cause they train their hearts to open to the healing powers of love and to the celebrations of life through the seasons. They are famous for their strong ceremonial tradition, rich mithology and incredible visionary artwork.

They have a shamanic tradition who includes all the Natural forces in all of their rituals. They are based in the Agriculture, so every time they plant the sacred corn, they make rituals to ask the divine forces about this asking for the rain, the good conditions for the earth and finally the crops success, so they elaborate a cycle of ceremonies every year at the same time to keep their own survival. All the ceremonies are rounded by the spirit of the peyote, who is the principal force who helps them in all the things in the live. This spirit is an intermediary between them and all the nature forces. The peyote is a power plant, a visionary plant, a master-teacher plant (is more than a simple psycotropic plant).

Huichol life is a continuous cycle of ritual and devotional exercises designed to help them stay connected to the Ancient Ones (spirits). The Hucihols say that during the ceremonies, they are inviting these spirits to come into the circle of life to be with them to help empower them and their families, and to help the universe stay in balance so they are very Ecological. All the things they do have a sacred mean... the gathering, the hunting, the rituals, art, everything, so they teach us how to live in harmony with the forces around us.

Every year the huichols make a pilgrimage to the sacred land of Wirikuta in the desert of San Luis Potosi to pick the peyote for all the ceremonies during this year. They choose a group of persons for the pilgrimage. This persons are the purified ones or the peyote will not be found.

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