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-Workspace for Mahrukh and Rachel+====== How the Names Are Changed on the Peyote Journey ====== 
 +''Written by Ramón Medina Silva'' 
 +<WRAP center round info 60%> 
 +**//Symposium of the Whole// (pp. 116-118)** \\ 
 +Originally published in [[https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801408175/peyote-hunt/#bookTabs=1|Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians]] by Barbara Myerhoff (1972). 
 +</WRAP>
  
  
-{{tag>demon advice theory}}+===== What is Peyote? ===== 
 + 
 +{{:omnipoetics:sacred-peyote.jpg?direct&200 |}}   
 +[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyote|Peyote]] is a small green spineless cactus that contains psychoactive alkaloids, mescaline in particular, which induces similar hallucinogenic effects as psilocybin and LSD. It is native, and considered sacred, in Mexico and southwestern Texas. The Spanish word's roots can be traced to "Nahuatl //peyōtl//, meaning 'caterpillar cocoon', from a root //peyōni//, 'to glisten'." It is known for its mind-altering capabilities and has a long history (5,500 years) of psychedelic and medicinal uses by indigenous people in North America. 
 + 
 + 
 + 
 +===== Who is Ramón Medina Silva? ===== 
 + 
 +<blockquote>  
 +Ramón was born, probably in the mid-1920s, in the Huichol community of San Sebastian in the Sierra Madre Occidental. His Huichol name was Ürü Temai, 'Young Arrow', and while his grandfather was a notable mara'akáme, his father was often absent and the family lived in poverty. As a boy, Ramón was bitten by a coral snake, which caused him paralysis in his legs for several months and almost killed him – later in life, Ramón would recognise this as the 'sickness vocation', the calling of a future shaman through illness. His grandfather eventually healed him but not before witnessing Ramón's pledge to 'complete' as a shaman before Tatewarí, Grandfather Fire, and Tayaupá, Father Sun. 
 + 
 +As part of his 'completion' as a shaman, Ramón led several pilgrimages to Wirikuta for the famous Peyote Hunt, and although it is not certain whether by the time of his death he had completed the full six pilgrimages usually required to attain the full status of mara'akáme,  MacLean reports that even from his first pilgrimage, he developed shamanic abilities very quickly. Furst states however that he completed his training in 1968. 
 +</blockquote> 
 +Taken from [[https://www.visionaryartexhibition.com/archaic-visions/a-tribute-to-ramon-medina-silva#google_vignette|A Tribute to Ramón Medina Silva with images of his yarn art.]] 
 +===== Language Reversal & Defamiliarization ===== 
 + 
 +Silva mentions repeatedly throughout the article the role of name and meaning reversals during the peyote hunt. How crucial it is for all the companions to get the reversed names right, otherwise it will all go wrong. The names come from mara’akame's dreams and change with each pilgrimage, each thing referred to by its opposite. For instance, "Sandals are cactus. Fingers are sticks. Hair, that is cactus fiber. The moon, that is a cold sun." (117) A way to connect to ancient times, "Because it must be as it was said in the beginning." (118)  
 + 
 +==== Thoughts on why? ==== 
 + 
 +  * Preparation for the psychedelic experience 
 +  * Going back in time? Make contact with the collective unconscious? 
 +  * Defamiliarize/detach from preconceived names and meanings and view of the world 
 +  * Vibe: Zen Buddhist teachers that respond to philosophical questions with everyday lingo and normal questions with philosophical answers. Maybe the method allows travelers to slowly defamiliarize with their ego-identity and reality. Sort of like in a psychedelic trip, but when they return home, they have to revert back to the usual way of saying things. 
 + 
 +===== The Role of Community ===== 
 + 
 +The language changes are neither random nor individual. The mara'akáme (shaman) tells the rest of the group what to call things. This leader not only establishes the vocabulary changes, but teaches and reinforces them. 
 + 
 +===== Cyclical Time ===== 
 + 
 +{{ :omnipoetics:tatewaril.jpg?direct&600|}} 
 +There is a juxtaposition between the time spent in the peyote experience (outside of normal time, fresh, unique, short lasting) and the repeated reminders by the author that this process comes down from the beginning. 
 + 
 +Another connection of the cyclical nature of time can be made with the following description of the painting on the right that honors //Tatewari//: 
 + 
 +<blockquote> 
 +In this picture the gods are welcoming the “nierica” (mandala) of fire. They surround it and greet it. A “nierika” is a circular entrance to another world. The Huichol say the sacred fire is called Tatewari, he is the shaman of ancient times, the patron of all shamans; he is the one that burns the fields ready for planting corn, who cooks our food, who helps us to hunt deer and he is the peyote. 
 +He stands beside the shaman when he is curing a sick person and his messengers are feathers, like the feathers of the shaman´s wand, the “muvieri”, they are imbued with life, they have feeling, they move around and are capable of speech and action. 
 +</blockquote> 
 + 
 +===== The Sacred Journey & Ceremony ===== 
 + 
 +  * [[https://www.tashdoherty.com/posts/a-peyote-ceremony-what-is-it-and-what-to-expect|A Peyote Ceremony: What Is It and What To Expect]] 
 +  * Recommendation: Watch the documentary **How to Change Your Mind - S1 E4 · Chapter 4: Mescaline** on Netflix. Based on Michael Pollen's book. 
 + 
 + 
 +{{tag>theory meditation altered-states-of-consciousness native-american community-event sacred shaman}}

Trace: • schechner

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