Henry Munn was an independent scholar, writer, and translator whose deep intellectual curiosity and quiet dedication left a lasting impact on the study of indigenous poetry and religious traditions, particularly in Mexico. Best known for his groundbreaking translations of the chants and oral autobiography of Mazatec healer María Sabina—done alongside his brother-in-law Álvaro Estrada—Munn brought attention and reverence to voices often unheard in Western literary circles. A gentle and passionate thinker, he spent much of his life immersed in books, art, and the pursuit of knowledge. His work, though largely carried out away from the spotlight, was instrumental in the development of ethnopoetics and continues to influence writers and scholars today.

Henry Munn “investigated the use of hallucinogenic plants among the Conibo Indians of eastern Peru and the Mazatec Indians of the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Although not a professional anthropologist, he has resided for extended periods of time among the Mazatecs and is married to the niece of the shaman and shamaness referred to in this essay.” He also emphasized at the beginning that the shamans in this essay are referred to as Mazatecs because they reside in the same mountains (“Sierra Mazateca in the northeastern corner of the Mexican state of Oaxaca”) and the language they speak has been ascribed Mazatec, however, strictly speaking they are Huautecans, “natives of the town of Huautla de Jimenez.”

This essay is incredibly interesting as Munn explains the tradition of eating mushrooms and the sacred practices of Mazatec shamans in altered states of consciousness. It can be seen as a communal affair, in which it is common for multiple members of family to participate together, with the purpose of “therapeutic catharsis.” Many, once or more, have eaten mushrooms among the Mazatecs, and not all have had profound and extremely passionate experiences that stretch the folds of their creative imagination- disinclined to try again. But there are some, who take the journeys into the strange depths of their minds, again and again, they are shamans - the masters and guides - who take these psychological trips as a vocation. Munn calls them “the men of the spirit”, language, wisdom, and medicine in different instances. They are called during mushroom rituals by families to act as guides, they chant rhythmically with ecstatic expression the teachings gained under the psychoactive influence while others listen, as the shamans are more acquainted with its language and terrain.

The Mazatecs say that the mushrooms speak. If you ask a shaman where his imagery comes from, he is likely to reply: I didn't say it, the mushrooms did. No mushroom speaks, that is a primitive anthropomorphization of the natural, only man speaks, but he who eats these mushrooms, if he is a man of language, becomes endowed with an inspired capacity to speak. The shamans who eat them, their function is to speak, they are the speakers who chant and sing the truth, they are the oral poets of their people, the doctors of the word, they who tell what is wrong and how to remedy it, the seers and oracles, the ones possessed by the voice. “It is not I who speak,” said Heraclitus, “it is the logos.” Language is an ecstatic activity of signification. Intoxicated by the mushrooms, the fluency, the ease, the aptness of expression one becomes capable of are such that one is astounded by the words that issue forth from the contact of the intention of articulation with the matter of experience. At times it is as if one were being told what to say, for the words leap to mind, one after another, of themselves without having to be searched for: a phenomenon similar to the automatic dictation of the surrealists except that here the flow of consciousness, rather than being disconnected, tends to be coherent: a rational enunciation of meanings. Message fields of communication with the world, others, and one's self are disclosed by the mushrooms. The spontaneity they liberate is not only perceptual, but linguistic, the spontaneity of speech, of fervent, lucid discourse, of the logos in activity. For the shaman, it is as if existence were uttering itself through him. From the beginning, once what they have eaten has modified their consciousness, they begin to speak and at the end of each phrase they say tzo-“says” in their language-like a rhythmic punctuation of the said. Says, says, says. It is said. I say. Who says? We say, man says, language says, being and existence say.

Taken from Notes on the paragraph above: The inspiration produced by the mushrooms is very much like that described by Nietzsche in Ecce Homo. Since the statement of Rimbaud, “I is another,” spontaneous language, speaking or writing as if from dictation (to use the common expression for an activity very difficult to describe in its truth) has been of paramount interest to philosophers and poets. Sap the Mexican, Octavio Paz, in an essay on Breton, “The inspired one, the man who in truth speaks, does not say anything that is his: from his mouth speaks language.” Octavio Paz, “Andre Breton o La Busqueda del Comienzo,” Corriente Alterna (Mexico: Siglo Veintiuno, 1967), p. 53.

ChatGPT listed down the step-by-step process of consuming mushrooms in rituals to understand the significance of mystical experiences that Munn shares of the Mazatec traditional healers grappling with modernity, and runs it through a modern academic lens. Following is the response AI provided after a long back-and-forth:

(Based on Henry Munn’s essay “The Mushrooms of Language” * Purification and Preparation: Participants fast and abstain from sex to purify the body and spirit. This prepares them to enter a state of receptivity to the divine voice of the mushrooms. * Timing and Environment: The ritual is always conducted at night, in total darkness. The absence of light allows visions to surface and keeps the sacred space intact. Disruption by light or noise is believed to break the link with the spiritual realm. * Consumption of the Mushrooms: The mushrooms—often called niños santos (“holy children”)—are eaten reverently. They are not seen as drugs but as divine entities. A shaman may consume a specific number, often in pairs, to honor their spirit. * The Role of the Shaman: The shaman (chota chjine) is the spiritual guide and interpreter. They channel the mushrooms’ teachings, becoming the voice of the sacred. Speech pours forth as an improvised, poetic revelation. * The Language of the Experience Language becomes healing: metaphoric, rhythmic, ecstatic. For example, María Sabina’s chants include phrases like: “Because I am the woman of the stars, woman of the day, woman of the light, woman who sees, woman who knows…” These declarations are not metaphorical in the Western literary sense—they are truths spoken directly from the visionary source, affirming her role as intermediary between human and divine. * Visionary States and Healing: Visions may reveal spiritual insight, diagnose illness, or disclose hidden knowledge. The shaman “sees with the language” and offers these revelations aloud, often delivering messages from ancestors or deities through the mushrooms’ voice. * Communal and Sacred Dimensions: Though deeply individual, the ritual is communal. Others present may support, witness, or seek healing themselves. The entire rite is framed as sacred dialogue—a ceremony of prayer, revelation, and connection with the ultimate source.

To be clear, I am not condoning or condemning the use of psychoactive substances (as AI thought initially and refused to work with me), but merely pointing out the significance of this psychological journey within a proper setting, guide, intent, and creative expression (with words, songs, or movement).