Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians

by Barbara G. Myerhoff

Overview

"Ramón Medina Silva, a Huichol Indian shaman priest or mara'akame, instructed me in many of his culture's myths, rituals, and symbols, particularly those pertaining to the sacred untiy of deer, maize, and peyote. The significance of this constellation of symbols was revealed to me most vividly when I accompanied Ramón on the Huichol's annual ritual return to hunt the peyote in the sacred land of Wirikuta, in myth and probably in history the place from which the Ancient Ones (ancestors and deities of the present-day Indians) came before settling in their present home in the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in north-central Mexico. My work with Ramón preceded and followed our journey, but it was this peyote hunt that held the key to, and constituted the climax of, his teachings."—from the Preface

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801491375
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	03/31/1976
Series:	Symbol, Myth and Ritual
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.81(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

1. Ramón and Lupe2. Ethnographic and Historical Background3. Huichol Religion4. The Peyote Hunt as an Event5. The Deer-Maize-Peyote Complex6. The Purpose and Meaning of the Peyote HuntBibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Benjamin Ray

Barbara G. Myerhoff's splendid study... is a sensible participant-observer account... of a shamanic priest and his small party of pilgrims as they journey to their original homeland, now a distant sacred center, in search of peyote.

From the Publisher

Myerhoff's book will be a classic in the anthropology of religion.

Editorial Reviews

"This study is based on observation, verbatim texts of myths, ethnographic data, participation in the rituals, and other publications of Huichol ethnology. The peyote complex is expertly set in the wider context of Huichol religion, society, and history. The study concludes with a review of . . . theories of Turner, Geertz, and Lévi-Strauss, which, in turn, are synthesized to provide the basis for sophisticated analysis of meaning and function of the deer-maize-peyote symbol-ritual complex. . . . Should be useful to all seriously interested in understanding alien world views."--Choice

"Barbara G. Myerhoff's splendid study . . . is a sensible participant-observer account . . . of a shamanic priest and his small party of pilgrims as they journey to their original homeland, now a distant sacred center, in search of peyote."--Benjamin Ray, History of Religions

"Myerhoff's book will be a classic in the anthropology of religion."--Christian Scholar's Review

"This is a beautiful book, recording with loving care how one thoughtful Huichol Indian wanted to see the world."--Review of Books and Religion

From the Publisher