**2020 stock** Recorded on the night of July 21/22, 1956 by V.P. & R. Gordon Wasson, these are rough and ready field recordings featuring the voice of Maria Sabina (1894-1985) a Mexican curandera who would perform healing vigils known as veladas in Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca where all participants would ingest psilocybin mushrooms (Maria's holy children), as a sacrament to open the gates of the mind and communicate with the sacred. María Sabina (July 22, 1894, Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca, Mexico - November 23, 1985) was a Mexican-Mazatec shaman and curandera (healer) who lived her entire life in a modest dwelling in the Sierra Mazateca of Southern Mexico. Her practice was based on the use of the various species of native psilocybe mushrooms and she performed long, trance-induced incantations.”

This CD is a custom made copy from Smithsonian Folkways collection. Every effort has been made to preserve its historical and aural integrity. The original liner notes are include as a PDF file on the disc or are available here