The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

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curandera lit a candle on a table covered with some images of saints, along
with a variety of rubbish. Then she began to bustle about busily, but in
silence. All at once we heard peculiar noises and a rummaging in the room-did
the hut harbor some hidden person whose shape and proportions could not be
made out in the candlelight? Visibly disturbed, Consuela searched the room
with the burning candle. It appeared to be merely rats, however, who were
working their mischief. In a bowl the curandera now kindled copal, an
incense-like resin, which soon filled the whole hut with its aroma. Then the
magic potion was ceremoniously prepared. Consuela inquired which of us wished
to drink of it with her. Gordon announced himself. Since I was suffering from
a severe stomach upset at the time, I could not join in. My wife substituted
for me. The curandera laid out six pairs of leaves for herself. She
apportioned the same number to Gordon. Anita received three pairs. Like the
mushrooms, the leaves are always dosed in pairs, a practice that, of course,
has a magical significance. The leaves were crushed with the metate, then
squeezed out through a fine sieve into a cup, and the metate and the contents
of the sieve were rinsed with water. Finally, the filled cups were incensed
over the copal vessel with much ceremony. Consuela asked Anita and Gordon,
before she handed them their cups, whether they believed in the truth and the
holiness of the ceremony. After they answered in the affirmative and the very
bitter-tasting potion was solemnly imbibed, the candles were extinguished and,
lying in darkness on the bast masts, we awaited the effects.
After some twenty minutes Anita whispered to me that she saw striking,
brightly bordered images. Gordon also perceived the effect of the drug. The
voice of the curandera sounded from the darkness, half speaking, half singing.
Herlinda translated: Did we believe in Christ's blood and the holiness of the
rites? After our "creemos" ("We believe"), the ceremonial performance
continued. The curandera lit the candles, moved them from the "altar table"
onto the floor, sang and spoke prayers or magic formulas, placed the candles
again under the images of the saints-then again silence and darkness.
Thereupon the true consultation began. Consuela asked for our request. Gordon
inquired after the health of his daughter, who immediately before his
departure from New York had to be admitted prematurely to the hospital in
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