The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center - Shroomery

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was no difference. This was a confirmation from the most competent authority,
that the synthetic psilocybin is identical with the natural product. As a
parting gift I let Maria Sabina have a vial of psilocybin pills. She radiantly
explained to our interpreter Herlinda that she could now give consultations
even in the season when no mushrooms grow.
How should we judge the conduct of Maria Sabina, the fact that she allowed
strangers, white people, access to the secret ceremony, and let them try the
sacred mushroom?
To her credit it can be said that she had thereby opened the door to the
exploration of the Mexican mushroom cult in its present form, and to the
scientific, botanical, and chemical investigation of the sacred mushrooms.
Valuable active substances, psilocybin and psilocin, resulted. Without this
assistance, the ancient knowledge and experience that was concealed in these
secret practices would possibly, even probably, have disappeared without a
trace, without having borne fruit, in the advancement of Western civilization.
From another standpoint, the conduct of this curandera can be regarded as a
profanation of a sacred custom-even as a betrayal. Some of her countrymen were
of this opinion, which was expressed in acts of revenge, including the burning
of her house.
The profanation of the mushroom cult did not stop with the scientific
investigations. The publication about the magic mushrooms unleashed an
invasion of hippies and drug seekers into the Mazatec country, many of whom
behaved badly, some even criminally. Another undesirable consequence was the
beginning of true tourism in Huautla de Jimenez, whereby the originality of
the place was eradicated.
Such statements and considerations are, for the most part, the concern of
ethnographical research. Wherever researchers and scientists trace and
elucidate the remains of ancient customs that are becoming rarer, their
primitiveness is lost. This loss is only more or less counterbalanced when the
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