Maria Sabina: Selections

Poets for the Millennium

by María Sabina, Jerome Rothenberg (Editor)

A shaman and visionary―not a poet in any ordinary sense―María Sabina lived out her life in the Oaxacan mountain village of Huautla de Jiménez, and yet her words, always sung or spoken, have carried far and wide, a principal instance and a powerful reminder of how poetry can arise in a context far removed from literature as such. Seeking cures through language―with the help of Psilocybe mushrooms, said to be the source of language itself―she was, as Henry Munn describes her, "a genius [who] emerges from the soil of the communal, religious-therapeutic folk poetry of a native Mexican campesino people." She may also have been, in the words of the Mexican poet Homero Aridjis, "the greatest visionary poet in twentieth-century Latin America."

These selections include a generous presentation from Sabina's recorded chants and a complete English translation of her oral autobiography, her vida, as written and arranged in her native language by her fellow Mazatec Alvaro Estrada. Accompanying essays and poems include an introduction to "The Life of María Sabina" by Estrada, an early description of a nighttime "mushroom velada" by the ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson, an essay by Henry Munn relating the language of Sabina's chants to those of other Mazatec shamans, and more.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Native American, Biography, Latinx, Latin American

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Niklas Spitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I am one who speaks with God... I am wise even from within the womb of my mother. I am the woman of the winds, of the water, of the paths, because I am known in heaven, because I am a doctor woman.
I take "Little-One-Who-Springs-Forth [sacred mushrooms] and I see God. I see him sprout from the earth. He grows and grows, as big as a tree, as a mountain. His face is placid, beautiful, serene as in the temples..."

"A Wise One like me should not charge for her services. She should not profit from her wisdom. The one who charges is a liar. The Wise One is born to cure, not to do business with her knowledge.... One receives with humility the two or three pesos that are put in one's hand. Yes... one should not make money from the "little things"

[Erik Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But I have never seen the demons, although to arrive where I should I pass through the dominions of death. I submerge myself and walk down below. I can search in the shadows and in the silence. Thus I arrive where the sicknesses are crouched. Very far down below. Below the roots and the water, the mud and the rocks. At other times I ascend, very high up, above the mountains and the clouds. Upon arriving where I should, I look at God and at Benito Juárez. There I look at the good people. There everything is known. About everything and everyone, because there everything is clear. I hear voices. They speak to me. It is the voice of Little-One-Who-Springs-Forth. The God that lives in them enters my body. I cede my body and my voice to the saint children."

[Justin Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating document and strange achievement in biography, translation, ritual, and semiotics.
From the language of Mushrooms to Mazatec to Spanish to English.

[i Hoepez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changed my life and her chants have left a mark on my soul I will never heal from

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ “I am a woman who fell out by herself, I am a woman who was born alone” “Wisdom is Language” - Maria Sabina.
Got to know and learn about Maria Sabina’s life, her relationship to the “saint children” ( magic mushrooms) and her struggle with perennial poverty. A woman who walked barefoot for the better part of her life, who performed vigils to heal the sick and whose poetry has left a lasting impression in the collective consciousness of all healers and women (who i believe are natural vessels for healing). I especially loved the excerpt by Anne waldman towards the end and liked her views pertaining to the similarities between poets and shamans. What a remarkable woman, i loved her voice and chants, a true healer and poet at heart ♥️

[Joshua Ginter · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I speak from the origins."

A really beautiful testament of the power of language.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a remarkable experience, reading a poem used in a healing ceremony spoken by a Oaxacan Mazatec wise woman/shaman/healer under the influence of "the children," known to white North Americans as hallucinogenic mushrooms. Maria Sabina speaks from the point of view of the mushrooms. She speaks from a time when the forest and earth itself spoke to humans. She heals with words, she explains in the memoir included here. There are also short essays written by scholars who knew her and worked with her, as well as poems written about her and a helpful essay by Anne Waldman, whose "Fast Speaking Woman," was an "intuitive reworking" of Maria Sabina's chant.

I must note that Maria Sabina's poem is not exclusive of Christianity. She draws from Jesus, Mary, the saints, and President Benito Juarez. Sadly, Sabina notes that the mushrooms lost their powers in her older age, due to strangers using them outside of ritual. This is a cruel irony, because the strangers, North American seekers, were drawn to visit because they heard a 1956 Folkways record of her chant.

This book is a fascinating journey into the life of a poet and her culture.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never thought to compare the words of a shaman as poetry, but that's exactly what Maria Sabina's famous chants were, shot through with holy immediacy. I very much appreciated this translation of the few recorded veladas she lead as well as her biography and articles about her and Mazatec language and culture.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched, thoughtful, and important publication that illuminates and contextualises Maria Sabina’s poetic prowess. She is nothing but deserving of this recognition and research - highly recommended!

[Liz W · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of Sabina's life but also an insight into how she has been appropriated by the west. I learned so much.

[Vanni Santoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

oro colato
(e realtà che superano ogni realismo magico)

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. I definitely learned a lot. And hmmm appropriation.

[nym · Rating 3 out of 5]

so tired of white dudes insisting on calling stuff they like poetry, despite all contrary evidence

[Elaina Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the chants of a Mazatec healer was awe-inspiring. It was beautiful to see how someone so connected to the earth wove its healing powers through her and into those she supported through their healing. It reminded me that 'healing' is an ancient, poetic process, not just a medical one.

[Kimberly Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing. Resonates deeply~ love Maria Sabina

[Caroline Whitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am star that shines beneath the stone
Sea that dances in the blue of sky
Light that travels through raw weather
I am the sun’s vein, i am song.
I am dance and chant that heals.