This is a very rare and very collectible hardback book which has long been out of print and is the first English translation from 1981: "Maria Sabina: Her Life and Chants" is written by Alvaro Estrada with translation and commentaries by Henry Munn with a retrospective essay by R, Gordon Wasson and a preface by Jerome Rothenberg.

About this book:

María Sabina was an indigenous Mazatec who lived in Huautla de Jiménez, Sierra Mazateca, Oaxaca, Mexico and she was a very important healer who carried out sacred rituals known as "veladas". These veladas were ceremonies in which participants ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms, particularly the species Psilocybin cubensis for the purpose of healing, obtaining spiritual guidance and to connect with the divine under her guidance. 

From the inside flap of the dust jacket: This book is the oral autobiography of the great Mazatec Indian shaman, accompanied by a full translation of two chanting/curing sessions. "With words we live and grow," she chants as part of her revelation of the dimension of language-centered/vision-expressed poetry, whose roots go back into Pre-Conquest Mexico and whose voices reach her through the sacred psilocybin mushroom.

This is a very rare collectible used book and it is in very good condition with some discoloration to the outer edges of the pages when the book is closed these areas are also called the top edge and fore edge and also along the bottom of the outer pages. The dust jacket is preserved in a plastic adjustable book cover which does have scratches and wear to the plastic and does appear to have some wear to the paper dust jacket under the plastic. This book was never in a public library and is not an Ex-library book. I have had this book in my personal collection since 2002.

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