Mesoamerican American Culture

At my understanding, the term Hispanic is wrongly used when referring to a race. Being Hispanic is, of course, to belong to an ethnic group, but it is much more than that. It is not about the color of your skin or your hair, but about culture, tradition, and manners. All started with the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of South and Central America. From Europe came the adventurous men, full of ambitions and courage. These attributes blended with the strength and energy of African slaves and the Native Americans, and this mixture led to the born of this new culture that we called Hispanic.

The Southwest Native American and their culture is very unique.There art contained their symbols and signs to show what they believe in.This is important because it is a big part of their daily life and practices.They had dolls that represented the Kachina spirits.This is important because this is an important part of their culture and history.In our exhibit the little girl is holding one.They wore turquoise jewelry because it promotes wealth,happiness and fortune.In our exhibit the people are wearing the jewelry.The South West native american culture is very unique because they used dolls to represent spirits.

Native Americans from the Mesoamerican/South Americans have some similarities and differences with the Northern Mexicans/Northern Americans such as how they emerged and disappeared, agricultural advances and architecture advances, and beliefs. Mesoamericans include great civilizations including the Incas, Mayans, Teotihuacan, and Aztecs. Hohokam, Ancestral Pueblos, Poverty Point, Adena, Hopewell, Mississipian, Cahokia, Inuits, Aleuts are some tribes or people from North Mexico and North America area.

As I begin this essay comparing two separate cultures I feel it is necessary to first describe what exactly culture is. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." It includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.

The Europeans got the “science” of how to make spirits from Córdoba in southern Spain, the capital of Arab Andalusia.

A misperception of the global community is that countries are comprised of a single culture. In this compartmentalized worldview, a country has the same food, ideas, and traditions as if our national borders are the only aspect to define us. However, Mexico is far from a homogenized culture or identity; there is a myriad of differences within present day Mexico and the Mexican-American Community. In Chicago, the Westside neighborhood of Pilsen showcases the rich diversity of Mexican culture. Pilsen has changed hands as many immigrants thrived in its streets throughout the century and is now predominantly Latino/Mexican. The small neighborhood’s vibrant culture is encapsulated in the brilliantly colored painted murals featured on many building,

     While American Indians are well known for their use of psychedelic agents other cultures have also been known to use psychedelics, especially psilocybin. So-called “magic'; mushrooms also grow naturally in many parts of Europe and Asia. Norse tribesmen, for example, were believed to use Amanita muscaria or fly agaric mushrooms to bring on feelings of rage before going into battle. The same mushroom may have also been the inspiration to the founders of Hinduism. Preparations of datura, the agent found in jimson weed, are used in magic and witchcraft in many areas of the world, (Aaronson, 1970). More recently many artist, writers, and musicians have been known to use mescaline and psilocybin and other naturally occurring hallucinogens such as those found in morning glory seeds, and nutmeg, as well as synthesized hallucinogens like LSD. Because of their mind-expanding qualities, the high insight into reality that they seem to produce, as well as highly complex sensory experiences, some report receiving inspiration from such drugs.

These substances are in turn broken down in the body into a great many more

In Adam Barton’s film, The Stoned Ages (2011), researches the historical use of drugs and the institutional response upon the use of drugs by the masses. The Stoned Ages (2011) exposes an overwhelming discovery of drug use by people of ancient times and a connection of persistent patterns world-wide. Human beings have been in pursuit of expanding psychological capabilities from the beginning of human evolution (Barton, 2011). Social advancements depicted in The Stone Ages (2011), have derived from the use substances such as psychedelic mushrooms, during ancient rituals; permitting individuals to communicate with sacred Gods. Barton (2011) also discovers the use of drugs among Ancient Greek politicians as well, illustrating the wide use of drugs among people around the world and therefore theorizing the concept of drug use as an element of human behavior (Barton, 2011). According to Marc-Antoine Crocq’s (2007) research article summarizing the existence of drug use throughout the history of human-kind; “Schematically, psychoactive substances have been used (1) in religious ceremonies by priests; (ii) for medicinal purposes; or (iii) massively, as staple commodities, by large segments of the population in a socially approved way” (Crocq, 2007). Explained in Barton’s (2011) documentary however, the use of drugs had dire consequences caused by elitists’ hunger for power; Christians forbade the use of drugs with severe tactics of enforcement and lethally persecuting those who

The Olmec are believed to be the first great Mesoamerican civilization. The city known as San Lorenzo existed around 1200BC and declined in 400 B.C. It is considered to be the first major city in ancient Mexico.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms have been around for many years. The earliest recording of people using these mushrooms is from 7000 B.C. rock paintings in the Sahara desert (www.magicmushrooms.net). Psychedelic mushrooms were a revered tradition in native Central American cultures at the time of the European invasion, and have been in continuous use up to the present. Named teonanácatl ("flesh of the gods") in Nahuatl, they may have been employed for healing, divination and for intercession with spirits. Since the beginning of the Latin American colonial era, their use has been hidden due to persecution by the Christian church, which branded all native religious practices as "pagan"(wikipedia.org). According to the BBC(British Broadcasting Corporation), the first documented use of psychedelic mushrooms was in the Medical and Physical Journal: In 1799, a man who had been picking mushrooms for breakfast in London's Green Park included them(psychedelic mushrooms) in his harvest, accidentally sending his entire family on a trip. The doctor who treated them later described how the youngest child "was attacked with fits of immoderate laughter, nor could the threats of his father or mother

Massive temples hidden in the jungles of the Yucatan, mysterious stone stelas, and cryptic calendars eluding to advanced knowledge of the stars and mathematics are just some of the artifacts originating from the “Classic Maya” period (200 CE-900 CE). However, these popular items should not be the only defining characteristics of a society that dominated the Mesoamerican region for nearly a millennia. Dynastic lines, similar to those found in European houses, were important elements during this period in places like Palenque, Tikal, and Calakmul. Additionally, the Maya experienced violent and consistent warfare between localized powers and the backbone of their society, agriculture, suffered through several multi-year droughts. These factors

The psychedelic art period was established by poster artists Rick Griffon, Wes Wilson and Victor Moscoso in 1960 and ended 15 years later in 1975. Its commonly associated with the idea of hallucinations or the style of art during the hippie movement. Hippies experimented with the idea of modifying the mind through drugs and experiencing different illusions during a state of consciousness, this was especially popular when LSD (otherwise known as acid) was first introduced, other drugs were also used for artists to gain inspiration for their work. As hippies were known to wear vibrant colours this was also transferred to the art style, with what is described as kaleidoscopic patterns and abstract swirls this art period is said to have drawn inspiration

Mushrooms are hallucinogenic mushrooms that are typically found in, West africa, most of Mexico, and also some U.S. states like Florida and Texas. Some historians believe that mushrooms were used back as far as 9,000 B.C. They say that Indian tribes like the Mayans and Aztecs used them because cave paintings have been found from these tribes depicting these mushrooms, they called it Teonanacatl which means “flesh of the gods.” These mushrooms were brought to the U.S. in the 16th century by catholic priests claiming to be using these mushrooms. They were made popular in the U.S, By Mycologist, (mushroom scientist) R. Gordon Wasson. Gordon went to Mexico to study these mushrooms. He met a tribe of indians called the mazatecs. He then watched

It is no secret that drug use has the ability to completely alter a person’s state of consciousness, whether it be through extreme euphoria, increased hyperactivity, pain relief or psychedelic hallucinations. Although many drugs are used for medical purposes, the global issue of recreational drug use is now being fronted as an extremely serious matter that is steadily on the uprise. Recreational drug use is often associated with negativity, addiction and as having serious physical and mental repercussions. One of the few class of drugs that is often associated with both positive and negative connotations are hallucinogens, otherwise known as “psychedelics”, which have powerful altering effects on ones sense of perception, brain function