Huichol

Introduction The Huichol Indians are an indigenous group that lives “in the Sierra Madre Mountains of northwestern Mexico” (Woolcott). The Huichol religion is an animistic religion. According to Dr. Pamela Lindell, animistic religions are “religions that believe that all of nature – humans, animals, plants, rocks, the ocean, etc. - is animated by spirits and souls” (“Professor’s Notes 2” 3). To better understand the Huichol Indians and their religion, this paper examines Huichol myth, symbolism

Huichols or Wixarika are a group of indigenous people live in the rough and rocky terrain of central Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountain whose rituals and traditions have endured all the way through the centuries, even in the countenance of absurd unusual. In spite of the efforts to change them to Catholicism follow by the Spanish invasion of Mexico, the Huichols’ immobile live today is quite related to the time as their ancestors lived many centuries ago. Huichols’ religion engages in recreations of

In many cultures around the world, plants have a strong spiritual symbolism. The Huichol tribe of Mexico, for example, a plant called peyote has symbolic significance, as it produces spiritual experiences which allegedly allow its users to connect with their Gods and ancestors. Mescaline, the active ingredient in peyote, creates vivid dreamscapes and hallucinations. For the Huichol people, finding peyote is a laborious and sacred task so each year, they go on a pilgrimage to Wirikuta, also known

allowing them to see a different landscape. The Huichol people in Mexico believed that peyote was supposed to be used in rituals and was a gift from the Gods. They harvest enough for the year and take just the right amount to see visions. To get the peyote they must undergo numerous rituals and stop at a few sacred sites in order to find the peyote in Wirikuta. This adventure is called the pilgrimage to Wirikuta also called the “Path of Freedom The Huichol people, also known as Wixáritari in their native

demonstrates that symbols give a meaning to life. The symbols give practitioners something to hold onto at all times. Geertz’s definition of symbols and their impacts fits the use of symbols in many religious practices including the religions of the Huichol Indians and the Amish sect of the Protestant Christian church. In the first part of the Geertz’s definition, he states that religion is “a system of symbols which acts…”. All religions are made up of symbols. In the Amish church, the symbols include

In the first synthesis essay, examination of worldview was identified as one of the most important concepts necessary to understand and interpret medical anthropology. Worldview is the reason that there are many different types of medical systems. As explained in lecture, these include diagnosis, healing, and some form of payment to the healer. The study of these different medical systems falls under the term ethnomedicine. Singer describes ethnomedicine as the idea that all medical systems develop

Both of the articles were written about the topic of cultural competence and sensitivity as an art educator in art classrooms, but each author had a certain approach in their writing that caused their articles to affect my interpretation in very different ways. For instance, the article written by Lucy Andrus was very detailed and straightforward; however, it was so objectively written that the ideas were difficult for me to conceptualize. I understood why Andrus expected teachers to instruct their

For my field report I chose to visit The Centro Cultural de la Raza located in Balboa Park. The Centro Cultural de la Raza was established in 1970 and completed in 1985. It was created in order to preserve, promote, and educate about Mexican, Chicano, Indigenous and Latin culture and art. When I arrived at the Centro I was greeted by a volunteer by the name of Bertha “Birdie” Gutierrez who has been a volunteer there for five years, I asked for a tour of the establishment. Birdie is also a jewelry

1. Symbols that sum up an entire semantic domain are called summarizing symbols. Elaborating symbols are analytic and allow people to sort out complex and undifferentiated feelings and ideas. Elaborating symbols provide people with categories of for thinking about how their world is ordered 2. A.F.C Wallace’s minimal categories of religion describe many practices that are usually associated with religions, these practices include; Prayer. Wallace says that where there is gods or cosmic forces

daydream themselves into an alternate reality and discover answers to their questions. Whether their uttermost desires would be to achieve health, glory, or success, the magical drugs would help them accomplish their needs. Tribes in Mexico such as Huichol or Tarahumara discovered that the cactus can be dried and eaten to achieve an ever more rich effect (Wade par. 7). In Mexico, the Matazetec tribes from Oaxaca discovered that the mushroom flora they came across came upon the Earth as thunderbolts