Case file · Folklore / legend
María Sabina's velada for R. Gordon Wasson
On 29–30 June 1955 the Mazatec healer María Sabina let US banker R. Gordon Wasson take part in a night healing ceremony with psilocybin mushrooms in Huautla de Jiménez, Oaxaca.
1955 CE · 18.13, -96.84 · status: account
The account
Wasson's 1957 Life magazine article 'Seeking the Magic Mushroom' brought crowds of foreigners to Huautla, and Albert Hofmann later isolated psilocybin from the mushrooms. María Sabina said that the ceremonies, meant for curing, lost their power after the outsiders came.