World map
Where the 26 living traditions in this collection are practiced today, grouped into 11 broad areas. Choose an area to see its traditions.
1 Gran Nayar, Mexico 1 tradition
- Wixárika hikuri peyote
Pilgrims walk the ancestors' road to Wirikuta, renewing the journey that keeps the Sun rising.
- Wixárika hikuri peyote
2 Oaxaca, Mexico 4 traditions
- Mazatec mushroom velada
In darkness and silence, the holy mushroom is said to speak, show the truth, and judge.
- Mazatec salvia
Leaves that some Mazatecs say must never be burned, cut only after asking the plant's permission.
- Oaxaca ololiuqui seeds
The sick drink at night, a woman listens, and the seed speaks.
- Zapotec mushroom
A mushroom that speaks at night, best picked by cheerful, talkative children.
- Mazatec mushroom velada
3 North coast of Peru 1 tradition
- Peruvian mesa San Pedro
Under San Pedro, healers say, the stones and saints on the mesa reveal themselves.
- Peruvian mesa San Pedro
4 Western Amazon 7 traditions
- Huni Kuin ayahuasca
Night-long ceremonies where songs in the language of the ancients steer the visions.
- Kamëntšá and Inga Borrachero
Its flowers painted on Sibundoy's walls, borrachero now stands for Kamëntšá cultural revival.
- Mestizo ayahuasca
Healers learn songs and cures from the plants themselves, by keeping the dieta.
- Santo Daime
A "musical doctrine" whose hymns, received from the astral, are sung with Daime.
- Shipibo-Konibo ayahuasca
Healers say they learn from plants, not people, in long diets alone in the forest.
- Shuar arutam brugmansia
After fasting, seekers go to the waterfall to meet Arutam and return stronger, surer of the path ahead.
- Shuar natem ayahuasca
Shuar healers drink the vine to see and suck out sorcerers' invisible arrows.
- Huni Kuin ayahuasca
5 Northwest Amazon and Orinoco 3 traditions
- Piaroa yopo snuff
Yopo is no teacher here: the shaman sees, and the power and responsibility are his.
- Tukanoan yajé
Seasonal rituals that "sweeten" fish and fruit, guided by the Jaguars of Yuruparí
- Yanomami yãkoana snuff
Powder that feeds the xapiri, whom Kopenawa defines in one word: health.
- Piaroa yopo snuff
6 Orinoco Delta 1 tradition
- Warao tobacco shamanism
Tobacco smoke feeds the gods, and three kinds of shaman keep the balance between people and spirits.
- Warao tobacco shamanism
7 Northeast Brazil 2 traditions
- Jurema Sagrada
Through smoke and a consecrated trunk, the spirits of past healers return to help the living.
- Jurema Toré
Jurema, a sacred tree and its drink, opens the way to the encantados, who heal, counsel and protect.
- Jurema Sagrada
8 Gabon 2 traditions
- Fang Bwiti iboga
Iboga, ancestors and the Catholic Mass meet in one of Gabon's official religions.
- Mitsogho Bwiti iboga
Bwete's trunk: iboga carries the novice to the village of the dead.
- Fang Bwiti iboga
9 Southern Africa 2 traditions
- Basotho psilocybe
A dung-growing mushroom some healers add to dream brews and carry against lightning curses.
- Xhosa ubulawu
A diviner's training led by her dreams, opened by a head of white foam.
- Basotho psilocybe
10 Northern Kamchatka 1 tradition
- Koryak fly agaric
Greeted with a song, the mushroom spirit answers through family songs and dreams.
- Koryak fly agaric
11 Melanesia 2 traditions
- Fijian yaqona
The "water of the land," which binds people to their land, their chiefs and their ancestors.
- Vanuatu kava
Shared in the shell and given as a gift, kava binds families, rivals and ancestors.
- Fijian yaqona
Coverage is uneven: 19 of the 26 traditions are in the Americas, 4 in Africa, 2 in the Pacific and 1 in Asia. That reflects the current selection, not the world. About this site