Olvera has been teaching a choir in Santa Ana Tepetitlan, for boys aged six to 13 years old, five days a week for the last 23 years. The first time I hear the choir Ninos Cantores de Santa Ana, led by Professor Jose Garcia Olvera, is at the Jocotepec church. They have been asked to […]
Continue ReadingHigh in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains of Mexico, northwest of Guadalajara, the Huichol Indians live in small villages called ranchos scattered throughout this remote, rugged terrain. They integrate peyote use into their lives, culture, and religion today as they have done for at least a thousand years and most likely for thousands of years. […]
Continue ReadingThe Huichol way is the way of the Heart. Of utmost importance to the awakening and development of the heart is the sacred Peyote. Peyote looks like a cactus and grows wild in the desert. It has been used for medicinal purposes as well as for spiritual visions and experiences for thousands of years. Guadalupe […]
Continue ReadingIsolated high in the Sierra Madre mountains of northwestern Mexico, and protected from the outside world for centuries by the natural barrier the mountains afforded, the Huichols have preserved probably the most pure preColombian culture in our hemisphere. The Huichols call themselves “the healers.” For generations, they have performed ceremonial rituals they believe heal the […]
Continue ReadingSummer solstice 2003 would be memorable. A local paper mentioned a Huichol vigil to be held near the shoreline of Mexico’s Lake Chapala at a site called Isla de los Patos. The ceremony was to peak on June 21, the solstice. Under the leadership of shaman Pablo Taizan, supporters intended to contact ancestral gods through […]
Continue ReadingCaminos de Michoacan (an old ranchera song) by composer: Bulmaro Bermude is a musical tour of this Mexican state. Click for MP3 Cariñito donde te hallas Con quién te andarás paseando Presiento que no me engañas Por éso te ando buscando Vengo de tierras lejanas Nomás por tí preguntando. Me dieron razón que andabas Por las tierras […]
Continue ReadingPurepecha fiesta in Ajijic, Jalisco “Way back when”, in the mists of history, Lake Chapala was a frontier zone, a Mexican equivalent of the Wild West. Neighboring tribes of pre-Columbian Indian tribes fought over its shores, and its resources, with control swinging from one tribe to another over the centuries. To the west were the […]
Continue ReadingPlanning your Business or Pleasure Trip? Look at: MexConnect Fiesta & Holiday Calendar The Huichol Index – Culture, Symbols and Art – A complete section exploring this vanishing native people of Mexico. The Maya Index – Complete section – their history, cities and civilization. In English & Español. Exvotos – folk art and expressions of faith In Mexico Mexica/Aztec Calendar Systems – […]
Continue ReadingEvery so often, an event or circumstance occurs which changes the way we think of ourselves, or our place in the universe. Today was a day like that. Late yesterday, a guest of my neighbor learned of an Indigenous celebration to be held today, high in the mountains. If I wanted to join her, horses […]
Continue ReadingThe passenger side headlight of the big green van shattered just as the gout of blood hit the windshield. The two animals, together, weighed about a 130 pounds but Sam felt only a slight bump. He slammed on the breaks, swerved slightly to the right and came to rest in a cloud of dust on […]
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