Maria Sabina, 97; ‘Hallucinogenic Mushroom Queen’
OAXACA, Mexico — Maria Sabina, a Mazatec Indian shaman who gained worldwide fame as the “queen of hallucinogenic mushrooms,” died at a hospital here Nov. 22. She was 97.
In 1955, Sabina’s knowledge of hallucinogenic mushrooms was publicized by New York banker Robert Gordon Wason, and thousands of people from around the world traveled over dirt roads to the mountainous region known as Huautla--where Sabina had spent most of her life--to participate in ceremonies centered on the “children of God,” as Sabina called the sacred psilocybin mushrooms.
Among them were John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan.
Juan Garcia Carrero, who accompanied the twice-married Sabina for decades translating into Spanish the Mazatec tongue she spoke, said she will be buried at the foot of Mt. Huautla.
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