Module 1: The 4 Sacred Elements & History of Mushrooms in the Mazatecan Culture
In this module, you’ll discover the Mazatecan way in which elements interact in our daily lives as powerful forces of healing and guidance.
We’ll explore the history and the lineage of the mushroom altar, the connection as a holistic system of healing with the 4 elements, and the 4 sacred Mazatecan altar medicines. You’ll learn to discern your most dominant element — and what are the types of work, rituals, and offerings that you could do in order to find balance, harmony, and beauty in the dance of each individual element.
In this session, you’ll discover:
- The reason why the 4 sacred medicine elements help you perceive your most dominant emotions.
- How the 4 elements are related to each other and the spirit of the mushrooms.
- The way to call upon each element and why it’s crucial to ask permission to work with them.
- How to create a space – through meditation – to feel and listen to the elements.
- The historical Mazatecan relationship with mushrooms, and how to apply the beauty of this magical medicine to your own lineage.
Full Class, Dubbed English
Full Class, Spanish with English Subtitles
Excerpt: Opening Ritual With The 4 Sacred Elements
Transcript
Doña Eugenia Pineda Casimiro
Doña Eugenia Pineda Casimiro is a Mazateca healer from Huautla de Jiménez, Mexico, a little town in the region of Oaxaca brought to fame by María Sabina and her work with Los Niños Santos, or “the holy children.” Trained in her ancestral lineage by her mother, Abuela Julieta Pineda Casimiro of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, Eugenia worked by her side since childhood, and accompanied her through all of her world travels. Eugenia inherited this altar to carry on the family legacy upon her mother’s passing in 2018.
Eugenia is mother to three beautiful children and resides in her familial home in Huautla. Along with her sisters, the family carries on its traditions of doing exquisite embroidery, harvesting beeswax for candle-making, and cultivating coffee and cacao.
Helping other people and following the path of light and God are the deepest expressions of Eugenia’s heart.
