In Wirikúta, according to Huichol mythology, divisions dissolve between
sexes and ages, leaders and led, men and animals, plants and animals, men
and demigods...three complexes of symbols, deer, maize, and peyote, become
functionally interdependent, and, for the Huichols, even seem to fuse, at
Wirikúta. The deer designates the Huichols’ past as nomadic hunters, the
maize their present as sedentary cultivators, and the peyote the
incommunicable ‘idioverse’ of each individual.
(Turner 1974:9)The pilgrims’ sojourn in Wirikúta is exceedingly brief. Having joyously ‘come home’
as divinities and having collected sufficient peyote for their community’s annual
needs, the hikuritámete are ready to return to their previous mortal, structural
condition. For while the experience of Wirikúta is the compass of Huichol spiritual
life, it is also replete with the spiritual dangers associated with the mysterium
tremendum:
The special task of the Huichol mara’akame is to guide his people out of
Wirikúta quickly and firmly, disregarding their desire to linger. His
guardianship in escorting them back to reality, in persuading them to
relinquish the longing for Paradise, is as important as leading them there in
the first place.
(Myerhoff 1974:248)Yajé and Barasana communityThe Barasana are one of several small Tukanoan subgroups who live in a section of
the Vaupés^5 drained by the Pirá-paraná river (Hugh-Jones 1979). Their economy is
based on subsistence agriculture supplemented by gathering, hunting and fishing
(ibid.). Barasana live in large communal malocas or longhouses situated near
running water and spaced in such a way that it often takes an hour or more to travel
between them. The larger of these houses also function as ceremonial centres or
basaria wi (dance-houses) (ibid.; Reichel-Dolmatoff 1975). The Barasana hold
many communal ceremonies and dances. Barasana ethnographer Stephen Hugh-
Jones reports that the relatively prestigious house in which he worked for 20 months
held 12 communal rituals during that time, including seven ‘Fruit House’ rituals (in
which fruit is ceremonially brought into the house to the accompaniment of the
sound of He instruments), one ‘He House’ ritual (the major initiatory rite), three
social dances, and one ritual exchange of food (Hugh-Jones 1979). The Barasana
frequently make use of the vision-inducing potion yajé in their ceremonies.^6 The
entheogenic properties of yajé are the result of a unique and sophisticated
pharmacological synergy (Ott 1996). The basic ingredient is nearly always the stems
of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi. Depending on the region, leaves of other plants,
especially oco-yagé (Diplopterys cabrerana) and chacruna (Psychotria viridis), are added
to intensify the enchanting properties of the drink (Schultes and Raffauf 1992).
ENTHEOGENIC DANCE ECSTASIS 127