Ram?n Medina Silva, a Huichol Indian shaman priest or maraakame, instructed me in many of his cultures myths, rituals, and symbols, particularly those pertaining to the sacred untiy of deer, maize, and peyote. The significance of this constellation of symbols was revealed to me most vividly when I accompanied Ram?n on the Huichols annual ritual return to hunt the peyote in the sacred land of Wirikuta, in myth and probably in history the place from which the Ancient Ones (ancestors and deities of the present-day Indians) came before settling in their present home in the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental in north-central Mexico. My work with Ram?n preceded and followed our journey, but it was this peyote hunt that held the key to, and constituted the climax of, his teachings.—from the Preface
1. Ram?n and Lupe2. Ethnographic and Historical Background3. Huichol Religion4. The Peyote Hunt as an Event5. The Deer-Maize-Peyote Complex6. The Purpose and Meaning of the Peyote HuntBibliographyIndex
