Mazatec Salvia

Mazatec Salvia has been used by ancient Mexican cultures for timeless ages. When studies were performed to determine the role played by hallucinogens in the religious life of the Indians, researchers arrived at the highlands of the Mazateca sierra in the northern part of Oaxaca, Mexico in 1955. Yearly visits continued until 1962, and this is how they found they used other psychotropics when the sacred fungi was scarce. This was noted in Roger Heim's notes, but because he was too busy locating and identifying the other species he left salvia alone, considering it less effective or not as important as the main fungi used in the Mazatec rituals. He thought that because it was used by Mazatecs as a substitute, that it was not as strong. Some specimens were gathered though through those years, but most samples were probably not in very good conditions and a identification was not possible, until finally in 1962 the investigators got their hands on a herb in good health. It took a long time for Heim to befriend the Mazatecs and they were not very sure on letting him know of the existence of the plant. Finally the plant was identified, it was a new kind of salvia, Salvia divinorum Epling and Jativa were recorded in the botany books. Although Mazatec Indians use it regularly in their divine rituals, the west had no knowledge of the existence of the plant until that moment. Mexico has a very large family of plants with spirituous qualities, and salvia became it's newest members, this time a member of the species labiatae was added.

Mazatecs consider it quite a common plant, in Huautla de Jimenez, that has an altitude of 1800 meters they are able to grow healthy, some specimens in the city of Mexico also survive quite well.

These plants do not blossom regularly and seeds are hard to come by, Mazatec Indians were reluctant to talk about the seeds or they truly had never seen a seed of the plant, as it reproduces in a vegetative way; some leafs or stems fall on the ground and grow. This is very hard for the plant to accomplish, as it requires very black soil, for the plant to blossom it must be firm ground. Most Indian families have a private garden with Mazatec salvia, but it's not kept near the roads or near the houses where people could see them, rumor is they have a secret place where the Mazatec salvia is grown, but that the population refuses to show outsiders where that place is.