The Shaman’s Mirror

Visionary Art of the Huichol

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, General Art, Art History, American, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book The Shaman’s Mirror by Hope MacLean, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Hope MacLean ISBN: 9780292742505
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: August 24, 2012
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Hope MacLean
ISBN: 9780292742505
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: August 24, 2012
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

Huichol Indian yarn paintings are one of the world's great indigenous arts, sold around the world and advertised as authentic records of dreams and visions of the shamans. Using glowing colored yarns, the Huichol Indians of Mexico paint the mystical symbols of their culture—the hallucinogenic peyote cactus, the blue deer-spirit who appears to the shamans as they croon their songs around the fire in all-night ceremonies deep in the Sierra Madre mountains, and the pilgrimages to sacred sites, high in the central Mexican desert of Wirikuta.

Hope MacLean provides the first comprehensive study of Huichol yarn paintings, from their origins as sacred offerings to their transformation into commercial art. Drawing on twenty years of ethnographic fieldwork, she interviews Huichol artists who have innovated important themes and styles. She compares the artists' views with those of art dealers and government officials to show how yarn painters respond to market influences while still keeping their religious beliefs.

Most innovative is her exploration of what it means to say a tourist art is based on dreams and visions of the shamans. She explains what visionary experience means in Huichol culture and discusses the influence of the hallucinogenic peyote cactus on the Huichol's remarkable use of color. She uncovers a deep structure of visionary experience, rooted in Huichol concepts of soul-energy, and shows how this remarkable conception may be linked to visionary experiences as described by other Uto-Aztecan and Meso-American cultures.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Huichol Indian yarn paintings are one of the world's great indigenous arts, sold around the world and advertised as authentic records of dreams and visions of the shamans. Using glowing colored yarns, the Huichol Indians of Mexico paint the mystical symbols of their culture—the hallucinogenic peyote cactus, the blue deer-spirit who appears to the shamans as they croon their songs around the fire in all-night ceremonies deep in the Sierra Madre mountains, and the pilgrimages to sacred sites, high in the central Mexican desert of Wirikuta.

Hope MacLean provides the first comprehensive study of Huichol yarn paintings, from their origins as sacred offerings to their transformation into commercial art. Drawing on twenty years of ethnographic fieldwork, she interviews Huichol artists who have innovated important themes and styles. She compares the artists' views with those of art dealers and government officials to show how yarn painters respond to market influences while still keeping their religious beliefs.

Most innovative is her exploration of what it means to say a tourist art is based on dreams and visions of the shamans. She explains what visionary experience means in Huichol culture and discusses the influence of the hallucinogenic peyote cactus on the Huichol's remarkable use of color. She uncovers a deep structure of visionary experience, rooted in Huichol concepts of soul-energy, and shows how this remarkable conception may be linked to visionary experiences as described by other Uto-Aztecan and Meso-American cultures.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Forgetting the Alamo, Or, Blood Memory by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Haunted Greece and Rome by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Reinventing Texas Government by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Conquistadores de la Calle by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Weird City by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book "With His Pistol in His Hand" by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book No More Silence by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Vol. 1 by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book The Last Cannibals by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Popular Cinema of the Third Reich by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book The Community Forests of Mexico by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Pioneer Printer by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book Uncivil Wars by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book U.S. Foreign Policy and Peru by Hope MacLean
Cover of the book What Every Teen Should Know about Texas Law by Hope MacLean
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy