Salvador Roquet, María Sabina, and the Trouble withJipis
Hispanic American Historical Review – February 01, 2015
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
An untold chapter in Latin American history reveals how indigenous wisdom shaped psychedelic medicine. Psychiatrist Salvador Roquet, collaborating with the iconic Indigenous healer María Sabina, developed a therapeutic method for psychedelics, including psilocybin mushrooms. Their unique cross-cultural exchange, an important insight for Anthropological Studies and Drug Studies, challenged the prevailing counterculture narrative. Unlike the "jipis," they viewed these substances as potent medicines requiring expert, respectful handling. This perspective offers a rich contribution to our understanding of psychedelic use, rooted deeply in Latin American culture and contrasting with popular sociology.
Abstract
Abstract While María Sabina has long been an iconic figure among drug enthusiasts and advocates for indigenous rights, her sometime collaborator Salvador Roquet remains largely unknown. This essay introduces the work of this iconoclastic psychiatrist and, in particular, his work with Sabina, highlighting their contributions to the world of psychedelic psychiatry and exploring the nature of their exchanges. Beyond examining the contours of the therapeutic method Roquet developed in part due to Sabina's teachings, the essay argues that their work together offers us a fascinating example of cross-cultural collaboration. Moreover, their mutual disdain for jipis introduces an alternative history of psychedelic drugs in Mexico — one in which the counterculture acted as a foil to those who believed that local, naturally occurring psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, datura, and ololiuqui were powerful medicines that needed to be respected, handled by experts, and used in carefully prescribed ways.