Current use of holy mushrooms of the genus Psilocybe in a Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico.
IMA fungus January 1, 2025 Mara Ximena Haro-Luna, Felipe Ruan-Soto, Virginia Ramírez-Cruz et al. 2 citations
The use of Psilocybe zapotecorum, called Hongo Borracho, Hongo Santo, or in Zapotec Ni'to be'ya, for healing and divination continues in the Zapotec community of El Peral, San Antonino El Alto in Oaxaca, but its use is decreasing and the mushrooms are more difficult to find, likely due to changing climatic patterns. Some community members still sell these mushrooms. For the Zapotecs of El Peral, the mushrooms can do whatever is asked of them according to a ritual, and they are aware that outsiders use them recreationally, though they do not oppose it. This is the first formal record of Psilocybe mushroom use among Zapotecs of the Valles Centrales Region.