Mazatec

The Mazatec are an indigenous people who inhabit an area of the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, close to the border with Puebla and Veracruz. They are related to the Mixtec and the Otomi.

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Their name comes from the relative closeness to the town of Mazatl?n, Oaxaca, and the early Spanish explorers' naming them accordingly. "Mazatl?n" itself is a Nahuatl name, meaning "place of deer".

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They are a "humble" people, and often refer to themselves as such.

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Mazatecs are most known for their cultivation, and spiritual/traditional use, of the sage salvia divinorum (diviners' sage) and "magic mushrooms".

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The Mazatecs' religion is a synthesis of both traditional beliefs and Christian beliefs brought by the Spanish conquistadors. This accounts for their naming of such entheogens as salvia divinorum Ska Mar?a Pastora, "Mar?a" being a reference to the Christian Virgin Mary.

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The Mazatecs still employ traditional shamans for their spiritual needs. See Mazatec shamans

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Oaxaca: :Oaxaca is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the state. For the city, see: Oaxaca, Oaxaca. Oaxaca is also a type of cheese....

Mexico: The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or M?xico; regarding the use of the variant spelling M?jico, see section The name below) is a country located in North America, bordered by the United States to the north, and Belize and Guatemala to the southeast. It is the nort...

Puebla: :Puebla is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the state. For the city, see: Puebla, Puebla....