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R. Gordon Wasson
Robert Gordon Wasson (September 22, 1898 – December 23, 1986) was an American author, ethnomycologist, and Vice President for Public Relations at J.P. Morgan & Co. In the course of work funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Wasson made contributions to the fields of ethnobotany, botany, and anthropology. Career Banking industry Wasson began his banking career at Guaranty Trust Company in 1928, and moved to J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1934. That same year, he published a book on the Hall Carbine Affair, in which he attempted to exonerate John Pierpont Morgan from guilt with respect to the incident, which had been viewed as an example of wartime profiteering. As early as 1937, Wasson had been attempting to influence historians Allan Nevins and Charles McLean Andrews regarding Morgan's role in the affair; he used Nevins' report as a reference for his own book on the topic. The matter of Morgan's responsibility for the Hall Carbine Incident remains controversial. On J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County. The Great Falls MSA’s population stood at 84,414 in the 2020 census. A cultural, commercial and financial center in the central part of the state, Great Falls is located just east of the Rocky Mountains and is bisected by the Missouri River. It is from the east entrance to Glacier National Park in northern Montana, and from Yellowstone National Park in southern Montana and northern Wyoming. A north–south federal highway, Interstate 15, serves the city. Great Falls is named for a series of five waterfalls located on the Missouri River north and east of the city. The Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1805–1806 was forced to portage around a stretch of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Carbine Affair
During the American Civil War, John Pierpont Morgan financed the purchase of 5,000 surplus rifles at $3.50 each, which were then sold back to the government for $22 each. The incident became renowned as a scandalous example of wartime profiteering. Interest in the incident was revived in 1910 as an indictment of Morgan. /sup> The Affair The weapons, known as " Hall's Carbines", were purchased by arms dealer Arthur M. Eastman in a deal negotiated with James Wolfe Ripley, Brigadier General and head of the US Ordinance Bureau, in June 1861. Subsequently, Eastman agreed to sell the weapons to Simon Stevens for $12.50 each, if Stevens would provide financing in the amount of $20,000 to allow Eastman to complete the purchase from the government. Stevens quickly negotiated a sale to field general John C. Frémont for $22, promising to bore out the rifles to fifty-eight caliber. With the deal completed, Stevens obtained a loan of $20,000 from Morgan. The weapons were delivered to Eastm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curandera
A ''curandero'' (, healer; f. , also spelled , , f. ) is a traditional native healer or shaman found primarily in Latin America and also in the United States. A curandero is a specialist in traditional medicine whose practice can either contrast with or supplement that of a practitioner of Western medicine. A curandero is claimed to administer shamanistic and spiritistic remedies for mental, emotional, physical and "spiritual" illnesses. Some curanderos, such as Don Pedrito, the Healer of Los Olmos, make use of simple herbs, waters, or mud to allegedly affect their cures. Others add Catholic elements, such as holy water and pictures of saints; San Martin de Porres for example is heavily employed within Peruvian curanderismo. The use of Catholic prayers and other borrowings and lendings is often found alongside native religious elements. Still others, such as Maria Sabina, employ hallucinogenic media. Many curanderos emphasize their native spirituality in healing while being p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velada (Mazatec Ritual)
Velada is the name of the healing vigils carried out by Mazatec people, Mazatec ''curanderos'' (such as MarÃa Sabina). The rituals involved the use of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) or ''Salvia divinorum'' to commune with God and experience enlightenment. History In May 1957, the banker and ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson published an article in the ''Life (magazine), Life'', ''Seeking the Magic Mushroom'', describing his first experience consuming the mushroom and following the Velada of a shaman back in 1955. He claimed to be among the two first modern Western men to follow a traditional Velada ritual on psilocybin. His tale inspired a generation of «mycotourists» seeking to experience the authentic Mazatec Veladas.Paja FaudreeSinging for the Dead: The Politics of Indigenous Revival in Mexico ''Duke University Press'', 29 May 2013Wesley ThoricathaHistory of Psychedelics: How the Mazatec Tribe Brought Entheogens to the World ''Psychedelictims.com'', 28 October 2015 Wasson's curan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mazatec People
The Mazatec are an indigenous people of Mexico who inhabit the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca and some communities in the adjacent states of Puebla and Veracruz. Language family The Mazatecan languages are part of the Popolocan family which, in turn, is part of the Otomanguean language family. Post-colonial period The Mazatecs' religion represents a syncretism of traditional beliefs with Christian beliefs brought by the Spanish conquistadors. Traditional religious rituals Mazatec tradition includes the cultivation of entheogens for spiritual and ritualistic use. Plants and fungi used for this purpose include psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive morning glory seeds (from species such as ''Ipomoea tricolor'' and '' Ipomoea corymbosa''), and perhaps most significant to the Mazatecs, '' Salvia divinorum''. This latter plant is known to Mazatec shamans as ''ska MarÃa Pastora'', the name containing a reference to the Virgin Mary.Valdés ''et al.'' (1983) Notable Mazatecs *Marà ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
