Our partnership is forged in a decades-long history, which arose from Jez undertaking training in Mexico at a sacred site called the Wirikuta in the early 2000s. It has since grown through many interactions and shared sacred experiences, and allows us to continue our work together with the Wixárika in Mexico.
The Wixárika are a rare tribe in Meso America, in that they managed to resist both the Aztec and Spanish empires and keep their culture and traditions alive. For the Wixárika (also known as Huichol) nation, the Wirikuta is where the sun rose for the first time and the world was created. It is their most sacred site. Every year, the Wixárika re-enact the journey of the first humans, from the birth place of the sun, over 500km from their homelands high up in the Sierra Madre.
On this journey, they visit many sacred sites along the way, giving offerings and cleansing themselves, so that when they enter the desert, they are able to meet the spirit of the Wirikuta free of the distractions and burdens of every day life. And free form the poisons that create sickness. When there, they then ‘hunt the deer’, which is to say they gather Hikuri (Peyote), their sacrament and present final offerings to the sacred mountain.
The Kuayumari, the blue deer, is the messenger spirit between the Wixárika and their gods. The deer is viewed as the purest energy in the universe, and therefore is the one who can assist humans in living in good relationship with all of life, reminding them of their sacred duty to keep the world in balance. This is why we choose to use the deer as our symbol.
The Wixárika have always had a policy of ultra safe guarding their traditions. However, like many indigenous people, especially those removed from the modern world, they started getting messages that humanity was in grave danger. Tatewari – the fire – was informing them that the Earth was sick, and unless humanity changed its course and started showing respect to Her and living in proper balance, She would have to teach us a lesson. This could threaten our survival as a species.
At the same time, the Mexican government granted mining concessions to a Canadian corporation for their sacred (and supposedly protected) mountain in the Wirikuta. The combination of these events pushed several Wixárika to attempt to educate those responsible (us in the West) for the collapse in relations between the human and non-human world, and are now sharing their teachings and culture. We are fortunate to be able to welcome these teachings. Watch the film below to discover more about the experience of the Wixárika.
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