#all about peyote

[psilosirens]

the universe does Not want me to find a therapist its almost like she wants me to **** ******

[anotherpapercut]

society if Richard Nixon hadn't've decided to halt all research into the psychiatric effects of LSD and MDMA as part of his war on drugs in an attempt to impede the anti war and black liberation movements

[dude1818]

Unsong

I read Unsong this week and it was incredible. The writing and humor has a strong Terry Pratchett feel, and actually the story itself is adjacent to a sci-fi Good Omens. Almost every chapter had a scene that was uproariously hilarious, and really, the whole book was mainly a vector for delivering an endless stream of incredible puns

The basic premise is that the world started to end in the 60s, when the Apollo program crashed into Heaven and cracked the firmament, allowing the divine light to get back into the world. This caused physics to start to break down and reintroduced angels and demons and magic. Jump forward to 2017, and there's a booming "applied Kabbalah" industry around computationally deriving the Hidden Names of God in lieu of other technological advancement. The A plot follows Aaron, a down-on-his-luck kabbalist who works in one of these Names factories and discovers a Name that would revolutionize discovering more Names. This kicks off a chase to gain control of it across what's left of the US

The B plot bounces around, but centers on the was between good and evil. Angels returning to the world also means the resumption of the war against the fallen angels, and also Hell is real again. The messiah was born in the 70s and led the war against the devil, but most of this half of the story is actually about his daughter training under the archangel Uriel in the 90s to keep the world running. Of course Aaron's discovering of a powerful new Name eventually grabs the attention of these powerful forces

Of course the actual minute-to-minute of the book is totally absurd. The first antagonist is the titular UNSONG, the United Nations patent office for Names of God. At one point they attract the Drug Lord and we learn about the War on Drugs: a sentient peyote cactus man took over Mexico with a drug-induced hivemind and tried to invade the US. Neil Armstrong ascended bodily to heaven, and then returned to "grant salvation to" (take over) LA. The higher level angel fights do word association with the concepts describing reality. It's all bonkers, and it all works so well

I'm leaving out so much, but I can't recommend this enough. And the overall question that keeps coming up throughout the book is the age-old question "why does God allow evil to exist anyway," and this is the first time I've seen an answer that actually makes sense. I don't think you could have gotten there from any other angle

[bizarrebazaar13]

FL-inspired book recs!

brought to you by hotel wi-fi

Locations

The Royal Bethlehem: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson. these are short stories, not novels, but they are fairly quick reads and are about locations where reality becomes twisted. the yellow wallpaper deals with mental illness and medical neglect, while the room in the tower is more about the overlap between dreams and the real world.

Port Carnelian: Mycroft Holmes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. ok, hear me out on this one. if you’ve ever thought port carnelian would be great if it actually dealt with British colonialism and racism in a meaningful way and also had a murder mystery, you might like this book. a much younger Mycroft Holmes goes with his friend Cyrus Douglas to Douglas’s home in Trinidad to investigate a series of mysterious deaths.

Ladybones Road: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. Nathaniel Steepleton finds a gold pocket watch in his bedroom one day, but he cannot open it or even hear it ticking. six months later, it opens on its own, and an alarm goes off at the precise time that a bomb explodes in Scotland Yard. he then goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, who claims the watch was stolen from his shop. Mori has a gift for elaborate clockwork, and though he seems kind and relatively harmless, Nathaniel is sure he is hiding something.

Ambitions/Major Storylines

Early Light Fingers: The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche, but it can still be understood and enjoyed even if you don’t share my Sherlock Holmes autism. I specified early light fingers, because the mystery of what exactly the house of silk is, and the theme of corruption in highest levels of society, reminds me a lot of exploring and learning about the orphanage. just a heads up, this book is centered around a murdered child, and deals with the systemic abuse and neglect of children in victorian london. its biggest content warning is also its biggest spoiler, so I won’t give it here, but feel free to ask me. I had it spoiled for me on accident and still liked the book a lot.

Late-game Nemesis: “The Moonlit Road” by Ambrose Pierce. another short story, it recounts in three parts the murder of Julia Hetman, as told by her son, her husband, and Julia herself. it specifically reminds me of the dreams of the dead section of nemesis.

Evolution: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant. Tory Stewart becomes obsessed with mermaids after her sister Anne’s disappearance. Anne was filming a mockumentary about mermaids in the Mariana Trench, but the ship she was on disappeared, and was recovered weeks later with no trace of the crew. footage was found that appeared to show the crew being murdered by mermaids, but it’s largely believed to be for the movie, not real. seven years later, Theodore Blackwell recruits Tory as part of his mission to return to the Mariana Trench and capture a live mermaid. it hits sort of the same spot for undersea survival horror that the diving bell section of evolution did for me.

Exceptional Stories

The Bloody Wallpaper: Sign Here by Claudia Lux. hell is an office. literally. Peyote Trip sold his soul while he was alive, and now works in hell, convincing other people to do the same. he’s one deal away from a big promotion, and all he needs is the soul of one last member of the Harrison family. normal laws of space and time don’t apply, the real hellscape is capitalism, and secrets don’t stay hidden forever… sound familiar? in terms of violence and body horror, I don’t think it gets much worse than the text of the bloody wallpaper. one of the main characters does have a pretty brutal backstory involving christianity-related child abuse though.

Totentanz: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. set in late 1920s Mexico, the story follows Casiopea Tun and the Mayan death god Hun-Kamé on a journey across Mexico and eventually into the underworld. Casiopea finds Hun-Kamé’s bones in a chest in her grandfather’s house, and when she cuts her finger on one of the bone shards, Hun-Kamé becomes bound to her. together, they must find the rest of his body, which has been scattered around Mexico by Hun-Kamé’s brother Vucub-Kamé, who took over control of Xibalba from him. Hun-Kamé intends to retake Xibalba, but he and Casiopea must face sorcerers, demons, and twisted family dynamics- and that’s before they even get to the underworld.

[polturn]

What do leery mimics do when they possess you? Just goof off and make mischief because coyotes are tricksters? Or do they like kill you? And can it happen to like dogs or wolves? What happens if a coywolf gets struck? Also are there mime clown apes? K byeeeeee

Thanks for the questions!

They dont kill the people they possess. There really is no other intention behind it other than their own entertainment, curiosity, and yes mischief.

The Leerys mischievousness is a nod to the trickster coyote. I dont see it as something happening with another type of canid anyway, because I like that it being a coyote grounds the creature in the desert of north america. Theres an inspiration throughline of "altered states" in all the mimic designs and the Leerys possession of people is supposed to also be able to be read as a peyote trip.

The mimics series is mainly a character design exercise for me. (atm they dont have plot beyond their backstories)

The inspiration throughlines in all the mimic creature designs are: altered states of consciousness, folklore, human interactions with wild animals/nature (specifically fumbled or negative interactions), and mimes/clowns/harlequins (kinda random but whatever).

The mime part is kinda baked into the "mimic" concept, buuuuut I have wanted to design a species based off of the term "mimetolith".

Mimetoliths are an example of pareidolia, which is a type of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things). Apophenia can be taken to the extreme where it could be listed as a symptom of schizophrenia. To me this fits into my altered states of conciousness inspiration. I also have ideas about rock stacking I wanted to work in...

ooooo u got me thinkin... might work on a new creature design tonight to add to the mimics

[lover-of-mine]

Lady Whistledown... Anna, my love. I'm sorry this is all so funny. If you don't post no worries. We aren't even going into Narnia. It's more Upside Down world or we are sitting by the fire after peyote. So let me bring you to the inverse.

So...... Lou said in the very beginning he's "great friends" with Ryan. Ryan follows Lou. Lou thought Ryan would be his LI. He was told to late it's Oliver. He only wanted the soft kiss in his own words. "I told Tim no one wants to see people make out". You can fact check that quote because I paraphrased.He was forced to do the big hospital kiss because that was Tim's short way of outing Buck. They have not touched since, and Ryan is involved because that's Lous boundary.

I mean. . Do I need to say more or like you get it right??? Picturing Ryan as Lous emotional support human I think makes me laugh the most. Also they are trying to organize to get Lou/Tommy to trend as much as possible this week. Even though they do know if it's actually trending for a minute like last week it's usually because Buddies are trashing it.

Also Oliver hate at an all time high thanks to Lou acknowledging them again and liking the post criticizing Oliver. So good times. Good times.

Protect you inbox. They might be talking a big game on main about "they added pictures to Bucks fridge so he can fondly remove them when he moves in with Tommy". Or the shots "of the loft are weird because they are already dismantling it". But the panic is real. I have no idea what's happening next week and won't predict. But they also know it's potentially their last week being able to ship it. After that it will become a hate watch. A buddie hate fan club if you will.

quote for reference

Hello my love, this was a wild ride oaksoaksokasokas Ryan is Lou's emotional support human I'm SCREAMING. Like, if, and that's a huge if, either of them established that boundary, that means the relationship is dead. How do you make a tv relationship is one of them doesn't want to be alone in a scene with the other???? They do realize that angle is bad for them, right? The show is not gonna keep a secondary character that doesn't want to interact with the main character they are attached to. And of course they hate Oliver, what else is new. This is....... The idea of a dramatic shot of Buck removing pictures from his fridge to move in with Tommy is sending me. He slept on the couch, why are they still clinging to the moving-in idea??? You're right, Narnia isn't enough, holy shit.

[kaccvcate]

Okay one last comic about this guy. No offense to any white hippies reading this but some of y'all are the most annoying motherfuckers on earth

Edit: I had no idea that the term "sweat lodge" refers to more than one tradition! Probably shoulda guessed, lol. We were all talking about the southwestern version where everyone takes peyote, and traditionally you're required to dose to participate (I've never done this, only heard it described by my grandfather and read about it in books.) Regardless of how you do it, I don't think outsiders should approach a sacred ritual from another culture and try to throw out traditions and reduce it to some type of spa day.

[slyandthefamilybook]

Noah's Spring Jewish Book Review

this isn't gonna become a regular thing, don't worry. I just need to gush some about these books. I'm gonna keep the reviews short too because who's got that kind of time!

So far I've read 4 Jewish novels this spring and I'm working on a fifth. We'll go in chronological order

1. Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

~ Two estranged siblings, Isaac and Bellatine Yaga—the grandchildren of the famous Baba Yaga—inherit their ancestor's chicken-footed house. They travel the country putting on puppet shows and exploring their own mysterious abilities, all the while trying to escape from a threatening figure known only as the Longshadow Man, as well as their own pasts. History relives itself in a book filled with magic and mystery ~

This book was so damn good. Every other sentence is tattoo-worthy and hits you like a sack of bricks. The characters feel so real and raw while also managing to fill out their respective roles with a sense of poetry. The book has a supporting cast of memorable characters and a sense of real danger throughout. Every so often the house will interject in a way that reminds me so much of my bubbe (עליה השלום). I've read reviews that said it dragged on a bit in the second act but I was enraptured the entire way through. It's also pretty gay, which I always appreciate. 10/10

2. When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

~ An angle and a demon—best friends for 200 years—set out from their tiny Pale shtetl to America in search of a girl who hasn't been heard from. They're accompanied by Rosie, a spunky and fire-spirited girl from their shtetl desperate to get away and have an adventure in the far-off West ~

No book has made me feel quite so seen as this one. As someone who grew up Orthodox there's virtually no representation for people like me. The majority of Orthodox characters in media are trying to get away. None of them love it quite so much as I do, as much as the characters in this book do. From Little Ash tucking his peyot behind his ears like my older brothers used to to the angel waking up to daven shacharit. Sacha Lamb takes the brave stance of "what if Jewish theology is real, actually" and it shines on every page. The writing effortlessly intertwines spirituality and reverence with a classic Yiddish folktale. It's also pretty gay. 10/10

3. From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos

Hannah, the descendant of the famed Rabbi Yehuda Loew, wakes up one morning to find herself transformed, her eyes turning to yellow slits. Her mother seems to blame herself without explaining why, and soon after disappears. After receiving a mysterious letter, Hannah and her adopted brother Gabe travel to upstate New York to meet their mother's family, to learn the secrets of her past, and of their own lineage ~

I'll start off by saying I'm not sure if I was the target audience for this book. It was good, don't get me wrong, but the writing wasn't to my taste. It was a little... blatant, where I prefer prose to be a bit more subtle. Again, nothing wrong with it, just not my particular thing. I definitely relate to Hannah and Gabe a lot, each in their own way. A lot of the book felt very comforting and familiar to me. The book is equal parts supernatural action and intriguing mystery, and keeps you engrossed til the end. It's also Extremely Gay 7/10

4. The Way Out by Gavriel Savit

~ Yehuda Leib and Bluma set out from their tiny Pale shtetl, each on a mission of the utmost importance. Yehuda Leib is looking for his lost father, and Bluma is running from Death. Navigating the Far Country full of demons, goblins, and angels, the pair fight their way through history and mystery alike, and prepare to make war on Death himself ~

This book. Oh boy this book. Where do I start? This book made me cry several times, which hasn't happened in over 15 years. This book said everything about death I've been feeling since my bubbe passed away (עליה השלום). This book genuinely made me re-think how I view G-d? All that and more in less than 400 pages. This book harmonized with my soul. This book changed who I am as a person. This book made me crumble to dust and then built me back up from scratch. 10/10

[fumifooms]

And now I’m truly going off the rails bc of last asker but I have thought about what plant fits who and it’s my time to shine…

Mithrun is a succulent because they look like flowers but aren’t (tougher and also kind of duller), are elegant yet minimalist, and they’re low maintenance (you could definitely argue that Mithrun is high maintenance instead but I went the opposite route of him never feeling like he needs much water, attention and whatnot). I prefer the classic one that’s a pale greyish green for him but there are so many that are neat…

Kabru as a big floating bladderwort… A carnivorous aquatic plant that traps little aquatic critters. If you just look at the flower it looks so pretty and harmless, distracts from the roots scheming murder… Also it’s an aquatic plant, gives me the vibe of something surviving/thriving in an environment that shouldn’t be theirs but they’ve adapted, like a tallman in elf society…..

I also associate him a ton with himalayan blue poppies, for obvious reasons. Insane that the shade of blue of his eyes is associated with the throat chakra btw, Kui’s always doing 8d chess my god.

For Izutsumi, Faassen's Catmint. It's a species of catnip but a man-made hybrid and not a natural species. It kind of looks like a long puffy cat tail with the shape, and it has a lot of little flowers… Kind of subtle/bland and unassuming at first look, but colorful and sweet if you take the time to look. Feels sort of vulnerable/or even cold at first but like they’re just looking out for themselves even if they are not someone unemotional….. It makes sense to me. Babygirl. Purple is an unexpected choice for her but it feels right

Chilchuck echinopsis calochlora or golden barrel cactus… The first one is smaller, but I was trying to find the perfect lil cactus guy with orange spines and couldn’t really find any that was just perfect. Chilchuck "I am so approachable" Tims, literally round and spiny with his little hairs but also metaphorically fitting… Also the gooden barrel cactus has a bunch of lil yellow flowers that sprout on its top while the calochlora has HUGE stalks with a big white flower that sprouts so like, if you want to take that to be his big heart once he reveals it or the little flowers of his care……

Falin is the funky living rocks plant. They have cryptid energy and are just so weird and colorful and unique. A little unfeeling. Sad that she doesn’t get a plant that’s fun to eat but come on.

I feel like Laios would also be a cactus, with maybe juice that has funky properties kind of like peyote… He’s reserved and [spoilers], but he either has no spines or small/few spines so he doesn’t look all that uninviting or tough… Probably has very pretty colorful flowers! Or he’s like Falin and loves dandelions and bishop’s lace because he can eat it. Or maybe he’d be a vegetable. Sweet potato… Someone said carnivorous plant to which I suggest pitcher plant or sarracenia.

I see Senshi as basil. Enough said. Something that can be turned into spices and is all greenery that’s all I need

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. I had these thoughts months ago while sick and feverish </3 Possessed by the want to draw the cast as little plants…….. That would be nice……

[tlatollotl]

was there criminalization of indiginous people's spiritual drugs in the early days of colonization

I've never really researched drug use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, mostly because there is a lot of misinformation out there with New Agers pushing a lot of bad ideas. Also, the topic hasn't really interested me. People like to reduce a multitude of cultural aspects to drug use which I feel is too reductive. For example, Peter Furst tried to argue basically everything with the shaft tomb tradition in West Mexico was about shamans and shamanism because modern Wixárika use peyote for some of their practices. The only things I know that pre-Columbian Mesoamericans consumed for sure were corn beer, pulque, and balche. And I don't know how those were restricted or not by the Spanish if at all. What I do know is that the Spanish banned the cultivation and use of amaranth due to its religious significance amongst the Mexica. Which seems weird because most of the use I have come across was making amaranth dough to make little dough people as offerings.

[dc-polls]

"That Really Happened?!" DC Comics Tournament Entry #24

Animal Man discovers the Fourth Wall

[ID: Comic panel close up of Buddy Baker who turns towards the audience, eyes wide in shock and says, "I can see you!" /END ID]

What Happened?

After the tragic death of his family, Buddy Baker (aka Animal Man) takes peyote with a friend and has hallucinations where he finds out that his life has been repeatedly retconned into what it is today. He encounters a previously retconned version of himself who was rendered sterile after exposure to the radiation that gave him superpowers and thus couldn't have the kids that Buddy just lost. Buddy wants to know who has been causing the retcons and is told to look behind him. From a single comic panel, Buddy looks out in fear as he sees past the Fourth Wall, looking directly at the comic book reading audience.

What's pretty wild about this all is that a) his knowledge of the Fourth Wall continues far beyond this story and b) they never use it for jokey, joke Deadpool-style humor of addressing the audience. It's fully addressed as a cosmic horror story to be viewed by millions of readers and having zero control over your own life or privacy from watching eyes. He has a full-on existential crisis over this and everything. And yet he still has to go to other series like Justice League Europe and pretend that everything is still as it was.

--

Tournament polls will be posted after all entries are up. As always you can find all posts related to the tournament using #dc-polls-trh

[pansyfemme]

how did you get into making kandi? it looks cool & i want to try but idk where to start

honestly my best advice is to just jump into it. the supplies i find best for beginners and bascially what i use is:

-standard size pony beads (beadtin.com has the best prices if you’re making a large order or need a lot of a specific color but they’re easy enough to find as it is, dollar tree has some, not of great quality, but its how i started out.)

-cloth covered elastic stretch cord, i use 1mm. as tempting as it is, avoid ‘stretch magic’ or other clear stretch cords or uncovered elastic, the first dry rots over time and the second snaps easily. i know its annoying that it’s not clear but your peices will benefit from it. alternatively, if you are making a mask or bikini or a strap for a bag or something else that does not need to stretch, use fishing line, it’s very strong and stiff so it will make your rows look way neater and not get stretched out with wear. (again, only do this with peices that do not need to be stretched, if you use fishing line on a cuff you will regret it)

-yarn needle (plastic or metal, i use a metal one. make sure its small enough to fit through beads but large enough to be able to fit your cord.) you dont technically have to use one but it is a lot easier when you’re doing stitches

- scissors + a lighter for burning ends if needed

and then it’s youtube tutorials.. theres just about everything you need on there but i reccomend learning the peyote (odd and even variations), x-base and multistitch stitches. more complex tutorials expect you to know how to do those stitches so they’re a good place to start.

while all of these stitches are very versitile, x-base is most commonly used as the base for 3d cuffs. peyote is often used for making flat panels seen in purses and bikinis, and multistitch is often used to make cuffs. kandipatterns.com has a ton of free to use patterns for peyote and multistitch, though it took me forever to learn how to read a pattern effectively. there are more stitches ofc but those are the ones you see most. good luck and have fun!

i personally got into it in highschool, around the beginning of my sophmore year? my early cuffs were not great quality, but it’s cool to see how i’ve grown since then!

kandi is a community that is extremely friendly and encouraging to beginners and theres guides and tutorials for just about everything, and plenty of people willing to answer questions.

[dollmaidcrystal]

Let's talk about our kink heresies for a moment - those breaks from kink orthodoxy that would get us kicked out of the human equestrian club.

At some point, the American ponyplay community became oddly chaste. (Actual chaste, not the fun kind with locks.) "Ponyplay is about getting into a horse's headspace. It's about the spiritual experience of being an animal."

If that was my goal, a couple buttons of peyote is way cheaper than pony gear.

Our ponyplay is more sexual than that. My goal isn't to think like a horse, but to become so lost in arousal from the bondage, public display, and a nice thick plug up my arse that I lose my ability to think at all. Instead, I become a purely physical animal to train, easily controlled and reacting on pure instincts.

I've brought this up to other ponyplayers in the past, and I've always been told that what we're doing isn't real ponyplay. "It's a BDSM scene with an exercise element." So, I've stopped caring what other ponyplayers say. It's energy wasted that I could put towards improving my five-furlong time.

[lackeyhenchman]

the timeline thing that confuses me a lot is that Astarion was supposed to be 40 when he was bit, but he was also supposed to have been a corrupt magistrate. he's an elf. at 40 he wouldve been a child.

Oh naur, I was looking into that early on-- I think the consensus is that "child" is stretching it!

Elf mental maturity is apparently not so perfectly analogous to humans that he'd be getting "ew you're under 100, no minors allowed". His balls dropped a long time ago. He can fuck. He can apply for a mortgage. He can read at maybe a 10th grade level. He just hasn't done that extra thing that sounds like the near-immortal equivalent of a peyote journey.

40 years is plenty of time for any sapient being to develop a decent and prestigious career. Making elves specifically all work at DnD McDonalds until they're 100 seems a little... human-rights-violation-y.

He lives in an extremely mixed city! All the dwarves and humans and tieflings sure aren't going to enforce an arbitrary age limit on a guy who can do his job just as well as any of them.

The only people who would care about this are other elves, assuming they take it seriously at all considering how many of them are willing to fuck 20-year-olds. Also elves are assholes. THAT'S why they shouldn't be allowed to be magistrates.

[talonabraxas]

Huichol Yarn, Deer Shaman Talon Abraxas

A GUIDE TO HUICHOL SYMBOLOGY

SHAMANS - The spiritual leaders who are ambassadors to the gods, shamans preside over ceremonies, recite the divine passages, cure the sick, interpret dreams, etc. They are believed to have supernatural powers and insights in the metaphysical world that are considered out of reach for normal humans.

SPIRIT GUIDES - Intermediaries between human and spirit realms, the guide can take the shape of half-human, half-animal being. These figures appear in visions and dreams and remain with each shaman even after apprenticeship is over.

FIRE - Considered a very valuable gift from the gods, fire is called Tai. Tai is believed to enable the Huichol to have visions. The fire god, Tatewari, is always honored at Huichol ceremonies, and receives many offerings such as corn meal, sacred water and much of the art that they make.

HEALING WANDS - Called Muvieri, each shaman carries a wand in their medicine basket. They are made of pairs of eagle or hawk feathers attached to ceremonial arrows, and are used in rain making ceremonies and other divinations.

PATH OF LIFE - Wavy lines represent the "vine of life", which the Huichol Goddess of Life gives to every soul (plant, animal, human) at birth. This vine is the soul's spiritual connection to the breath of the goddess in the ethereal realm. When people chose to follow her "path of flowers", they receive her blessings: prosperity, abundance, creativity, health, and their hearts' desires.

WOLF PEOPLE - Believed to be the earliest ancestors, they spoke and lived like people. Tacutsi, the goddess of life, first taught them how to live well and overcome hunger and cold.

PRAYER ARROWS - Used to express gratitude or requests to the gods, called Urus, prayer arrows, like gourd bowls, are ceremonial objects through which the gods are believed to give their blessings. Special prayer arrows have crystals attached to them, representing the spirits of departed ancestors.

PEYOTE CACTI - Symbol for life, sustenance, health, success, good luck, and acquisition of shamanic powers, the peyote appears in practically all Huichol art and is considered a gift from the gods to the people to enlighten their lives and bring them into the mystical realm.

THE SUN - Brings light and illumination to the world. Tayaupa is father sun, master of the heavens, and his wife is the Eagle, mother of the sky and goddess of life. The Huichols believe all living things receive their power from the sun, and that He guarantees healthy crops and abundant food.

SNAKES - Instruct shamans to become healers. The rattle on the Rattlesnake is believed to be the tongue of the greatest shaman of all, which is the fire god. Snakes may also be associated with the rain goddess. The Mother Goddess of the Sea is pictured as a huge coiled serpent forming herself into a cyclical storm cloud from which rain falls. The Huichols believe that rain itself consists of millions of small snakes. They are valued for their work in the cornfields where they eat the rodents and pests harmful to the corn harvest.

DEER - The spirit guide Kauyumari, who leads the shamans on their visionary pathways and teaches them how to gain their special knowledge. One of the most commonly seen motifs, the deer, maxa, in Huichol, often appear in male and female pairs, symbolizing the unity between men and women on their spiritual journey. Legends about the deer abound in Huichol culture. The deer mother is the guardian spirit, the important animal in Huichol shamanism. She holds tobacco gourds and corn plant, both of utmost importance for Huichol survival. The Huichols believe that deer give their lives willingly to those who hunt them in a sacred manner. After a deer hunt, the hunters have to perform purifying rituals for many days to insure that the animals are properly thanked for giving their lives to the benefit of the people.

FLOWERS - Play a part in all Huichol ceremonies, and all flowers are considered sacred in healing rituals; the patient's head is anointed with flowers. Shamans use them to prepare for the deer hunt and during harvest ceremonies to adorn the new corn. One flower that appears often is called Kiera, the tree of the wind. It is a hallucinogenic plant said to open the Huichols spirits to the highest level of enlightenment.

BIRDS - Believed to be messengers to and from the gods, all birds are held in great regard. The shamans use tail and wing feather of eagles and hawks in their rituals and ceremonial chanting. The double-headed eagle is another common design, representing the shaman's omnipotent power to see in all directions.

TURTLES - Esteemed as assistants of the rain goddesses, turtles are believed to be responsible for replenishing the water of underground springs and the purity of all water sources.

WOLVES - Carrier of spirits, Kumukemai, the wolf, is honored in all peyote ceremonies. Many Huichols believe they are descendents of the "Wolf-People" of primordial times. Huichol shamans claim to possess the power to transform themselves into spirited wolves.

GOURD BOWLS - Used by shamans as containers filled with important symbols, such as corn, animals, and images of family members. Colorfully decorated, they are carried during ceremonies and prayer for protection, health, and abundance. The symbols themselves represent attributes of different gods and goddesses. They are placed in shrines and sacred sites throughout the Huichol homeland.

SCORPIONS - Used by shamans to repel evil and bad luck. They are both esteemed and feared. A deadly species of scorpion inhabit Huichol land and cause numerous fatalities every year. However, the Huichols believe that the scorpion spirit is a powerful ally that protects them as well.

SALAMANDERS - Agents of the rain mother, salamanders are connected with the water and rain, stirring up clouds and making rain fall.

JAGUAR - Messengers of the god of fire, Tatewari, they are guardians of the sacred vows taken by shamans during their years of initiation. Called Mayetse, they are given the power to devour the spirits of those who fail.

EAGLES - Believed to be the embodiment of a goddess known as Mother Eagle, Mother of the Sky and Queen of Heavens. Huichols admire Werika, the eagle as the most magnificent among all birds.

CANDLES - Represent the illumination of the human spirit, Catira, candles hold the sacred gift from the sun and fire gods. Along with flowers and ribbons, attached candles serve as offerings and payment to the deities who have granted special wishes to a Huichol.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COLORS:

WHITE - Cloud Spirits.

RED - The East, fire, masculinity.

BLUE - The South, Pacific Ocean, water, rain, femininity.

GREEN - The Earth, the Heavens, healing, the heart, grandfather, growth.

YELLOW - A special root from Wirikuta used for face paint in ceremonies.

ORANGE - "Wirikuta", the sacred land where the Huichol believe life began and also where they gather peyote.

[digitalnewberry]

Silver Horn drawings, 1897-1921

Silver Horn drawings, 1897-1921

“Silver Horn (1860-1940), a Kiowa artist from the early reservation period, may well have been the most prolific Plains Indian artist of all time. Known also as Haungooah, his Kiowa name, Silver Horn was a man of remarkable skill and talent. Working in graphite, colored pencil, crayon, pen and ink, and watercolor on hide, muslin, and paper, he produced more than one thousand illustrations between 1870 and 1920. Silver Horn created an unparalleled visual record of Kiowa culture, from traditional images of warfare and coup counting to sensitive depictions of the sun dance, early Peyote religion, and domestic daily life. At the turn of the century, he helped translate nearly the entire corpus of Kiowa shield designs into miniaturized forms on buckskin models for Smithsonian ethnologist James Mooney.”

-- Silver Horn: Master Illustrator of the Kiowas by Candace S. Greene

The artist Elbridge Ayer Burbank traveled to Indian reservations in the late nineteenth century to paint the portraits of Indigenous peoples. Burbank traveled to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on three occasions; it was there that the Kiowa artist Silver Horn sat for him for at least two portraits.

Silver Horn had been an established artist among the Kiowa since the 1880s. In 1899, he became interested in Burbank’s “naturalist” technique, and he observed the American artist as he painted other subjects. With Burbank, Silver Horn studied the art of modeling faces and individual portraiture. He experimented with this style in a series of individual portraits of people and animals, most of which he sold to Edward E. Ayer, before abandoning the style in favor of work that was more stylistically Kiowa.

Silver Horn drawings, 1897-1921

The 123 pieces by Silver Horn in the Newberry’s Ayer Collection demonstrate that his experimentation took him away from narratives about community to work that featured individuals. This makes the body of work held in the collection stylistically distinct from both the earlier and later periods of Silver Horn's work.

–former Ayer Reference Librarian Seonaid Valiant (abridged from original post)

View Silver Horn's drawings or all of the Edward E. Ayer Collection at Newberry Digital Collections