Wonderous Mushroom: Sacred Mushrooms in Mexico and Mesoamerica

“From now on any comprehensive study of Ancient Mexican civilization must start from (and with) your discoveries.”-Octavio Paz Gordon Wasson’s May 1957 LIFE article describing his encounter with a Mexican shaman woman triggered the psychedelic revolution. In celebration of its fiftieth anniversary, we present Wasson’s groundbreaking classic, The Wondrous Mushroom, an illustrated, in-depth exploration of the history and cultural meanings of the shamanic use of psychedelic mushrooms in contemporary and ancient Mesoamerican culture. R. Gordon Wasson (18981986), former vice president of JP Morgan Trust, authored groundbreaking books and articles on sacred mushroom use, culture, and history.