SHAMANIC THREADS

Yarn Painting

Jose Benitez Sanchez (Huichol/Mexican)

This Huichol yarn painting spoke to my nascent interest in indigenous art when I saw it in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico decades ago.

From my own research, I learned that the Huichol live in isolation high in the Sierra Madre Mountains, and are said to be Mexico’s only indigenous people to resist conversion to Christianity. Decades later I found American anthropologist Susana Valadez online, founder of the Huichol Center for Cultural Survival and Traditional Arts. To my delight, she very kindly and generously replied to my inquiries…

The figures emerge out of the depths of the artist’s imagination. It looks like the style of the famous yarn artist Jose Benitez Sanchez (1938-2009) or a family member he taught. I believe this represents the sacred cave where Huichol apprentice shamans petition the deities for powers. Initiates make the arduous journey to this place, bring offerings to the deity who takes the form of a very powerful hallucinogenic plant, and make a sacred covenant with it. They’re granted the abilities to heal, channel the spirit world, predict the future, make rain, and much more. 

However, those who break the conditions lose their positive powers and become sorcerers, bewitchers, and evil shamans. The owl symbolizes these fallen shamans and the realm of the dead. The deer is the mentor of good shamans, and guides them on their lifelong path towards enlightenment. 

I’m proud to be the caretaker of this unique cultural artifact.