saasakíkwaa iíraana‘toé’, plant with powerful hallucinogenic effects that was [...]
Part of Speech
noun
Literal Meaning
thing for ‘toé’
Root
saasakíkwaa iíraana
Variant Form(s)
Free Variant: saasakíkwaa
‘toé’, plant with powerful hallucinogenic effects that was traditionally taken for shamanic purposes; with the use of this plant, shamans were reportedly able to cure illnesses and perform superhuman feats like flying to the heavens and other lands. The plant also was the means by which shamans obtained their powers to heal or cause harm through witchcraft, via a vision in which the ‘madre’ of the plant presented the novice shaman with a set of colored threads suspended in the air, with each corresponding to a different ability. The apprentice selected the one corresponding to the ability he wished to aquire, which then entered his body through his mouth, conferring the desired power. The last shamans who knew how to use this plant are believed to have died in the late 19th century, so that what we now know about its use is largely due to legends. This plant is understood to be to be the ‘male’ counterpart of <isúuna> (‘maricahua’), the former having purple flowers, and the latter, white