Table of Contents

1. Ramon and Lupe 2. Ethnographic and Historical Background 3. Huichol Religion 4. The Peyote Hunt as an Event 5. The Deer-Maize-Peyote Complex 6. The Purpose and Meaning of the Peyote Hunt Bibliography Index

Reviews

"This study is based on observation, verbatim texts of myths, ethnographic data, participation in the rituals, and other publications of Huichol ethnology. The peyote complex is expertly set in the wider context of Huichol religion, society, and history. The study concludes with a review of ... theories of Turner, Geertz, and Levi-Strauss, which, in turn, are synthesized to provide the basis for sophisticated analysis of meaning and function of the deer-maize-peyote symbol-ritual complex... Should be useful to all seriously interested in understanding alien world views."-Choice "This is a beautiful book, recording with loving care how one thoughtful Huichol Indian wanted to see the world."-Review of Books and Religion "Barbara G. Myerhoff's splendid study ... is a sensible participant-observer account ... of a shamanic priest and his small party of pilgrims as they journey to their original homeland, now a distant sacred center, in search of peyote."-Benjamin Ray, History of Religions "Myerhoff's book will be a classic in the anthropology of religion."-Christian Scholar's Review