In this chapter
- The Banker and the CuranderaWasson’s 1955 velada with María Sabina, his article, and what followed for her
- Psychedelics on the Stock Marketwhat exactly is patented in synthetic psilocybin
- A Cacao Ceremony for $119cacao ceremonies sold to tourists, and cacao as an everyday drink in Chiapas
- What Cannot Be Patentedthe psychedelics market, and what remains of the velada
Questions this chapter answers
- Who was R. Gordon Wasson, and how did the “magic mushroom” get its name?
A J.P. Morgan vice-president who took part in María Sabina’s velada in 1955; his 1957 Life article, “Seeking the Magic Mushroom,” gave the world the phrase.
- What happened to María Sabina after Wasson’s article?
- Can psilocybin be patented?
The molecule cannot be — Albert Hofmann isolated it in 1958 — but Compass Pathways holds patents on a crystalline form of synthetic psilocybin and methods of using it.
- What is a tourist cacao ceremony, and how is cacao drunk in Chiapas?
Short answers only. Chapter 12 gives the full account, with 7 footnotes to 6 sources.
Sources
7 footnotes to 6 sources. Full references are in the bibliography.
- Estrada, Álvaro. María Sabina: Her Life and Chants. Translated with commentaries by Henry Munn. Santa Barbara: Ross-Erikson, 1981.
- Wasson, R. Gordon. “Seeking the Magic Mushroom.” Life, May 13, 1957, 100–120.
- Wasson, Valentina Pavlovna and R. Gordon Wasson. Mushrooms, Russia and History. 2 vols. New York: Pantheon Books, 1957.
- Hofmann, Albert, Roger Heim, Arthur Brack and Hans Kobel. “Psilocybin, ein psychotroper Wirkstoff aus dem mexikanischen Rauschpilz Psilocybe mexicana Heim.” Experientia 14, no. 3 (1958): 107–109. DOI 10.1007/BF02159243.
- COMPASS Pathways. US Patent No. 11,149,044, “Preparation of Psilocybin, Different Polymorphic Forms, Intermediates, Formulations and Their Use.” Granted October 19, 2021.
- Xaman-Ha Connections. Listing for a private cacao ceremony in Tulum, “guided by a Mayan local shaman rooted in ancestral tradition,” from 119 US dollars per person, minimum two. xamanhaconnections.com/private-tours/cacao-ceremony-tulum. Accessed October 1, 2026.