This was told to me by an old Curandera, an India from Brazil
whom I met in the Yucatan.
She gave me this recipe and cautioned me that it could be done once, and only
once.
To meet and dance with your Death, take:
2 gallons of pulque
(fermented Mayan beverage), or, if unavailable, gin
1 case tequila
Several cases beer
1 bottle Mescal
2 ounces good marijuana
carton cigarettes
three large peyotes
coffee as needed
For three weeks, do not eat meat, starch, sweets,
or cabbage of any kind. You may have citrus fruits, papaya, watery vegetables,
yucca and bacalǻo, salted nuts, cream, and a little halvah.
Drink and smoke everyday, reserving the Mescal and
peyote. Smoke the marijuana in silence; drink only when there is music playing
and people are dancing; at other times, walk, preferably uphill.
Bailar
can fuerza cada dia: dance vigorously
every day, either alone or in a group, but never in a couple. Be friendly with
the other dancers but dance with no one partner longer than a few moments, and
do not stay in one spot as it causes blood clots. Dance until your hair and
clothing are entirely wet and your chin tilts upwards naturally.
When you are not dancing, be silent or listen to
music, but do not chatter and certainly do not converse. By all means, sing and
chant, but do not ululate, because this brings forth unnecessary demons.
When you have finished the pulque and most of the tequila, go to the city. Find two men, one
dark and one light; they will be your guides. It is good if you like them, but
they must not be your lover—your lover always blocks your view of Death (su amante oscura su vista de la muerte).
After you have visited six interesting places, go
together to an old room and take the peyotes; chop them well and mix them with
strawberries and yogurt; the sour will help you not to vomit as much.
An hour after you have taken the peyote, the
light-haired man will appear to be asleep. Do not disturb him: He is calling
your Death.
Take the hand of the dark man. Ask him where he
wants to go, and go with him: He will lead you to your Death.
Follow the dark man until he brings you to a crowd
of people. You will see familiar faces in the crowd, family and old friends,
but each time you turn to greet them, it will be a stranger. This is where you
will meet your Death.
Your Death will be a man who looks like you, a
little taller, but with the same color hair and possibly the same nose. He will
be wearing a hat, but will not be bald except for a very little at the back. He
will appear preoccupied, perhaps agitated. He will be sweating.
You will wonder where he has come from, and whether
he is sick. Do not ask. And do not ask him to dance. Wait.
When he sees you, you will feel something just
below your hair, or in your nostrils, as if the room suddenly had become very
cold, or very quiet. You will hear a song—an unusual but very familiar song—and
then both of you will leap to the floor at the exact same moment and begin to
dance.
You will dance for a long time and you will never
dance better. Death will continue to sweat. As his face begins to shine, you
will see beneath his skin and know that you are not dancing with a man, but
with Death. After that, you will never fear him again, nor seek him.
When the dancing is over, go somewhere and drink
the bottle of Mescal; leave the worm in the bottle for Death.
Do
this correctly the first time, because it can not be done more than once. To do
this once is sagrado, sacred; to do
this more than once is common, so no lo
jode. If you do this more than once, you will do it often, and then you
will become an old borracha who
sleeps with common men. Punto.
No comments:
Post a Comment