Santa Rosa and Singing from the Heart of the Bädi

Abstract

For the Mexican Otomi of the Sierra Norte de Puebla, Santa Rosa is a sacred plant used by the shaman to heal people and sing in rituals called costumbres. It is also an Antigua, a sacred deity who maintains a constant dialogue with ritual specialists. In the Otomi discourse and its worldview of Santa Rosa, as well as in its ritual process, it is eaten, not smoked. Although it is cannabis, they mention that: "the Santa Rosa is eaten, it is sacred; marijuana, the one they smoke in Mexico, is another one that looks like it."