Huichol Indian Sacred Rituals

Rating:
Summary: Primarily an art exhibition
Review: I bought this book hoping it would be a good reference for a report I am writing about the Huichols, for my cultural anthropology class. The book turns out to be essentially a showcase for the yarn art of Mariano Valdez, the husband of the author. While the art is colorful and interesting, the book did not serve my purpose of gathering detailed descriptive information on their sacred rituals, as the title suggests. The text basically describes, in short paragraphs, what each piece of art represents. It gaves some basic insight into Huichol deities and animal allies, but only in small snippets, so it is hard to put all of these puzzle pieces together to form a cohesive overall picture or understanding of their religious practices. A nice book of art, but not much else. It is also a fairly thin book -- not worth the price, in my opinion, unless you feel that the high-quality images of Valdez's artwork are worth it.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing look into the art of the Huichol
Review: I've travelled extensively through Mexico in search of a book that showed the art of the Huichol. This was the first and most complete book to show in detail the various yarn paintings and there meanings. It's a good look, for first timers, into the Huichols sacred rituals, the yarn painting. To those who have not seen the yarn paintings first hand, this book has excellent examples of what the Huichols have been creating for the last quarter of a century. Mariano and Susan Valadez have also included an over view of the Huichols myths and how their stories are depicted in the paintings. This book was recomended to me by a Huichol from Jalisco, Mexico; and now I recomend it to you.

Rating:
Summary: More than you can see
Review: This book is one of the few books that give insight to the beliefs of the Huichol Indians. While it is a thin book, it reveal a lot about their culture without revealing too much. While it does not tell you what they do in their peyote hunts, or ceremonies, it does showcase why they do conduct ceremonies which is just as if not more valuable that the details of a ceremony. The art work is fantastic as well as the photography. Concise language explains the meaning of the photos which reveals a people's belief in a higher power. I recommend this book for anyone who can read between the lines to see culture the exists there in the art.