Don Rafael

This vision birthed during a traditional peyote ceremony held on Lake Atitlán by the elected elder and wisdom keeper of Wirikuta, Don Rafael, of Jalisco, Mexico, where peyote medicine is used in healing rites, rites of passage, pilgrimages, and as a sacrament to connect with God the Creator. During the ceremony he was assisted by his family member Don Miguel, who played traditional instruments, sang ancestral songs, and recounted the Huichol creation story. The work was created as a visionary portrait of Don Rafael and the deep teachings he carries for humanity, reflecting his spiritual presence and the community’s enduring cosmology. Twenty percent of the proceeds are pledged to the Wirikuta Preservation Project, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the land, the sacred peyote medicine, and the cultural heritage of the Wirarika nation, all of which are threatened — along with the sacred medicine and the people who still live this ancient way of life — by mining operations and industrial tomato production.