Sanctus intercuts three Mexican rituals of parallel structure: the Catholic Mass, as performed by Monsignor Mercadillo in the parochial church of San Miguel Allende, Guanajuato; the bullfight, as performed by the bullfighting great El Cordobes in the plaza de toros of Mexico City; and the sacred (hallucinogenic) mushroom ceremony of the Mazatec Indians, as performed in the remote Oaxacan jungle by the curandero Manuel Estrada.