Magic Mushrooms

With more than two-dozen contributors and over 450-pages of content Fly Agaric is the most comprehensive book on the iconic red and white-spotted mushroom ever assembled. In the 29 chapters contained herein the reader is taken on a journey through history, folklore, and the magical landscapes experienced under the influence of the Fly Agaric, and its many close relatives. The reader of this book will learn:

*How to recognize and identify over a dozen types of psychoactive Amanita species, subspecies, and varieties occurring in North America, and how to distinguish them from look-alikes.
*What psychoactive and other active compounds are found in psychoactive Amanitas, and how they affect the mind and body.
*The differences between the effects and experiences produced by psychoactive Amanitas and psychedelic Psilocybe mushrooms.
*How the Fly Agaric can be detoxified and safely prepared for the dinner table.
*The history of medicinal and homeopathic use of the Fly Agaric.
*How the Fly Agaric can be used topically and internally to treat conditions such as pain, inflammation, insomnia, and anxiety.
*Theories regarding the historical and religious use of psychoactive Amanitas around the world based on archaeological, folkloric, and other evidence.

Letcher, A. (2022, February). In the twinkling of an eye: A brief history of the magic mushroom. Invited talk for the Psychedelicacies Salon at the Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities & Last Tuesday Society (online), 10th February. Hosted and curated by David Luke & Maya Bracknell Watson.

https://www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/in-the-twinkling-of-an-eye-by-andy-letcher-on-zoom/

Background: Many species of hallucinogenic mushrooms have been found in the genus Psilocybe. The main psychoactive chemicals of Psilocybe mushrooms are psilocin and its phosphoryloxy derivative, psilocybin. In addition to its psychedelic effects, psilocybin is an effective agent to lift the mood of depressed patients with terminal cancers. Objective: To study the dispositional kinetics of 14C-psilocin in pregnant rats after intravenous injection, to calculate tissue dose surrogates i.e., tissue 14C concentration and area under the concentration-time curve using the experimental data, to quantify trans-placental passage of psilocin and/or its metabolites, and to identify new psilocin metabolite(s) in rat urine. Methods: A group of 15 pregnant Wistar rats weighing between 0.30-0.36 kg was used in the study. Each rat was given a single dose of 7.5 mg/kg 14C-psilocini.v. Three rats were randomly selected and sacrificed at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 hr post-dosing. The maternal and feta...

Cogumelos Mágicos? Cogumelos Venenosos? Brisa? Droga?

Psilocibina
Na verdade estes cogumelos são realmente mágicos, portadores de Psilocibina. Estes cogumelos tem um histórico de uso xamânico e ritualístico de 9 mil anos, pelos povos da América Central. Com o passar do tempo e devido a nossa atual política de drogas, perdemos este conhecimento, e agora este assunto virou lenda urbana, ficando de lado na sociedade. Esse fator acabou se tornando perigoso, pois os cogumelos são muito poderosos e devem ser lidados com cuidado e muito conhecimento. Se você é um curioso ou já estava procurando eles, você está no lugar certo. Este guia tem como exclusiva intenção a educação, aprender qual cogumelo coletar, quando, e o quanto ingerir.


Baixe o Guia e Estude
Durante todo o guia iremos introduzi-lo a termos e nomes usados no meio dos estudos dos fungos, para melhor entendimento e aprendizado. Não saia à caça antes de ler completamente este guia! Isto é muito importante, tenha paciência, a sua saúde depende dos seus estudos aqui iniciados.
Neste guia iremos nos aprofundar no cogumelo do gênero Psilocybe e a da espécie cubensis, ou mais
conhecido como Psilocybe cubensis. Antigamente também conhecido: Stropharia cubensis.
Fique a vontade para imprimir e compartilhar este guia.

Mike Crowley (30th October, 2012) - Stoned peacocks and blue-throated gods. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host and compère)


Video of lecture here:
https://vimeo.com/53116835

Drawing upon myth, folklore and Sanskrit word-play, Mike Crowley demonstrates that the peacock was used in both Hinduism and Buddhism as a symbol for psychedelic mushrooms, particularly those which bruise blue, such as Psilocybe cubensis. This hypothesis offers an explanation for the association of peacocks with amrita (the tantric psychedelic sacrament) and various deities (Amitabha, Mahamayuri, Janguli, et al.). It also may account for the curious name of a Shaiva monastic order known as matta-mayuri ("the intoxicated peacocks"). While this is the main focus of the talk, it may well provide a jumping-off point for other topics covered in the book Secret Drugs of Buddhism.

Desde hace varias décadas, la literatura de carácter antropológico sobre los hongos en la Sierra Mazateca ha contribuido a la creación de un fenómeno turístico cuyo objetivo central es consumir alucinógenos en un ritual guiado por un médico tradicional. En este contexto, el modelo de autenticidad étnica es utilizado por los curanderos para legitimarse y para desacreditar a su competencia.Este modelo de chamanismo mazateco está fuertemente inspirado en los trabajos de Gordon Wasson y en la figura de María Sabina. Una “revisita” del encuentro entre estos dos personajes a partir de fuentes de archivo y de observaciones de campo permite reconstruir el proceso mediante el cual se constituyó este modelo de autenticidad étnica. No se trata aquí de denunciar las inexactitudes del relato de Wasson, sino de mostrar cómo la literatura sobre los hongos cristaliza los criterios bajo los cuales se juzga la experiencia de los viajeros que consultan a un chamán mazateco. El ejemplo de Wasson sirve igualmente para cuestionarnos sobre la manera en que los científicos obtienen su información en el campo y sobre cómo estas investigaciones impactan a las poblaciones estudiadas.

Psilocybin containing mushrooms have been used in indigenous healing ceremonies in Mesoamerica since at least the sixteenth century. However, the sacramental use of mushrooms was only discovered by Westerners in the early to mid-twentieth century. Most notably, the meeting between amateur mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson and Mazatec curandera María Sabina in 1955 resulted in the widespread popularisation of ingesting 'magic mushrooms' in the West. To Sabina and the Mazatec people, psilocybin mushrooms were sacred and only to be used for healing. However, Western 'hippies' viewed mushrooms as psychedelic drugs which they consumed with little regard for cultural sensitivities, rendering the mushrooms desacralised. This article argues that the desacralisation of psilocybin mushrooms constitutes a form of spiritual abuse that has had far-reaching and long-lasting consequences at individual, local, and global levels. Further, acknowledging and understanding the desacralisation of psilocybin mushrooms as spiritual abuse has important implications for restorative justice and the understanding of psilocybin as a sacred medicine.

PT-BR:
Pesquisas sugerem que a ingestão de psilocibina (substância presente nos cogumelos Psilocybe) e psicodélicos similares possibilitam um estado de consciência que podem levar a insights e à resolução de profundas questões existenciais e espirituais, durante ou mesmo após a experiência. Partindo da Gestalt-terapia, que entende o homem enquanto ser-no-mundo, ser que vive em e na relação com o campo, o uso de cogumelos “mágicos” pode ser entendido como uma forma de resistência frente ao Outro Social – assumindo função e sentido a partir de sua relação – ajustando-se criativamente frente aos desafios de estar no mundo. O presente trabalho teve por finalidade compreender a experiência dos sujeitos que fazem uso de cogumelos “mágicos” em contextos não ritualísticos e observar os impactos das experiências
com a psilocibina na saúde e na vida do sujeito, observando se há mudanças de hábitos e perspectivas que possibilitam a este se rever como ser-no-mundo. A pesquisa foi constituída pelos seguintes eixos: 1) Uso do “Questionário sobre uso de substâncias psicoativas” visando apreender o conhecimento da população do Brasil sobre os cogumelos “mágicos” e construir um perfil epidemiológico do uso dos psicodélicos mais conhecidos (MDMA, LSD, Ayahuasca e cogumelos “mágicos”). 2) Estudo qualitativo gestaltático, a partir da análise de narrativas, visando observar os sentidos de uso de cogumelos “mágicos” e a influência dessas experiências na vida dos indivíduos entrevistados. O método fenomenológico permitiu acessar a experiência vivenciada pelos sujeitos a partir de suas próprias palavras, facilitando a elaboração de sentido para os narradores. O trabalho identificou grande número de pessoas que fazem uso da droga, além de permitir a reflexão sobre as experiências. Diante das narrativas dos colaboradores, podemos concluir que usar drogas, para eles, não é uma singela questão de infringir normas, ou ser influenciado por algo ou alguém ou apenas ter um comportamento desviante. Para alguns, assumiu valor terapêutico. Para outros, cumpre bem a função de sair da rotina e experienciar algo diferente (consumo hedonista). O cogumelo “mágico” agiu intensificando aquilo que era próprio de cada um, possibilitando uma awareness que permitiu que as realidades significativas ficassem aparentes ao campo perceptivo. As possibilidades emergiram do campo de acordo com a disponibilidade e abertura do self. No geral, reforçamos o caráter único de cada relação e dos fatores motivadores para início e continuidade do uso. A baixa produção de trabalhos científicos na área envolvendo os referenciais teóricos citados foi um dos elementos dificultadores. Reforçamos a necessidade de um aprofundamento no estudo fenomenológico dos psicodélicos e na construção de um diálogo entre a Gestalt-terapia e os psicodélicos.

EN:
Researches suggest the ingestion of psilocybin (substance present in Psilocybe mushrooms) and similar psychedelics can cause a state of consciousness that can lead to insights and to the resolution of profound existential and spiritual issues, during or even after the experience. Based on Gestalt-therapy, which understands the human being as a being-in-the-world, a being who lives in and in relation with the field, the use of “magic” mushrooms can be understood as a form of resistance to the Social Other – assuming function and meaning based on their relation – adjusting creatively to the challenges of being in the world. The purpose of the present work was to understand the experience of subjects who use “magic” mushrooms in non-ritual contexts and observe the impacts of experiences with psilocybin on the subject's
health and life, assessing whether there have been changes in habits and perspectives that allow him to see himself as a being-in-the-world. The research consisted of the following axes: 1) Use of the “Questionnaire on the use of psychoactive substances” in order to apprehend the knowledge of the population of Brazil about “magic” mushrooms and build an epidemiological profile of the use of the most well-known psychedelics (MDMA, LSD, Ayahuasca and “magic” mushrooms). 2) Qualitative gestalt study, from the analysis of narratives, aiming to observe the meanings of using “magic” mushrooms and the influence of these experiences in the lives of the interviewed individuals. The phenomenological method allowed to access the experience lived by the subjects from their own words, facilitating the elaboration of meaning for the narrators. The work identified a large number of people who use the drug, in addition to allowing the reflection on the experiences with mushrooms. In view of the collaborators' narratives, we can conclude that using drugs, for them, is not a simple matter of breaking rules, or being influenced by something or someone or just having
deviant behavior. For some, it assumed therapeutic value. For others, it fulfills the function of leaving the routine and experiencing something different (hedonistic consumption). The “magic” mushroom acted by intensifying what was proper to each one, allowing an awareness that allowed the significant realities to be apparent to the perceptual field. The possibilities emerge from the field according to the availability and openness of the self. In general, we reinforce the unique character of each relationship and the motivating factors for beginning and continuing use. The low production of scientific works in the area involving the theoretical references mentioned was one of the elements that made it difficult. We understand it’s necessary to deepen the phenomenological study of psychedelics and to build a dialogue
between Gestalt-therapy and psychedelics.

Magic mushrooms are rich in the active compound psilocybin, whose activity on consciousness deeply alters
cognitive functions, can promote spiritual/mystical experiences and has high biomedical and psychotherapeutic
importance. Twenty-eight participants underwent a magic mushroom experience after consuming dehydrated
Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms at the dosage of 55.6 mg/Kg (350 μg/kg of psilocybin). Results of subjective
aspects of the experience through the Hallucinogen Rating Scale revealed equivalent dosage effects comparable
to other studies and similar to those of the psychedelic beverage Ayahuasca. The effects on subjective perception
of time duration verifi ed an underestimation of the velocity of temporal passage by participants after substance
intake, in which subjects presented longer subjective durations of seconds. Results are discussed in the context of
literature produced in the psychopharmacological and cognitive fi elds.
KEY WORDS: Time experience; Hallucinogens; Psychedelics; Psychotomimetics; Cognition.

This investigation focuses on the North Andes and includes discussion of monumental stone sculpture in the environs of San Agustín, Colombia, as well as Muisca, Quimbaya, and Darién (Sinú) goldworking traditions. Through formal and iconographic analyses of ceremonial paraphernalia, this paper shows that the primary ideologies of the cultures of this region involved the use of several psychoactive plants.

Mystical experiences have been reported by religious and non-religious people around the world and throughout history. Within religious traditions mystical experiences are given specific meaningful religious interpretations, however, even for non-religious people mystical experiences are often reported as being profoundly spiritual and meaningful. Despite this, mystical experiences have been largely ignored by mainstream psychology and psychiatry. Why has this been the case?

A number of authors in recent years have claimed that Early and Medieval Christian art evidence numerous examples of thinly disguised psychedelic mushrooms. This article examines these claims in reference to a single image in a 13th century bestiary in Oxford's Bodleian Library (MS. Bodl. 602, fol. 27v), which is mistakenly identified by these authors as an alchemical manuscript. We conclude that the authors made many mistakes and failed to make their case and fault them on the grounds that none of them made any attempt to check whether their impressions of the picture was accurate. None consulted the original manuscript to see whether the text accompanying the picture confirmed or their impressions are called them into question. None trouble themselves to discover the manuscript's actual date or name. None tried to verify whether the manuscript containing the image actually represented an al-chemical manuscript, and if it did, which specific alchemical work it represented.

RESUMEN EN CASTELLANO & SUMMARY IN ENGLISH

Summary

We have made progress in efforts to elucidate the place of mushrooms in ancient Peruvian society while connecting better with archaeologists. We discovered that in the north mushrooms similar to those found on Moche ceramics can be found in the dry coastal regions, in the humid winter season and in a brief rainy season around Chiclayo.  This opens the possibility that many of the mushrooms used were retrieved not only in the higher lying wet regions, but found on the warm coastal hills and plain.

Resumen

Hubo progresos en los esfuerzos por esclarecer el lugar de hongos en la antigua sociedad peruana y tambien sobre las conecciones con arqueologos locales.  Estamos en progreso de entender mejor el simbolismo y donde encontraron los hongos en los tiempos antiguos.  Encontramos que los hongos en el norte durante la temporada del humedo invierno con lluvias alrededor de Chiclayo  son similares (parecidos) a los encontrados en la ceramica Moche. Eso abre la posibilidad que muchos de los hongos usado por los moches y culturas del norte, se encontraron cerca en territorio Moche, es decir la costa, cerros y montañas cercanas a la costa.
""

Psilocybin containing mushrooms have been used in indigenous healing ceremonies in Mesoamerica since at least the 16th century. However the sacramental use of mushrooms was only discovered by Westerners in the early to mid-twentieth century. Most notably, the meeting between amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson and Mazatec curandera María Sabina in 1955 resulted in the widespread popularisation of ‘magic mushrooms’ in the West. To Sabina and the Mazatec people, psilocybin mushrooms were sacred and only to be used for healing. However, Western ‘hippies’ viewed mushrooms as psychedelic drugs which they consumed with little regard for cultural sensitivities, rendering the mushrooms desacralised. This article argues that the desacralisation of psilocybin mushrooms constitutes a form of spiritual abuse that has had far-reaching and long-lasting consequences at individual, local and global levels. Further, acknowledging and understanding the desacralisation of psilocybin mushrooms as spiritual abuse has important implications for restorative justice and the understanding of psilocybin as a sacred medicine.

Dr Robin Carhart-Harris (24th April, 2012)  - Psychedelics and brain imaging. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host and compère)

Video of lecture is here:
https://vimeo.com/41094552

This talk will describe the research Robin has been carrying out over the last few years involving brain imaging and psychedelics. This work has been motivated by Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation and done under the mentorship of Prof David Nutt and with the support of Imperial College London and the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff. Robin will describe the rationale, results and implications of their imaging work with psilocybin (magic mushrooms), the early results of an ongoing study with MDMA (ecstasy) and the design of a planned study to assess psilocybin as a treatment for depression. The scientific content will be presented in an accessible way with the hope of stimulating an interest into the neurobiology of psychedelics and their potential therapeutic action.

Dr. Andy Letcher  (24th November, 2009) – Making sense of magic mushrooms. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host and compère)

For those who have encountered magic mushrooms, the psilocybin experience is like an ancient codex whose glyphs are at once baffling and clear. To make sense of it, each person must perform an act of translation or interpretation by which the strange is rendered familiar. But how should this be done? In the post-war period alone an original psychological framework has given way to that of mysticism, itself replaced in turn by the language of shamanism.

In this talk, Andy Letcher will encourage us to move away from the mushroom experience itself the usual province of trip-lit , to a consideration of how it has been interpreted throughout history. For, contrary to received wisdom, very few cultures have decoded the mushroom as we do. Along the way he will ask whether magic mushrooms bring genuine transcendence, or if the experiences they occasion forever bound by culture.

Psilocybin helps in the integration of the dark, unaddressed, or shadow aspects of one’s self, which is essential for psychospiritual development and general health. Without the direct experience of Shadow emotions from a place of surrender and acknowledgment, those aspects of us are likely to be inappropriately stored, repressed, in the deep psyche. This creates blockages for the flow of life within us and new, detrimental behavioral pathways are created to maintain these blockages, to maintain the repression or evasion of undesired emotional content.

This book focuses on ethnobotany and phytotherapy, or culturally different ways of relating to plants. It is divided into seven chapters, starting with the introduction and description of the methodological framework. Each chapter contains original contributions from authors who have done research in a particular region in Europe, America, Africa or Asia. The book is finished by an overview of authors’ profiles focused on future plans in research and fieldwork.

Luke, D. (2020, September). Magic mushrooms and mental health. Invited talk for Fever Talks, Genesis Cinema, Mile End, London, 23rd September.

https://feverup.com/m/82959

Prior to the media hysteria and government backlash to psychedelics at the end of the 1960s, a wealth of scientific research was conducted into the therapeutic and medical benefits of psychoactive drugs. By the beginning of the 1970s, however, almost all therapeutic applications and research with such drugs had been curtailed and their use criminalized. Only during the last decade or so has research gradually been resumed to the point where we can now speak of a renaissance of research into psychedelic medicines, especially that concerning psilocybin, derived from ‘magic mushrooms’. The talk will explore the medical potential of psilocybin and other psychedelics in the field of mental health drawing upon current research from the fields of neuroscience, medicine, psychology, anthropology and, indeed, personal insight from time spent with psychedelic counter-cultures and shamanic tribes.

Background: Many species of hallucinogenic mushrooms have been found in the genus Psilocybe. The main psychoactive chemicals of Psilocybe mushrooms are psilocin and its phosphoryloxy derivative, psilocybin. In addition to its psychedelic effects, psilocybin is an effective agent to lift the mood of depressed patients with terminal cancers.

Objective: To study the dispositional kinetics of 14C-psilocin in pregnant rats after intravenous injection, to calculate tissue dose surrogates i.e., tissue 14C concentration and area under the concentration-time curve using the experimental data, to quantify trans-placental passage of psilocin and/or its metabolites, and to identify new psilocin metabolite(s) in rat urine.

Methods: A group of 15 pregnant Wistar rats weighing between 0.30-0.36 kg was used in the study. Each rat was given a single dose of 7.5 mg/kg 14C-psilocini.v. Three rats were randomly selected and sacrificed at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 hr post-dosing. The maternal and fetal tissues were quickly removed and the radioactivity in these tissues determined by liquid scintillation counting.

In a separate study, urine samples were collected from 6 male Wistar rats after administering 15 mg/kg of unlabeled psilocin i.p. The urine samples were collected and extracted by chloroform-methanol (9:1 v/v) and analyzed using a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer.

Results: 14C-Psilocin crossed the placental barrier of pregnant rats readily after i.v. administration; maternal tissue 14C concentrations were found to be much higher than those in fetal tissues. The areas under the curve for maternal tissues also were much higher than the fetal tissues. In general, maternal tissues could be divided into the fast eliminating organ group, which included the brain (elimination half-life <13 hr) and the slow eliminating organ group, which included all fetal tissues (elimination half-life >13 hr). A new psilocin metabolite tentatively identified as dihydroxyindoleacetic acid was found in the urine.

Conclusion: Our study showed that psilocin readily crossed the placental and blood-brain barriers of pregnant rats. Because psilocin was eliminated slowly from the fetal tissues of rats, human consumption of magic mushrooms should be avoided during pregnancy.

I stopped publicly debating and communicating with Thomas Hatsis in August 2019, after receiving a slanderous and threatening email from him. I will explain below what promoted this unprofessional outburst.

However, due to the February 2022 posting on Graham Hancock’s popular website of Hatsis’ recent screed against me and The Psychedelic Gospels‒ and implicitly against all scholars who “argue for the mushrooms in Christian art hypothesis”‒I felt an obligation to readers and to the field of psychedelic studies to set the record straight by writing this Reply to the Hatsis Review.

In this Reply, I will also propose a framework for revitalizing the study of mushrooms in Christian art (MICA), and focus the field on the central question: to what extent are psychoactive mushrooms present in Christian history?

Somebody had to write a response to this weak thesis that employs shallow research and faulty reasoning.  Berlant misleads the public both about mycology and ancient Egyptian culture.  So being a fan of both and having a PhD in the latter, I wrote one.

This book focuses on ethnobotany and phytotherapy, or culturally different ways of relating to plants. It is divided into seven chapters, starting with the introduction and description of the methodological framework. Each chapter contains original contributions from authors who have done research in a particular region in Europe, America, Africa or Asia. The book is finished by an overview of authors’ profiles focused on future plans in research and fieldwork.