legal psychotropic mushrooms
Macroscopically, it is extremely difficult to
distinguish from Psilocybe semilanceata. Unlike
the latter species, however, Psilocybe pelliculosa
will grow in forests on wood chips and sawdust.
Beug and Bigwood were able to furnish
analytical proof in support of the claim that
Psilocybe pelliculosa is weaker in its psychotropic
effects than comparable species. Psilocybe
pelliculosa contains about 30-50% of the amount
of psilocybin found in Psilocybe cyanescens (slang
names: Blue wavy, Cyan, Grandote), a species
common across the Pacific Northwest. It fruits
primarily in parks, forming partial fairy rings. This
species did not become popular
among users until the mid-1970s. species still fruits most abundantly in the fall.
A New Psychoactive Mushroom Mushroom Trips as a Popular Sport
Several additional Psilocybe species have
been found in the Pacific Northwest, even though
the taxonomic classification of most of these
species remains inadequate, despite the fact that
monographs such as those by P. Stamets offer quite
detailed descriptions of the psychotropic
mycoflora. In the mid-1970s, Guzman and Ott
reported a rather spectacular event concerning the
spread of a "new" mushroom species. During the
fall of 1972, large numbers of a strongly bluing
gilled mushroom with a distinct ring pattern were
found at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The fruiting bodies were found growing on bark
mulch, which came from a central distribution
point and which had been spread widely across the
campus by gardeners. Due to the bluing reaction,
students at the university assumed that the
mushroom contained psilocybin, a belief that was
confirmed later on. The sudden appearance of
massive numbers of fruiting bodies quickly
inspired students at the university to use the
mushrooms as a hallucinogen.
In my opinion, it is still uncertain if the
mushroom really appeared spontaneously, or
whether it fruited on bark debris simply because the
substance had previously been mixed with spawn
derived from fruiting bodies that originated
elsewhere.
In any case, in 1976, the mushrooms were
named Psilocybe stuntzii Guzman & Ott (slang
name: "blue veil" or "stuntzees", (see Figures 54
and 71). Today, the species can be found growing
on bark and on lawns in parks, on golf courses,
football fields and gardens in numbers so large that
it is considered the second most important species
in terms of usage, after Psilocybe semilanceata. In
addition, Panaeolus subbalteatus is another
regionally important mushroom species (slang
name: "red cap"), even though its users believe it to
be slightly more poisonous than the Psilocybe
species. Still, the mushroom is used quite
frequently, because it begins to fruit during the
spring. The Psilocybe species, on the other hand, do
not appear until fall and continue to grow into early
winter, when temperatures consistently drop below
freezing, which inhibits further fruiting of the
spe , and who gorge
themselves on our tax dollars.
I met Jochen Gartz shortly after the fall of
the Berlin Wall at the third symposium of the
European College for the Study of Consciousness
(ECSC) in Freiburg, Germany. Our encounter was
my first contact with a researcher from the former
East Germany. Jochen Gartz's enthusiastic lecture
was a truly consciousnessexpanding event, his
words breaking down traditional borders and
crossing over into new territory. The magic
mushrooms spoke through him - with no trace of
dogma or ideology - in
the tradition of true anarchy that is the hallmark of
mushroom magic. What I heard was unbelievable.
Jochen spoke of a "new" psychedelic mushroom
and its migration. The mycelia had spread in
concentric circles outward from Leipzig, jumping
all political borders. Finally, when the mycelia
reached West German soil, the hated Berlin Wall
crumbled. Could there possibly be a connection
between the evolution of the magic mushroom and
the evolution of our consciousness? Could a
mushroom have contributed to the resolution of
our political conflicts?
In the past, politicians, even popes, had
their own jesters and magicians, who functioned as
pressure release valves in the machinations of
political power struggles. It is obvious that a
country whose chancellor is being pelted with
eggs, urgently needs a new breed of magician who
are able to readjust reality. But today, no aspiring
magician should go about this task without this
book as a guide for the wondrous journey into the
realm of magic mushrooms.
Christian Rdtsch
Figure 5 - "Anthropomorphic Beings Engaged in Mushroom Dance"
10,000-year-old rock drawing in Tassili, Sahara (Algeria)
CHAPTER 1
I BELIEVE THE TIME HAS COME FOR A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF NEW
FINDINGS FROM THE FIELDS OF MYCOLOGY, TAXONOMY AND NATURAL
PRODUCTS CHEMISTRY
When R.G. Wasson, R. Heim and A.
Hofmann began their interdisciplinary research
program to study the Mexican species of
mushrooms and their usage in Mexican
mushroom cults, their efforts culminated in a
1958 landmark report that described the isolation,
molecular structure and synthesis of the
mushrooms' active ingredients: psilocybin and
psilocin. Several years later, these substances
were also identified in a species of mushroom in
Europe, Psilocybe semilanceata, which became the
first in a series of newly discovered species. Since
then, psychoactive mushrooms from other genera
have been reported with increasing frequency.
As part of my analytical work dedicated
to the identification of naturally occurring
chemicals, I had the good fortune to be part of a
research team that studied alkaloids found in a
variety of mushroom species. Now I believe the
time has come for a comprehensive review of
new findings from the fields of mycology,
taxonomy and natural products chemistry.
Wasson and his successors have already provided
detailed accounts pertaining to the history and
study of the Me
Existing evidence indicates that man in the Old World —Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia—has made less use of native plants and shrubs for their hallucinogenic properties than has man in the New World. There is little reason to believe that the vegetation of one half of the globe is poorer or richer in species with hallucinogenic properties than the other half. Why, then, should there be such disparity? Has man in the Old World simply not discovered many of the native hallucinogenic plants? Are some of them too toxic in other ways to be utilized? Or has man in the Old World been culturally less interested in narcotics? We have no real answer. But we do know that the Old World has fewer known species employed hallucinogenically than does the New World: compared with only 15 or 20 species Magic Mushrooms Statistics Liberty Cap Locations England used in the Eastern Hemisphere, the species used hallucinogenically in the Western Hemisphere number more than 100! Yet some of the Old World hallucinogens today hold places of primacy throughout the world. Cannabis, undoubtedly the most widespread of all the hallucinogens, is perhaps the best example.
The several solanaceous ingredients of queensland psilocybin medieval witches' brews—henbane, nightshade, belladonna, and mandrake—greatly influenced European philosophy, medicine, and even history for many years. Some played an extraordinarily vital religious role in the early Aryan cultures of northern India.
The role of hallucinogens in the cultural and social development of many areas of the Old World is only now being investigated.
At every turn, its exte Most recreational users of Psilocybe cubensis (when grown in vitro) require a dosage of
magic mushroom blue in color that grows in horse manure
The question of dosage is often confused by the variation in the source of the hallucinogenic mushroom species which is consumed.
Most psilocybe mckenna spore recreational users of Psilocybe cubensis (when grown in vitro) require a dosage of 1 to 2 gm of dried mushrooms to produce an altered state of consciousness; a clinical dosage for Psilocybe cubensis, on the other hand, had previously been reported as ranging from 3 to 5 gm of dried material. This dosage would be comparable to the amount of fungal material consumed for religious purposes in a Mazatec Indian healing and curing ceremony.
In 1982, one research team "found that the level of psilocybin and psilocin varies over a factor of 4 among various in vitro cultures of Psilocybe cubensis, while specimens from outdoors varied tenfold.
" A fresh dosage of Psilocybe cubensis in Australia would be approximately from 1 to 2 large mushrooms weighing up to as much as one fresh ounce, or as many as from 25 to 50 small mushrooms equaling the same weight amount. Ethnopharmacologist Jonathan Ott (1976, 1993) noted that he has Shrooms Print observed "the ingestion of from 0.5 gm to 5.9 gm dried weight (10 gm to 40 gm fresh)", of various species of Psilocybe. Dosage for Psilocybe subcubensis would be the same as for Psilocybe cubensis. Both of these latter two species are macroscopically alike. The usual dosage for Copelandia cyanescens required to induce psychedelic visual effects ranges from 1 to 3 large specimens (cap diameter c. 5 mm), or as many as 5 to l0 medium-sized mushrooms Inocybepsilocybin (cap diameter c. 2.5 mm); however, personal tolerance to this species may occur with continued use, and some who consume large amounts of this mushroom have reportedly ingested as many as 50 to 200 fresh specimens of various sizes.
As they say, ʼTis the season to be pickingʼ, but make It has been suggested by an Australian physician that the general public in Australia, as well as members of its drug using subculture, first became aware of the visionary properties of these psychoactive mushrooms by a visiting surfer(s), who came from either New Zealand or the United States (Hawaii) and most likely provided ethnomycological information to local surfers (McCarthy, 1971). This physician reported that the use of psychoactive mushrooms, as well as 21 other drugs "was well demonstrated during a survey on drug abuse that was conducted in Southern Queensland during l969." This survey relied on interviews of 51 people belonging to "the `surfer' subculture local beach resorts". In this report, the doctor believed that "although the survey involved surfers and their female friends, there is no suggestion that the use of these drugs is confined to this group, which constitutes but a proportion of our (Australian) young drug taking community." It is thus likely that word-of-mouth communication made a significant contribution to the increasing use of "magic mushrooms" in Australia and NZ.
More than half of Australia's beef cattle can be found in the coastal areas of Queensland and New South Wales; and the 20 to 30 inch (500-750mm) rainfall belt of Queensland, New South Wales and Northern Victoria, generally provide adequate climatic environments for the growth of psilocybian mushrooms, especially after heavy rains. It has been suggested that "Psilocybe cubensis was introduced into Australia accidentally by early settlers along with their livestock." This same
How To Grow P Azurescens spore dispersal mechanism also probably applies to Copelandia cyanescens, Panaeolus subbalteatus and several additional species known to occur in or around the dung of other ruminants. This includes Psilocybe semilanceata and the non-hallucinogenic "haymaker's" mushroom Panaeolina foenisecii. While cattle are raised in all Australian states, as well as in the central lowlands, recreational users have been known to export these psychoptic species to various areas in Australia from areas where they were collected. In the case of New Zealand, hereafter referred to as NZ, cattle are the primary source for Copelandia cyanescens, but the "liberty cap" mushroom Psilocybe semilanceata only grows in the manured soil of four-legged ruminants and not directly from manure (Jansen, Pers. Comm., 1988). The identification section of this guide documents reported locations for more than 1 dozen species of psilocybian mushrooms in Australia and NZ which most likely have been used at one time or another for recreational purposes.
ecialize in the study of Psilocybes,
despite the fact that Psilocybe semilanceata is the
most common and conspicuous species among the
Psilocybes. Also, mushroom lovers whose
interests are not purely scientific (see Chapter 7.4)
do not usually preserve their knowledge for
posterity in the form of distribution maps.
However, there is one map from 1986, which
shows the distribution pattern of Psilocybe
semilanceata across Germany (see Figure 20, p.
28).
Almost no published information is available
about locations where Psilocybe species have
been found in eastern Germany. During my own
field trips, I have discovered Psilocybe
semilanceata specimens in various locations, such
as near my hometown of Mansfeld in the Vorharz
Mountains, in the marshlands of Duben as well as
in other eastern German marshland areas. In
addition, friends who are also mycologists have
told me about finding the mushrooms in other
parts of the country. A book published in 1952 is
among the rare sources that includes details about
specimens discovered in the southeastern state of
Saxony (see Figure 16, p. 23).
The Psilocybe species grow most
abundantly on wet pastures surrounded by forest
areas. In my experience, Psilocybe semilanceata
grows in most of Germany's forestlands. The
species fruits during the fall, from late September
through October. It favors acidic soil and grassy
terrain alongside trails or around the edges of
forest lands. Specimens are generally clustered in
small groups of 30 mushrooms or less. Deer
droppings or other animal feces are usually
present at those locations, even though the
mushrooms never grow directly on top of dung.
Occasionally, extremely stunted specimens may
be found in the mountains by the side of the road.
The soil below older cow pastures provides
an excellent medium for extensive mycelial
growth. In some locations, large areas yield an
abundance of fruiting bodies, mirroring the extent
of mycelial saturation in the soil. Given adequate
moisture, maximum yields can be expected, if the
pasture was grazed at least once during the weeks
before fruiting season. However, the mushrooms
also thrive under similar conditions on horse and
sheep pastures. Such grassy areas inside forests
are usually grazing areas for deer, who provide
the soil with additional fertilization. However,
Psilocybe semilanceata does not grow in locations
where artificial fertilizer has been used. Such
pastures are often flanked by creeks or swamp
lands, which saturate the soil with water. During the
summertime, the warm climate in these wet areas
provides an excellent environment for optimal
mycelial growth. In Germany, the mushroom's
habitat ranges from the coastal areas to
mountainous regions, where the species has been
found at altitudes of up to 1,720 m (5,160 ft) above
sea level (MTB-8443, 1985). In the former
Czechoslovakia, samples have been collected at
altitudes ranging from 330 to 1,000 m (1,000 -
magic magic grow grow
own
cause of death and disease, bloated stomachs and
insanity. Beliefs such as these have survived to
the present day. They persist, for example,,, as
figures of speech, s u c h as the slick Austrian
description of a societal misfit as someone "who
ate those madness-inducing mushrooms."
But, there is another, very different,
magic mushroom legacy as well.
Flesh of the Gods for Devil Worshippers
The Old World. Mycenaean civilization
began with a mushroom trip -Mushrooms were
an ingredient in the ambrosia of Dionysus.
Porphyrius, the fourth century Latin poet and
contemporary of Emperor Konstantin, knew
that magic mushrooms were the children of the
gods.
WHO WAS THE FIRST MAGICIAN?
A quasi-cannibalistic ritual, the act of eating the
children of the gods unlocked one's power to
experience the truly divine. But not all
mushrooms enable human beings to enter the
realm of divine consciousness. This magic power
resides in only those fungi known as "fool's
mushrooms", which were considered poisonous
and believed to be the spawn of the Devil
throughout the late Middle Ages and well into
modern times.
The New World: The Aztecs in Mexico
referred to a number of small, inconspicuous
mushrooms as teonartacatl, or "flesh of the
Gods." These sacred mushrooms were eaten
during the course of rituals intended to contact
the Gods in order to learn about the world and the
realm of the divine. These magic mushroom
rituals thoroughly spooked the Catholic
Spaniards. The mushroom eaters, commonly
thought of as Devil worshippers, were hounded
by the Inquisition. Still, all good things survive
the tests of time, so the cult of magic mushroom
eaters did not become extinct. Like mycelia
underground, the cult continued to flourish, and
at the proper time in recorded history, in 1957,
the fruit of the fully grown mushroom re-surfaced
to draw widespread public attention. Valentine
and Gordon Wasson became the heroes of the
modern neo-mycophilic movement.
Back to the Old World: The revelations
and insights gained from the use of psychoactive
mushrooms were so magically wonderful, that
our native European "fool's mushrooms" - which
were gene ; considered inedible - had to be
recognized as closely related to the magic
mushrooms of Mexico, the flesh of the Aztec
Gods. The souls of magic mushrooms in Mexico
and Germany are essentially made from the same
substance: psilocybin.
Jochen Gartz has made an extraordinary
contribution to the field of mycology by embracing
Germany's magic mushrooms and the scientific
study and testing of these fungi. The research
efforts upon which this book is based require
nothing less than a fearless, brave and courageous
consciousness, free of prejudice and mycophobia. I
am convinced that a researcher's consciousness
infused by the spirit of the magic mushroom is
capable of far deeper scientific insights than we
can ever expect from the usual ivory tower
academics, isolated from reality own
cause of death and disease, bloated stomachs and
insanity. Beliefs such as these have survived to
the present day. They persist, for example,,, as
figures of speech, s u c h as the slick Austrian
description of a societal misfit as someone "who
ate those madness-inducing mushrooms."
But, there is another, very different,
magic mushroom legacy as well.
Flesh of the Gods for Devil Worshippers
The Old World. Mycenaean civilization
began with a mushroom trip -Mushrooms were
an ingredient in the ambrosia of Dionysus.
Porphyrius, the fourth century Latin poet and
contemporary of Emperor Konstantin, knew
that magic mushrooms were the children of the
gods.
WHO WAS THE FIRST MAGICIAN?
A quasi-cannibalistic ritual, the act of eating the
children of the gods unlocked one's power to
experience the truly divine. But not all
mushrooms enable human beings to enter the
realm of divine consciousness. This magic power
resides in only those fungi known as "fool's
mushrooms", which were considered poisonous
and believed to be the spawn of the Devil
throughout the late Middle Ages and well into
modern times.
The New World: The Aztecs in Mexico
referred to a number of small, inconspicuous
mushrooms as teonartacatl, or "flesh of the
Gods." These sacred mushrooms were eaten
during the course of rituals intended to contact
the Gods in order to learn about the world and the
realm of the divine. These magic mushroom
rituals thoroughly spooked the Catholic
Spaniards. The mushroom eaters, commonly
thought of as Devil worshippers, were hounded
by the Inquisition. Still, all good things survive
the tests of time, so the cult of magic mushroom
eaters did not become extinct. Like mycelia
underground, the cult continued to flourish, and
at the proper time in recorded history, in 1957,
the fruit of the fully grown mushroom re-surfaced
to draw widespread public attention. Valentine
and Gordon Wasson became the heroes of the
modern neo-mycophilic movement.
Back to the Old World: The revelations
and insights gained from the use of psychoactive
mushrooms were so magically wonderful, that
our native European "fool's mushrooms" - which
were psilocybe semilanceata stain blue gene ; considered inedible - had to be
recognized as closely related to the magic
mushrooms of Mexico, the flesh of the Aztec
Gods. The souls of magic mushrooms in Mexico
and Germany are essentially made from the same
substance: psilocybin.
Jochen Gartz has Mushroom Species made an extraordinary
contribution to the field of mycology by embracing
Germany's magic mushrooms and the scientific
study and testing of these fungi.
The research
efforts upon which this book is based require
nothing less than a fearless, brave and courageous
consciousness, free of prejudice and mycophobia. I
am convinced that a researcher's consciousness
infused by the spirit of the magic mushroom is
capable of far deeper scientific insights than we
can ever expect from the usual ivory tower
academics, isolated from reality
went in waves. Increasingly, all colors in her
immediate surroundings coalesced into shades of
green. The hallucinations were fearsome; the heads
of monsters became visible and a wall opened up
into an abyss. There was a succession of human
figure with animal heads. The next day, everything
was back to normal. The oldest child (age 14) also
saw her parents' hair color turn green, had dilated
pupils and watched geometric shapes appear on the
wall. The youngest child
(age 11) experienced cramps and lost
consciousness.
In 1960, Singer and Guzman suggested
that Panaeolus cyanescens might contain
psilocybin, because of the intense blue staining
they Copelandiacyanescenssale had observed. It wasn't until after the
intoxications in Menton had been publicized, that
a research team working with A. Hofmann
detected 0.2% of psilocybin in the mushrooms.
Considering the powerful effects, however, this
concentration appears to be too low to cause such
impressive reactions. Later on, Sandoz
Laboratories reported the level of psilocybin in
dried samples as 0.8%, along with 1.2% psilocin.
The level of psilocin, however, may have been
falsely elevated by the presence of serotonin and
its derivates in the mushroom sample that was
being tested.
According to Stijve, a mushroom sample
collected by J.W. Allen in Thailand contained
0.
4% - 1.05% of psilocin, with only trace
amounts of psilocybin; serotonin was present in
large amounts, comparable to concentrations
found in all Panaeolus species.
Apparently, Panaeolus cyanescens
produces more psilocin than psilocybin. Still, I
was able to detect 0.4% of psilocybin in mycelia
cultivated on malt agar, with no other indole
compounds present.
Discussion of the Panaeolus species
would remain incomplete without pointing out
that those subjectively terrifying psychoses
reported in 1965 cannot be attributed to a specific
mushroom ingredient, but were likely
precipitated by the circumstances (set and setting)
surrounding the incident. The effects described by J.
Allen in Hawaii after eating 20 specimens paint a
different picture altogether:
With radio music playing softly in the
dark, euphoria began to come on in waves. After
20 minutes, visions became so intense that I tried
to close my eyes. Whenever 1 did close my eyes,
my eyelids felt as if they were being sprayed from
the outside. Colors were sharp and clear, but
I always quickly opened my eyes again. Colors
were dancing like laser beams to the rhythm of
the music. The stars in the sky assembled in
clusters that reached all the way into my soul. I
was a little scared at the idea that the ocean
water might rush up all the way into our hut.
Other than that, feelings of euphoria were
overwhelming. At times, I was overcome by fits of
laughter. That night, I slept like "a prince ". The
following morning I gathered up my belongings
and had to walk back across the pasture where I
had collected the mushrooms the day before.
I
noticed a lot o
As they say, ʼTis the season to be pickingʼ, but make own
cause of death and disease, bloated stomachs and
insanity. Beliefs
identify Stuntzii such as these have survived to
the present day. They persist, for example,,, as
figures of speech, s u c h as the slick Austrian
description of a societal misfit as someone "who
ate those madness-inducing mushrooms."
But, there is another, very different,
magic mushroom legacy as well.
Flesh of the Gods for Devil Worshippers
The Old World. Mycenaean civilization
began with a mushroom trip -Mushrooms were
an ingredient in the ambrosia of Dionysus.
Porphyrius, the fourth
identfyng states in us century Latin poet and
contemporary of Emperor Konstantin, knew
that magic mushrooms were the children of the
gods.
WHO WAS THE FIRST MAGICIAN?
A quasi-cannibalistic ritual, the act of eating the
children of the gods unlocked one's power to
experience the truly divine. But not all
mushrooms enable human beings to enter the
realm of divine consciousness. This magic power
resides in only those fungi known as "fool's
mushrooms", which were
identify Stuntzii considered poisonous
and believed to be the spawn of the Devil
throughout the late Middle Ages and well into
modern times.
The New World: The Aztecs in Mexico
referred to a number of small, inconspicuous
mushrooms as teonartacatl, or "flesh of the
Gods." These sacred mushrooms were eaten
during the course of rituals intended to contact
the Gods in order to learn about the world and the
realm of the divine.
These magic mushroom
rituals thoroughly spooked the Catholic
Spaniards.
The mushroom eaters, commonly
thought of as Devil worshippers, were hounded
by the Inquisition.
Still, all good things survive
the tests of time, so the cult of magic mushroom
eaters did not become extinct. Like mycelia
underground, the cult continued to flourish, and
at the proper time in recorded history, in 1957,
the fruit of the fully grown mushroom re-surfaced
to draw widespread public attention. Valentine
and Gordon Wasson became the heroes of the
modern neo-mycophilic movement.
Back to the Old World: The revelations
and insights gained from the use of psychoactive
mushrooms were so magically wonderful, that
our native European "fool's mushrooms" - which
were gene ; considered inedible - had to be
recognized as closely related to
SUBSTRATE SUBSTRATE PERFECT
the magic
mushrooms of Mexico, the flesh of the Aztec
Gods. The souls of magic mushrooms in Mexico
and Germany are essentially made from the same
substance: psilocybin.
Jochen Gartz has made an extraordinary
contribution to the field of mycology by embracing
Germany's magic mushrooms and the scientific
study and testing of these fungi.
The research
efforts upon which this book is based require
nothing less than a fearless, brave and courageous
consciousness, free of prejudice and mycophobia. I
am convinced that a researcher's consciousness
infused by the spirit of the magic mushroom is
capable of far
Growingseasoncyanescensinwashington deeper scientific insights than we
can ever expect from the usual ivory tower
academics,
Psilocybinromania isolated from reality
different kinds of shrooms - white with gold caps Gsporesyringefreezing align="right"> Those who ingest Copelandia Buying Magic Mushroom Puffball Mushroom cyanescens, known in
Islands magic the magic of the @ 3/10/2010 10:58:11 PM