Psilocybin, the main hallucinogenic compound found in many “magic mushrooms,'' has been used for centuries as a spiritual sacrament. The representation of psychoactive mushroom use goes as far back as 9,000 years, in the form of cave paintings (1). These sacraments were used in rituals for centuries by the inhabitants of Central America, which is believed to date back at least 3,500 years (2). In 1927, future ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson first ingested edible mushrooms on his honeymoon in the Appalachian Mountains. His experience led him into the research field of ethnomycology, regularly traveling back and forth to Mexico to study different species of Mushrooms. It was in 1955 when he and his photographer earned the opportunity to participate in a hallucinogenic ritual with the indigenous inhabitants of the region known as the Mazateca. Wasson took his findings (and some samples) back to the United States, claiming to be the first Caucasians to participate in such an event. The findings were so curious that Wasson’s expeditions were funded by the CIA in 1956 as a part of MK-Ultra; the highly classified mind-control project being conducted by the U.S. government (3). The following year, Life magazine published Wasson’s article “Seeking The Magic Mushroom,” which offered the first information about hallucinogenic mushrooms to a large audience. In 1958, A Swiss chemist named Albert Hoffman (the same chemist that also discovered LSD) synthesized Psilocybin for the first time.

It’s common knowledge that Harvard University is one of the most prestigious schools in the world; what’s little known is that it was home to the Harvard Psilocybin Project in the 1960s. A young psychologist by the name of Timothy Leary began lecturing at the university in 1960 along with his assistant, Richard Alpert. The project began shortly after their arrival, with the goal of studying the effects of mind-altering substances on human consciousness. After a couple of years, other faculty members became wary of the psychiatrists' research, claiming that it lacked the necessary elements of safety. Leary and Alpert made an agreement with the university promising to eliminate undergraduate students from their research. The compromise didn’t last long though, as the following year Alpert and Leary were fired from Harvard under suspicion that they were administering hallucinogens to students off-campus. Both men were the first and only professors to be fired from the university. Alpert went on to become a world-renowned guru and authored the popular book “Be Here Now”. After his dismissal from Harvard, Leary ran for Governor of California, eventually losing to Ronald Reagan. A year later he did prison time for marijuana possession before being pardoned by California Governor Jerry Brown in 1976 (4). Along with other psychedelic substances, Psilocybin was banned by the U.S. Government in 1968, and had limited research conducted on it for decades due to it being listed as a Schedule I drug in the U.S.