If you thought Psilocybe Mushrooms were magical, then you only know card tricks because the real magic comes from a much different mushroom. It is called Amanita Muscaria, also known as Fly Agaric. The mushroom is depicted throughout history, folklore, art, video games, religion and even Christmas. Aside from being in the kingdom of fungi, this mushroom has no relation to our trusty psilocybin mushrooms.

Amanita Muscaria is a mysterious mushroom with an unclear but long past. It is not clear where its use started but it’s heavily influenced from literature, art and religion.

These mushrooms go way back, all the way to the time of the Rigveda. The Rigveda as old as 1700 B.C., an ancient Indian holy collection of hymns and among the four canonical texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas. It is believed by many that the Amanita Muscaria is the Soma of the Rigveda, a ritualistic drink. Some of its verses are still used as Hindu prayers, making it one of the world’s oldest religious text in use. The Rigveda has many accounts of the origin of the world, hymns praising the gods, prosperity and things of that sort.

Shrooms and Super Mario

In popular culture it is seen in one of the most famous video games of all time, Super Mario Bros. Apparently Mario and Luigi grow somehow every time they eat what obviously is the Amanita Muscaria mushroom. Actually their minds might “grow”, if anything mushrooms are healthy and aren’t very caloric.

Shrooms and Christmas

The most interesting fact to me is the association with Christmas. Take a look at a common christmas tree surrounded by all the gifts wrapped in red and white, then look at where Amanita Muscaria grows. They grow at the base of Pine, Spruce, Cedar, Fir and all types of these “Christmas” trees. It could be a crazy coincidence but you be the judge. Although now considered a cosmopolitan species, it is proposed that its origin (surprisingly enough, the same place as Old St. Nick himself) is in the forests of Siberia which are inhabited by all types of trees we commonly know as Christmas trees. Reindeer don’t fly as we all know, but if they were to eat these mushrooms off the trees, they would begin tripping (or flying). What about the stockings (red and white) hanging over the fire-place? Is it just a coincidence, or did this stem from people drying red and white mushrooms over the fire place.

The Trip

Tripping on Amanita Muscaria is not something common nor will you ever meet many people who have taken them. It is another world compared to Psilocybin mushroom. Unlike Psilocybin, Amanita Muscaria is a Deliriant. I myself haven’t tried them yet. It is nothing like common psilocybe cubensis although there are some similarities, such as euphoria, a sense of well-being, peacefulness and just an altogether brilliant state of mind. Amanita stretches beyond Psilocybin. Out of Body experiences are quite common. In other words, instead of visual distortions you are actually seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and feeling things that aren’t in reality. Welcome to real tripping. The bad side of this dissociative dream state is the fact that it could also turn into a long, long nightmare. So bear in mind, if you have the slightest negativity working in your brain these mushrooms will terrorize you.

Your conversations are going to sound crazy, like a symptom of schizophrenia, disorganized speech is common. You can’t hold a conversation with anyone, you jump from topic to topic without making any connection whatsoever.

Synesthesia: Picture smelling numbers or tasting sounds. Your perception is totally unrealistic and somewhat crazy. Your brain starts working in weird ways and you lose sense of time and space. You can stare at things for hours and it’ll feel like minutes. You can be completely sedated or energetic enough to run laps.

Perspiration, runny nose, teary eyes and salivation are quite common.

Nausea, twitching, trembling, stomach cramps and vomiting are also common.

You must also remember that these symptoms/side effects are also varying depending on age, dose, weight and even time of year the mushrooms were picked in. The time of year can effect the potency of mushrooms grown.

The Science Behind Amanita Muscaria

The main active ingredient in Amanita Muscaria is Muscimol & Ibotenic acid (which metabolizes into Muscimol). I believe the Ibotenic acid is the reason why people have adverse stomach problems. The funny thing is that muscimol is excreted in your urine completely unchanged and technically, you can drink your urine and trip without the adverse side effects from the Ibotenic Acid.

The bottom line is that this drug is for the big boys, there are a lot of risks and adverse side effects that come with the mysterious Amanita Muscaria. Proceed with much caution if in fact you do proceed at all.

[maxbutton id=”23″]