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A. Beneficial Activities of Saprobic Fungi 7. Recreational Uses of Mushrooms
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7.
The Recreational Use of Mushrooms a. Mushrooms and the Search for Deity. The “mushroom parties” which have become prevalent among young Americans are not unique to this day and age. The use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Latin and South America was reported by European and Mexican writers centuries ago. Their use was first recorded from 1502, the year Montezuma was coronated. The Aztecs and other natives called these fungi Teonanactl, when translated means “God’s Flesh”. Teonanactl now seems to be a term used for any hallucinogenic or so-called “sacred mushroom.” The knowledge of these mushrooms and their use were carefully concealed by the Indians until earlier in this century. Safford (1915) claimed that mushrooms were not a part of tribal rites, that the Spanish writers had mistaken young peyote cactus buttons (Lophophora). Reko, a Mexican doctor, however, disagreed with Safford’s contentions (Reko 1919, De los nombres botanicos Aztecos. El Mex. Ant. 1:113-157). In 1936, Weitlaner, an anthropologist, obtained mushrooms used in ceremonies and sent specimens to an ethnobotanist, R. E. Schultes of Harvard Univ., who identified some of the mushrooms as Panaeolus. Schultes (1939, Identification of Teonanactl, a narcotic Basidiomycete of the Aztecs. Bot. Mus. Leafl. Harvard Univ. 7:37-54) and others made serious attempts to determine exactly what mushrooms were used. The greatest spark of interest came from the excursions of a New York banker, R.G. Wasson, who with his wife and associates went into the Mazatec villages to seek the “sacred Mushroom” (Life, May 13, 1957). According to Wasson (1963, The hallucinogenic mushrooms of Mexico. Bot. Mus. Leafl. Harvard Univ. 20: 25-73), four North American citizens and a French mycologist, Dr. Roger Heim, took part in mushroom rites in Mexico. This was the beginning of an upsurge of interest in hallucinogenic mushrooms, including archeological, anthropological, taxonomic, and psychophysiological. Most of the hallucinogenic mushrooms used in the religious ceremonies of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico were identified by the mycologist Rolf Singer (1958, Mycological investigations on Teonanactl, the Mexican hallucinogenic mushrooms. Mycologia 50: 239-303), as belonging to the genus Psilocybe. Several species of Psilocybe (Fig. 7-67),
Fig. 7-67. Psilocybe cubensis, one of the most widespread hallucinogenic mushrooms in the southeastern U.S. Conocybe, Copelandia (Fig. 7-68),
Fig. 7-68. Copelandia cyanescens, supposedly the 'mother' of all psychotropic mushrooms. Panaeolus, Stropharia, Pholiota and Nematoloma have subsequently been found to be hallucinogenic. Many of the taxonomic problems in these groups were studied by Roger Heim (1956, Les champignons divinatoires utilises dans de Indiens Mazateques. Compte Rendus Acad. Sci. 242:965-968) and Singer and Smith (1958, New species of Psilocybe. Mycologia 50:141-142.). All of these are gilled mushrooms, without a volva, but usually with a membranous annulus around the stalk. A number of microscopic features such as cystidia, spore wall thickness and color, and the manner of gill attachment are used to distinguish these groups. Whenever it became known that the mushrooms being used by the Mazatecs had hallucinogenic properties, the search was on for the determination of the compounds involved. Roger Heim, who accompanied the Wassons on their visits to the Aztec villages, was instrumental in getting specimens to chemists in Europe. Albert Hofmann and his colleagues at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland (who incidentally, first synthesized LSD in 1948), also determined the nature of the mushroom hallucinogens in 1958. Two closely related indolic compounds were identified and given the names psilocybin and psilocin. Psilocybin contains a phosphorus group; psilocin does not. The 4-substituted tryptamines have since been isolated from more than 20 species of the genera mentioned earlier. All of the species on the list of hallucinogens possess a unique chemical character. The context of the basidiocarp discolors bluish when exposed to air. This color reaction is caused by the dephosphorylation of psilocybin to psilocin and subsequent oxidation of that compound to form a blue coloration (Fig. 7-69) (Levine, 1967. Formation of blue oxidation product from psilocybin. Nature 215:1292-1293).
Fig. 7-69. Reaction producing blue colored product from psilocybin. The color reaction of psilocybin has created
considerable interest among mycologists and has resulted in the
re-examination of several mushroom groups.
May I quickly interject, however, that to my knowledge there has been no
research to determine the blue staining compound in other mushrooms,
many of which are very toxic. Principal physiological effects of these compounds,
while still not completely understood, seem to be to occupy the
serotonin receptor site at synaptic junctions, in this manner interfering
with the transmitter-receptor system to the brain. The serotonin synapse
is normally inhibitory. When psilocin or psilocybin interferes with the
inhibitory synapse, the overall effect is an excessive stimulation of
cells that may then result in hallucinations, or whatever effects over stimulation
to the brain may incite. The medical profession has become extremely
interested in these compounds for treating chronic alcoholics and
schizophrenic patients. Psilocybin has been synthesized commercially,
and there has been an enormous amount of animal research done on this
compound. Man has long been interested in the effects
hallucinogenic mushrooms have on an individual. Sahagun (1509. Historia
general de las cosas de Neuva Espana), a Franciscan monk, provides us
with perhaps one of the earliest documents on the subject. Here is an
excerpt from his account (Lowy, 1971. Some observations on ethnomycology
in Mexico and Guatemala. Revista/Review Interamericana). “The first
things which they ate at the gathering were small, black mushrooms which
they called nacatl. These are intoxicating and cause visions to
be seen and even provide sensuousness. They ate these mushrooms before
dawn and they also drank chocolate before daylight. They ate these
little mushrooms with honey, and when they began to be excited by them,
they began to dance, some singing, others weeping, for they were already
intoxicated by mushrooms. Some did not want to sing but sat down in
their quarters and remained there as if in a meditative mood. Some saw
themselves dying in a vision and wept; others saw themselves being eaten
by wild beasts; and imagined that they were rich and possessed many
slaves. When the intoxification from the little mushrooms had passed,
they talked over among themselves the visions which they had seen.” Wasson and Wasson (1957. Mushrooms, Russia and history. Pantheon books. NY), Lowy (1971, ibid), and others have reported similar experiences after participating in ceremonial rites in which species of Psilocybe were used (Fig. 7-70).
Fig. 7-70. Gordon Wasson participating in a tribal religious rite. In a great majority of cases a mood of hilarity
occurs approximately 15 minutes after these mushrooms are consumed.
Certain individuals, however, are always thrown in periods of deep
depression. The mood one is in at a particular time greatly influences
the effects of the hallucinogen. Studies from various groups have
confirmed psilocybin’s powerful psychological activity.
In normal patients, administration of psilocybin physiologically affects
the autonomic nervous system. Changes in blood pressure, pulse rate,
increase in deep tendon reflexes, and dilation of the pupils were the
main responses (Tyler, 1971. Chemotaxonomy in the basidiomycetes.
In: Petersen. Evolution in the higher basidiomycetes, Univ. Tenn.
Press, Knoxville, TN). The least understood aspects of the topic of hallucinogenic mushrooms are those of anthropology. It is noteworthy to find a contemporary culture in which some species of mushrooms constitute a significant link between a people and their deity. We do not know how far back the use of mushrooms in religious ceremonies may go. Dr. Bernard Lowy of LSU has given us much insight into this question through his fascinating publications on mushroom stones found in various areas of Latin America (Lowy, 1970, ibid). Carl Sapper (1898. Pilzformige Gotzenbilder aus Guatemala und San Salvador. Globus 73:327), a German archeologist, first reported these stones (Fig. 7-71).
Fig. 7-71. Mushroom stones, once very common in Latin America. Borhegyi (1957. Mushroom stones of Middle America. In: Wasson & Wasson, ibid)
has presented data which show that such stones date back to almost 2000
B.C. The most recent were approximately 900 A.D. Mushroom stones, along
with emblems of mushrooms in codices, strongly imply that hallucinogenic
mushrooms had great ritualistic significance. It is tempting to
postulate the existence among the ancient Mayas of some kind of mushroom
cult associated perhaps with the elite or priestly class. The close
correlation of where mushroom stones have been found and the general
area where hallucinogenic species have been used, even into the 20th
century, is very suggestive. You may have become aware either through newspapers or television reports that many Floridians, mostly of the younger generation, have discovered that hallucinogenic mushrooms occur locally. Chief among these is Psilocybe cubensis, one of a number of species that grow on manure piles, rich pasture soils, or perhaps on old decaying cellulosic substrates. A current fad among present-day recreational users is to incorporate a few specimens of the mushroom into milkshakes, or consume them directly (Fig. 7-72).
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Fig. 7-72. A cartoon typical of the 70's.
This has been of concern to law enforcement
agents since psilocybin and psilocin are “schedule one drugs”,
possession of which carries the same penalties as LSD. But the use of
mushrooms for recreational purposes should be of greater concern to the
“users” themselves. Taking “trips” on mushrooms is a much
greater danger than “tripping” on some other of the drugs in current
use. It would be highly unlikely than anyone would be harmed by smoking
a leaf that resembled a marijuana leaf, or by consuming a cactus
believed to be the desired Lophophora.
Misidentification of a mushroom could be very costly, even fatal.
Compared to the total number of species of mushrooms, the poisonous ones
are few. Nevertheless, the deadliness of some of the mushrooms has been
recognized for centuries. Species determination is often difficult, and
since poisonous and prized edible ones frequently occur in the same
genus, there is ample opportunity for confusion. Therefore, it is
essential that you know the species of mushroom before you eat it. Considerable evidence suggests that toxicity of a
particular species may vary with ecological conditions or geographical
locations. It has been observed that some people can eat with impunity
mushrooms that provoke poisoning in others. All of these factors are of
immediate concern since we do have an enormous number of deadly
poisonous species in Florida, and also because so little is known about
the effects of overuse or continued use of psilocybin, and the presence
of toxic material in certain hallucinogenic species (Petersen, 1971. The
evolution of higher basidiomycetes. Univ. of Tennessee Press, Knoxville,
TN). There are frequent warnings in the literature on Psilocybe
about the overuse or continuous use of these psychotropic compounds.
First, an overdose may be fatal, and second, a continuous use may cause
permanent insanity. This immediately raises questions, what constitutes
an overdose? Can one
consume 3 mushrooms without ill effects? Drug cult literature commonly
mentions this amount. Since these compounds are metabolites of the
fungus, will those grown during the springtime in Mexico have the same
psilocybin content as those grown during the summer in Florida?
We have evidence from hospital reports that numerous individuals
have problems with consuming specimens of Psilocybe
collected during wet winter months in Florida. Data suggest that the
levels of psilocybin may be variable depending on climatic and seasonal
differences. What are the toxic materials reported in certain
hallucinogenic species? Could concentrations of toxins vary from one
collection to the next? Another grave problem is that of misidentification or
confusion of mushrooms. There are several mushrooms that grow in the
same habitat with Psilocybe
and Panaeolus. Many of these,
such as species of Chlorophyllum,
Galerina, Stropharia, Conocybe,
and even Amanita of the
Lepidella section, can be very easily confused by an amateur with
hallucinogenic species. Therefore, if you are inclined to experiment
with consuming mushrooms and are not positive about the identification,
save a piece for the doctor! b. Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. Gordon Wasson, a New York Banker who joined Roger Heim and others during their search for the hallucinogenic mushrooms used by Latin American natives, became very interested in the use of such mushrooms by Asian cultures. Wasson became world famous with his publication Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality (Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Inc., N.Y., 1968). In this publication, Wasson concluded that the “fly agaric”, Amanita muscaria (Fig. 7-73), might have been used by Stone Age man both as a relief from the rigors and monotony of everyday life, as a vehicle by which to communicate with the gods, and to travel through space and time.
Fig. 7-73. A yellow variety of Amanita muscaria. He reasoned that Vedic priests used this agaric some 3000 years ago to attain ecstacy and see life-everlasting. He has interpreted the Soma hymns of the sacred Indian book, the Rig Veda, as being the glorification of the physical beauty of Amanita muscaria (Fig. 7-74) and the beatification of the experience under its influence.
Fig. 7-74. The common variety of the 'fly agaric', Amanita muscaria. Allegro (The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. Bantam
Press, N.Y. 1971) speculated that the fly agaric might have been the
source or inspiration for major religions of the Near East. Lowy
hypothesized that Meso-Americans might have used the fly agaric in the
manner they still use hallucinogenic mushrooms (Mushroom symbolism in
Maya codices. Mycologia 64:816-. 821. 1972) This notion was based on the
abundance of this species in the area and the finding of Mayan paintings
of a mushroom offering in which the stylized mushroom cap suggest the
warts of Amanita muscaria. The
only historical documented use of
A. muscaria comes to us in the form of diaries and articles written
over the past 300 years by Europeans who had been to Siberia where many
native tribes used this mushroom as either a sacred or a secular
intoxicant. Evidence from various studies indicates that the fly
agaric’s effects start about 20 minutes after ingestion and last for
hours. First it acts like a soporific; one goes to sleep for about two
hours, a vision-filled sleep from which one cannot be roused. After
waking from this sleep, some persons enjoy a feeling of elation that can
last three to four hours, during which they enjoy performing
extraordinary feats of physical effort. Not everyone, however,
experiences the same set of symptoms, and even a person who is strongly
affected by a single mushroom can remain completely unaffected another
time after eating many of them. Seasonal toxicity of these fungi has
been confirmed. Since species of Amanita
are mycorrhizal, variability in toxicity could be due to the host on
which they grow symbiotically. There is a striking similarity found
between the current use of the fly agaric in Siberia and that of Soma in
India, it is the so-called second
form of the experience that far eastern cults gained from drinking
urine of those who had consumed A.
muscaria, i.e. a more intense and prolonged experience. Although
very repulsive to western civilizations, the following account seems to
have been a common practice in southern Russia during the 18th century:
“Those who are rich among them lay up large provisions of these
mushrooms for the winter. When they make a feast, they pour water upon
some of these mushrooms, and boil them. They then drink the liquor,
which intoxicates them. The poorer sort, who cannot afford to lay in
store of these mushrooms, post themselves on these occasions round the
huts of the rich, and watch the opportunity of the guest coming down to
make water; and then they hold a wooden bowl to receive the urine, which
they drink of greedily, and having still some virtue of the mushroom in
it; and by this way they also get drunk.” Death from Amanita
muscaria, or the related species A.
pantherina, is rare, or rarely reported, but in one case two dozen
specimens of the fly agaric, eaten by mistake for the edible A.
caesarea, caused collapse within a half hour and convulsions so
pronounced that the man broke the bed on which he was lying. He then
lost consciousness and died a day later. In another case, however, where
an equal number of fly agarics were eaten, the victim was found running
naked through a national forest shouting incoherently and appearing
uncoordinated, but he suffered no serious after effects. Normally, 10 or
more specimens of A. muscaria
can be fatal (Fischer, O. Mushroom poisoning, in C.H. Kauffman’s The gilled mushrooms of Michigan and the Great Lakes region.
Dover Pub., N.Y. 1971). The fly agaric is thought to have derived its
name from its use as a fly killer. In Japan, a derivative of muscimol
is presently being used as a pesticide. Wasson, however, suggested
that the name might have come from the mythical association of madness
with the fly. To quote him: “People who are possessed (throughout the
Middle Ages and earlier) were believed to be infested with flies. This
was true throughout northern Eurasia, Russia, Denmark, Germany, England,
the fly spelled insanity. When one was treated, they waited for a fly to
emerge from the person’s nostril and they were cured. The mad
mushroom, the Bolond gomba of the Hungarians, the NarrenSchwamm of
Germany, these were the fly agarics.” Very little is known about the
use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in North America. Wasson (Traditional
Use in North America of Amanita
muscaria for Divinatory Purposes, J. Psych. Drugs 11:25-27) gave
evidence that indicated some groups of Algonkian natives in Canada
consulted the fly agaric for divine guidance. They called it miskwedo
of which there is an account by Keewaydinoquay (1979, J. Psychedelic
Drugs 11: 29-31), a Native American from south central Canada. Her
account clearly indicates that Amanita
muscaria has been used for generations and continues to this day.
Pike and Cowan (Mushroom Ritual versus Christianity. Pract. Anthropology
6:145-150. 1959) point out the difficulties Christian missionaries have
had in ministering to the Mazateco Indians because they equated Jesus
Christ with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Oso (Mushrooms and the Yoruba
People of Nigeria. Mycologia 67: 311-319) notes that the Yoruba tribes
have used mushrooms for many years. While they recognize many edible and
poisonous species, they do not appear to have had an interest in
mushrooms for their hallucinogenic properties. One of their most common
edible species is Termitomyces
robusta, a giant mushroom reaching 100 cm diam., which grows on
termite mounds. In olden days, some of the natives held the belief that
the appearance of this fungus was controlled by a god. Each year women
of the village would make an offering to appease this god. It was not until the 1960s that the toxic and hallucinogenic properties of Amanita were discovered. Three related compounds, ibotenic acid, muscimol, and muscazone, all isoxazole derivatives, have been found in the fly agaric. These compounds have also been found in certain species of Tricholoma and Panaeolus. Amanita muscaria and A. pantherina also have muscarine, the first mushroom toxin to be identified. These will be discussed later in the section on Poisonous & Edible Mushrooms. |
