History And Background Of Amanita Muscaria Mushrooms

[Micheal Jorden]

Amanita Muscaria mushrooms are noted due to their psychoactive properties, due to their containing the hallucinogenic chemicals ibotenic acid and muscimol. Also known as toadstools, these mushrooms have been associated with magic in literature. The caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland is portrayed as sitting on a single as he smokes his suspicious pipe, and in animated cartoons, Smurfs are noticed to live in Amanita mushrooms. Of course, circles of mushrooms growing in the forest are frequently referred to as fairy rings.

 

It has been reported that as early as 2000 B.C. people in India and Iran were using for religious purposes a place called Soma or Haoma. A Hindu religious hymn, the Rig Veda also refers to the plant, Soma, though it isn't specifically identified. It is believed this plant was the Amanita Muscaria mushroom, a principle popularized in the book "Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality" by R. Gordon Wasson. Other authors have argued that the manna from heaven mentioned in the Bible is really a reference to magic mushrooms. Images of mushrooms have now been identified in cave drawings dated to 3500 B.C.

 

In the church of Plaincourault Abbey in Indre, France is just a fresco painted in 1291 A.D. of Adam and Eve standing on either side of the tree of understanding of good and evil. A serpent is entwined around the tree, which looks unmistakably like a group of Amanita Muscaria mushrooms. Could it be true that the apple from the Garden of Eden could possibly have now been an hallucinogenic mushroom?

Siberian shamans are said to possess ingested Amanita Muscaria for the purpose of reaching a state of ecstasy so they could perform both physical and spiritual healing. Viking warriors reportedly used the mushroom during the warmth of battle so they could go into a rage and perform otherwise impossible deeds.

In the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia the medicinal utilization of Amanita Muscaria topically to deal with arthritis has also been reported anecdotally. L. Lewin, writer of "Phantastica Paolo delic gummies: Narcotic and Stimulating Drugs: Their Use and Abuse" (Kegan Paul, 1931) wrote that the fly-agaric was in great demand by the Siberian tribes of northeast Asia, and tribes who lived in areas where in actuality the mushroom grew would trade them with tribes who lived where it may not be found. In one occasion one reindeer was traded for starters mushroom.

It has been theorized that the toxicity of Amanitas Muscaria varies in accordance with location and season, along with how the mushrooms are dried.

Finally, it must be noted that mcdougal of this article does not in any way recommend, encourage nor endorse the usage of Amanita Muscaria mushrooms. It is believed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists Amanita Muscaria as a poison. Some firms that sell these mushrooms refer for them as "poisonous non-consumables."