PSILOCYBIN :The Magic Mushroom Story

Mushrooms have been taken for many thousands of years during sacred rituals and this can be acknowledged while looking at stone carvings, cave drawings and art. The Maya civilization dates back more than 4000 years, however, it has only been in the last century that their mushroom stones have come to the attention of archaeologists. The Mayans were believed to have a religious mushroom cult, where they took Psychoactive mushrooms to gain a mirror into the past and knowledge of the future. It has since been acknowledged that the Mayans had a deeper understanding of this universe and beyond. They predicted changes for mankind in the future, and we are now living in those times. 

It is hard to say what the Mayans witnessed during those rituals, as Spanish Priests on discovering the Mayan's books and literature, set fire to it all, calling it devil worship and infernal delights. 

Could it have been that it was the spiritual impact of the magic fungi on the human psyche that first gave birth to mans self awareness, self realization and religion to begin with? Many alternative historians argue that the magic mushroom fungi played a role in the foundation of modern Christianity. Whoever put the book of revelations together was no doubt under the influence of hallucinogenic fungi of some sort. Whether the book of revelations was a look into the future or a simple glance into another dimension by the person under the influence is still unsure. 

                  The magic mushroom has also been called 'Gods flesh'




In 1957 Robert Gordon Wasson brought news of a mysterious psychoactive mushroom to a conservative scientific western world. His book publication 'Mushrooms, Russia and History' and then his article in 'Life' magazine 'Seeking the Magic Mushroom' Caused a storm of interest in this tiny fungus that grows naturally upon the earth. 

After the major interest that was shown in Wasson's findings, westerners flocked to Mexico to seek out and find this magic fungus. During this time it was unknown to many that magic mushrooms can be found almost anywhere on the planet and in some cases, in your front yard. 

The Mazatec people are an indigenous people who inhabit an erea known as the Sierra Mazateca in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. They carry out sacred rituals involving the consumption of psychoactive mushrooms where the mushroom is taken like Christians would take holy communion. Sacred prayers are mumbled while dance and chanting takes place. The elders oversee  the ritual and divide out the fungus in the form of a drink. It was these very rituals that Wasson took part in and then took his knowledge home for others to learn from. However, it has been claimed that when an outsider is allowed to take part in these sacred rituals, they no longer serve the same purpose or have the same power and effect. It brings forth the question, can we really study another culture using ethnographic fieldwork? They will always be aware that you are there and of course they will then act differently. 

A Mazatec Mushroom Ritual

It was the work of Wasson that helped the 'psychedelic sixties' break out in the form of a mass cultural movement. Many now took mushrooms for their creative value, like artists and musicians. However, the sacred mushroom soon faded again during the mid 60s as its chemical cousin 'LSD' became available to the public on mass. People like Leary then began to ill-advise people to 'turn on tune in and drop out'. According to the author of 'The Psilocybin Solution' Simon Powell, Leary would have been better telling people to 'turn on, tune in and listen.'  Powell also explains that Leary was more of a acid taking prankster, rather than someone who had an interest in human consciousness and the impact of the sacred mushroom on our evolution. 

There is something deeply wrong with modern society when something as natural as a mushroom is illegal, yet destructive man made drugs are made available to everyone. Cigarettes, alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs kill millions of people worldwide on a yearly basis. Mushrooms provide a direct link to the wisdom of nature and the meaning of life. The sacred fungus is a profound enhancer of consciousness, so who is it that wants to keep this from mankind?