soma divine mushroom of immortality by r gordon wasson

(For those of your interested in neurobiology, muscimol is a substrate analog for GABA, and ibotenate is a substrate analog for NMDA ). They are hallucinogenic and psychoactive, acting on the nervous system as neuropeptide receptors. Ingestion of these toxins results in 'expanded perception,' talking to God, macropsia (perceiving objects as enlarged), rapid heartbeat, dry mouth. Most fruiting bodies contain two toxins, ibotenic acid and muscimol. Both form mycorrhizal associations with conifers in the same area.īesides the brightly colored and large fruiting bodies, there is substantial interest in this mushroom because it is poisonous and hallucinogenic. Since Amanita muscaria is brightly colored and easily seen from a distance, they are used by many mushroom hunters as an indicator that they should be looking nearby for the more difficult to spot Boletus. I wonder why it's smiling.?Īmanita muscaria often fruits in the same areas and at the same time as the delicious edible mushroom Boletus edulis. You can even win a car, if you believe the smiling happy Amanita. Amanita muscaria can even be seen next to the four-leaf clover on this Lottery kiosk in downtown Frankfurt, shown below. Apparently Amanita muscaria is considered good luck in many parts of Europe. I especially like the Santa-like figure with the mushroom, the far right ornament. The image to the right are some Christmas ornaments I bought in Germany a couple years ago.

The flies become inebriated and crash into walls and die. It's called the fly agaric because in some regions little pieces of the mushroom are placed in milk to attract flies. They can grow to be quite large, up to a foot high with caps as big as diner plates.

There seems to be a geographical distribution in North America, with the red form being found mostly in the west and deep south, the orange form in the midwest and east, the yellow form mostly in the east, and the white form reportedly scattered throughout the country. alba), but there are always white patches on the cap- remnants of the universal veil that covered the button stage. The color is highly variable, from bright red ( A. It is a very common mushroom in conifer areas all throughout the northern hemisphere. This month's fungus is an interesting one for many reasons. Also be sure to look at some seasonal Christmas Fungi- check out my popular and newly revamped Fungi that are necessary for a merry Christmas Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for December 1999 This month's fungus is Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric.

Soma divine mushroom of immortality by r gordon wasson