Magic Mushrooms

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Continuing my investigation of psychedelics that produce altered states of consciousness I would like to look now at magic mushrooms. Sacred, hallucinogenic mushrooms belong primarily to the genuses Psilocybe, Panaeolus, and Copelandia. Each has psychoactive compounds: the tryptamine psychedelics psilocin and psilocybin and ingesting these provokes significant perceptual changes. Although the effects from eating are profoundly different, sacred mushrooms can easily be mistaken for regular ones in the wild. The primary means to identifying which are which is that ones containing psilocybin bruise blue when handled.

Psychedelic shrooms have played a part in human culture for at least as long as recorded history. People like Terence McKenna would argue for a much longer period even than that, believing that for as long as humans witnessed animals consuming such food, our ancestors would have copied the behavior (in this way learning what was and was not edible). Cave paintings on the Tassili Plateau in northern Algeria depict humans decorated with mushrooms. Their use was also apparently widespread in Latin America; between 3000 BCE and 1000 BCE temples dedicated to mushroom gods were built and stone icons fashioned in the shape of mushrooms. Their continued use was noted by Spanish colonists when they arrived on the scene. The ritual use of magic mushrooms was then rediscovered by anthropologists in the twentieth century. A key breakthrough came in the 1950s when amateur mycologist Gordon Wasson became interested in the traditional use of mushrooms in Mexico. Wasson was later allowed to participate in a ceremony in 1955 and the following year the active ingredients (psilocybin and psilocin) were isolated and a synthesis technique was developed. The year after Wasson published the first popular article on the psychoactive mushshrooms in Life magazine and soon after the shrooms became part of the psychedelic movement. Recreational and therapeutic use became relatively widespread in the West during the 1960s until 1968 when possession became illegal. In 1970 they were added to the Controlled Substances Act, like DMT, and legitimate research slowed and came to an end from the 1980s for two decades. In recent years however the effects of psilocybin on the brain and mind have begun to be studied again.

Part man - part animal figure decorated with mushrooms.
Tassili Plateau.

Once ingested the psilocybin is broken down into psilocin, which is the most active component of the mushroom. Both psilocybin and psilocin are closely related to DMT. Psilocin is also a close relative of serotonin and its resemblance to this neurotransmitter is responsible for its psychoactive properties. Exactly how these components translate into a psychedelic experience is unknown. One theory is that the different compounds increase activity of the sensorimotor gating system of the brain, which usually suppresses the majority of sensory stimuli from conscious awareness. The conscious mind is therefore bombarded with stimuli that are usually blocked while under the effects of psychoactive mushrooms.

As with ayahuasca, the details of each trip vary from person to person and at different times and settings for the same individual. Basically though the sacred mushrooms will serve as mental amplifiers, whether for good or ill. Visual and auditory alterations, and a combination of the two, are often reported. Along with the hallucinations may be a feeling of euphoria and a heightened awareness of the inner self and possible a sense of understanding the infinite. These results are often preceded with a feeling of anxiety upon consuming the magic mushrooms and once in full effect the subject may experience wildly fluctuating emotional states, not all of which may be good. As with ayahuasca, the subject may report a near-death experience and / or conversations with external, autonomous “alien” entities along with visits to their worlds. Repressed memories may surface (and these can trigger psychological crises). The awareness of time may skew and minutes may seem like days and when the user finishes his trip he may feel that he has finally awoken from a state of sleep. This new awareness seems like the natural, correct one, though this feeling is often lost within 24 hours. Artistic skills may improve along with a desire to express oneself.

A condensed report of a journey on magic mushrooms is as follows:

I went deeper and deeper inside – I traveled through various realms, some of them beautiful, others magical, and others quite scary. It felt kind of like being in a computer game, where you have to figure out a way to go from level to level and there are hidden dangers, distractions, and traps awaiting you everywhere. Finally, I broke through to the top level – and to my amazement, I became simultaneously all the people (and other intelligent beings) who ever lived, are alive, and will ever live in the universe. I realized that there is only one Actor playing all the parts – it is God, and I am him…there is no hell…and God loves every single one of us the way we are…We cannot really die or get hurt and we have potential to awaken to who we really are…I saw how perfect the story is and that everything is fine the way it is…each of us has to work on healing himself or herself. There is no need to suffer or to be unhappy ever again.

Conclusion

As can be seen, ingesting magic mushrooms produces much the same effects as injected DMT (from the experiments conducted by Dr Rick Strassman) and from drinking the sacred brew ayahuasca (which contains DMT). The hallucinogenic effects and the feelings engendered by these sacred mushrooms then compare with altered states of consciousness brought about by diverse practices such as static meditation, dynamic meditation, sleep deprivation, starvation and so on. Magic mushrooms are one way to find communion with the divine.

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Ayahuasca

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Ayahuasca is often informally called the Sacred Vine of the Amazon. Despite (or because of) the hallucinogenic properties the brew can engender it is popular in the Upper Amazon area as a valid (and legal) accompaniment to religious ceremonies. It is made from the stem of a jungle vine and in most areas it contains at least one more additive: the leaves of a DMT-containing plant. From the Upper Amazon the tea has spread throughout South America and each country, and each religious group within that locale, has an idiosyncratic approach to the preparation and consumption of ayahuasca, which is the name of both the vine and the finally prepared brew. It was made popular to non-natives by Terence McKenna.

One of the more interesting properties of ayahuasca, the tea, is that it is designed to overcome the problem that DMT, the active ingredient, is in fact inactive when taken orally by itself as it is immediately destroyed in the gut and liver. By combining it with harmine, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), the DMT is able to cross the blood-brain barrier and begin acting on serotonin receptors in the brain. Quite how the Amazonian Indians came to understand this hundreds of years ago is a mystery.

Users believe that it is the brew itself that is the teacher. Although each session is overlooked by an experienced leader, he is not the teacher, only the guide and supervisor. He will suggest that a simple diet be undertaken leading up to the session accompanied by sexual abstinence. This process itself leads to a mild altered state of consciousness and can bring about lucid dreaming (dreaming while being aware that you are doing so).

The actual experience of taking ayahuasca varies from participant to participant. Set refers to the pre-existing psychological makeup of a user while setting describes the environment the hallucinogenic is taken in. Both affect different subjects in different ways and a change in set or setting can produce profoundly different reactions to the psychedelic in the same user. In addition different strengths of ayahuasca also produce different results from mild to extreme. The experience then is not fixed and not uniformly common to all people.

On the other hand, taking the hallucinogenic with a strong enough potency does allow everyone to enter mysterious altered states of consciousness where a person may confront the great questions and find appropriate answers. It is here that the psychedelic experience can become a sacred one. Other users are seeking answers to questions and issues that are more personal and less universal. For example, perhaps they are experiencing great change in their lives and seek some guidance, or wish to develop their creativity or find a way to examine their own psyche. Others want some kind of healing experience or to overcome a feeling of shame they may have been carrying with them for a considerable length of time. With use those original aims may come to be supplanted with desires that are a little more vague but equally compelling: wanting to go deeper into the psychedelic experience, wanting to let go completely or discovering where anxiety comes from.

Despite the potential for variety among people and the different motivations for wanting to take ayahuasca in the first place, it is nevertheless true that certain motifs are reported again and again by different people at different times and in different situations. A common, and very interesting phenomena, is contact with “alien” beings and visits to worlds of high technology.

One such (condensed) report is from a forty five year old American male, who had the following experience while under the influence of ayahuasca.

In my case my abduction did not take place in the physical world, as we normally know it. It took place on another level…All of a sudden, I was bathed in this white light from above, it felt like antigravity energy that lifted me up and out of my bed, and through the roof…It seemed to separate me in two and life and ethereal duplicate of my body.

I was transported into a room within a ship, very clean, very sterile, well maintained, stainless steel and white, very muted white lighting, full spectrum. I was on a table…I was strapped down by the arms and legs…Right away I felt that my consciousness was being sedated, but whatever it was that was sedating me was not enough. I immediately became conscious of my surroundings and tried to sit up and look around; at that point I became acutely aware of these beings – tall, skinny, kind of lanky, very thin-featured but with a praying mantis head, triangular and very bug like. I got the feeling they were very conscious and technologically advanced…

Around me, around this table were instruments, tools of some kind, probes, strange manipulating instruments…At some point they started adjusting the instruments and moving closer with them. I felt a little fearful but they assured me that it would be OK…I am not sure if they inserted devices or not. I get the feeling they were just looking and checking and taking some small biopsies and some blood and sperm and samples from my gut and bacteria that were in my body. Every time I felt uneasy, they somehow seemed to soothe my brain…I said, “I have to go”. They said, “OK”…I was quickly transported back…and merged back with my self.

The subject was subsequently “abducted” twice more on the same trip. The second abduction was not so comfortable and the subject had to threaten his hosts with violence to force them to control their experiments on him. He described them as looking reptilian with elephant-like, tough grey skin, with very little hair. They had large eyes and stood around 3.5 to 4.5 feet in height. They had little arms and a large, cylindrical body with webbed feet and little claws. In the third abduction the beings were around seven foot tall with “octopus” heads.

More typically, while under the effects of ayahuasca a subject may first see geometrical patterns appearing in front of the inner eye. Using intention these patterns can be penetrated to enter a three- or four-dimensional space of unearthly beauty. I will note in passing here the importance of these geometrical patterns because a strong theory to have emerged is that ancient cave art is, at least in part, a record of such visions…which means our ancestors were experiencing hallucinations in the same manner to us, and this may provide an explanation for the rich tapestry of spiritual and religious life that has come to be a hallmark of human culture. I will return to this subject in more detail in a future article. Hallucinations may also be auditory and tactile and all can be interacted with and navigated through. Having clear intentions about the purpose behind each trip seems to play an important role in the process. In this way repressed memories can surface from as far back, it is held, as in the womb.

This journey into the psyche can turn into one of the most significant events that a subject may experience in his or her life. A session can literally be life-changing and many assert that they receive answers to questions that they posed, hence the view that “The plant told me…” Many find new meaning to their lives, feeling that they are connected to everything. They perceive patterns in creation that they could not before and believe they have accessed dimensions beyond the one we normally consciously experience. Many become more ethical; others more creative. Some find that addictions to alcohol and tobacco, to name two examples, come to an end. Sessions are not always positive. The second of the abduction experiences detailed above indicates that. Users may enter a shadow land – a type of hell in Christian parlance - and confront the darker nature of themselves where the innermost fears are confronted and, hopefully, understood and resolved.

Unfortunately nothing is free. The tea is unanimously described as being vile and an ayahuasca session will most likely see the subject suffering physical ailments ranging from vomiting and diarrhea to extreme bodily weakness to the extent they are unable to summon the energy to move. Others may even faint for a short time. Veteran users may avoid these side effects altogether.

These side effects are held to be a useful part of the ceremony and bestow a great deal of respect, awe and reverence to the brew that is being taken and the process of discovery. The vomiting and diarrhea cleanse the body by detoxifying it while the DMT cleans the psyche. The result is that the subject feels tremendously at peace with himself and his surroundings following a good night of sleep after the ceremony. The expectation of these side-effects quietens people before participation and can even provoke fear among new users.

Conclusion

Despite typically negative views of hallucinogenics in first world industrialized nations, ayahuasca is seen as a valid prop to profound spiritual and religious experiences, and it has been so for a long time before it was discovered by Westerners. Usage consistently leads to the experience of altered states of consciousness (though the details may vary from user to user) and these altered states are comparable to those resulting from meditation (static or dynamic) and even, on occasion, “alien abductions”.

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DMT

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N, N-dimehtyltryptamine, or DMT, is the so-called “spirit” molecule as identified by the leading researcher on the subject Dr Rick Strassman. This molecule seems to provide our consciousness access to an altered state filled with bizarre visions, thoughts and feelings. It seems, in short, to open up access to realms way beyond our imagination.

As powerful as DMT is (with the result that it is illegal and very heavily controlled even for research purposes) what is as surprising as the visions it provokes is that it is found naturally occurring throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. It is a part of the normal makeup of a regular human, as well as being found in flowers, barks, roots, mushrooms and so on. It is, literally, almost everywhere you look.

That said, DMT is most abundant in Latin America, among the plants that are used – and have been used for thousands of years - by the shamans in the area. Arguably the most famous method of ingestion of DMT is through ayahuasca, a traditional (and vile) beverage believed to help predict the future and allow contact with dead ancestors.

R. Manske, a Canadian scientist, discovered how to make DMT in the first half of the twentieth century. At the time he was unaware of its existence as a naturally occurring substance found in the human body. However, there was very little interest in it or any other psychedelic drugs. This changed in the early 1950s when LSD and serotonin were discovered. A new breed of scientist was very interested in psychedelics and using them to investigate human consciousness. Chemists began searching for the active ingredients of barks, leaves and seeds. Science developed and it was discovered that DMT was a constituent of plants that produced psychedelic effects, though it was then unknown if DMT itself was psychoactive.

The next development was an unexpected, but crucial step. Hungarian researcher Stephen Szara wanted to experiment with LSD. Living as he did behind the iron curtain he was blocked from receiving any of the drug from the West. Unperturbed he synthesized some DMT in his lab in 1955. Immediately he began to experiment only to find that his chemical was ineffective. He surmised that there must be a mechanism in the gut that breaks down DMT as quickly as it is swallowed…and he was correct. Part of the story that is so amazing is how shamans in South America were able to understand this and formulate a response thousands of years ago to allow DMT to be taken orally in one form or another (the ayahuasca brew being the most popular). Szara began experimenting on himself with an injected psychedelic and after on members of a study group.

Szara had this to say about his experience “….The hallucinations consisted of moving, brilliantly colored oriental motifs, and later I saw wonderful scenes altering very rapidly….My emotional state was elevated sometimes up to euphoria. My consciousness was completely filled by hallucinations, and my attention was firmly bound to them…”

One of his test subjects, a male physician, reported that “The whole world is brilliant….The whole room is filled with spirits….I feel exactly as if I were flying….I have the feeling that this is above everything, above the earth.”

A female physician noted “How simple everything is….In front of me are two quiet, sunlit Gods….I think they are welcoming me into this new world….I am finally at home….Dangerous game; it would be so easy not to return. I am faintly aware that I am a doctor, but this is not important; family ties, studies, plans, and memories are very remote from me. Only this world is important; I am free and utterly alone.”

Szara eventually made his way from Hungary to the United States, via Berlin, where he began working at the National Institute of Health before moving onto the National Institute on Drug Abuse before his retirement.

The subculture that had developed to experiment with psychedelic drugs starting using DMT. But not all the trips were pleasant. William Burroughs, author of The Naked Lunch was an early user and one of his friends was reduced to becoming like a “writhing, wriggling reptile.” LSD remained the hallucinogenic of choice; the trip from DMT was commonly regarded as being intense (one way or the other) and short lived.

The primacy of LSD was challenged when researchers discovered DMT in the brains of mice and rats. The scientists then established how the bodies of these animals made the psychedelic. The next question was obvious: Did DMT exist in the human body? In 1965 a German research team published in Nature magazine that it had isolated DMT from human blood. In 1972 Julius Axelrod reported finding it in human brain tissue. Other researchers found it in other fluids, such as urine. Next the pathways by which the human body made the psychedelic were identified.

Thus, and of huge significance, DMT was recognized as the first endogenous human psychedelic. That is, it was the first psychedelic compound found to be produced in the human body.

A startling question now follows, and one to which I will return in the future, but I offer it here for your own meditations.

Why had Nature / the Universe / God / evolution seen fit to create a body capable of producing a powerful psychedelic compound?

There is no clear answer to this but I am inclined to agree with Dr Rick Strassman, the foremost authority on DMT research, that the psychedelic is a “spirit molecule” intended to allow us to establish visionary contact with a realm beyond the normal and beyond the confines of time and space.

Psychiatry on the other hand explains the existence of this hallucinogen as being, perhaps, the cause of mental illness. Scientists hoped to find a way to block the effects thereby preventing mental illness.

All this research started to come to an end though in 1970 when DMT, along with other psychedelics, were placed in a highly restricted legal category. By the end of the 1970s all research was stopped until Dr Rick Strassman began a new investigation.

In effect DMT affects receptor sites for serotonin throughout the body, but of most interest are those receptors in the brain which are involved in mood, perception and thought. Of even more interest is that the brain seems to desire the psychedelic. Usually the brain works hard to keep out other drugs and chemicals by erecting a blood-brain barrier. In this way the brain can be highly selective as to what it uses for energy: glucose only. So here is the curious thing: the brain is very, very careful in selecting what it absorbs, only taking in what is vital to allow it to function in an optimal manner. So why, as Japanese scientists discovered in the second half of the twentieth century, does the brain allow a psychedelic into its realm? As far as we know, no other psychedelic is permitted to cross the blood-brain barrier. Furthermore, DMT is used almost immediately by the brain. It is as if the psychedelic is necessary for normal brain functioning.

And when the brain receives more than enough the subject begins to experience various hallucinations.

One of the ways to overload the brain with DMT is to take it in via IV. But the drug is endogenous; it is created within the body naturally. And from time to time the body is capable, all by itself, of creating an excess amount of the psychedelic leading to various visions and emotions. Indeed, it seems that the body can in fact be trained (through meditation and asceticism) to produce an above average amount, thereby allowing a subject to induce the hallucinatory trip.

Ayahuasca being prepared.

Users of DMT maintain that its use allows them to accept the coexistence of opposites (such as life and death), grants them the knowledge that consciousness continues after physical death, and leaves them with the certitude that all things are connected (with the glue being love). The psychedelic also allows users to “visit” other realms that appear more real than our current reality and which may be populated by elves or aliens. These other realms however may not always be peaceful and could be, to use Christian concepts, described as hell. A trip then is not without its dangers.

The medium between DMT and consciousness seems to be the pineal gland, which I will discuss in more detail in a future article.

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Graham Hancock and the Sacred Vine

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Graham Hancock and the Sacred Vine.

More widely, Hancock believes that hallucinogenic drugs (or medicines, as ayahuasca is described in South America) can be useful as an aid to psychological understanding and healing. He believes they open the door to the spiritual world, or to parallel dimensions as scientists would perhaps describe them, where various lessons and insights can be gained useful to one’s life in the material realm that we normally perceive. These trips into the spiritual realm though are not to be undertaken lightly as there are dark entities residing there that can cause us harm. Therefore ayahuasca journeys with experienced and knowledgeable shamans are highly preferred.

This research into one’s consciousness is of vital importance because Hancock holds the opinion that human life and the experience of a human body is a vehicle to understanding ourselves at a higher level. This is, to Hancock, the meaning of life and why we are here.

Hancock also discusses his forthcoming book, War God, about the Spanish conquest of South America and the spiritual forces playing out behind the scenes.

In addition to ayahuasca, Hancock has also taken the African drug iboga, which reputedly allows people to see the dead. He experimented with this while researching his book Supernatural which deals with the shamanistic psychedelic drug culture and alternative, parallel realities. Hancock was both interested in his psychological exploration but also in contacting his late father, who had passed away with Graham being present at his transition, something that he has come to understand as a sacred duty.

He goes on to talk about his trips with DMT, the active ingredient of ayahuasca and a former podcast with Joe Rogan.

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