Revised February 24, 2009
by John W. Allen, James Arthur and Ralph Metzner

Mushroom John's Shroom World Presents:
The Ascent and Spread of Psilocybian Consciousness

By
John W. Allen and James Arthur
(Exclusive: Uncut, Uncensored and Partially edited from)
Ralph Metzner's)
Teonanácatl: Sacred Mushrooms of Visions



 

MUSHROOM CULTURE IN THE 20th CENTURY The use of entheogenic fungi for ludible purposes first gained public recognition through research initiated by Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Ralph Metzger, and others at Harvard University in the early 1960's (Graves, 1962; Weil, 1963; Leary, 1968). Timothy Leary had consumed seven sacred mushrooms while on vacation with friends in Cuernavaca, Mexico. After returning to Harvard, Leary believed that the mushrooms and the special effects imbued in those who consumed them, could be a beneficial tool in psychiatric medicine. Ten years after Leary brought psilocybine to Harvard, mushroom use slowly spread from México (Ott, 1975; Sandford, 1973; Pollock, 1977-1978; Weil 1973, 1975-1976) to the northeast United States and Australia (Stocks, 1963; McCarthy, 1971; Southcott, 1974) and back to Mexico. By the early 1970s, mushroom use became popular in Bali (Schultes and Hofmann, 1980 [1973]), Hawaii (Pollock, 1974) and the Pacific Northwest of America (Weil, 1975). Fifteen years after the announcement of the rediscovery of the ceremonial use of sacred mushrooms in México, recreational use of psilocybian fungi had become widespread in the Pacific Northwest and several Southeastern states of America (Pollock, 1976, Weil, 1977; 0tt, 1978; Singer, 1978). In Canada, the recreational use of entheogenic mushrooms, particularly (Psilocybe semilanceata, was first reported from British Colombia by Heim et al. in 1966. By the early 1970s, public awareness that psilocybian fungi occurred in British Columbia and other Canadian territories soon became common knowledge to astute members of the drug sub-culture (Oakenbough, 1975; Padmore, 1980a, 1980b). By the late 1960's, entheogenic mushroom awareness had arrived in the British Isles (Young et al., 1982; Harries and Evans, 1981; Peden et al., 1982), spreading to Scandinavia (Christiansen et al., 1981, 1984; Ohenoja et al., 1987), and other European countries (Gartz, 1993). In the early 1970s, psilocybian mushrooms gained large followings in Indonesia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Such use is now widespread amongst tourist populations in several third world countries (Allen & Merlin, 1992; Allen & Gartz, 1997). Liberty cap mushrooms (Psilocybe semilanceata) are common in Peru as is Copelandia cyanescens. Both Psilocybe cubensis and/or Psilocybe subcubensis are common in Colombia and other South American countries and several new species have recently been identified from Brazil. The sale of magic mushrooms, whether sold separately or in food items, was common amongst certain groups of indigenous peoples living in third world countries. Tourists were able to gain the confidence of local indigents in the matter of the mushrooms and their desire to purchase said fungi through financial offerings definitely influenced many poor Indian peasants as well as some Mexicans, especially those living in and around the Oaxacan village of Huautla de Jiménez. Singer (1958, 1978) reported that Mexicans were debasing the mushroom rites of the Mazateca people of Oaxaca, especially in and around villages where shamans and curanderos still practice sacred healing and curing ceremonies. Throughout Mexico (Ott, 1975), and Guatemala (Lowy, 1977), many adults, as well as their children, have both been observed gathering and selling entheogenic fungi to foreigners. Ott (1975) reported that students in México city were selling mushrooms to other students at schools and to tourists. For many poor people residing in undeveloped regions of Mexico, Central and South America, the mushrooms were a welcome economic boon. Young Harvard students, graduates, authors and professionals, soon began a mass pilgrimage to México in search of the "magic mushrooms." Their only source of information in finding the mushrooms came from a few local native informants who claimed to know where the sacred mushrooms grew. Eventually, many native adults, as well as their children, soon began to seek out the fungi. Innocently enough, the indigents were only selling the fungi in order to provide their families with extra food and clothing. Predictably, by the middle 1960s, various scoundrels had learned the fine art of selling mushrooms that had no entheogenic properties, though this deception appeared to have subsided by the late 1970's. Between 1960-1970, thousands of foreigners embarked on a pilgrimage to Oaxaca in search of the "magic mushrooms." Many of the young foreigners and their peers who encroached on Oaxaca, hoped to experience the magic of the sacred fungi. Many did, while at the same time, as noted above, many eventually ended up with phony non-hallucinogenic fungi. Ott (1975, 1978, 1979) later confirmed that these practices are common in México and still occur. Wasson later wrote that, "Starting in the summer of 1967, army and federal authorities intervened in Huautla to expel the young foreigners and Mexicans who had made the place a center of psychedelic experimentation. The conduct of the young Mexicans, among many who were delinquents and not a few children of the rich in search of adventure, was lamentable. The presence of the young foreigners was not scandalous but notorious. The irresponsible intrusion of the young outsiders into Huautla encouraged the Mexican authorities to prohibit the hallucinogens--their traffic and use--by including them (January 1971) in the health code of the Republic of México at the initiative of president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz. Federal surveillance over the area continued until recently, when the youthful visitors in search of drugs ceased to be so numerous. At present [1980] the municipal authorities are in charge of the local situation." As more people became aware of and experimented with hallucinogenic mushrooms, unenlightened governments of many countries proceeded to forbid their use and commerce. However, in the United States, Canadá, Europe and Australia, thousands of individuals continue using the mushrooms recreationally, but in an illegal commerce (Pollock 1974, 1975-1976, 1975, 1976, 1977-1978); Oldridge et al., 1989; Rumack and Salzman, 1978; Southcott, 1974, Weil, 1980; Allen 2002). Indoor illicit cultivation of the tropical fungus Psilocybe cubensis floutishes on most continents and the Pacific Northwest cold weather species Psilocybe azurescens is now reported from Europe, but only from cultures and imported woodchips with natural spawn or from sporeprints collected from the Pacific Northwestern United States. Presently, Psilocybe cubensis, Copelandia (Panaeolus) cyanescens and the sclerotia of Psilocybe tampanensis are legally cultivated and sold in Smart Shops throughout the Nederlands. Fresh mushrooms (Psilocybe cubensis and Copelandia cyanescens) are cultivated clandistinely and sold openly in shops in Christiana, Denmark. Until the summer of 2002, fresh and dried mushrooms were sold in vending machines and shops in Japan when the Japanese Ministry of Health enacted laws which described psilocybian mushrooms as dangerous narcotics, thus making the mushrooms illegal in Japan (Unsigned, May 29, 2002). Under the old law, the mushrooms were not considered illegal as long as they were not sold as food items. In the British Isles, possession of wild and/or cultivated magic mushrooms is not illegal as long as the mushrooms are fresh (Guardian, 2003). Additionally, fresh specimens of Psilocybe cubensis are legal in the State of Florida. In the early 1970s, Australian and European backpackers, seeking alternate affordable vacation resources became ecstatic after becoming aware that entheogenic mushrooms were common on the island of Bali. They communicated this message to their friends and eventually Balinese natives learned the economic value of the mushrooms. This came about due to tourist influence amongst local native populations at resort areas in third world countries. By the early 1980's, magic mushroom omelets and smoothies had become popular numerous resort locations in Thailand, Nepal, and on both coasts of the Indian continent (Allen and Merlin, 1992; Allen and Gartz, 1997). It was recently reported that some species of magic mushrooms are now being served to tourists in the Philippine Islands.

CLICK ON EACH IMAGE BELOW TO ENLARGE
 

THE POPULAR SPECIES Among the 180 known varieties of the neurotropic species, four are currently sought after and used by hundreds of thousands of individuals as a source of communication amongst peoples with similar interests, but most use them not in a ritual setting or context nor for healing or curing, but rather as a form of recreation. These four mushrooms include Psilocybe cubensis (fig. 3) and Psilocybe subcubensis (fig. 3), Fig. 3. the former a coprophilous (dung-inhabiting) species common in subtropical regions but unknown in the tropics and the latter a pantropical and subtropical species macroscopically indistinguishable from Psilocybe cubensis only by the size of its spores. Psilocybe cubensis is also cultivated (fig. 4) Fig. 4. clandestinely throughout much of the world; Psilocybe semilanceata (fig. 5), Fig.5. often referred to as the liberty cap is common in Europe, Russia, India, Peru and the Pacific Northwest United States and Northeastern North America; and the famous blue meanies mushroom, Copelandia cyanescens and related species (fig.6) Fig. 6. found in the tropics and neotropics of both hemispheres. Finally we must report that Amanita muscaria (fig. 7) Fig. 7 is also sought after and used recreationally by some members of the drug subculture and such recreational use is limited to the west coast of the United States and in Western Europe. It is from these species that many dreamers find their common ground in forming a symbiotic relationship with these sacred mushrooms and it is here that some of those magical tales are told. And now with the Internet, one may also give thanks to the ‘world wide web’ for the symbiotic relationship it shares with these sacred plants and those who know and love them. It is the Internet that is now spreading the word of the mushrooms to millions of interested individuals throughout the world. It is up to the individual to stand up to the imposing governments that would rob humanity of this valuable birthright; the direct experience of psilocybian mushroom consciousness.

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