Thinking of Psilocybin

Deer Scat

         I had an interesting talk with a customer at work the other day. They were asking me how my school was going and I told he my project learning about mushrooms. She was intrigued by my project. She proposed an interesting theory on the beginning’s of man’s brain development. She believe’s early man ate psychedelic mushrooms and it caused a chemical change that led the complex human brain. It is a subject scientist haven’t quite figured it out. I used to think that it was the proteins from the meat we ate that caused are brain development but if that was the case tigers and sharks would be the Einsteins of our time.

Her argument is possible.

        In one book I am reading, Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms, the author talks about the Psilocybin mushrooms. She talks about it affects the nerve receptors which can cause improved senses such as heightened smell and sight. Maybe early humanity's improved intelligence did get caused from a chemical change after eating psychedelic mushrooms.

Unidentified mushroom

I have never tried shrooms myself. I have always been curious but have been to scared to try them. The author explains her own experience with shrooms and how Psilocybin were the black sheep of the mushroom world. She also stated that there have been no deaths associated with poisoning. The only deaths linked to shrooms have been accidents; high school or college students that walked onto a busy highway or approaching dangerous animals in nature. The author’s situation was similar to my own. She was too afraid to try them because of their status and their presumed danger. Watching the movie The Bear scared me as a kid. After seeing the bear cub eat some hallucinogenic mushrooms and having evil frogs fallling from the sky, I was too afraid to try mushrooms as a teenager. My mother furthered discouraged me as a kid with her own psychedelic mushroom horror story.

Lemon cups (Bisporella citrina)

        The biggest risk with taking a trip on shrooms is not being in a safe environment  or not being in a good mood. The author says that you need friends to keep you safe and if your not in the right mood it can ruin the experience. Even though she states that, in her quest to try shrooms she admits that she might not have all the safeguards in place because of the environment she would be in.

Red Banded Polypore (Fomitopsis pinicola)

Common False Truffle (Elaphomyces granulatus)

        Natives in the southwest United States have a history of using psychedelic substances. I haven’t met any Alaskan Natives whose culture uses mushrooms. Every elder that I have asked has known absolutely nothing of harvesting mushrooms not even edible ones. I still kind of curious and want to try them but until I know more about them. I won’t eat any edible mushrooms I find (haven’t found any yet) until I am 100% certain it is safe to eat. Some edible mushrooms can cause problems if eaten followed by the person drinking alcohol.