countryside had been deemed illegal.
It remains to be seen what becomes of this unwarranted draconian measure that, by condemning a natural and long-revered environmental resource, can serve only to further alienate us from Nature. Indeed, one might think that notice boards ought to be placed throughout all the parks and wilderness areas of the United Kingdom warning citizens of the extreme dangers of naturally occurring psilocybin mushrooms (simple possession of the mushroom could entail a jail sentence). Having personally observed prolific numbers of
Of course, I am being deliberately provocative here—but only to highlight the absurdity of making a natural part of the environment illegal. In any case, these laws have not prevented the sale of psilocybin mushroom spores (
If the more cautious reader is concerned with the health risks associated with consumption of the mushroom, we should note that a 2000 report from a Dutch Risk Assessment Team (copies of the report, by CAM—the Coordination Centre for the Assessment and Monitoring of New Drugs—can be located on the Internet) found that psilocybin mushroom use does not present a significant public health risk (at the time of the report, the mushroom had been commercially available in the Netherlands for many years).{49} Similarly, a rigorous scientific study by Hasler and others published in 2004 showed that psilocybin was not hazardous to health when administered to healthy persons (although the study recommended that those with high blood pressure should abstain from psilocybin use).{50} A United Kingdom Home Office report of 2000 also stated that mushroom use was not considered problematic.[1] {51} And this is despite the fact that an estimated 1.5 million adult people in the United Kingdom had taken the mushroom.
In the last analysis, if the powers that be are truly concerned about the possible public health hazards associated with psilocybin mushroom use, then they are obliged to investigate the matter professionally by consulting scientific experts in the field. Simply illegalizing the natural, nonaddictive mushroom by categorizing it alongside addictive manufactured heroin and crack cocaine (which is the case in many countries) is, it must be said, a tad hysterical. The inordinately oppressive nature of this kind of legislation against a sacred substance speaks for itself. On the other hand, maybe Terence McKenna was right when he suggested that psilocybin fungi had a sort of mysterious defense mechanism around them so as to prevent mass profane use. Who knows?
Putting aside the various legal issues, the question still remains as to the significance of the mushroom’s growing popularity (along with Amazonian ayahuasca). It is possible that psilocybin’s potential is coming of age (at least in those parts of the world where the mushroom remains legal or where it grows in abundance). After all, the capacity of psilocybin to forge a new relationship between humanity and Nature is probably more important now than at any other time in history. Given our relentless despoiling of the biosphere and our unending obsession with material consumption, it is evident that we have alienated ourselves from the larger systems of Nature of which we are a part. Cities are like cocoons that sever us from the rest of the biosphere. We live and breathe without a second thought about the life-support system that is all of Nature. Naturally occurring entheogens can be viewed as a latent biospherical homeostatic control mechanism whereby our species can be brought back into balance. Indeed, it may be our last chance before we push the biosphere into total decline. As I intimated in the preliminary note at the very start of this book, the mushroom can be considered a kind of antidote in that the knowledge it can yield can help heal our currently misguided relations with the rest of the web of life. In fact, I would liken psilocybin to a kind of psychological penicillin. Whereas penicillin is a fungal product with valuable antibiotic healing properties, psilocybin is a fungal product with valuable eco-psychological healing properties. Unlike penicillin however, psilocybin has, unfortunately, yet to find a global audience wise to its virtues.
Regarding the issue of dosage, stronger doses of the mushroom—those truly entheogenic doses that can change one’s attitude toward life and that also galvanized me into writing this book—should only be employed with plenty of experience. Most important are one’s state of mind prior to consumption and one’s surroundings. One should be in a positive and balanced frame of mind before consuming the mushroom (people suffering from mental health problems like schizophrenia or chronic depression should absolutely avoid the mushroom). One should also be in a friendly and safe environment that is free of distraction. The mushroom is not some frivolous party drug to be washed down with a beer in some noisy club. I would also suggest a period of sexual abstinence prior to ingestion, as one will then be in a more “pure” state befitting a potentially sacred experience. And unless one is particularly competent in the ancient art of self-knowledge, it is advisable to have a non-bemushroomed close friend around to act as a kind of anchor should any feelings of panic arise. It is important that this “sitter” remain as unobtrusive as possible. If all the conditions are right and enough heartfelt preparation has been made, an experience in which one’s perception is fantastically enhanced is almost certain to follow.
To experience the mushroom’s visionary effect, one should lie down in silence with eyes closed during the period when the mushroom’s influence is most active. Although this is a decidedly daunting venture, the colorful splendor of psilocybinetic visions and their unmistakable revelational quality make it very much worthwhile.
If psilocybin mushrooms are consumed on an empty stomach, their effects may be felt within as little as twenty minutes. (Taking them on an empty stomach is preferable because they are stronger that way and the act of fasting prior to ingestion becomes, like sexual abstinence, somewhat ritually symbolic.) If mushrooms are consumed after a meal, the effects can take up to an hour and a half to emerge. In either case, the first changes that one notices are likely to be somatic, in that one might feel a little restless and edgy. This would appear to be the initial reaction of the body and the psyche to the mushroom’s exotic influence, a sort of “retuning” process. These mild uneasy feelings generally subside as one’s perception gradually begins to open up and expand. One is then bathed in a decidedly warm and numinous presence.
I find it curiously apt that an adventure into the nature of reality should gravitate around a wild fungus native to most parts of the Earth’s surface. It really is the case that we can turn to Nature if we wish to fully comprehend the sense and significance of our lives. This is like the plot of some elaborate adult fairy tale. If we genuinely wish to gain self-knowledge and realize our place within Nature’s endlessly creative transmutations, we can deliberately seek out and consume the “truth.” Like cosmic actors, by performing an age-old ritual act in time and space, we can perceive the world afresh and anew. Through psilocybinetic gnosis we may even glimpse the full majesty of this astounding Universe in which we are so privileged to find ourselves.
And so I end my enthusiastic tale. The sacred mushroom now beckons, affording us communion with the natural intelligence of which we are a part. Astonishingly, such a communion may be nearer than ever. The choice is wholly yours. Born in the 1950s and 1960s, the sacred endeavor in which the doors of perception are thrust wide apart is set to blossom in the coming years. Be there.
Endnotes
Bibliography
Aghajanian, G. K. “LSD: Sensitive Neuronal Units in the Midbrain Raphe.”
Aghajanian, G. K., and G. J. Marek. “Serotonin and Hallucinogens.”
