|
|
Shamanic Extracts :: QUICK LINKS :: Amanita Muscaria
Amanita muscaria, the highly visible and strikingly beautiful mushroom, also known as the Fly Agaric, is yellow to red in color and speckeled with white. Amanita muscaria is probably humanity's oldest entheogen. Amanita muscaria's history has it associated with both Shamanic and magical practices and it was identified as the "Soma" of the ancient (4000 BC) Rig Veda by Gordon Wasson.
So Amanita muscaria has historical use as far back as we have history, and it shouldnt be hard to suppose that prehistoric man, in his activities as hunter/gatherer, recognized that there were mushrooms and other plants that had benefits not related to hunger. Our ancestors must surley have been intrigued by the Amanita muscaria. They appeared magically from nowhere, in strange and beautiful shapes and colors and gave magical visions of the beyond when eaten.
Today Amanita muscaria mushrooms are widely known: the Alice in Wonderland mushrooms, the fairytale mushrooms regularly seed in fairy tale books. Yet most people arent aware that they are, in fact, real.
Amanita muscaria is a mushroom found throughout the northern hemisphere. It has been found to be psychoactive by oral ingestion and inhalation."The entheogenic constituents of A. muscaria are ibotenic acid (alpha-amino3-hydroxy-5-isoxazole acetic acid), muscamol (3hydroxy-5-aminomethy1 isoxazole), and possibly muscazone(Ott). Muscamol appears to be the primary intoxicant. After ingestion, a small amount of ibotenic acid decarboxylates into muscamol, which produces the intoxication.
This is the mushroom almost always found in fairy tales with its big red cap and speckled appearance. This mushroom has also been referred to as "Soma" although this is a topic of great controversy.
|
|
|
|
