Church of the Sacred Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) on the underside of the cap, just as do store-bought white mushrooms.

The word "mushroom" can also be used for a wide variety of gilled fungi, with or without stems, and the term is used even more generally, to describe both the fleshy fruiting bodies of some Ascomycota and the woody or leathery fruiting bodies of some Basidiomycota, depending upon the context of the word.

Forms deviating from the standard morphology usually have more specific names, such as "puffball", "stinkhorn", and "morel", and gilled mushrooms themselves are often called "agarics" in reference to their similarity to Agaricus or their placement in the order Agaricales. By extension, the term "mushroom" can also designate the entire fungus when in culture or the thallus (called a mycelium) of species forming the fruiting bodies called mushrooms, or the species itself.

Psilocybin mushrooms (also called psilocybian mushrooms or teónanácatl) are fungi mainly of the psilocybe genus that contain the psychedelic substances psilocybin and psilocin, and occasionally other psychoactive tryptamines.

There are multiple colloquial terms for psilocybin mushrooms, the most common being magic mushrooms^[1] or shrooms^[2] and are available in smart shops in many parts of the world, though some countries have outlawed their sale.
An article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has made correlations between the induced hallucinations and subjects' experiences up to several months later.

Because of their psychoactive properties, some mushrooms have played a role in native medicine, where they have been used in an attempt to effect mental and physical healing, and to facilitate visionary states. One such ritual is the Velada ceremony. A practitioner of traditional mushroom use is the shaman and curandera (priest-healer).

Psilocybin mushrooms are not the only psychoactive fungi. Amanita muscaria pictured left is also psychoactive. The active constituents are Ibotenic acid and Muscimol. The Muscaria chemotaxonomic group of Amanitas contain no amatoxins or phallotoxins, and are not hepatoxic. Some dry these in the sun to transform the Ibotenic acid into the more psychoactive Muscimol.

Psilocybin, a naturally occurring chemical in certain psychedelic mushrooms like Psilocybe cubensis, is being studied for its ability to help people suffering from psychological disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Minute amounts have been reported to stop cluster and migraine headaches.

A double-blind study, done by the John Hopkins Hospital, showed that psychedelic mushrooms could provide people an experience with substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance. In the study, one third of the subjects reported that ingestion of psychedelic mushrooms was the single most spiritually significant event of their lives. Over two-thirds reported it among their five most meaningful and spiritually significant events. On the other hand, one-third of the subjects reported extreme anxiety.

Health dangers
Though magic mushrooms are not addictive, they can have severe psychological consequences when abused or when taken with alcohol and/or cannabis.

The intensity and duration of entheogenic and recreational use of psilocybin mushrooms vary depending on:

• species of mushrooms
• dosage
•  individual physiology
• 'set and setting'

 Notes

 References

• Allen, John W. (1997). Magic Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle: Raver Books and John W. Allen. ISBN 1-58214-026-X. 
• Letcher, Andy (2006). Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. London: Faber and Faber Limited. ISBN 0-060-82828-5. 
• Nicholas, L. G; Ogame, Kerry (2006). Psilocybin Mushroom Handbook: Easy Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation. Quick American Archives. ISBN 0-932551-71-8. 
• Stamets, Paul (1993). Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 1-58008-175-4. 
• Stamets, Paul; Chilton, J.S. (1983). Mushroom Cultivator, The. Olympia: Agarikon Press. ISBN 0-9610798-0-0. 
• Stamets, Paul (1996). Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-9610798-0-0. 
• Kuhn, Cynthia; Swartzwelder, Scott; Wilson, Wilkie (1998 & 2003). Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc. ISBN 0-393-32493-1. 
• R. Gordon Wasson, The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica
• Alvaro Estrada, Maria Sabina: Her Life and Chants
• Terence McKenna, Food of the Gods
• Ole Högberg, Flugsvampen och människan. Section concerning the berserker myth is published online   (In Swedish and PDF format) ISBN 91-7203-555-2