Spiritual Mushrooms Used Historically in Religious Rituals
People have used mushrooms as spiritual tools for at least 7,000 years. Thats the age of the oldest preserved records, cave paintings left by the historic San Peoples in Tassili of southeast Algeria. Images depict what has been interpreted as masked, dancing medicine men holding mushrooms in their hand; presumably of the awareness altering variety.
The area of Tassili is today an arid and desolate mountainous region of the Sahara desert but in the day of the cave painters, it had a habitable savannah-like climate with cattle, crocodiles and other large animals. Cultural ties of the San Peoples are evidenced across the Sahara region from Chad to Egypt, and perhaps in extension all the way to Greece.
Jumping forward 3,400 years in time to Greece, 1,600 B.C., we find the Eleusinian Mysteries. Continuous for an astounding two millennia, the Eleusinian Mystery initiation was the most important spiritual ceremony of ancient Europe. Scholars believe the Mysteries involved use of consciousness-altering mushrooms. With well-known participants like Plato and Aristotle, its influence on western civilization cannot be denied.
Later Vikings are known to have consumed limited amounts of the today much feared poisonous species Fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). Ironically, they appear to have used it to overcome fear through religious rituals in which they danced and ate mushrooms before fearlessly going into battle.
Granted, most of us would not consider this form of warrior spirituality in any way “admirable.” But it was part of the Viking religious practices, whatever our opinion of them may be. Meanwhile, to the east, Siberian shamans also used Fly agaric as a spiritual tool to communicate with their deities.
Fly agaric is even put forth as the source of “soma,” a juice described in ancient Vedic texts as bestowing divine qualities on the consumer, including immortality. Convincing arguments linking Fly agaric to Soma are presented by R. Gordon Wasser in his book Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. His theory, although not proven, hasnt been disproven either.
(Important note: Fly agaric – Amanita muscaria – is poisonous and may also be easily confused with other even more deadly species. Consumption for any reason is vehemently discouraged.)
On the other side of the ocean from Europe, the Mixtec culture likewise employed mind-altering mushrooms in their spiritual ceremonies, as recorded in the Mixtec Codex (13th-15th century). Their Gods were frequently engraved with mushrooms in hand.
Even though Mixtecs clearly told westerners of their use of spiritual mushrooms in sacred ceremonies, American and European scholars still doubted them in classic condescending fashion.
American botanist William Safford argued that peyote buttons were mistaken for mushrooms, while other scientists insisted that the Mixtec culture really did use mind-expanding mushrooms in their religious rituals.
The debate raged on until the early 1930s, when amateur anthropologist Robert Weitlaner got invited to witness an original spiritual ceremony that included the use of consciousness-altering mushrooms.
In 1953, amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson and his wife Valentina Povlovna became the first westerners to actually participate in a Velada (mushroom ceremony), led by shaman Don Aurelio. Wasson publicized his experience in Life Magazine in 1957, which became the start of the popular awareness of spiritual mushrooms in the west.
Out of 60 Psilocybe species, 25 are known to contain the mind-altering compounds psilocin (unstable) and psilocybin (stable). The two species Psilocybin caerulescens and Psilocybin mexicana are believed to be the ones used by the Mixtec. Although Psilocybin cubensis is now more common even in America, it is believed to have arrived with the Europeans.
Viewed as recreational drugs, mind-altering mushrooms have been prohibited in most countries since the early 1970′s. The exception, which will come as no surprise, was The Netherlands, where fresh Psilocybe mushrooms were legal until very recently.
But after a 17-year old French tourist killed herself by jumping off a bridge after consuming Psilocybe mushrooms, the Dutch parliament voted to ban all sale of so called “magic mushrooms.” The ban took effect on December 1, 2008. The use of consciousness-altering mushrooms in spiritual practices is now officially history.
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