Why Magic Mushrooms Can Be Good for You

[asdjrocky]

(What many of us have known for years, really.)

On May 13, 1957, an article on the cover of Life Magazine written by a vice president of the Wall Street banking firm J.P Morgan ignited the psychedelic revolution.

In 1955, R. Gordon Wasson and his wife Valentina, journeyed to southern Mexico, where they encountered a native woman named Maria Sabena, who conducted sacred ceremonies employing hallucinogenic mushrooms. The first non-natives known to participate in these rituals, the Wassons were pioneers in consciousness exploration through the use of natural mind-altering agents. Writing about his experiences with the mushrooms, Wasson penned the now-famous article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom."

<snip>

Recent studies, however, show that psilocybin, the hallucinogenic agent in magic mushrooms, can be highly beneficial. The most recent study, reported in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, involved patients with advanced stage cancer. Twelve adult patients were given psilocybin, and then were subsequently monitored for 6 months afterwards for overall mood and anxiety. No adverse effects among the participants were reported. But anxiety was greatly reduced, and patients were less depressed. This study demonstrates that magic mushrooms, or more specifically their active agent psilocybin, can be useful in reducing the anxiety and depression of the terminally ill. Perhaps as time goes on the use of psilocybin among the terminally ill may be deemed a mercy medicine.

<snip>

One thing is for certain. The psychedelic genie is now officially out of the bottle, and the beneficial effects of magic mushrooms are being discussed in hospitals and clinics, and in regulatory offices. Don’t expect magic mushrooms to show up in your home pharmacy any time soon. But do expect more good news on the psychedelic frontier, as researchers continue to conduct medical studies that pry into how mushrooms and other psychoactive agents from antiquity may play key roles in health and happiness in the modern world.

the rest-
http://www.reddit.com/tb/dx87d

[Myrina]

1. Recommended reading: Supernatural by Graham Hancock

He gets all up into the history of shaman(men?) and the use of psychedelics around the world.

Did you know that Francis Crick was on LSD when he discovered the structure of DNA, and that many users report seeing the same kinds of patterns and shapes when they're on DMT-based substances? It obviously opens something in the brain.

http://www.hallucinogens.com/lsd/francis-crick.html

[asdjrocky]

2. That's a good link, thank you. nt

[thunder rising]

3. Nothing like eathing the fruit of a cow pie. If you're interest ...

Right after a rain storm (or maybe just add your own water) maybe 15-30 minutes. If a mushroom sprouts out of the pie, pick it. If the bruised edge turns purplish ... it's a winner.

Do NOT over-indulge.

I don't know about the northern edge of the US but across the south they are easy to find.

[Tsiyu]

10. I was recently told

that a substance is added to cattle and horse feed to inhibit the growth of shrooms.

Don't know how true that is, but was told this by a guy who worked on cattle farms.

[thunder rising]

11. First, if an additive could possibly slow the growth rate ... it's ain't happen'en

Second, who cares, there are plenty of natural fed cows out there.
Third, must be a super secret only known to cowboys?

[Tsiyu]

13. Fourth

It was something someone mentioned to me and I thought someone on this thread might know.

Fifth: Could be absolute bullshit, but the person who told me seemed sincere.

[formercia]

16. Indole Acetic Acid

Found in plants and concentrated in cow flops is a precursor.

[bobbolink]

4. Recommended. Interesting information.... something to think about.

"Perhaps as time goes on the use of psilocybin among the terminally ill may be deemed a mercy medicine."

That is something to think about, and I thank you for posting this.

What I see in this society is that we have so much anxiety and depression because of the toxicity of the society itself. Medicating people when what is needed is CHANGE of the society is self-defeating, and usually is done to make profits for the pharmcos.

Even with terminal illness, I think a lot of the anxiety is because of the isolation.

However, I am certainly willing to look at new evidence, and see things in a new light. This could lead to some helpful breakthroughs.

Thanks for posting! :hi:

[postulater]

5. I wouldn't recommend Amanita Muscaria though.

[Johonny]

6. mushrooms get me running to the b-room

that's the only magic I usually see from them. I've learned to pass on them.

[thunder rising]

12. If you're eating the right mushrooms, a "trip" to the b-room is more appropriate wording

[walldude]

7. Well as a highly experienced mushroom user

I have to say that this is sort of right. However I have been with people who have never tripped before and your first time on the drug can create some serious anxiety instead of relieving it. Psychedelics are a doorway to a different level of consciousness and many many people are not prepared to deal with that level of truth all at once.

"Instant Kharma's gonna get you" He wasn't kidding, it's not for everyone.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. I have chronic pain.

Years ago, I learned that all classes of medicines simply blunted the pain, except one -- the Psychedelics, now re-classified as Entheogens.

Psilocybin worked well enough, but I metabolize it very quickly, which pain patients should expect, given their more-rapid synaptic activity in the brain's pain defense systems. Marijuana was largely ineffective, and caused depression and crying spells. For me, LSD was the clear "winner", and a moderate dose (200-400 mcg) would reduce the pain to easily manageable levels for as long as a month.

Salvia divinorum looks interesting, too, but I have no access to it, and smoking is out of the question. Ketamine is also being given in clinical settings to "break" pain syndromes.

Sadly, I no longer take entheogens, but as a result of how I've learned to adapt -- at least partly via LSD -- I do not have an escalating opiate/opioid habit. And the non-drug practice of "mindfulness" is also effective, but requires dogged tenacity and patience. And I think Tim Leary would crack a smile knowing that computer programming also has the ability to un-link me from pain. (I got to meet Leary a few times before he got sick, when he was lecturing on computer culture, or "cybertopia" as he was calling it. Refused to talk about drugs or the 1960s outside of a few quips. FYI: he developed an "affective typewriter" that functioned like our modern emoticons -- in 1955.)

YMMV: Your Mileage May Vary. Hell, it WILL vary -- mine certainly has. But no medicine should be off-limits, providing it isn't outright purely destructive.

--d!

[me b zola]

14. Love your response

All drugs/things that we put into our bodies effect us all differently. We should have the legal ability to do what works for us, for/with our own body chemistry.

[asdjrocky]

17. That's very interesting.

I've never heard from someone who actually used psilocybin in this way. Thank you for the input.

[Tsiyu]

9. And expect if you are a kid experimenting with them anywhere near

The University of the South in Tennessee and you get caught with them by one of their campus cops - even if you are well off campus - you will be made a felon even for your first offense. You will lose your right to vote, to have a passport, to leave your county of residence. You will go to the Franklin County Jail where the imposing, pasty guards will examine your asshole every single day...(because having a few shrooms is a felony, staring at a young man's asshole every day is "normal behavior.")

State legislatures treat these mushrooms as if they are worse than heroin.

Trust me, i know.

I believe in their power to heal, I just want to warn folks that even "progressive" communities allow kids' lives to be destroyed over these substances. It's sick and ridiculous, but I've seen a great young man have his life ruined because of the laws against them - and because of vindictive, cruel members like those of the Sewanee community.

[jberryhill]

15. In connection with therapeutic guidance

However, the notion that, absent appropriate guidance, these things would be generally "good", would be an inaccurate characterization.

There are a number of so-called "hallucinogenic" substances which have always shown promise in connection with psychotherapy under controlled conditions. Such therapy would by now be commonplace, but for the, shall we say, enthusiastic promotion of them by certain members of the psychological community who managed to scare the bejeebers out of the general population.

[MilesColtrane]

18. Re: anxiety of dying

I can see how a good trip could ameliorate the fear of dying.

Our egos can't handle the thought of their immanent, eternal demise.

Psychedelic drugs have a way of dismantling and bypassing the construct of the ego/personality so that the brain and body experience the world directly with no filter.

When you come out of a trip on the other side, you realize that what you have always thought of as "you" is something of your own making. This thing is very small compared to what you really are, and the world around you is much more than you thought it was.

In short, you are left with a sense of complete freedom and no longer fear the end.