OT Oss - Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Growers Guide

8/12/2019 OT Oss - Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Growers Guide

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The publisher does not advocate the breaking of thelaw. The material herein is presented as informationwhich should be available to the public. DEDICATION

This book is respectfully dedicated to R. Gor-do nWassonand AlbertH o f m a n n ,whose inves-tigations of the botany and chemistry of themagic mushroom brought psilocybin to theworld.

"At last you know what the ineffable is, and what ecstasy

means."-R.G. Wasson, 1972

Copyright 1976 by And/Or Press

P.O. Box 2246

Berkeley,CA 94702

ISBN: 0-915904-13-6

Fi r s t P r i n t i n g

Layout: C.Schnabe l


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORHWORD 7

INTRODUCTION 11STEP I : Locat ing and Ide n t i fy in g the Fungus:

Col lec t ing andG e r m i n a t in gSpores 17STEP II : Grow ing Stock Inocu la 25STEP I I I : Gro wi ng on Steri l ized Rye 33STEP IV : Casing 45

STEP V: H a r v e s t i n g ,Pre se rv in g, and Dosage 51A F T E R W O R D 5 5CONVER SION TABLE 56

CHRONOLOGY 57

BIBLIOGRAPHY 61

GLOSSARY 62


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F O R E WO R D

Less than twenty years have passed s ince A l b e r t Hof-m a n n i so la ted and named the hallucinogen ps i locyb in . Hof-niann 's psilocybin was extr ac ted from various species of mush -rooms whose occurrence and r i tual u se in the mounta ins of Oaxaca had been discovered by Gordon and Valentina Was-son in the summer of 1953. Of the many species which werein use in Oaxaca, subsequent laboratory tests revealed thatonly one species was easily grown and able to fruit under avariety of art if icial conditions. That one species isStrophariacubensis the s tarb orn magic mu shro om . This book is a pathto this mushroom; how to grow it and how to place i t in yourlife like the shining light that it is. The sections which followgive precise no-fail instructions for growing and preservingthemagic mushroom. We have made these instruct ions as c lear

and direct as possible; what is described is only slightly morecomp licated than canning or ma kin g je lly. These instruct ionscan be ad ap te d to un de rta kin gs of any size from a few jars tothousands .

But before all these details there should come a chat

about just what this is really all about. We imagine that if youare avidly reading this book i t is probably because you havetaken dried mushrooms or been exposed to fresh ones in Lat-in America so we do not begin with readers unfamil iar with


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i i i a n y book , i n s t ead they res t upon the exper ience of themushroom p s i l o c y b i n at the 10 m g level ; at that level a p ecu -l ia r phenom enon occurs. It is the emerg ence of an I -T hou re -lationship between the person taking the psilocybin and themental state i t evokes . Jung calls this " t ransference1 " and itwas a necessary condition of early and primitive h u m a n i t y ' srelationship to i ts gods and demons. The mushroom speaks,and our opin ions rest upon wh at i t tel ls eloquently of i tse lfin the cool night of the mind:

'"I am old, older than thought in your species, which i si tself fifty t imes o l d e r than your history. Though 1 have beenon earth for ages I am from the stars. My home is no oneplane t , for many worlds scattered through the shining disc ofthe galaxy have conditions which allow my spores an oppor-tunity for l ife. T he mushroom wh i ch you see is the part of mybody given to sex thri l ls and sun bath ing , my tru e body is afine network of fibers growing through the soil . These ne t -works may cover acres and may have far more connectionsthan the number in a human brain. My mycelial network isnearly immortal-only the s u d d e n toxi fica t ion of a planet orthe explosion of its parent star can wipe me out. By meansimpossible to explain because of certain misconceptions inyour model of rea l i ty a l l my mycelial networks in the galaxyare in h y p er l i gh t communication across space and t ime. Themycelial body is as fra gile as a spider'sweb b ut th e col lec t iveh y p erm i n d and memory is a vast historical arch ive of the ca-reer of evolving in te l l igence on many worlds in our spiral starswarm. Space, you see. is a vast ocean to those hardy l ifeforms that have the abil i ty to r ep roduce from spores, forspores are covered with the hardest organic s u b s t a n c e k n o w n .Across the aeons of t ime and space drift many spore-formingl i fe-forms in suspende d ani ma t io n for mi l l ion s of years unt i lcontac t i s made wi th a sui ta ble en vi r on me nt . Few such spec iesa re minde d , on ly mys e l f and my recent ly evolved near re la-t ives have achieved the hype r-com mun ica t io n mode and mem -ory cap aci ty tha t makes usleadingmembe rs in the communi tyof ga lact ic in te l l ige nce . How the h y p e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n modeoperates is a sec ret whic h w ill not be l ightly given to man. Butthe means should be obvious: i t is the o ccu r r en ceof psilocy-bin and psilocin in the b ios yn the t i c pathways of my livingbody that opens for me and my s y m b i o t s th e v is ion screensto many worlds. You as an individual and man as a species are

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on the brink of t h e format ion of a symbiot ic re la t ionshipwith my genetic material that will eventua l ly ca r ry humani tyand earth into the galactic mainstream of the higher civil iza-tions.

"Since it is not easy for you to r ecog n ize o the r var ie t iesof intell igence around you, your most advanced theories of

poli tics and society have adva nced only as far as the notion ofcolle ctivis m. But beyond the cohesion of the mem bers ofa species into a single social organism there lie richer and evenmore baroque evolutionary possibil i t ies. Symbiosis is one ofthese. Symbiosis is a relation of mutual dependence and posi-tive benefits for both of the species involved. Symbiotic rela-t ionships between myself and civil ized forms of higher ani-mals have been established many times and in many placesthroughout the long ages of my developm ent. These relation-ships have been mutually useful; within my memory is the

knowledge of hyperlight drive ships and how to build them. Iwill trade this knowledge for a free t icket to new worldsaround suns younger and more stable than your own. To se-cure an eternal existence down the long river of cosmic time Iagain and again offer this agreement to higher beings andthereby have spread throughout the galaxy over the long mll-lenia. A mycelial network has no organs to move the world.no hands; but higher animals with manipulative abil i t ies canbecome partners w i th the star knowledge within me and ifthey act in good faith, return both themselves and theirhumble mushroom teacher to the mi l l ion worlds a l l c i t izens

of our s t a r swarm are heir to."


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INTRODUCTION

It seems charac ter is t ic of the hum an condi t ion tha t m an,in whatever environmenta l or exis ten t ia l mil ieu he f inds him-self, experiences an urge to seek contact with the essentialmystery underlying the fact of being. Indeed, the entire odys-sey of our species, both p h y l o ge n e t i c and historical, can beseen as a groping toward some sensed transcendent fulfill-ment. The story ofm a n o fhis art, science, phi losophies , c iv-ilizations and religionsis largely the story of this quest forcontact with the holy, numinous, and self-transcending. It isa quest at least as old as man; evidence indicating that earlyman possessed religious consciousness has been found datingback to the Middle Paleolithic. The a rcheologica l evidenceshows clearly: Man was at home with the concept of the sa-cred long before he possessed writing, agri cu ltu re, civilization.

or science; it is a concept that has abided in the mind of manand guided him forward since the earliest i n f a n t h o o d of hu-manity, contemporary with, possibly even preceding, his ear-liest use of tools, fire, even language itself.

The life of p re - l i t e ra t e man is one in which nature existsas the primary condition of existence: one is surrounded byit, one is immersed in it , one d ep en ds up on it for one's verysurvival . The quest for food and for the material necessitiesof life must be a constant and unending one forman-in-nature,a quest in which every plant and animal that one encounterscomes under the scrutiny of a restless curiosity. Given thissituation, it was inevitable that'sooner or later in the searchfor food man would accidentally ingest certain plants contain-ing com pounds affec t in g the centra l nervous sys tem and findhimself suddenly transported to a realm of the profoundestrapture and strangeness. Indeed, theethno-mycologistR. Gor-don Wasson ( 1 9 5 8 , 1961) has suggested that the accidentalingest ion of an ha l luc inogenic plant , probably a mushroom,cons t i tu ted man's earliest e n c o u n t e r wi th the n u m i n o s u m ,and led directly to the formation of the concept of deity andthe supernatura l . This not ion is not wi thout a cer ta in logica l

appeal: i t s tands to reason that man's restless, roving eyes,scanning nature for potential sources of food,wouldquicklysingle out the lowly mushroom, so odd in appearance and sounl ike the rest of the v e g e t a t i o n wi th which he was famil ia r .

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Given a few thousand years for random experimentation (are la t i ve ly short time in the scale of prehistory), he would even-tual ly discover and ingest fungi containing centrally-activecompounds, undergo the hal lucinogenic exper ience and theconnection with the n um i n o sum would be established.

The scenario described is, of course, imaginary. We can-not know the exact circumstances under which man first con-

f ronted the psychedel ic experience. We do know, thanks tothe work of Wasson and his colleagues in the 1950s (cf. V.P.& R.G. Wasson, 1957, R.G. Wasson & R. H e i m , 1958 ,&Was-son, 1957 ) , that a religious cult centered around the r itual in-gcst ion of hallucinogenic mushrooms has existed in the high-lands of central Mexico at least since before the Conquest, andis very likely much more ancient than that, its real origins hav-ing been lost in the mists of prehistoric time. But the fact re-mains that , whether encountered through the ingestion of afungus or some other plant, or through some spontaneously

triggered altered state of consciousness, the di rec t exper ienceof the transcendent has had and is having a profound impacton human history, perhaps even on human evolution. Theurge toward the t r a n s c e n d e n t a n d the dynamic tension thatexists between the drive to transcend and the mundane neces-sities which impose themselves on the primary fact of biologi-ca l b e i n g i s in a sense what all history, all religion, art, philo-sophy, discovery and sciencein short, all of human thoughtand c ivi l i za t ionis about. The urge to reach beyond theknown to what is unknown and u n p l u m b e d is irredeemablywoven into the fabric of human history. It is this urge which

buil t the pyramids , S to n eh en ge and the Gothic cathedrals. Thesame urge drove frail ships across t h e trackless oceans to theshores of a new world, and the same urge in our own time hasdriven us to f ling a tiny bubble of light and air across the vastand howling abysses of space (that cosmic mil l i -micron) tha tseparates our earth from its moon. It is the same urge thatstirs the shiver along our spines when we gaze with wonderand longing at the s ta r-dus ted sky on a clear winter 's evening.

Today, we stand on the threshold of the stars. Slowly itis emerging in mass consciousness that the next evolutionary

step forward will so transform humanity that all that has gonebefo re will seem bu t a prelud e. We stand at the edge of historyready to accelerate our human exper ience out into the vas tchasm of night which engulfs our planet, the lessons of our

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historical career still echoing down the corridors of time. Weare about to embark on the greatest adventure we have everkn o wn , one that wil l change our very no tio n of wha t it is tobe human; yet we should not forget that between ourselvesas we ascend the ramp of the starsliip and our mushroommunching ancestor gazing into his Paleolithic f ire lie only sec-onds of cosmic t ime .

This book is essentially a how-to manual for those whohave the interest, time, and patience required for cultivating"the magic mushroom" in their own homes. It is for peoplewho feel that they still may be able to learn something by ex-periencing the primordial visions of their ancestors, and feel itstrongly enough that they are willing to invest a little t i m e ,money and effort in order to realize that vision. By "magicmushroom" is mean t those mushroom s which are mem bers ofth eg e n u sPsilocybe, and the closely related genera 5 Y r o / ; / j < 7 / v f l ,Conocybe, Pa/uteolus, and Copelandia, Certain members ofthese genera contain the compounds psilocybin (4-phosphory-lox y-N,N-d ime t hy l t r yp t amine ) and psilocin ( 4 -h y d ro xy -N ,N-dime thy l t ryp tamine ) as the active hallucinogenicagents (Fig.1 ) . These compounds contain the bas ic indole structure char-acteristic of most hallucinogens found in nature (cf . Schul tes ,197 3 , p . 1 7 f f . ) , including var ious amides of lyserg ic acid (ofwhich LSD is a s emis yn t he t i c r ep r e s en t a t i ve ) , N ,N-d i m eth y l -t r y p t a m i n e , h a n n i n e and its analogues, and ibogaine . Themost notable exception to this bas ic s tructure is mescal ine,which chemical ly is 3 ,4 ,5 - t r i m e th o xy p h en y l e th y l am i n e . andhence is in the same class as amphetamine ( a -m e th y l p h en y l -e t hy lamine ) .

The cultivation information in this book pertains only toone species of magic m u s h r o o m , Stropharia cubensis Earle.(The mycologis t Rolf Singer has recently reclassif ied this spe-cies into the genus Psilocybe. Hence in some r e f e re n c e s it isreferred to asPsilocybe cubensis Earle ex. Singer.,) I t is prob-able that with appropr iate adaptat ion s the metho ds outl ined

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here could be ap plied successfully to the cultivation of otherspecies . Our exper ience has shown, however , thatStrophariacubensis is the eas ies t to cul t ivate . Attempts a t cul t ivat ingother species have so far met with problems in making thefungus "f rui t ," or produce mushrooms, that wil l require fur -ther work to overcome. Our l imit ing the discuss ion to onespecies , however , is not as unfor tunate as i t may seem s ince

Stropharia cubensis is not on ly one of the stronge st of thehallucinogenic mushrooms, but a lso one of the most wide-spread and readily obtainable . In nature, i ts habita t is cow-dung, and i t can be found in pas tures dur i ng rainy, warm par tsof the year in regions as diverse as the Southeastern U.S. an dCambodia, Australia and Colombia. Unlike other psilocybin-containing genera, which with few exceptions are fair ly re-str icted endemics, the distr ibu tion of the Stropharia cuben-sis is world-wide (cf . Pollock, 1975). In fact, since its pre-fer red habita t is cow-dung, i ts c i r cumt r op ica l dis tr ibutionhas doubtless been encouraged, if not caused, by the world

cat t le industry . Amusingly enough, the Stropharia could besaid to exist as a "weed"" on high-technology ca tt ie-raisingcultures. This intimate association with man via his domesti-cated cattle has probably existed for as long as humanity haspossessed pastoral technology.

Th e p rocedure s outlined in this book, if followed withcare and persistence, will work for Stropharia cubensis. Th eprocedures can be carried out by anyone in their own home,with just a minimum of equipment and a few supplies andcommo n chemicals that are no more than moderately dif f icu l t

to obtain. No special training in mycology or microbiology isnecessary. What is necessary is to follow the instru ction s close-ly and carefully.

The procedure described herein consists essentially offour major steps. It begins with spores and describes step-by-step instructions for growing full-size mushrooms from sporeswithin six weeks. The first step involves locating the fungus,collecting and germinating the spores, and isolating the my-cel ium , or fung al threads , obtained f rom the spores . The nextstep involves cultivating the mycelium on agar, a solid nutri-ent, in order to use it for inoculation. In the third step, my-celium grown on agar is then grown on a sterilized medium ofwhole rye grains. In the fourth and final step the rye-grownmycelium iscased,or covered wit h soil, a process that ind uces

the production of mushrooms. This book describes each ofthese s teps in detai l , and can be put into pract ice by anyoneable to read and carefully fol low t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s , p r ov idedthat they can obtain spores or specimens ofStropharia cubeti-

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STEP 1 :

LOCATING AND IDENTIFYING THE FUNGUS

COLLECTING AND GERMINATING SPORES

In t he Ne w Wor ld ,Stropiwria cubensis can be found inappropria te habi ta ts throughout the S o u t h e r n U.S., all throughthe coastal regions of Mexico, and throughout coastal andequatorial regions of South America. In the U.S., i t has beenreported from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkan-sas, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. Its distribution wouldprobably be ev en greater were it not for the fact that its en-vironmenta l requirements l imit i t to regions of mild temper-a tures and high humidi ty.

Because of its specific habitat and singular appearance,Stropharia cubensisis one of theeasiestmushrooms to locateand ident i fy. As a l ready ment ioned, i t can be found growingout of cow-pics in pastures during rainy warm seasons.Otherdung-growing mushrooms may also be found in the same pas-ture, but the s e bear l i t t le resemblance to Stropharia. The fol-lowing botanica l descr ipt ion of Stropharia cubensis is t a k e nfrom Mushrooms of North America by Orson K. Miller, Jr.(also, sec Color Section following page 32):

C a p p a l e y e l l o w i s h , v i s c i d ; p e r s i s t e n t r i n g : b l u e - s t a i n i n g s t a l k .Cap 1.5-8 cm broad, conic, bell-shaped, convex in age. viscid,

w i t h o u t hai rs , w h i t i s h t o p a l e yellow, l i g h t b r o w n i s h i n ag e . s t a i n sbluish in age. Flesh firm, w h i l e , bruises blue. Gil ls a d n a t e ( a t -t a c he d) t o a d n e x e d ( n o t c h e d ) , c l o s e , g r e y t o v i o l e t - g r e y i n a g ew i t h w h i l e e d g e s . S t a l k 4 - 1 5 c m l o n g , 4 - 1 4 m m ih ick . e n l a r g i n gs o m e w h a t t o w a r d t h e b a s e , d r y , w i t h o u t ha i r s , w h i l e s t a i n i n g b l u ew h e n b r u i s e d . V e i l w h i t e , l e a v i n g a s u p e r i o r m e m b r a n o u s r i n g .Spores 1 0 - 1 7 / u x 7 - I O j U e l l i p t i c a l t o ov a l i n s ide-view, thick-walled,w i t h a la r g e p o r e a t a p e x , p u r p l e - b r o w n s p o r e p r i n t . C ys t id i a ( s t e r -ile cells) on gill edge club-shaped with rounde d head s.

M i l l e r places this species in the genusPsilocybe, after Singer.The f lesh of th is mushroom exhibi ts the property of

s ta in ing a b luish color when b r u i s ed or broken. This blue-s taining reac t ion is app arent l y an enzymatic o xida t ion of someindole s ubs t ra t e ( t r y p t o p h a n e , 5 - h y d r o x y t r y p t a m i n e , or psilo-c y b i n ) and is a fa i r ly re l iab le ind ica tor of the presence of ps i-

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closely related ge nera (mem bers of the family S t r opha r i ace ae )(cf. Benedict, et al., 1967). Other mushrooms, such as mem-bers of the genusRussula, section Nig r icant inae , and Boletus,exhibit a similar blueing. The blueing in these cases, however,is not due to the presence of indolesubst rates and these mush-rooms otherwise bear no resemblance whatever to Strophariacubensis or related species (Singer, 1958, p. 247). The blueing

of the Stropharia an d Psilocybe species is also accompaniedby a strongly posit ive reaction with the chemical reagentmetol(p-methylaminophenol), a common compound used inphotographic darkroom work. This reagent dissolves in 20times its weight of water, and will turn a deep purple colorwithin 1-30 minutes when a few drops are added to a sectionof crushed stem. The compound in solution is unstable andmust be used immediately after it is mixed with water. (Singer,1958, p. 2 4 7 ; E n o s , 1970, p. 5).

Once one has located a specimen or specimens of Stro-pharia cubensis, and bee n satisfied as to its identity in all par-ticulars, it is necessary to collect spores for cultivation. Thetest with metol is more or less a double-check and is notreally essential, since most specimens will readily blue whenthe stipe (stem) is broken. Spores can be easily collected inthe followingm a n n e r : Take one or more fresh specimens withthe caps fully open; using a sharp knife, cut off the stipe asclose to the gills as possible (cf. Fig. 3) and place the cap gill-side down on a clean sheet of white paper, and leave for 24hours. I t doesn' t hurt to cover the caps with a small bowlwhile taking the spore print in order to retard dess ica t ion.When the caps are removed, a dark-purplish, radially symme-trical deposit of spores will remain on the paper where thegills c ontac ted i t . The paper should then be folded and sealedin an envelope in order to prevent further contamination byair-borne spores of other species of lower fungi. A singlespore-print contains tens of millions of spores, and is suffi-cient to make hundreds of spore germinations.

The following variation on this method was suggested tous as a way of enhancing the sterility of the spore print: Takefour standard flat microscope slides, swab with alcohol, andflame in an alcohol flame or butane torch (Fig. 2). On a clean

flat surface, such as a table-top swabbed with Lysol, lay theslides side by side and end to end, so that they are arranged asin Fig. 3. Place the fresh cap in the exact middle of the slides

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so that approximately % of the cap covers each slide (Fig. 4).Cover and wait 24 hours. When the cap is removed, the endof each slide will be covered with spores, and the slides canthen be sealed, together or separately, in plastic or paper.

Once the spore-print has been collected, it is necessaryto germinate some spores in order to begin the life-cycle thatwill eventually culminate in the production of more mush-

rooms. Before we outline procedures for germinating thespores, a brief discussion of the stages in the life-cycle of thesehigher fungi follows; readers who do not care to read thissomewhat technical portion may skip to page 2 1 , par ag r ph 3.

All gilled fungi are members of the class Basidiomycetes,i.e., they are characterized by the production of spores onclub-shaped appendages called basidia. Spores borne on basi-dia are called basidiospores. Most of the conspicuous fungithat one encounters, such as mushrooms, puffballs , an dbracket fungi are members of the subclass Homobasidiomy-cetes. Of the members of this subclass, the gilled mushrooms

are placed in the order Aga ricales. The life-cycle of a typicalhomobas id iomyce te is illustrated in the frontispiece. The ba-sidiospores germinate to form a monokaryotic hypha. Ahypha is a tubular fi lament; an aggregation of these h y p h a ecollectively comprise a mass of thread-like filaments referredto as the mycelium. The mycelium comprises the main body,or thallus, of the fungus. The stalked, capped s tructure whichwe call the mushroom is actually only the "fruiting body" orthe spore-producing reproductive structure, and consti tutesonly a small portion of the total mass of the fungus; the greatbulk of the organism exists underground in the form of a net-work of mycelium, which occasionally "fruits," or producesmushrooms, under appropriate conditions.

The basidiospores germinate to produce amonokaryoticmycelium, i.e., a mycelium having only one nucleus per cell.This mycelium grows out until it encounters another mono-karyotic mycelium, germinated from another spore, that is acompatible matin g type. If the monokaryotic mycelium doesnot contact a compatible monokaryotic mycelium, it eventu-ally dies. In si tuations where two compatible monokaryoticmycelia do make contact, however, a process calledsomato-gamy,

or a fusing of the somatic cells of the two mycelia,takes p lace, but fusion of the nuclei does not take place. Th eresult of somatogarny is the establishment of a dikaryotic my-

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ce l i u m , i .e., a mycelium possessing two nuclei, one f rom eachof the monok a r yo t i c myce l ia , in each of it s cells (cf . frontis-piece). The dikaryotic mycelium stage is the most prolongedportion of the life-cycle and is also the main ass imi la t i ve stageof th e fungus. The dikaryotic mycelium can propagate vege-tatively indefinitely without going through a sexual (spore-producing) stage. Given appropriate conditions, however, the

dikaryot ic m yce l i u m can be induced to "fruit"; the undi f fe r -entiated mycelial tha l lus of the fungus begins to weave i tself t og e t he r into an articulated, spore-bearing "fruiting body." inthis case, into a mushroom. The mushroom continues to en-large and thrust above the g r o u n d , incorporating more andmore mycelium while at the same time expanding by absorp-tion of water. At a certain stage in the growth of the mush-room, or basidiocarp, club-shaped structures called basidiaform on the unde rside of the gil ls. At this point, karyogamy,or fusion of the two nuclei of the dikaryotic mycelium takesplace within the basidia (cf. f ron t isp iece ) . This is the onlydiploid, or 2n, stage in the life-cycle of the fungus, and is alsothe briefest stage, for meiosis, or redu ction d ivi sio n of a dip-loid ( 2 n ) n u c le u s to 4 haplo id (n) nucle i occurs immediatelyfollowing karyogamy (cf. frontisp iece). The result of meiosisis the production of four haploid nuclei within the basidium(cf. frontispiece); these are then pushed out of the basidiumand become surrounded by hard s h e a t h s to form the basidio-spores (cf. frontispiece). The result is the basidium bearingfou r basidiospores on its outer surface as in the frontispiece.These basidiospores eventually detach from th e basidium tobegin the life-cycle again.

Fungi of th e fami ly S t rophariaceae , which includesStro-phaiia cubensis and most otherpsilocybin-contahiinggenera,are genetically complex with respect to the mating compati-b i l i ty o f d i f feren t monokaryot ic mycel ia . These fungi arehetemrliallic an d tetrapolar, that is, their sexual cycle is de-pendent on the fusion of twocompatiblemonokaryotic my-celia, and their sexual compatibility is governed by two sets off ac tors :

In t e t rapolar h e t e r o th a l l i sm . tw o s e t s of f a c t o r s , th e A 's a ndB's, are involved. If a sexually reproducing thallus is to be estab-l i shed , s omat og amymust occu r betwee n mycel ia d i ffering in bothsets of fac to rs for example AB x ab . The num ber of mat ing

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classes is somewhat greater than in bipolar forms, since four typestypically arise from spores of a single basidioca rp. Obvious ly thesemat ing types , numbering in the hundreds in both b ipolar andtetrapolar species, cannot be designated as sexes! (Scagel , et a .,1 967 , p. 69.)

Keeping this information pertaining to the sexual char-acteristics of these fungi in mind, let us return to the prob-

lem of spore ge rmi n a t i o n ; the relevance of our digression intothe matter of life-cycle and sexual compatibility will be seenshortly.

Once one has obtained a spore print from Stfophanacu-bensis, the monokaryotic mycelium can be easily obtained bygerminating the spores on an appropriate solid nutrient me-dium, such as Potato Dextrose Agar or Malt Extract Agar. Amore detailed discussion of various kinds of nutrient agarsand how to prepare them will be given below in the sectionon Growing Stock Inocula. For the present, however, simplyassume that one has several clean, sterile petri plates which

have been filled with an appropriate solid nutrient medium(see Fig. 5). Take the clean paper or slide on which the sporeprint is deposited, and using a clean knife, inoculating loop,or similar implement which has been sterilized by flaming inan alcohol lamp (Fig. 6), simply scrape the spore print lightlywith the implement (Fig. 7), then transfer the adhering spores(Fig. 8) to the medium by touching the surface in one ormore spots with the tip of the implement (Fig. 9). Care shouldbe taken to do this as quickly as possible, keeping the coveroff the petri plate for the shortest time necessary, in order tominimize the chances of contaminating the plate with the air-borne spores of contaminants. A variation on this method canalso be used: Instead of scraping the spores directly onto theplate, they can first be scraped into about 10 ml of sterilizedwater . Shake this vigorously, then dilute to 10 0 ml by addingsterile water. Using a sterilized pipette or syringe, take up 2-3ml of diluted spore solution, and point-inoculate the petriplate by placing a drop of the solution at two or three separ-at e points on the plate. Allow t he covered i nocu l a t e d p late tostand at room temperature for 3-5 days. During this time, thespores will germinate and monokaryotic mycel ium will growradially outward from each point of inoculation. The plateshould be left undisturbed until the mycelium from two dif-

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fe rent spores or two different points of inoculation has grownt og e t he r and made contact. A few days after contact has oc-curred, one can be reasonably sure that s o m a t o g a m y has tak-en place and th at a dika ryotic mycelium has been es tablished.

In cultivating the fungus to the fruiting stage, one worksprimari ly w it h a single strain of dikaryo tic myc eliu m. How-ever, because spores of several different mating types arepro-duced by a single mushroom, a petri plate inoculated withspores will have possibly several dozen different strains of di-karyotic mycelium growing on it. It is therefore necessary toisolate one of the strains so that one can grow out stock inoc-ula from a single, uniform strain. This can be accomplishedusing a scalpel, dissecting needle or inoculating loop in whichthe loop has been bent to form a hook (Fig. 8). The imple-ment is first sterilized in an alcohol f l a me ; then the petri plateis opened slig htly an d a very small pie ce of myce lial tissue is

snagged on the end of the blade, needle, or hook, and trans-ferred rapidly and deftly to a second clean sterile petri platecontaining an appropr iate sol id nutr ient medium. Dikaryoticmycelium is isolated using exactly the same techniques as areused in transferring mycelium from one petri plate to another;for figures illustrating this procedure, see Step 11, Figs. 13-16. By selecting a very small piece of tissue in this way. onecan be reasonably sure that only one strain of dikaryotic my-celium is being removed and isolated. The dikaryotic myceli-um thus isolated from the spore-germination plate will growoutward in all directions from the point of inoculation on the

new plate and should cover most of the surface of the me-dium within 8-12 days. One can then go ahead and make fur-ther transfers to new plates with a fair degree of certaintythat one is working with a single strain of dikaryotic mycel-ium.

It is probably advisable to isolate several different strainsof dikaryotic mycelium onto separate plates by taking t issuefrom different sections of the spore-germination plate. Differ-ent strains isolated from a single spore-germination plateshould be identified by labels and compared for vigor of

g r owt h and vigor of f rui t ing abil i ty , so tha t , throug h observa-tion and t r ia l -and-er ror , th e s tra in showing maxi mu m vigor inboth respec ts can eventual ly be identif ie d and usede x d u s i v e -y thereaf ter . Isolat ing the most viaorous s tra in takes t ime and

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carefulo b se rv a t i o n : however, this need not i n t e r f e r e with con-tinuing on to the second and third steps of the process, sinceany dikaryotic mycelium that has been properly isolated fromother strains should exhibit fruiting ability. After several dif-ferent strains have been put through several fruiting stages it

s hou ld be apparent which strain is most vigorous.If one has fresh mushroom specimens, it is possible toemploy another method of isolating dikaryotic myceliumwith out utilizing spores. This is the method of subcuta neousisolation (cf. E n o s , 1970). Remove the stipe from a freshmushroom, and, using three or four needles, fasten the capgills down to a piece of cork-board or card-board. Swab thecap surface with tincture of iodine using a sterile cotton swab.Then, using a flame-sterilized scalpel, remove a small sectionof the outer cuticle of the cap. Then resterilize the scalpel,and remove a small piece of subcutaneous flesh from the cap,

and transfer it to a sterilized nutrient plate. Since the flesh ofthe mushroom has been woven together out of dikaryoticmycelium, it will grow out across the plate in the same man-ner as mycelium isolated from a spore-germination plate. Thisprocedure eliminates the step of having to isolate d i ffe rentdikaryotic strains, since mycelium isolated in this manner con-sists of only one strain. On the other hand, this procedure lim-its one to working with only one strain.

24

S T E P I I :GROWING STOCK INOCULA

Once one or more strains of dikaryotic mycelia h a v ebeen successfully isolated, it is necessary to build up a stock

of mycelial cultures grown on sterile agar media. The inoculafrom this stock will be used to inoculate the mycelium ontosterilized rye or other grain. Before proceeding to this step,however, it is advisable to h a v e a good sup ply of inoculagrown out on sterile agar media, so that one will have plentyof sterile inocula even if a few cultures should succumb tocontamination. The i n f o r m a t i o n in this section therefore de-scribes procedures for preparation, s terilization, and inocula-t ion of solid nutr ie nt m edia .

Most laboratory work with higher fungi, yeasts, molds,

bacteria and so on involves growing the organism on a solidagarme d ium to wh ic h a ppropri a t e nu t r i e n t s ha ve bee n a d d e d .Agar is a pec t in- l ik e subs tan ce extrac ted from certa in kin ds of sea-kelp, which, when dissolved in boiling water and allowedto cool, solidifies to a ge l a t i n o u s consistency. Agar is a stan-dard item in al l microbiologica l w o r k , and is available fromalmost any scientific supply company. It is also stocked bymany health-food stores and Oriental food stores as a dietarys upp l e me n t .

Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Malt E x t r a c t Agar(MEA) are standard solid nutrient media suitable for cultivat-ing the mycelia of most higher fungi, including Strophariacubensis. Both types a re commonly avai lable in a premixedform from most sc ient i f ic supply companies . The premixedtype need only be dissolved in boiling d i s t i l l e d water . Usual lyabout 5-20 gofp re - mi xe d agar m e d i u m p e r 1000mlo fwateris used.

The appropriate proportions and mixing instructions areusua l ly pr in ted on the conta iner of dr ied agar prepara t ion.With very litt le trouble, one can also manufacture one's ownPD A or M EA; a rec ipe and procedure for each type is given

on thefo l lowingpage.

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P.D.A.

250 g. potatoes15g. agar10 g. dextrose1 .5 g. nutritional yeast (or yeast e x t r a c t )

Shred the impeded potatoes into a col lander and then rinset hem for thir ty seconds with cold tap water. Combine therinsed potatoes with one liter of water and gently boil forthirty minutes. Filter the resulting potato broth through mus-lin or cheese cloth and discard the potatoes. To the liter ofpotato broth add the agar, dextrose, and yeast which you havepreviously weighed out and mixed together in a baggie. Whilestirr ing gently add in the mixed powdered ingredients. G e n t l yboil for ten minutes or until the solution is clear. Take care

not to allow the solution to boil over. Add enough water toreturn the total volume of the solution to one liter . Pour thesolution whil e still hot into petri pla tes, baby food jars, orslant cultu re tubes (Fig. 1 1 ) . Use just enoug h to cover the bot-tom of a plate or baby-food jar to a d epth of abo ut % in. ; ifusing tubes, f ill about full. The solution may be allowed tocool or sterilized immediately. Sterilization procedureswill bedescribed shortly.

A recipe for Malt Extract Agar (MEA) follows:

To 1 liter of gently boiling water add a previouslyweighed and mixed powder containing:

20 g. malt or malt extract (may be powder or s y r u p )15 g. cornsteep liquor ( o p t i o n a l )20 g. agar

0.1 g. Potassium phosphate dibasic ( K 2 H P O 4 )0.1 g. Calcium carbonate ( C a C O 3 ) ( p o w d e r e d oys-

ter shell may be u s e d )Corn-steep liquor, which is an optional ing r ed ien t , may bemade by boiling dried corn in water, letting the broth stand

for several d ay s , then ste rilizing it in a mason jar in a pressurecooker. Corn-steep liquor made this way should be refriger-ated. The liquid malt extract sold in the syrup sections ofmost grocery stores is quite suitable for this medium. After

the nutrients have been completely dissolved in the water,the hot solution is poured into plates in the same manner asthe PDA. It does not hur t to add 1 .5 g of yeast extract or nu-tr itional yeast to either of the media descr ibed above. Thisprovides an add itio nal source of proteins and B vitamins. If some of the nutrient solution is left over after pouring theplates, the flask may be sealed and stored in the ref rig era torindefinitely, or sterilized with the plates and stored on theshelf . When one wishes to make more plates, the medium canbe reliquified over heat and reused.

The two types of media described above are quite easyto prepare and w ill be suitable for growing stock inocula. It isa good idea to mix up and have on hand both types of media,and to use them alternately in preparing batches of plates. Inthis way the fungus will not become accustomed to one typeof medium and thus will be forced to use different parts of itsgenome in adapting to the different media. This will preventthe mycelium from succumbing to any "senescence factor"or tendency to age physiologically and thus to lose vigor aftera period of time.

These two types of media are completely adequate forgrowing out one's stock inocula. From a purely practicalstandpoint, we have found PDA and MEA to be easily andreadily prepared from a relatively few common ingredients.Unless one wishes to get involved in complex n u t r i t io n a l stu-dies, it is unnecessary to bother with other recipes. Othertypes of media may be used, however, and those who do wishto get more deeply into this step of the process are urged toconsul t Enos , 1970 (see Bibliograp hy).

Once one has prepared an agar medium and poured it in-to the petri plates, baby food jars, slant cult ure t ub es , or others u i t a b l e receptacles , it is necessary to sterilize the medium inthe rece ptacles in o rder to kill the spores of bacteria , yeasts,and o t h e r m o k l s which get into the medium f rom th e air. Thiscan be done via the f o l lo w i n g p r o c e d u r e : If a laboratory auto-clave is not available, a standard home cooking or canning

pressure cooker can be used. We use and recommend the AllAmer ican 94114 pressure cooker, available from Whole EarthCatalogue (see Fig. 27). P l ace a small amou nt of water(a p p r o x . 1 l i t e r ) in the bottom of the cooker (tap water will

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do) so that the surface is covered. Place the receptacles con-taining the medium into the pressure cooker. Be sure to stackthem carefully (see Fig. 12); a small enameled tray is usefulfor this . Note: If us ing pres ter i l ized plas t ic plates , pour themedium into the platesafters ter i l iz ing; do notautoclave plas-ticplates.

I t does not matter whether t h e medium is still hot andliquid, or whether it has been allowed to cool an d sol idi fy ,since the heat of the s ter i l izat ion process wil l r e l i qu i fy th emedium anyway. If baby food jars or culture tubes are used,be certain that the lids are left loose, not screwed down tight.when they are being sterilized. Seal the lid of the pressurecooker , but leave the stopcock open. Bring the cooker to aboil over high heat on a stove. When the water has begun toboi l v i g o r ou s l y , a good head of steam will begin to ventthrough the stopcock; it should be closed a t th i s po in t , andth e pressure allowed to build up to between 15-20 Ibs. Thenreduce th e heat just enough to maintain pressure at this levelfor 45 minutes to 1 hour . The s tandard s ter i l izat ion t ime forsolid media at these temperatures (250 F.) and pressures(15-20 Ibs . ) is 15 min utes , but exper ience has sh o wn tha t th i sis often insufficient to insure co m p l e t e sterilization. Allowinga strong head of steam to build up in the pressure cooker be-fore closing the stopcock is also important, for if it is closedprematurely, the pressure will r ise but the water will be un-able to vaporize, and dry heat requires much longer to accom-

plish s ter i l izat io n.After the medium has been sterilized at the correct pres-

sure for 45-60 minu te s , turn off the heat or carefully removethe cooker ( remember that the medium is l iquid at this pointand can slosh around) and allow the cooker to cool to roomtemperature before opening the stopcock; otherwise, the sud-den release of pressure will cause the medium to boil over.

When the cooker has cooled to room t e m p e r a t u r e ors l ightly ab o v e , open the stopcock and allow any excess steamto escape. Remove the lid and ca re fu l ly remove the recep-tacles containing the medium. Place the receptacles inside apre-sterilized inoculating hood (see Fig. 10) or on a c lean ,smooth table-top which has been wiped down with Lysol orsimilar strong disinfectant. As the receptacles cool further, the

28

fig. 10: Two vie ws of a home ma de ino c ul a t in g hood.

medium will solidify. If slant culture tubes are being used,

they should be placed on an angle while the medium is stillliquid, to provide maximum surface area for mycelial growth.

When the receptacles have cooled completely to roomtemperature, and the medium is ful ly sol idi f i ed, they areready to be inoculated. If possible, inoculation should be ear-ned out inside an inoculation hood such as that shown in Fig.

I. Commer ica l hoods are available, or a home-made hoodcan be constructed out of wood and all joints sealed withsilicon c aulk ing com poun d. Presterilize the hood before in-troducing the culture receptacles by spraying al l ins ide sur-ges thoroughly with Lysol aerosol , or a mixture of 25%Chlorox-dis t i l ledwa te r s o lu t ion , or both. If a hood is not

availabl e, inoculation can be carried out in t h eopen air in aroom in which the air is relatively still , i .e. , a room w ith ou t any

drafts. The air of the room should be sprayed beforehand25 %C l o ro x solution and the surface on which inocula -on s to be done wiped down with a strong Lysol solut ion,t en l e procedures should always be done wearing latex

soves which have been sterilized by spraying with Lysol

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Inoculation should be done using a disposable scalpelor an inoculating loop which has been opened to form a hook(Fig. 8), and can be carried out in essentially the same manneras was described for isolating dikaryotic mycelium from aspore germination plate. Select a completely sterile, vigor-

ously growing culture from one's stock of dikaryotic mycel-ium isolated from spores. The myce l ium of a vigorous cul-ture should be pure white and fluffy in appearance, andpreferably less than 10 days old (cf. Fig. 13). Wash one'shands and arms thoroughly in soap and water before begin-ning w ork , then wipe down with alcohol. Wear thin latexgloves sprayed with Lysol or C lo r ox -wa t e r solution as addedprotection (Figs. 13 & 14); talcum powder can be sprinkledinside first to make them easy to slip on. Wear a short-sleevedor sleeveless shirt for the process to avoid introducing con-

taminants from one's clothes. Pass the wire of the hooked in-oculating loop through the flame of an alcohol l amp until i thas been heated to redness in all of its parts, but especially atthe end (Fig. 15). Open the cult ure just enou gh to inse rt theend of the loop, and snag a small piece of mycelial tissue orsmall plug of agar and transfer this rapidly to the freshly steri-lized medium, again opening the lid just enough to insert theinocu lum (Fig. 16). Wi th dr aw the loop and replace the lid onthe newly inoculated culture. If a disposable scalpel is usedinstead of a loop, inoculation can be accomplished by c uttinga small square (c. 1 mm) of mycel ia-g rown agar from the cul-ture plate, and transferring this to the new p late . If usingtubes or baby food jars, the lids should be left fairly loose toallow for aeration. Repeat this process for as many times asone has receptacles to inoculate. It is not necessary to use anew culture for each inoculation; a single culture is sufficientto inoculate dozens of fresh plates. After a batch has been in-ocula ted , h o wev er , the culture used as the source of inoculashould be discarded.

Let the freshly inoculated medium stand at room tem-perature for 3-5 days. During this time the pure wh i t e , t h r ead -like m yceliu m will spread radia lly across the surface of themedium, covering it completely within 7-20 days. Growth ofthe inoculum should be apparent by the four th day af ter in-oculation. Also apparent by about this time will be any con-

30

fig. 13: Material s forp l a t e - to - p l a t e fig. 14: D isin fec t ing r ubbe r g love sinoc ulatio n. with Lysol.

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t a m i n a n t s that have gotten into the cultures during inocula-tion in spite of precautions. They usually appear as smallwhite dots with blue-green centers, and grow much more rap-idly than the mycelium. These are usually other molds, suchas Penici l l ium and Aspergillus, Neurospora or various yeasts.Most are easy to distinguish from the mushroom mycelium,since the mycelium is pure white, occasionally with a slightt inge of blue, while the contaminants may be green, blue-green, black, yellow, dirty-gray, and so on, and otherwise donot resemble the mycelium. Any contaminated culturesshould be discarded as soon as one is certain that contamina-

tion is present. It is normal to lose a few cultures to contami-nation, and one should not be discouraged by it. It is practi-cally impossible, under non-laboratory conditions, to elimi-nate all contamination; but as one gains practice in makinginoculations, speed and technique should gradually improve

so that contamination can be held to a minimum. It wouldbe a good idea to consult an introductory microbiology textfor information relating to fast and efficient inoculating tech-niques.


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STEP III:

GROWING ON S T E R I L I Z E D RYEW h e n a number o f mycel ia l cultures have been success-

fully grown on solid agar medium, one is faced with achoice:It is possible to stop at this point, and concentrate on perfect-ing techniques for mycelial growth on agar. The mycelium it-selfcon ta insps i locybinand can b e ingested for hal lu cino gen iceffects . The amount of psi locybin present in the mycel ium isde ter m ine d b y the r ichness of the me diu m on which i t i s

grown. Thus for an individual wishing only to obtain psilocy-bin from mycelium, there is a wide-open area for investiga-t ion; v i z . , to discover a sui table nutr ient medium that gives amaximum yield of psilocybin per unit surfacearea of agar. Iflaboratory faci l i t ies are avai lable, psi locybin can also be ob-

tained from mycelium grown in l iquid medium in shaken orsubmerged f lask cul tures. Since the necessary equipment forthis is unavai lable to most people, this approach is not dis-cussed fur ther here . In teres ted readers are urged to consul tC a t a l f o m o & Tyler, 1964.

The other choice at this stage involves moving on to the

third step in the p rocedure , whereby mushrooms can be ob-tained by induc ing the m ycelium to f ru it. In order for vigor-ous fruit ing to take place, the mycelium must first be grownout onto steril ized rye wheat barley or other similar grain


25/42

experience is that rye works as good as any and is less expen-sive than most. Therefore we have primarily worked with ryein this stage. One must be c e r t a i n , however, that the rye usedis packaged for human consum ption, and not grown as feed;feed rye has usually been tr eated w ith a fungicide.

At this stage, it is useful to construct a styrofoam boxwith a window in the lid such as illustrated in Figs. 17-20.These boxes can be obtained from pet stores and tropicalfish dealers and can be used as a convenient modular systemfor incubating jars in a high-humidity, constant temperatureenvironment. To prepare the rye medium, begin with a clean,wide-mouth quart mason jar with a dome and ring lid. Addthe following ingredients to the jar in these proportions:

1 1 2 g. whole rye grains2.0 g. Calcium carbonate ( C a C O 3 )

.2 g. Potassium phosphate (K 2 H P O 4 ) ( op t i ona l )180ml tap or distilled water(cf. Fig. 22-25)

The potassium phosphate, if unavailable, can be omitted. Thecalcium carbonate need not be of great p u r i t y : powdered oy-ster shell, powd ered limestone, or powdered chalk is suitable.

When the ingredients have been added to each jar in theproper proportions, the lids should be screwed loosely ontothe jars, with the rubber seal of the inner lids inverted so thatthe jars will not seal during sterilization (Fig. 26).

Now the jars containing the rye can be sterilized. Barelycover the bottom of the pressure cooker with tap water. Placethe jars in the cooker, making sure that the lids areloose (Fig.28). If one's pressure cooker is large enough to permit, jarscan be stacked in two tiers without difficulty (Fig. 29 & 30).Seal the lid of the pressure cooker, but leave the stopcockopen as before, until a head of steam begins to vent from thestopcock. Then close the stopcock, and bring to 15-20 Ibs.pressure. Reduce heat when this pressure is reached so thatpressure is maintained but does not increase. This is aboutmedium heat on an electric stove. Sterilize at this pressure

for one hour. Remove from the heat and allow the pressureto return to zero before opening the stopcock. Open the stop-

cock at this point and allow excess steam to escape; then re-move the lid from the pressure cooker. Remove one of the

ja rs , tigh ten th e lid dow n fi nge r- ti gh t, and ca re fu lly ex am in ethe jar for cracks and immediately discard any flawed jars(Fig. 31) then shake the remaining jars vigorously (Fig.31).One can inscribe the jars with the date of inoculation or othersuitable code-number (Fig. 32) in order to keep track of theschedule of shaking the jars. One will note on removing the

jar that the rye has absorbed the water and swelled to severaltimes its previous volume. After shaking, leave the lids tight-ened until the jars have cooled. Place the jars into the pre-sterilized inoculating hood (if available) or onto the clean,disinf ected work ing sur face (Fig. 10). Then let the jars coolfor at least two hours or to room temperature.

When the jars have cooled completely to room tempera-ture, and are no longer warm to the touch, they are ready to

be inoculated. This step is best accomplished using a dispos-able, presterilized #1 1 scalpel (Fig. 33). These scalpels can beobtained from any medical supply house. Flame the blades ofthe scalpel over an alcohol lamp (Fig. 33). Insert the scalpelinto an agar mycelial culture grown in a petri plate or babyfood jar, and cut a grid into the surface, so that small squaresof agar of about 1-1.5 sq. cm. are formed (Fig. 34). One canget about 9-20 small squares of agar from a single four-inchpetri dish in this way (Fig. 35). Cultures grown in slant tubesare obviously unsuitable forthis.step, because of difficulty inremoving squares of agar from the tubes. At each transfer re-

sterilize the scalpel blade by flaming, insert into the agar cul-ture, and spear and remove one of the squares of mycelium-covered agar (Fig. 36) and tr ansf er rapid ly to one of the ma-son jars, l ift ing t he lid of the jar just enoug h to insert th e ino-culum (Figs. 37 & 38). Firmly tighten the lid and shake the

ja r vi go ro us ly to sp re ad the in ocu la ti on po in ts . Then be ce r-tain toreloosen the lid; it must be left loose enough to allowdiffusion of oxygen from the surrounding air, as proper aera-tion is essent ial for the fungus to grow. Repeat this inocula-tion step for each jar.

An a l t e r na t i ve method of inoculation was suggested tous by a mycologist friend, as possibly effective in increasing34 35


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fig. 1 7 : Making a box: cut tin g a fig. 18: App lyin g silicone ma rin ewindow in the lid . . . glue. . .

fig. 19: Clear plas t ic vinyl is glued fig. 20: Completed box.over the window . .

fig. 21: A set ofjars t o be f i l led and f ig . 22: Mat er i als for making th esterilized. rye me diu m.

fig. 23: Addi ng weighed rye to the fig. 24: Two grams of powd eredja r. oy st e r shell ( C a C O 3 ) are added.

fig . 25: 180 mi l l i l i t e r s ofw a t e r ar e fig. 26: Mason j ar l id w i th rubberadded. edge up.

fig. 27: The Ait-Am erican 94H-2 fig. 28: Loading the pressurecooker,pressure cooker.

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fig. 29: The first layer of jars. fig. 30: The second layer of jars.

f ig. 31: Steril ized jars are checked fig. 32: Writing the date on the j a r s ,for cracks, then shaken.

fig.33: F lamin g the scalpel, fig. 34; Mycelium on agaris cut into sections.

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the sterility of the p r ocedur e and thus cutting down contami-nation. This method is a standard approach to fungal inocu-lations in mycolog ical work, and so far seems promising, al-though we have not inves t iga ted i t thoroughly enough toknow if it is the answer to contamination problems. Thismethod is carried out as follows: Sterilize a bit of water by

placing it in a flask sealed with aluminum foil and placing inthe pressure cooker with the mason jars . When one is readyto inoculate, take up about 10 cc ( m l ) of the water in a dis-posable, presterilized plastic syringe, and inject it onto thesurface of an agar mycelial culture (slant-tube cultures areideal for this). Reseal t h e culture and swirl the water aroundvigorous ly unt i l f ragments of mycel ium become vis ible sus-pended in the water. Then again take up the water-mycel ia lsuspension in the syringe, and use the syringe to inoculateeach mason jar by injecting 1 or 2 ccs into each jar. As wit hthe scalpel, the needle of the syringe can be flamed over analcohol lamp before making each inoculation. Mycelial growthshould become visibl e from one or more po int s in the jar by3-4 days after inoculation.

After the rye has been inoculated, a period of waitingand ca re fu lobservation follows. The jars should be mainta inedat a roughly constant temperature of 70-80 F . , and 957c rela-tive humidity. Since the lids remain on t h ej a rs the hum idi tywill tend to be high and need not be worried about. Maintain-ing the relat ively h igh and cons tant tempera ture ,h o w e v e r , isimportant to promote ear ly and rapid mycel ia l growth. The

mycelium gives off heat as it grows and a styrofoam box ofthe sort used by tropical fish wholesalers is ideal for holdingthis heat and thus self-incubating the jars . During the firstthree days af te r ino cula t ion , the mycel ium w il l grow off theagar inoculum and onto the rye. By the fourth day, the my-ce l ium wil l have grown r ad i a l l y outward from the inoculumin all d i r e c t i ons to form a mat of growth slightly smaller thana f i f ty-cent p iece .

When mycelial growth has reached this stage, firmlytighten the lid and again shak e the cu lt ur e vigorously, to brea kup the mycel ium and redis t r ibute the inoculum throughout

the rye. During the shakin g process you w i l l run across ob -viously con t amina t ed jars; s imply remove them and set them40

aside for washing out later. Reloosen the lid immediately af-ter shaking and allow the culture to stand for34 days. Att h e end of this time, if the lids are loose enough to permitproper aera t ion, m y c e l i a l growth from many different pointsin the rye should be apparent (Fig. 39). If the rye has notbeen completely permeated by the mycelium at the end of

the sixth to eighth day after inoculation, the cultures can beshaken a second time. Complete permeation of the rye shouldbe observed anywhere from the eighth to the fourteenth day.At this time, the rye should be completely permeated by thesnow-white mycelium, which may occasionally be lightlytinged with blue. If growth of any other color is observed, orif the rye is only partially permeated, then the culture is con-taminated and should be d isca rded .It should be noted that these t ime parameters given forcomple te permeat ion of t h e rye by the mycelium can varywide ly . I n some cases, complete permeation can take place inunder six days: in o th e r s , two or even three weeks are re-quired. Exac t ly w hat fa c tors govern perme at ion t ime are notclear, but we suspect that some external environmental para-meter , such as tempera ture variabi l i ty, humidi ty or par t ia lpressure of oxygen, ma y be resp onsib le. I n t e re s t i ng l y , we havefound that mycelial g r o w t h seems to occur more vigorouslyin cul tures grown in the w a r m e r , coastal parts of the country(California) while mycelium grown inhigh-altitude, low-hu-midity regions (Colorado) seems to be slowed by s ome sort ofexternal env iron me ntal s tress, possibly altitu de. Even if some

unc ont rol l abl e enviro nme nta l fac tor is respons ible for the re-tarded growth exhibited by the mycelium in certain localities,this need not discourage those a t t e m p t i n g to work with theorganism in these areas. All that is required is somewhat morepati ence . Periodic shaking of the cult ures can he lp, as it seemsto promote growth by facilitating aeration. The problem canalso be combated by using only vigorously growing myceliumgrown on a nutr ient-r ich agar medium. The mal t extrac t agarrecipe is in this respect preferable to PDA. If t h e rye grainmedium is a lso enriched by the addi t ion of mal t extrac t and

yeast extract, and vigorous cultures grown on a rich mediumare e mp l o y e d , permeat ion t ime even under condi t ions of en-vironmenta l s t ress can be cut to the ne ighborhood of 10-14

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days. I t i s qui te important tha t the mycel ium permeates therye in the minimum time possible, because the sooner thefungus takes over the medium com pl e t e l y , the less chance ist h e re for other contaminants to gain a foothold.

When one or m o r e jars of rye have bee n comp letely per-meated by mycelium, the third step in the procedure is com-pleted and one is ready to move on to the fourth step, casing.Before discussing this step, however, it is perhaps advisable toinsert a word of caution with respect to the third step. Thisstep, getting the mycelium to grow out and permeate t h erye,seems to be the most difficult and discouraging step in thewhole procedure. The pecul ia r headaches that one is facedwith in this step can be summed up in one w o r d : c on ta mina -tion. For some reason, contamination seems to be a muchmore serio us prob lem a t this stage t han at the stage of grow-ing on agar, probably because rye is a suitable medium forsuch a great variety of lower organisms. Anyone attempting

this s t ep , in fact, is almost su re to receive a real education inthe number of fungal and bacterial "weeds" that exist toplague the amateur mycolog is t . Ou r experiencehas been thattwo co ntamin ants in par t icular a re qu i te pers is tent and seem-ingly impossible to entire ly elimin ate. One is a crusty, rapidly-growing blue-green mold with a m e d i c i na l odor, probably aPenicilliitm or Aspergillim. The other is an unidentified bac-teria that exudes a yellowish slime onto the side of th e j a rand that smells strongly of rotten apples. Spores of both ofthese organisms must be so commonly present in n a t u r e thatthey manage to contaminate some of the cultures despite the

most careful inoculation procedures. The mold shows up ra-pidly and can be quickly spotted. Any culture seen to havethis contaminant can be considered a loss. The bacteria takeslonger to become obvious but with practice one can learn tospot it within a few days after inoculation. Cultures contami-nated with this organism are alsoalmost impossible to salvage.The bacteria is anaerobic, that is, it can grow in the absenceof oxygen. Our experience is that it seems indifferent to thepresence or absence of oxygen, and grows in either situation.The mushroom mycelium is quite aerobic, in fact proper aera-

tion is essential for its growth; therefore proper aeration can

42

afford the fungus something of a c o mp e t i t i v e advantageagainst this organism .

Other contaminants will occasionally be seen, althoughnot with the regularity of the two already mentioned. Thesemay include black, olive green or sulphur -colored molds, andsometimes a dirty-grey rapidly growing mold th at is probablya Neurospom.

Contaminants of any kind are not good and it is advis-able to discard immediately any culture seen to be contami-nated. Although the mycelium can co-exist with some of theslower-growing fungal contaminants, it is still best to discardany contaminated cultures in order to avoid spreading theplague. The cleaning of jars should be done as far away fromthe inoculation area as possible and should be done by some-one who is not involved in making sterile inoculations. Jarsthat have been contaminated should be washed in a strongsolution of Clorox and water before being reused. The best

way to deal with contamination is to not allow it to b e c o meestablished in the first place, by being extremely meticulousabout one's s terilization and inoculation procedures. Alwaysmake sure that the jars are sterilized with wet heat, not dry,by allowing a head of steam to build up in the pressure cookerbefore closing the stopcock. An inocu latin g hood, even if it isas simple as a cardboard box with clear plastic in one side, be-comes almost indispensable at this stage. Always use sterile,u n c o n t a mi n a t e d agar cultures as the source of inoculation.Make sure that the working surface, and the inside of the ino-culating hood, are thoroughly disinfected before inocula t ion.Also make sure that one's hands and arms are clean before in-oculating, and wear latex rubber gloves if possible. Spray yourgloved hands with spray Lysol before reaching into the hood.Use disposable p res t e r i l i zed scalpels for making inoculations,or if the implement employed is to be reused, be certain thatit is absolutely clean for each batch to be inoculated. It doesnot hurt to swab it with alcohol beforehand. Be certain toflame the implement thoroughly in an alcohol flame beforemaking each transfer. Practice making transfers as rapidly aspossible, so that neither the receptacle containing the inocu-lum, or the mason jar are kept open longer than necessary.

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Finally, be absolutely ruthless in discarding contaminated cul-tures. Nothing less than com plete permeation of the rye bythe snow-white mycelium should be considered acceptable.If these procedures are followed rigorously, some cultures willundoubted ly s t i l l succumb to c o n t a m i n a t i o n , but the numbercan be held to a min imum.

44

STEP IV:

CASING

When one or m o r e j ars have been completely permea tedby mycel ium, one can move on to the four th s tep in the p ro-

cess that leads d i rect ly to the p roduct ion of mushrooms. Incomme rcial mushroom cu l tu re, th is s tep i s cal le d casing. Inth e m eth o d o u t l i n ed h e re , casing consists of removing thedome and band lid of t h e jar, and covering the surface of thep erm ea t ed r y e wi th about V i to % in. V i cup for quar t j ars)of sterilized soil (F ig . 40 & 4 1 ) . The soil can be applied whiled ry , but then should immediately be shaken level, then wettedto field capacity using chlorine-free tap or disti l led water ap-plied in a fine-mist spray (Fig. 42 & 4 3 ) . A f ine-mist spraymust be used to avoid sealing the surface of t h e cas ing so i l .Field capa city c an be gauge d by the following rule of thu mb :spray the casing soil just enough so that the soil is moistenedthroughout, but no water passes through the soil into the my-c e l i u m . In o ther words, mois ten t h o r o u g h l y , but do not sa -turate, the soil .

After applying and moistening the casing soil , discard thelidsan d m ain t a in t h e cu l t u r es i n a h igh humidi ty e n v i r o n m e n t .A large s ty ro fo am coo ler wi th a window cu t in to the l id andcovered with clear o r t ranslucen t po lyethylene i s e xc e l l e n t fo rthis (Fig. 17-20). Spray the cultures daily with a f ine-mistspray just enough to make up for moisture lost through evap-

oration (Fig. 44). Each cased jar requires 2-3 good squirts ofwater per day to main tain con t inuous f ru i t ing . Do no t exceedfield capac i t y . A good tes t fo r p roper mois tu re con ten t i s thatthe surface of the soil should feel moist and spongy to thetouch. Boxes of newly cased jars should be stored in chrono-logical o rd e r .

During the next two to th ree weeks, the mycel ium wi l lbegin to grow up into the easing soil, p e n e t r a t i n g i t to justbeneath the surface (Fig . 45). The mycel ium may occasion-ally bre ak ou t onto th e to p of the soil and begin to spreadacross i ts surface, and part of the purpose of spraying daily isto keep this surface g rowth ' ' k nock ed down with the spray(Fig. 46). If you are u n d e r - w a t e r i n g yo ur j ars th is surface m y -

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47

will turn blue with thirst As the mycelium grows into h t it Th j t b b k


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celium will turn blue with thirst. As the mycelium grows intothe casing soi l . i t will begin to form a network of ropy strandsvisible at the in te rface of the soil and the glass. This networkgradually gains more and more intersecting nodes, and by the14th to 20th day after casing, these nodes have differentiatedinto tiny white dots distributed through the casing soil alongthe perimeter of the jar. These dots are the young mushroompr imor d ia ; gradually they enlarge and incorporate more m y-celia , s lowly taking on the appearance of tiny mushroomswith squat, fat s tems and dark brownish heads. This is the"pin" stage in the development of the mushroom and theprimordia at this stage are about 1- 2 mm. in length. Thesepins continue to enlarge and some will begin to thrust abovethe surface of the casing soil, both at the sides and in the cen-ter of the jar. Once the young mushrooms have penetratedthe surface of the casing soil, another five to ten days is re-quired for them to reach ful l maturi ty. At maturi ty the

mushrooms will be several inches tall and may have caps rang-ing from one to several cm in diameter (Fig. 47 & 48. andcolor photos). We h a v e also found that t h ese mushrooms doresp ond fa vorab ly to lig ht , and th at a daily 10-hour Grow-lu x cycle results in mushrooms with la rge r caps and shorterstems than those grown without any special lighting. Prob-ably it is not advisable ,h o w e v e r , to place the cultures in directsunlight for prolonged periods. While many mushrooms willgrow to full size, approximately an equal number will grow toabout half-size or less and then cease to grow; these ''abortscan still be plucked, dried, and used, although they are not asaes the t ical ly appealing as the fully matured specimens. Withpractice one can learn to spot aborts early and remove t h emfrom the cultures. Aborted mushrooms left in the c u l t u r e sa resusceptible to attack by bacteria which quickly render themboth ugly and u n u s a b l e . Occasionally mushroom primordiawill form down toward the bottom of the jar and grow tomaturity but will not break the surface of the casing soil. I tis possible to i nh ib it t his effec t somewhat by wrapping jarswith tinfoil to the top of the casing soil (Fig. 45) . I f this be-gins to happen to a great extent, i t is possible to carefully

break the jar and remove the mycelium in a single block .Then primordia along the s ides of the b l o c k , which wouldotherwise abort due to constriction by the jar, will be able to

48

reach maturity. The jar must be broken c a r e f u l ly , h o w e v e r ,to avoid bruising the fungus and injuring oneself. After themycelium has been broken out, one must also make sure thatit is not allowed to become too dry.

A variety of types of easing soils have been found toeffec t ive ly promote frui t ing. We have found the followingmixture to be one of the best:

2.5 liters peat moss3.5 liters fine ve r micu l i t e4 liters washed fine sand2 liters calcium ca rbona te ( f ine ly c ru sh ed oyster

shell)

Powdered oyster shell is sold as a feed supplement by manyfeed companies. We have also fo un d that a mix tur e of onepart Mica-peat (50/50 v e rm i cu l i t e -p ea tm o ss mix tu re ) to onepart potting soil will work, and even unadulterated rich gar-den loam has been found suitable, though its uns te r i le condi-t ion makes contaminat ion a poss ibi l i ty .

There is room for further experimentation with othertypes of casing mixtures: one might try casing with finelygranulated horse-dung or cow-dung, or a mixture of horse- orcow-dung and finely chopped wheat-straw. Casing with leaf-mold mulch might also effectively promote f r u i t in g , and infact might encour ag e the fruiting of smaller and more delicatespecies of Psilocybe that do not seem able to fruit when themixture given above is used. The object is to find a casing soil

that is porous enough to a l low air to reach the mycelium,and that at the same time is light enough to allow the youngmushrooms to penetrate easily through t h e surface. Steriliza-tion of casing soil is usually recommended but we found itunnecessary when relatively sterile commercially bagged ma-terials were u s e d , if you wish you may sterilize casing soil be-fore use at 15-20 Ibs. pressure for one hour. I t ca n be steri-lized dry, or wetted first to field capacity. Casing soil can bestored ind efin itel y in a t igh tly sealed large glass jar . or in apolyethylene garbage bag. If a glass jar is used, it can be steri-lized with the casing soil in it.

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STEP V


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STEP V:

HARVESTING,P R E S E R V I N G A N DDOSAGEAs the mushroom matures to full s ize, the cap will en-

large and become more globular in shape. The gills will at first

be covered by a flap of tissue, called the veil, tha t connectsthe margin of the cap with the stipe. As the cap enlarges, thisveil will detach from the cap margin to form an a n n u l u s , orring of ruptured veil tissue, on the stem (cf. color figures).The mushroom can be harvested as soon as veil rupture hasoccurred. If a spore print is to be collected, however, themushroom should be allowed to flatten out to an umbrella-shape before harvesting.

Freshly harvested mushrooms can be eaten fresh, ordried and stored. We recomm end th at the mush room s bedried in a gas oven at low heat (140 F. or less) for 6-10hours (Figs. 49 & 50). They may also be dried under a heat-lamp, or placed on a screen and dried over a heating vent.Mushrooms are ful ly dr ied when hard to the touch, l ikecrackers, with no spongy feel at all (Fig. 5 1 ) . To preservemaximum potency, dr ied mushrooms should then be sea ledin five gram increments in plastic bags from which the air hasbeen withdrawn (Figs. 52-54), and this in turn placed in atightly sealed glass vessel or other moisture-proof container,and frozen. Dried mushrooms left in the open air quickly losetheir potency. Fresh mushrooms should not be frozen with-

out drying first, as freezing them in this condition will turnthem into a black, gooey mess. Fres l i mus hrooms c a n , how-ever, be preserved in a plastic bag in the vegetable pan of therefr igera tor for about a week to ten days . Fresh mushroomsolder than this should either be eaten or dried to preventspoilage.

The dried mushrooms conta in from .2 to .4 pe r cen t ofpsi locybin (Schul tes , e t al. , 1973) by weight. Some strains ofStropliariacubensis have been reported to conta in as much as.5% psilocybin (Wasson & H e i m , 1959, p. 260). Ps i locin ispresent only in t race amounts . A dose of about 1 0 - 1 2 mi l l i -grams of ps i locybin, or about 5 g . dry weight of mushrooms,or 50 g. wet we ig h t ,i s suff ic ient to manifes t the ful l spec trum

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fig. 48; Grasp the s t a l k s f i r mly fig. 49: Remove t h e soi l f rom thewhen harvest ing. b o t t o m s of the steins.

_ MBaMMweMMBBnHIfig. 52: The y are p l aced in p las t ic fig. 53: Bags are heat -se;bags. ba g sea le r .

52fig. 54: Fresh mushrooms and dr ied ones ready for t ree / in g.

53

of hallucin ogenic e ffects in a 160 ad ult These e ffects in


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of hallucin ogenic e ffects in a 160 Ib . ad ult. These e ffects in-clude visual and auditory hal lucinat ions, extreme hilarity, dis-tortions of time and space perception, and a sense of emotion-al detachment from the environment. Less marked effects canbe detected at doses as low as 4 mg . , which is about 2-3 driedmushrooms. Fresh mushrooms seem to be somewhat stronger

than dried ones. Ps i locybin is one of the least toxic of all hal-lucinogens. While a full effective dose is 10 mg . , it s LD50(lethal dose for 50 % of the sample) in the mouse is 280mg. /kg . of body weight. ( S ch u l t es& H o f m a n n , 1973). Mesca-l i n e . b y comparison, has a minimum effective dose of 200 mg.for an average-size ad ult , and a toxicit y 2.5 times tha t of psi-locybin (Aboul -Enein , 1974).

The sta te of mind induced by a full dose of mus hroom sis one of euphoria and calm lucidity, with no loss of coher-ency or clarity of thought. The hallucinations seen with theeyes closed are colorful, hard-edged, and highly articulated,and may range from abstract geometrical forms to visions offantastic landscapes and architectural vistas. These hallucina-tions are most intense when the mushroom is taken in the set-ting preferred by the Mazatecans; inside at night in completedarkness. On the other hand, if one is in a natural setting anddirects th e focus of the senses outward to the environment,one discovers that one ' s senses seem keyed to their highestpitch of recep tivi ty, an d finds oneself hearing , smelling andseeing things with a clarity and sensitivity seldom, if ever,experienced before. Although it should be clear to anyonewho has read this far that cultivating these mushrooms is anendeavor requiring time, patience, care and humility, and onef raught with i ts own peculiar problem s, once one has par take nof these wonderful gif ts of nature and experiences the exaltedconsciousness that they can bring about, we think that theywill agree with us that the effort involved provides its ownample reward.

AFTERWORD

Approximately sixty days after you began the isolationof spores the first harvest will be possible from your r ye-f il led

ja rs . Mush ro om gr ow in g is l ike alchemy in that there is a divi-sion of the work into practical effort and visionary reward.The organic psilocybin within the mushroom is quality con-trolled by the very stable and ancient genes of the S t ro p h ar i a .You, as the propagator and spiritual fr iend of the mushroomcan form a deep relationship with the mycelial ally and againand again make far journeys into its visionary realms if youobserve a few simple rules. Tolerance to psilocybin is easilyacquired if trips are taken more often than once a week. Ifone does acquire a tolerance it can be gone around by either

upp ing the dose or by layi ng o ff for a couple of weeks to al-low your body to recover its equilibrium. We recommend thelatter course even though the toxici ty of psiloc ybin is so lowthat raising the dose is a valid alternate course.

Now our little handbook closes. Advice from this pointon can only come in generalities. Take the mushrooms thatyou have grown, take them in the darkness as the Indians ofMexico who have used them for centuries do. Smoke a lot of your favorite hash to synergize th e behind- the-eyel ids hallu-cinations and prolong them. Psilocybin is light shedding illu-mination on a landscape both within and without the mindand body of man and previously invisible. The exploration ofthis vast region by persons whose mental equipage is that ofthe modern West has only begun. Only a moment has passedsince our cultu re has redis cove red, throug h the work of Was-son and o thers , the ancient and u n p l u m b e d relationship be-tween the vision-causing mushrooms and our own strangelygifted species. You are a pioneer in a world whose future isund eter min ed and whose l iving organisms are ful l of s ingular -i t ies and sur real t ransform ing promise.

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CONVERSION TABLE

This conversion table is included forthosewho may lackscales or other equipment to make accurate measurements of

required ingredients. Although one should always try to mea-sure the ingredients as accurately as possible, and the purchaseof an inexpensive scale and graduated cylinder is well worthwhile, this t ab le can be useful in approximat ing measurementsa n d calcu la t ing volumes if such equipment is unavailable.

1 1 2g. r ye is just over y cu p2 g. powdered oyster shell is a level V teaspoon1 8 0 m l .H20 i s 6 f l . oz.1 g. yeast extract is a level V teaspoon1 g. Difco agar is 1 slightlyp a c ke d level V teaspoon[ liter (1000 ml.) ] q u a r t ( a pp rox . )1 baggie (Glad type) weighs 1.5 g.

5 6

A CHRONOLOGY OF PS1LOCYBIAN* MUSHROOMS

Compiled by I r imias the Obscure300-500 B.C. In th e l a t te r half of this c e n t u r y , "mushroom stones"

were found in highland Guatemala dating back at least as far as 300-500 B.C.

c. 300 A . D . Frescoes have be e n found in centra l Mexico with mush-room designs indicating the existence of a mushroom cul t at thistime.

1502 A . D . Spanish c onq u i s t a dore s observed psilocybian mushroomsbeing served at the coronation feasto f Moc t e zu ma .

1547-1569 Fray Bernadino de S a h u g u n , a Spanish cler ic , wrote His-toria de las Cosas de Nueva Espauia (also known as ths lorentineCodex) which refers to nanacatl (= teonanacatl = flesh of the gods= psi locybian m u s h r o o m ) . Sahugun s ta tes tha t the mushrooms "areharmful and intoxica te l ike wine ." F u r t h e r , those who indulge "seevisions, feel a faint ness of hea rt and a re pro voked to lust."

1651 Dr. Francisco H e r n a n d e z , a Spanish physician studying C e n t r a lAmerica n Indian herbal medic ine reported th ree types of mushroomswhich w e r e worshipped by Mexican natives. He reported that the in -gestion of these caused "not death but a madness that on occasion islas t ing ,of which th e symptom is a kind of unco ntrol led lau ghter ...these are deepye l low,acrid, and of a not displeasing freshness. Therear e o t he r s again ,whic h wi thou t induc ing l a ughte r ,b r i ng be fore theeye all sorts of things, such as wars and the likeness of demons. Yetothers there are not less desired by princes for their festivals and ban-

quets, and these fetch a high price. With night-long vigils are theys o u g h t , awesome and terr ify ing. This kind is tawny and somewhata c r i d / '1906 Stropharia cubensis is described by Ca r l e in a Cuban agronomy

j o u r n a l .

1914 A . F . Merrill of Yale University published a paper inScience de -sc r ib ing th e ha l luc inogenic e f f ec t sof ingest ingPanaeolus papillona-ccus from Oxford County, Maine. Although th e identification of them u s h r o o m m a y h e i n e r r o r , t h e e f f e c t s descr ibed a r e v e r y p r o b a b l yd u e t o ps i locybin an d psilocin. F u r t h e r , t h e a r t i c l e descr ibes d i f f e r -ent reac t ions to thishallucinogenicm u s h r o o mwhic h i s c ompa re d tohashish and peyo t l in the text.

' "P s i l ocyh i an" in this context means any mushroom containingps i locybin.57

1 9 1 5 American bo t an i s t Will iam E.Safford a t t e mpte d to ide nt i fy thef th A t H l i d th t d h h d

1956 Wasson invited Roger H e i m , a French myc olog i s t to Oaxaca to


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t eonanaca t l of the Aztecs. He claimed that sacred mushrooms hadnever ex i s t ed , a nd tha t t h e teonanacatl referred to by the 16th cen-tur y Spanish chronic lers were ac t ually dr iedpe yot lb u t t o n s . Safford'stheory was widely accep t ed by the sc ientif ic community for the nex tthree decades .

1 9 1 9 Dr. BiasP . R e k o , w h o had carried out ex t ens i v e a n t h ropolog ic alan d b o ta n i c a l work in Mexico for more than 25 years , published anarticle in a Mexi can an t h ropo l og i ca l j ourna l s t a t ing tha t n a n a c a t l(= teonanacatl) was a ha l luc inogenic mushroom. However, some of Rcko's earlier work had been in error and this report was discounted.

1 9 2 3 I n a l e t t e r to the U.S. National Museum, Dr. Reko stated thatt eonanaca t l is ac tual ly , as S ahug ims ta tes , a fungus which grows ondung heaps and which is still used under t h e same old name by theIndians of the Sierra Juarez in Oaxaca in their religious feasts."

1936 Vic to r A. Rek o (B.P."s bro ther ) pub lishe s Magische Gifte. In i t .he wrongly suggests that teonanacatl might be a speciesofAmanita.

1936 Ing. Ro be rto J. Weit laner obtained some teonanacatl in Oaxaca.He was the first white man in modern times to have done so. He sentthe specimens to B.P. Reko, who sent them to H a r v a r d , where theyarrived in a decomposed state and thus escaped identification.

1938 V V e i t l a n e r s daughter , a long with anthropologis t Jean Basse tJohnson and two others attended a mushroom rite in Huatla, Oaxaca.These were the first whites to attend a mushroomceremony.

1 9 3 8 H a r v a r dbo ta ni s t R.E.Sc l i u l t e s t ravelled to Oaxaca and obta inedfrom native informants two specimens of two different genera: Pan-aeolun campanulaius v a r . sphinctrinus, 'and Stropharia cubensis. Inhis field notes he described a third specimen: Psilocybecaeruiescemvar.Mazateconiin.

1953 R. Gor don Wasson and his wife Valentina became aware of theexis tence of a mushroom cult in centra l Mexico. This ambit iouscouple set out to prove the theory that religion came directly fromt h euse of ha l luc in ogenic p lants . TheWassonst raveled to Mexico andwere guided by Ing. Roberto J . Weit laner to the mounta i nou s vi l lageof Huatla de J imine z in Oaxaca.

1955 R.G. Wasson and Alan Richardson became the first two Ameri-cans to a t ten d a mush room ri tua l and ingest the mushrooms. Themushroo ms were taken under the supervis ion of Maria S a b i n a . a localc u r a n d e r a . By 1 9 5 7 , news of this ritual had reached the worldthrough articles in several popular magazines and the Wasson's book,Mushrooms, Russia, andHistory.

58

research the us e of the sacred m ushrooms. Heim identified fourteenspecies and several subspecies belonging to three g e n e r a , Psilocybe,Stropharia. an d Conocybe. Several of these species were new to my-cology, but had been utilized as hallucinogens by the natives for cen-

tur ies.

1957 Mycologist Dr. Rolf Singer and two young Mexican botanis ts,

M.A. Palacios and Gaston Guzman, arrived in Oaxaca to do taxo-nomic work on the mushrooms.1958 Dr. Alb ert H o f m a n n . a Sandoz chemist from Basel, Switzerland,

isolated two active ag

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OT Oss - Psilocybin Magic Mushroom Growers Guide