Table of Contents

IntroductionPsilocybin and the LawFinding the MushroomData on Various Psilocybian SpeciesMaking a Spore PrintPure Culture TechniqueEquipmentPreparation of MediaSterilizationStarting the CultureRaising Crop Cultures of MyceliaHarvesting and DryingExtractionDosageLarge Scale ProductionMaintaining a Psilocybin FarmFruiting the MushroomLegal UpdateRecommended ReadingSuppliers

Introduction

It is not difficult to cultivate the myce-lium of any of the psychoactive bear-ing mushrooms for a person who

knows how to do it. The mycelium is the fi-brous underground network of the mushroom.The familiar stem and cap portions of the mush-rooms are called carpophores. The myceliumcan be readily grown in ordinary Mason™ jarsin a low cost medium in 10 to 12 days and theactive materials (psilocybin and psilocin) canbe extracted.

This book explains how all of these stepsare carried out on a small or large scale. Com-plete descriptions are given for locating themushrooms; developing stock cultures for in-oculation; cultivating, harvesting, and dryingthe mycelium; extracting the active alkaloids;and using existing cultures to seed new cul-tures in order to maintain an ongoing psilocy-bin farm which can yield a regular crop of the

hallucinogenic mycelium. Descriptions are alsogiven of a process for setting up in a smallworkroom a large scale psilocybin factory. Fi-nally there is a brief overview of the proce-dures involved in the fruiting of the mush-room mycelium.

Psilocybin and the Law

It is difficult to determine how the useof certain hallucinogenic substanceswould be treated in the courts. Posses-

sion of psilocybin and psilocin (misspelled inthe U.S. code as "psilocyn") is a felony underTitle 21, Section I, (C) of the United States Code(1970 Edition). Psilocybe mexicana is also ille-gal. There was sufficient ignorance on the partof the law makers not to include the manyother mushroom species containing psilocybinand psilocin.

Theoretically the possession of any psilo-cybin-bearing mushroom would be the sameas possessing the alkaloid itself. But when itcomes to prosecution it does not necessarilywork like that. Lysergic acid amides—whichoccur in morning glory seeds, stems, andleaves—are also illegal, but there is no way toprevent gardeners from raising this ornamen-tal flower.

It is illegal for anyone in the USA to pos-sess mescaline. Peyote, which contains mescaline,is legal for bonafide members of the NativeAmerican Church when used ritualistically butno member may possess extracts of the cactusor the drug mescaline. Peyote is illegal fornonmembers, but San Pedro and several otherspecies of Trichocereus cacti also contain mesca-line and are available from many legitimatecactus dealers.

It would be considered illegal for anyoneto extract the active principles from any of theabove mentioned plants. And it would be con-sidered illegal for anyone to extract psilocybinand psilocin from mushrooms or mycelium asdescribed in this book. Anyone found operat-ing a large scale mycelium farm could be pros-ecuted for intent to manufacture psilocybin andpsilocin. There are also many different statelaws which must be considered before doinganything with psilocybin-bearing mushrooms.There are, however, many nations which haveno laws regarding these substances.

The foregoing is not a thorough inter-pretation of the law. Rather these points arementioned to give some indication of the legalpitfalls which surround the application of the

The present drug laws are a pathetic mess.The old adage that ignorance of the law is noexcuse becomes a ludicrous statement whenthe laws themselves are rooted in ignorance.One classical example of this is the classifi-cation of the stimulant cocaine as a narcotic.One is reminded of the king in Alice inWonderland who made up his own languageas he went along with total disregard for theaccepted definitions of words. I will noteven go into the question of whether any lawenforcement agency has the moral or Consti-tutional right to dictate what substances wemay or may not take into our own adultbodies. Any modern individual whose mindis not immersed in the slavish dung pit ofDark Age unreasoning knows that reliableeducation—not criminal penalization—isthe answer to whatever drug problems exist.Nevertheless, we must contend realisticallywith the powers that unfortunately be at thistime. They are the ones with the badges,guns, gavels, and goons.

—Stone Kingdom Manifesto, 1976

activities described in this book. Furthermore,laws are constantly being revised. By the timethis book is published and read the laws mayhave changed for better or for worse. The au-thor and publisher are not recommending orendorsing the application of the informationin this book, especially in places where thereare laws proscribing these substances. Thisinformation is offered for the sake of pureknowledge, because it is a constitutional rightto do so. The violation of any existing laws isnot encouraged.

Finding PsilocybinMushrooms

All it takes is one mushroom or a fewspores. From this, one can quickly de-velop a culture that will continue to

produce as much psilocybin as desired for yearsto come. Because the common San Ysidromushroom Psilocybe cubensis (Singer), formerlyStropharia cubensis (Earl), is the most easily ob-tainable, most readily cultivated, most diseaseresistant, and psychoactively strongest species,the techniques in this book are geared to itsuse. There are, however, numerous other spe-cies which contain psilocybin. In case one ofthese other species is all that is available, perti-nent information for several of them is given:such as relative potency; where and when tofind specimens; what growing conditions (me-dium, temperature, lighting, etc.) they favor;and how resistant they are to contamination.

The states, provinces, and regions namedare by no means the only places where the

species is to be found. They are places in whichthere have been numerous reports of findings.They are given here to give a general idea ofthe type of terrain and climate the species fa-vors. In cases where ideal cultivation tem-peratures and growing conditions are not listed,much can be surmised by considering the en-vironment in which that species thrives.

Psilocybe cubensis can be found in manyparts of the United States, Mexico, Colombia,Australia, and even Southeast Asia. It is usu-ally found growing on or near cow dung inpastures during warm rainy periods from Feb-ruary to November. There are several speciesof mushroom which occur on cow dung, butnone of these bears much resemblance to theSan Ysidro.

There are numerous toxic mushroomsgrowing in the wild. Some of these could bemistaken for some of the psilocybian fungimentioned in this book. It is essential that themushroom hunter learn to use an identifica-tion key. A key is a listing of various featureswhich will positively identify a given species.CAUTION: If a specimen does not conform inevery respect to the key, it must not be used.There are several excellent keys to be found on

most library shelves. One that is highly rec-ommend by mycologists is Keys to Genera ofHigher Fungi by R. Shaffer, 2nd ed. (1968) pub-lished by the University of Michigan BiologicalStation at Ann Arbor. Also recommended is Hal-lucinogenic and Poisonous Mushroom Field Guideby Gary P. Menser, available from Ronin Pub-lishing. It is further suggested that after thespecimen is identified it should be brought toan expert mycologist in order to confirm itsidentity.

Testing the Mushroom

Many books on hallucinogenic mushroomssuggest a simple test for psilocybian speciesthat involves breaking the flesh of the speci-men and waiting about 30 minutes for a blu-ing reaction to take place. This bluing is dueto the oxidation of indole based substances inthe fungus. Although it is true that most of thepsilocybin-bearing mushrooms will respondpositively to this test, other species may alsodo the same. CAUTION : The poisonous East-wood Boletus blues upon exposure of its innertissues to oxygen just like any psilocybianmushroom. Another test that is often given in

mushroom manuals is treating the exposed tis-sues with Metol, a chemical used in photo de-velopers. It hastens the bluing of psilocybianmushrooms, and supposedly one can do a blu-ing test with it in a few minutes rather than theusual 30 minutes or more. Any mushroom,however, that contains indolic substances ofany sort will respond positively to this test.Since indole-based amino acids such as tryp-tophan are found in most living organisms,this test is rather useless.

Actually, there is no field test for psilocy-bian mushrooms. There is, however, a rela-tively simple test for the presence of psilocinand psilocybin that can be carried out at homeby anyone who has some familiarity with pa-per chromatography. The mushroom sampleis dried, pulverized, and then extracted into asmall amount of unheated methanol by shak-ing it for half an hour. After the debris in themethanol has settled, the paper is spotted withthe top fluid in a zone about 2 mm wide. Thespotting zone is then treated with water-saturated butanol for about 2 hours. If psilocinand psilocybin are present in the specimen, theresulting solvent front (7-8 cm from the initialspotting zone) will contain them. After drying

the paper with a hair dryer set on warm, thisouter zone is sprayed lightly with a saturatedsolution of p-dimethyl-aminobenzaldehyde inalcohol and again with 1 N hydrochloric acid.The paper is then dried as before. Where psilo-cybin is present, a reddish color will develop.The presence of psilocin will be indicated by ablue-violet zone.

Data on VariousPsilocybian Species

Conocybe cyanopus: Found from Maythrough September—usually in denseshade scattered among mosses and in

wet soil around bogs, swamps, and ditches—in the northwestern USA and as far east asMichigan. Carpophores grow well in sphag-num moss having a pH range of 7-8.

Copelandia cyanescens: Found from earlysummer through late autumn—scattered,grouped, or clustered on cow dung or richsoil—in Florida and other southern states.Spores germinate easily on all agar media. Op-timum growth occurs on MEA at 80° F. Carpo-phores can be produced on uncased compostor on rye.

Panaeolusfoenisecii (also known as Panaeolinafoenisecii or Psilocybe foenisecii, and commonlyknown as hay mower's mushroom or harvestmushroom): Found in late spring and earlysummer or in July, August, and September dur-

ing cool, wet seasons—scattered or grouped inlarge numbers on lawns, pastures, and othergrassy places—throughout the USA and inQuebec. Tests of specimens found in Washing-ton revealed no psilocybin, but eastern speci-mens were potent.

Panaeolus sphinctrinus: Found in summerand autumn—in small groups in forests, fields,and roadsides (almost always on cow dung)—in many temperate parts of the world.

Panaeolus subbalteatus: Found from springthrough autumn—grouped or clustered (oftenin rings up to two feet in diameter) on openground, freshly manured lawns, straw piles,all types of compost, dung piles, and road-sides—in Ontario and throughout the USA(especially in Massachusetts, Maryland, NewYork, Ohio, Michigan, Washington, and Or-egon). Optimum growth in MEA is at 86° F. Itoccasionally occurs as a weed mushroom incommercial mushroom houses.

Pholiotina cyanopoda: Found from Augustthrough September—solitary or clustered onlawns—in such diverse parts of the USA asNew York, Washington, and Colorado.

Psilocybe baeocystis: Found in autumn andwinter—solitary, grouped, or clustered on earth,

lawns, mulch, and decomposing forest woodnear scattered trees (especially conifers)—inwestern Oregon and Washington. It does wellon all agar media at 77° F. This is a potentspecies containing psilocybin, psilocin, baeo-cystin, and nor-baeocystin. Perhaps it is be-cause of the latter two alkaloids that it is themost visually hallucinogenic of the psilocybianmushrooms. There is a report that in 1960 asix-year old boy died after eating a large num-ber of these mushrooms. There has never beenany other indication that these alkaloids aredangerous. CAUTION: People consumingPsilocybe baeocystis or any other speciesmust proceed with caution. Knowledge-able mycophiles start with small doses andprogress gradually to larger ones. This is es-pecially important when using the extractedcrude alkaloids, which may contain large con-centrations of the baeocystin alkaloids.

Psilocybe caerulescens: Found in summerduring the rainy season—grouped or clustered(but rarely solitary) in shady places on soil,sugar cane mulch, recently turned earth, orstream banks—in Alabama, northern Florida,and Mexico. The Mexican variety P. caerule-scens var. mazatecorum is known locally as

derrumbe, which means "landslides." There itis often found among landslides or near cornand coffee plantations. The mycelium doesbest on ME A at 81° F. Thermal death occurs at95° F. It is almost impossible to produce car-pophores on sterilized rye medium. They canbe grown on vegetable compost in dim light,but the incubation period is long (55-85 days).Although this species is resistant to white mold,its long incubation period leaves it prone toother diseases. It is not one of the more potentspecies.

Psilocybe caerulipes: Found in summer andoccasionally autumn—solitary or clustered ondecomposing logs and debris of hardwoodtrees (especially birch and maple)—in NewYork, New England, Ohio, Michigan, NorthCarolina, Tennessee, and Ontario.

Psilocybe cubensis var. cyanescens (Singer), for-merly Stropharia cubensis (Earl): Found fromFebruary through November—in compactgroups in clearings outside forest areas, on cowor horse dung, in rich pasture soil, on straw, oron sawdust/dung mixture—in Mexico, Cuba,Florida, and other southern states. It growswell on MEA. At 86° F carpophores appear in4-8 weeks. Thermal death occurs at 104° F.

Carpophores larger than wild specimens canbe produced by inoculating a vegetable com-post in clay pots with agar grown mycelium,casing with a silica sand / limestone mix, andincubating 4-6 weeks in daylight at 68° R Itdoes poorly in darkness. It is a potent mush-room and is relatively resistant to contaminants.

Psilocybe cyanescens: Found in autumn—scattered, grouped, or clustered in woods, onearth, among leaves and twigs, and occasion-ally on decomposing wood—in the northwest-ern USA.

Psilocybe mexicana: Found from Maythrough October—isolated or sparsely scatteredat altitudes from 4500 to 5500 feet (especiallyin limestone regions) among mosses and herbs,along roadsides, in humid meadows, in corn-fields, and near pine forests—in Mexico.

Psilocybe pelliculosa: Found from Septem-ber through December—scattered, grouped, orclustered on humus and debris in or near coni-fer forests—in the northwestern USA and asfar south as Marin County, California. This isa small but potent species.

Psilocybe quebencensis: Found from summerthrough late October—scattered in shady ar-eas at forest edges, on sandy soil containing

vegetable debris regularly inundated by riverflooding, and on decomposing wood anddebris (especially birch, alder, fir, and spruce)—in the Quebec area. It thrives at lower tem-peratures than do other Psilocybe speciesand produces carpophores at air temperaturesof 43-59° F.

Psilocybe semilanceata: Found from Augustthrough September—often in large groups onsoil, among grasses, in clearings, pastures,meadows, forest edges, open conifer wood-lands, and on roadsides (but never on dung)—in New York, northern USA, British Columbia,and Europe. Generally regarded as one of theless potent species, it is sometimes quite potent.

Psilocybe strictipes: Found in October—rather clustered on soil or on decomposingwood and debris (of conifers and other trees)—in the northwestern USA (especially in Oregon).It closely resembles P. baeocystis, but has alonger stem. It tends to be as visually halluci-nogenic as that species and probably containsthe same or similar baeocystin alkaloids.

Psilocybe sylvatica: Found in September andOctober—in small, compact but unclusteredgroups in woods on leaf mold, on debris (es-pecially beech wood), around stumps and logs

(but not usually on them)—from New York toMichigan and as far north as Quebec andOntario. This mushroom is small and is oftenmistaken for P. pelliculosa.

The species discussed above are only someof the more commonly known ones with hal-lucinogenic properties. They are recognizedamong the many psilocybin-bearing mush-rooms: 40 species of Conocybe (usually foundin forests, pastures, gardens, dung areas, sandysoil, ant hills, decayed wood, and charcoal andhaving a cosmopolitan range); 20 species ofPanaeolus (found on soil and dung and havinga cosmopolitan range); 40 species of Psilocybe(found on soil, moss clumps, and organic sub-strata—such as dung, rotting wood, bagasse,and pear—and ranging from the arctic to thetropics); and 9 species of Stropharia (found onsoil, dung, and sometimes on leaf mulch androtting wood and having a fairly cosmopolitanrange).

Making a Spore Print

A spore print is a collection of sporeson a flat surface. It can serve severalpurposes. It can be used to assist iden-

tification of the specimen by observing itscolor; or if made on a glass slide, by studyingthe shapes of the spores under a microscope.Mycological identification keys include descrip-tions of spore prints and microscopic sporefeatures for different species. Spore prints arealso the standard method of collecting sporesfor later germination on agar media. A printfrom a single mushroom cap contains millionsof spores.

The method for making a spore print is asfollows. A mushroom with its cap fully openedand its gills exposed is selected. With a sharpsterilized blade the stem is cut off as close tothegills as possible. The cap is placed gillsdown on a clean, white sheet of paper; on asheet of glass that just been swabbed with alco-

hoi; or on two or four sterilized microscopicslide glasses. The cap is covered with a clean,inverted bowl or bell jar for 24 hours to pre-vent drying of the cap and intrusion of foreignorganisms. If a good spore print has not formedafter this time, the cap is tapped lightly withthe flat side of a knife or spatula. This shouldshake loose many spores. If the print is madeon glass, it is covered with another glass sheetimmediately after removing the cap in order toprevent contamination. If microscopic slidesare used, two slides are placed face to face andthe edges are sealed with tape. If paper isused, it is folded several times so that the printis well inside.

Spore prints are also available by mail or-der. CAUTION: Extreme care is requiredabout identity of spores. Spores received fromother persons might not be from the speciesthat the sender claims they are. If the senderhas misidentified the specimen and the recipi-ent cultivates and ingests mycelia or extrac-tions therefrom, the result may be disastrous.

Pure CultureTechnique

The most difficult part of psilocybianmushroom cultivation is the observance

of the rules of pure culture technique. Theseare the sanitary codes of mushroom cultiva-tion. There are usually many varieties of bac-teria and fungal spores in our environment;floating in the air, clinging to our hands andclothing, issuing from our mouths with everyexhalation. Extreme measures must thereforebe taken to keep these out of the mycelial cul-tures, which could be rapidly overrun. Thefollowing points should be diligently observed.

Work should be done in a clean, unclut-tered, dust-free room. Immediately beforework, the work table is washed and the roomis sprayed with disinfectant. Arms, hands, andnails are scrubbed with disinfectant soap.Simple clothing should be worn. A freshly

cleaned short-sleeve T-shirt is ideal. Antisep-tic mouthwash can be used in addition to cov-ering the mouth and nose with a clean cloth ordisposable surgery mask. The hair is coveredwith a surgical cap or shower cap. No draftsshould be present in the room. All windowsare closed and all doorjambs stuffed with atowel or rags. No flies, animals, or unneces-

Alchemical Advice• Before every experiment, you should

mentally go through all the processes.Make sure that everything is at hand andthat all your equipment is clean.

• Keep an orderly laboratory diary inwhich all dates, quantities, exact times,and the course of the experiment are ex-actly noted, including, of course, also allmistakes.

• Let the keynote of your work be thedesire to know the wonders of natureand the desire to help others. The high-est form of medicine is love, saysParacelsus. If with his experiments thespagyrist [alchemist] does not at the sametime devote himself to human spagyrics[alchemy], that is, the perfecting of hispersonality, everything is but of littlevalue.

• Be aware that you are but an instru-ment of wise Nature and God.

—from The Practical Handbook ofPlant Alchemy by Manfred M. Junius

sary people should be allowed in the room.Only sterilized equipment should touch the me-dium or inoculum. One should never leanover the work. All swift movements that maycause a draft should be avoided. If possible ahood should be constructed around the worktable or a screen or curtain should surround it.All materials should be kept in order andwithin reach. All equipment should be keptabout three feet away from work. No oneshould be permitted to enter or exit the roomwhile work is in progress.

Equipment

Most of the equipment described in thisbook is readily available at reasonableprices. One-quart size Mason™ jars

can be purchased from many stores. If a largescale psilocybin farm is being set up, a greaternumber of jars could be obtained from a whole-sale outlet or bought at discount from a re-tailer. Pipettes, inoculation loops, petri dishes,agar, and other materials (including pre-mixedmedia) are found at many scientific supplyhouses. If petri dishes are not on hand, thereare several other containers that can be used.

Baby food jars, 1/4 filled with agar media,are excellent substitutes. Test tubes can be filled1/3 with hot agar medium, stoppered with cot-ton, autoclaved, and allowed to cool whilestanding at a 17° angle. These are known asslants" and permit a maximum surface area.

A Wooden rack can easily be constructed tohold the slants at this angle. Baby bottles with

30

a steam sterilizer can be bought almost any-where. These come in sets of nine or ten bottles.The tip of the rubber nipple should be cut offand a wad of clean cotton pulled through fromthe inside leaving about 1/2 inch sticking out.The bottles are filled 1/3 with agar medium.After sterilizing, the bottles should be kept at a17° angle. A large pressure cooker—the typeused for canning and jarring—can be used forautoclaving Mason™ jars of broth medium.

Preparation of Media

There are two types of media that mustbe prepared. A jello-like agar medium(PDYA or MEA) is used for the initial

inoculation. After the mycelium has developedin this medium, it is transferred to a liquid brothmedium (PDY) to allow for maximum growth.

PDYA (Potato Dextrose Yeast Agar): 250grams of unpeeled potatoes are washed andsliced 1/8 inch thick. The slices are washedseveral more times in cool tap water until thewater is clear, drained in a colander, and rinsedonce with distilled water. Then the potato slicesare cooked in distilled water until tender. Thecooking liquids are strained through a flanneldoth or several layers of cheesecloth and arecollected in a flask. The potatoes are rinsedseveral more times with distilled water. Theserinse waters are added to the liquid in the flask,and the potatoes are discarded. Enough dis-

tilled water is added to the flask to make oneliter. The liquid is brought to a boil and 15grams of agar, 10 grams of dextrose, and 1.5grams of yeast extract are added. The agarmust be added slowly and carefully to preventboiling over. While the liquid is hot, it is pouredinto sterilized petri dishes or any other steril-ized containers. Each should be filled abouthalfway.

ME A (Malt Extract Agar): To one liter ofgently boiling distilled water are added 20grams of malt extract, 20 grams of agar (slowlyand carefully to prevent boiling over), 100 mgof potassium phosphate dibasic (K2HPO4), and100 mg of calcium carbonate. While still hot,the liquid is poured into sterilized culturedishes.

PDY broth: This broth is made in exactlythe same manner as PDYA except the agar isomitted. Sterilized Mason™ jars are filledhalf way with the hot or cool liquid.

Sterilization

All utensils used in the cultivation ofthe mycelia must be sterilized by heat

before use. Glassware must be boiled in waterfor 30 minutes. Metalware used repeatedlymust be held in a flame until glowing and thenallowed a moment to cool before making con-tact with any cultures or specimens. When theinoculation loop has been used to transfer afragment of mycelium, it must be flame steril-ized after the medium has been poured.

The following sterilization process is knownas "autoclaving." Containers no more than halffull with medium are placed in a canning-typePressure cooker. The lids of these must beloose enough to allow escapage of internal pres-sure. Otherwise the containers may crack. Theud of the pressure cooker is sealed and thestopcock valve is left open. The cooker is

brought to boiling using high heat until thicksteam comes through the vent. The stopcockis closed and the pressure is allowed rise to 15-20 Ibs. (250° F) for 30 minutes. This will de-stroy any foreign spores or life-forms. A highertemperature or longer period, however, couldcause the dextrose or maltose sugars to cara-melize. This would inhibit the growth andpsilocybin production of the mycelium.

When the autoclave period is finished, theheat is turned off and the cooker is allowed tocool to room temperature. The stopcock is notreleased until everything has thoroughlycooled, or else the sudden change in pressurewill cause the containers to boil over. Anycontainers that have cracked during steriliza-tion are discarded. All containers of mediumare kept at room temperature for three days tosee if any foreign molds develop. If this oc-curs, the contaminated medium is discarded,and the jars are thoroughly cleaned and steril-ized before being used again.

_

Starting the Culture

Upon obtaining one or more specimensof a psilocybin bearing mushroom, onecan begin to cultivate as much of the

hallucinogen as desired. Any part of the fun-gus can be used for inoculation. If the sporesare used, consideration must be given to thenatural life cycle of the mushroom. A singlecap contains millions of spores, and any one ofthese will germinate in the medium to form amycelium. But this mycelium will consist ofwhat is known as monokaryotic tissue. Such amycelial organism will grow for a while, butunless it mates with another compatiblemonokaryotic mycelium and forms a dikaryoticstructure, it will eventually perish.

The process for developing a culture fromspores is as follows. The spores are scrapedfrom the print into about 10 ml of sterilizedwater, and the solution is vigorously shaken.Another 90 ml of sterilized water is added,

and the solution is shaken again. There will bemillions of spores in this solution. Several petridishes—or other suitable containers as previ-ously described—containing sterilized agarmedium should be ready for inoculation. Thelid on each container is lifted slightly and witha sterilized pipette or syringe, a drop of thisspore water is placed on three or four differentparts of the agar surface. The container is cov-ered immediately and the dish is left to standat room temperature for 3-5 days.

Radial growths of monokaryotic myceliumwill occur at each inoculation point. Whenany two mycelia have grown to the point ofmaking contact with each other, mating(somatogamy) will take place. Within a fewdays these united mycelia will have becomedikaryotic organisms. Any portion of thismycelial tissue can now be used to seed newcultures as described later.

If a portion of one of the carpophores gath-ered in the field is used to inoculate the agar,mating is not necessary. The tissue of the ma-ture fungus is already dikaryotic. To avoidcontamination only inner tissues are used. Themushroom cap is placed gills-down on a cleanwork table at least three feet away from any

equipment. All dirt and slime is wiped fromthe cap with a cotton swab, and its whole sur-face is cleaned with a 7% iodine solution. Thecap is pinned to the table top by inserting threedissecting needles at equilateral points. An X-acto blade is sterilized by flame and allowed tocool for a moment. The outer skin is thencarved from the mushroom. Tiny pieces of theinner mushroom flesh—about the size of amatch head—are cut out. Each piece isskewered with the blade point. The lid of apetri dish is raised slightly. The tissue is pressedfirmly into the agar surface, and the lid is closedimmediately. All inoculated dishes are placedon the incubation shelf at room temperature.The mycelium must breath as it grows, so thelids must not be capped too tightly.

When the radial growths of mycelia appearon the agar surface (3-5 days) these stock cul-tures are ready for transferring to the brothjars. If any stock cultures are not going to beused immediately, they are placed with tight-ened lids under refrigeration. They can be keptthis way for about a year.

Raisins Crop Culturesof Mvcelia

The next step is selecting the mostvigorous mycelia in the dishes. Thismeans the largest and fastest growing

specimens not contaminated by foreign molds.Contaminants are not difficult to detect, be-cause their appearance differs greatly from thatof mycelia. Mycelia are pure white fibrousmats sometimes having a light bluish tinge.Contaminants may appear as rapid-growing,tiny, white circular spots with bluish-green cen-ters; surface scums; or fuzzy clusters of eithergray, black, yellow, green, or blue color. If anycontaminants appear in any of the culturedishes, those cultures are discarded.

When the dishes containing the choicestmycelia have been selected, the mycelia aretransferred from the agar-based stock culturesto the liquid PDY broth cultivation jars. Thesejars should have been prepared and sterilizedthree days before transferring and allowed to

stand at room temperature during this time inorder to test the effectiveness of the steriliza-tion. All broths which contain growths arediscarded. The uncontaminated jars are nowready for inoculation.

The room is sprayed and the work area iscleaned as described under pure culture tech-niques. The outside parts of the stock dishesand culture jars are also sprayed. The lid of astock dish is lifted just enough, and a fragmentof mycelium is picked up with an inoculationloop that has been flame-sterilized and alloweda moment to cool. The cover of a jar is lifted.The mycelium fragment is placed in the broth,and the jar is covered immediately. This isrepeated until all jars have been inoculated.All unused stock cultures are refrigerated.

The jars are covered tightly and shaken wellto disperse the inoculum throughout the broth.This also aerates the medium; the myceliumneeds oxygen for life support and growth. Thelids are loosened again, and the jars are placedon the growing shelf for 10-12 days at 70-75° F.If species other than Psilocybe cubensis are used,the temperature is adjusted accordingly. Ev-ery 2-3 days the covers are tightened, and thejars are shaken to aerate and disperse the myce-

liurn. Afterwards, the covers are loosenedagain, and the jars are returned to the shelf.

The process of growth can be followed witha saccharimeter. The maximum growth andhighest percentage of psilocybin occurs aboutfour days after all of the broth's sugar contenthas been used up. The mycelium should beharvested at this time. Any jars that cannot beharvested on that day should be refrigerateduntil this can be done.

Harvesting and Drying

The medium of each jar is filteredthrough a clean flannel cloth. Themycelial material is collected from the

cloth and placed in a Pyrex™ baking dish. Thesame is done with each jar of mycelium untileach baking dish is about 1/3 full with myce-lia. The collected mycelium is then dried in anoven at a temperature no higher than 200° RAn oven thermometer should be used, becausethe temperature indications on the oven knobmay not be accurate. The mycelium should bechecked periodically. When the material firstappears to have dried, the heat is turned offand the mycelium is left in the oven until it hascooled. This ensures the evaporation of re-sidual moisture. Each cultivation jar shouldyield 50-100 grams of wet mycelium. Freshmycelium contains about 90% water, so thisamount should dry down to 5-10 grams ofcrumbly material.

The Spirit of the MushroomsOn the evening of 11 October 1962, near theremote Mexican village of Huautla deJimenez . . . the Swiss chemist AlbertHofmann gave 30 milligrams of syntheticpsilocybine each to Maria Sabina, herdaughter, and another Mazatec shaman.Hofmann also gave 10 milligrams ofpsilocybine to R. Gordon Wasson, whoseven years earlier had become the first out-sider ever purposely to ingest the sacredmushrooms of Mexico, when he was initi-ated into the sacred Mystery by MariaSabina. Hofmann had obtained specimensof Maria Sabina's mushrooms throughWasson, and in his laboratory at SandozLtd. in Basel had succeeded in isolating andcharacterizing the active principles, whichhe named psilocybin(e) and psilocin(e).Hofmann had prepared both drugs syntheti-cally in Switzerland, and came to Mexicowith "the spirit of the mushrooms in theform of pills," in hopes of giving the noveldrug to a shaman experienced in the use ofthe mushrooms.

—from Pharmacotheon by Jonathan Ott

Extraction

The dried mycelial material is crumbledand pulverized, and each 100 mg ofthis is combined in a flask with 10 ml

of absolute methanol. The flask is placed in ahot water bath for four hours. The liquids arefiltered with suction through filter paper in aBuchner funnel with Celite™ to prevent clog-ging. The filtrate liquids are collected andsaved. The slurry (the mush in the filter pa-per) is heated two more times in methanol asbefore. The liquids of the three extractions arefiltered and joined together.

To be certain that all of the alkaloids havebeen extracted, a small extraction of a portionof the used slurry is tested with Keller's Re-agent (glacial acetic acid, ferrous chloride, andconcentrated sulfuric acid). If there is a violetlridication, alkaloids are still present and fur-ther extraction is in order.

In an open beaker the liquids are evapo-rated to total dryness with a hot water bath orby applying a hair dryer. All traces of metha-nol must be removed. The remaining residueshould contain a 25-50% psilocybin/psilocinmixture.

Greater purification can be achieved, but itwould require other solvents and chromatog-raphy equipment and is hardly necessary. Each100 grams of dried mycelium should yieldabout 2 grams of extracted material. Thisshould contain at least 500 mg of a psilocybin/psilocin mixture or about fifty 10 mg doses.

Theoretically psilocin should have the sameeffect upon the user as psilocybin. The onlydifference between the two is that the latterhas a phosphate bond which disappears im-mediately after assimilation in the body. Inother words, in the body psilocybin turns intopsilocin.

Psilocybin is a fairly stable compound, butpsilocin is very susceptible to oxidation. It isbest to keep the extracted material in a dry airtight container under refrigeration. A sack ofsilica-gel can be placed in the container to cap-ture any moisture that may enter.

"Come! my head's free,at last!" said Alice in atone of delight, whichchanged into alarm in

another moment, when shefound that her shoulderswere nowhere to Be seen:she looked down upon animmense length of neck,which seemed to rise like

a stalk out of a seaof green leaves thatlay far below her.

-from Alice's Adventures Under Groundby Lewis Carroll

Dosage

The standard dose of psilocybin orpsilocin for a 150 Ib. person is 6-20 mg.The average dose is 10 mg. The crude

alkaloid extraction process just described yieldsa brownish crystalline powder that is about25% pure. Each Mason™ jar usually containsabout 50 grams of wet mycelium. After dry-ing, this would result in about 5 grams of ma-terial. The crude material extracted from thiswould contain 25-35 mg. of psilocybin/psilo-cin or roughly 2-3 doses.

This yield may vary to some extent depend-ing upon several factors. Many species con-tain less of these alkaloids than does Psilocybecubensis, and the alkaloidal content of this spe-cies may vary in different strains. Cultivationconditions have a lot to do with yield too.Higher temperatures (75° F) cause more rapidgrowth but lesser psilocybin content than dolower temperatures (70° F). Each new batch of

extracted material must be tested to determinethe proper distribution of dosages. Depend-ing upon the potency of the mycelia and howwell the extraction was conducted, the dosemay range between 25 and 100 mg. The dosealso varies for different individuals.

Large Scale Production

The techniques and procedures de-scribed in this book could be employedto cultivate modest supplies of psilocy-

bin for personal use, or they could be expandedfor the large scale production of many thou-sands of doses per week. The diagram on thefollowing page shows one way in which a small10 x 15 foot room with standard 8 foot ceilingscould be set up to produce a continuing yieldof about 5000 doses per week.

The stock culture shelves here are 1 footdeep and 5 feet long. Each holds twenty 15cm petri dishes. If the shelving is spaced sixinches apart, there can be as many as 16 shelvesstacked in this space. This would allow for upto 300 stock culture dishes going at one time.The crop culture shelves are stacked ten inchesapart, accommodating one quart size Mason™jars and giving ten shelves. With the dimen-Slons of the room depicted in this diagram,

Scale Production 53

this much shelving could hold about 2700 jars(3 deep and 3 per running foot).

The entire room—walls, ceiling and shelv-ing—are painted with a white, glossy kitchenenamel. This is not only an important sanitarymeasure, but also improves the efficiency andeven distribution of light in the room.

Lighting is provided by a few banks of widespectrum fluorescent tubes fairly evenly dis-tributed across the ceiling and turned on for10-12 hours regularly each day. These are greatdust catchers, however, and must be wipedclean periodically.

The work table is also be painted with ahard, smooth, white finish. If the table is ofmetal, a small, clean cutting board must beprovided on which to pin down mushroomcaps when dissecting them. Shelf boards onthe wall left of the table may extend above thetable to provide space for storage of workequipment and ready containers. A hood isconstructed around the table to protect thisspace from dust.

A fume hood with a flu vent and spark-freeexhaust fan is constructed over the extractiontable to remove toxic and combustible metha-nol vapors. Extraction is preferably conducted

in another room. If the cultivation room is

used for extraction while cultures are growingcare must be taken that the heat from the ex-traction processes does not alter the room tem-perature. The fume hood would help by car-rying off much of the heat.

A vinyl shower curtain is hung to the rightof the table to shield the work area from breezeswhen anyone enters or exits the room. An-other vinyl curtain is hung just inside the en-trance to serve as a dust trap. A person enter-ing would close the door behind him beforepulling the curtain aside—and vice versa onexiting.

The floor is white vinyl or asphalt tile orcould be painted white and coated withvarathane or polyurethane. There is no clothor carpeting in the room except for a supply ofclean work clothing and surgical masks.

The only other items in the room are a stoolat the work table, a three-step ladder for reach-ing the upper shelves, and a small table onrollers on which to place jars and dishes whenmaking the rounds of the shelves.

55

production Schedule

Unless one has a large staff of assistants, itWould be impossible to innoculate 2,700 jars inone work session. After getting used to thework, one could do about 100 jars an hour.The procedure used would be to set up a con-tinuous rotation of inoculations. Workingabout 3 hours a day, about 225 jars could beinoculated each session. All 2700 jars could beinoculated in 12 days. Sections of shelving wouldbe divided into groups of 225 jars, and thesesections would be labeled with the date andapproximate time of inoculation. The workschedule for cultivation would be as follows:

Day

Mon.

Tues.

Wed.

Thurs.

Fri.

Sat.

Sun.

Mon.

Tues.

Wed.

Thurs.

Fri.

Sat.

Sun.

Mon.

Tues.

Etc.

Inoculate

Group A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

CommenceReinoculation

Shake

Group A

B

A & C

B & D

A, C&E

B, D&F

A, C, E & G

B, D, F & H

A, C, E, G & I

B, D, F, H & J

C, E, G, I & K

D, F, H, J & L

E, G, I, K & A2

F, H, J, L & B2

Etc.

Harvest

Group A

B

C

D

Etc.

Reinoculate

Group A2

B2

C2

D2

Etc.

This represents the first two weeks of thecontinuous cultivation cycle. The continuationof this schedule is obvious: shaking every otherday; harvesting approximately every 12 days;and resterilizing, refilling with fresh medium,autoclaving, and reinoculating the jars liber-ated by the day's harvest. If the total numberof jars is 2700, each group would consist ofabout 225 jars. This same schedule could, ofcourse, be adapted to any total number of jars.

Drying of mycelia is done within a fewhours after harvesting. Otherwise, enzymes inthe material will begin to destroy the activealkaloids. Once dried, the material can be

stored in a cool, dark, dry place until enoughdaily harvests have been accumulated to do anextraction. If the mycelia cannot be dried rightaway, it can be kept in a refrigerator for a dayor two or in a freezer for longer times.

Maintaining aPsilocybin Farm

Fresh inoculum can come from stockculture dishes kept under refrigeration.If these should become depleted,

healthy strains of mycelium from the crop cul-tures can be used to inoculate sterilized agarmedia in the dishes. The crop culture jar isshaken violently to break up the mycelium.Then drops of the liquid are transferred to au-toclaved petri dishes of unused agar mediumwith a sterilized pipette and left to grow asbefore. If this reinoculation of stock culturesfrom existing crops is continued over a longperiod of time, the strain will eventuallyweaken due to what is called the senescencefactor. To avoid this, the media used in thestock dishes are alternated. If PDA is used thefirst time, MEA is used the second time, and

is used again the third time, and so on.

What is needed is a new drug which willrelieve and console our suffering specieswithout doing more harm in the long runthan it does good in the short. Such a drugmust be potent in minute doses andsynthesizable.... It must be less toxic thanopium or cocaine, less likely to produce un-desirable social consequences than alcoholor the barbiturates, less inimical to heartand lungs than the tars and nicotine of ciga-rettes. And, on the positive side, it shouldproduce changes in consciousness more in-teresting, more intrinsically valuable thanmere sedation or dreaminess, delusions ofomnipotence or release from inhibition.

—from The Doors of Perceptionby Aldous Huxley

Psilocybin asPhilosopher's Stone

Fruiting the Mushroom

People who cultivate psilocybian mush-rooms initiate fruiting of the mush-room after the mycelium has developed

rather than immediately extract the psilocy-bin. Great pleasure is derived from nurturinga mushroom from inception to fruition.

There are several methods for initiating car-pophores, or fruitin bodies. To bring forth thefruit of the mushroom, success will be moreeasily achieved if a spawning medium otherthan a liquid broth is used to cultivate the myce-lium. Some people recreate natural growingconditions through the use of compost, whereasapartment cultivators often prefer the ease andlow cost of a grain medium. Rye is the mostcommonly used grain medium because of itslow cost and availability, and because its ker-nels don't clump together like other grains do.The grain medium is sterilized and inoculatedusing the same methods described earlier forinoculating the liquid broth cultivation jars.

Once the mycelium has completely colo-nized the grain medium, it is ready for casing.Casing is a layer of organic matter which cov-ers the substrate (in this case, the colonizedgrain medium). The function of the casing isto prevent the surface of the mycelium fromdrying out. The casing material must be po-rous enough to allow for sufficient aeration,yet it must also be able to retain moisture. Somemycologists recommend the use of a peat mosscasing with the addition of chalk or limestoneflour in order to balance the highly acidic pHof the peat moss. Home-growers simply usesterilized soil or vermiculite.

Before the substrate is cased, a suitablegrowing container must be chosen. The easi-est method is to leave the colonized grain me-dium in the cultivation jars and simply casethe surface. The fruiting mushroom bodieswill then grow out of the mouth of the jar. (Useof a wide mouth jar makes it easier to removethe mushrooms when the time comes). Thereare a few disadvantages with this method:mushrooms frequently and unsuccessfully at-tempt to grow between the grain and the glasssurface of the jar; the low ratio of surface area

to grain depth means that much of the myce-lium is unable to form carpophores; and it ismore difficult to water and pick mushroomswithout damaging developing pinheads, or pri-mordial mushrooms. Alternative containers in-clude plastic trays, trash bags, baking dishes,plastic lined cardboard boxes, or aquariumtanks. If one opts for one of these alternativecontainers, the colonized grain medium is sim-ply transferred to the new containers and cov-ered with a casing layer.

A growing environment must be created inorder to initiate fruiting of the mushroom.There are five factors which are involved increating the optimum fruiting environment:humidity, temperature, fresh air, CO2 levels,and light. And there are three stages of carpo-phore development, each of which has its ownspecial environmental requirements. Therefore,a growing chamber must be constructed thatcan meet the demands of each of the followingstages:

Casing Colonization

During this stage the casing material is colo-nized by the mycelium. The humidity of the

growing chamber is kept very high (around90%). A humidifier can be used for this pur-pose. If this is not possible, it is essential tomaintain the moisture content of the substrateand casing through light but regular watering.The optimal growing temperatures are differ-ent for each psilocybian species (Psilocybecubensis does best at 84-86° F). At this stagethere should be no light and no fresh air. Thecasing layer should be made to resemble"mountains and valleys" in order to increaseits surface area and aid in the dispersion ofcarbon dioxide.

Pinhead Initiation

This stage starts the actual fruiting processwith the initiation of pinheads. When the myce-lium has uniformly broken through the sur-face of the casing's "valleys/' it is time for ini-tiation. Pinhead initiation is achieved througha drop in temperature, a reduction of carbondioxide (through the introduction of fresh air),and the presence of light (via natural daylightor an artificial 12 hour on/off cycle). The hu-midity is maintained at its previous level.When using artificial lighting, a grow-lux type

artificial light high in blue spectra is most ef-fective. It is important to carefully maintainthe growing environment at this time. Abruptchanges in humidity or temperature will dis-rupt the growth of the mushrooms. Too muchfresh air can reduce the humidity and alter thetemperature of the growing environment. Thecasing can be misted with water. However, ifit is too forceful, developing pinheads may bedamaged or destroyed.

Primordia Development

Once the pinheads have grown to the sizeof a pea, the humidity is dropped to 85-90%.Small primordia will begin to develop. Thesebaby mushrooms look like small penises andwill continue to grow over a period of a week.The mushrooms are harvested just after thepartial veil ruptures. The psilocybin content ofthe mushrooms is highest at this stage in thecarpophore's growth. If spores are required,one can let the carpophore continue to growuntil the cap becomes slightly upturned or un-til there is a slight purplish color around thebase of the mushroom indicating that sporinghas already begun.

Constructing a Growing Chamber

A growing chamber can be contructed froma plastic lined box, an aquarium, or a styrofoamcooler. The main requirements are that it beinsulated and well sealed in order to preventloss of temperature and humidity. Humid-ity is provided by a humidifier or by regularmisting. The required temperature is providedthrough steam, a heating pad underneath thechamber, or an overhead light. Use of a heat-ing pad or light will tend to lower humidity, socaution is used to maintain proper humidity.Fresh air can be introduced via the humidifieror when the chamber is opened for misting.CO2 is removed through holes at the bottom ofthe chamber (CO2 is heavier than air and willsink to the bottom of the chamber) or by open-ing the chamber and fanning the interior.

How to Use the MagicWhen mushrooms were scarce and obtain-able only with difficulty, the main questionwas how to get them. Once got, they wereused on special occasions with care. Nowthat we have the mushrooms and have themin plenty, the question is how to use them.Psychoactive mushrooms are special gifts ofnature, magical fruits of the earth with powerto help us understand ourselves and changeus. But that magic is volatile. It can evapo-rate in an instant if . . . we use mushroomsfrivolously or thoughtlessly. . . .

—from "Reflections on PsychedelicMycophagy" by Andrew Weil

Legal Updateby Richard Glen Boire, Attorney

Dr. Alexander Shulgin, the famous psy-chopharmacologist who re-createdMDMA and brought forth over 200

other mind-manifesting substances, has saidthat psychedelics are dolphins caught in thetuna net of anti-drug laws. His point is per-haps nowhere better exemplified than withpsilocybin and psilocin, the active chemicals inthe sacred mushrooms known as teonandcatl inthe Aztec language. For over two millennia,entheogenic mushrooms have played thecentral role in a religion whose participantsconsume these mushrooms to experience thedivine. These mushrooms are a true sacra-ment, not a symbolic one. Individuals andunderground religious groups worldwide con-tinue this practice today, despite an all-outgovernment assault on their religion.

The book you are now reading is danger-ous. Dangerous to the interests of those au-

thorities who would like nothing better thanto replace true religion with a placebo. Thisbook is also dangerous because it describes aprocess that, if followed in the United States,could land one in a federal penitentiary.

In his chapter titled "Psilocybin and theLaw/' Gottlieb does a good job of outlining thebroader contours of the laws facing people whocontemplate growing entheogenic mushrooms.To put it simply, just about any action involv-ing the substances psilocybin or psilocin, is acrime under federal and state laws. Both sub-stances have been placed in Schedule I of thefederal Controlled Substance Act, and all 50states have followed suit by outlawing thepossession, manufacture, distribution, transpor-tation, importation and exportation of thesesubstances.

Under federal law, and under all state lawsthat I'm aware of, no mushrooms in the genusPsilocybe are outlawed by name. Gottlieb isincorrect when he states that P. mexicana is ex-plicitly outlawed—an inaccuracy I've often seenrepeated in the literature. Although noPsilocybe mushrooms are explicitly outlawed,don't jump to the conclusion that it's safe topossess or grow them; such is not the case.

Thousands of people have been arrested for"crimes" involving entheogenic mushrooms.

How are the authorities able to arrest peoplewhen there's no law that explicitly outlawsthese mushrooms? By legal hocus-pocus andpettifoggery, that's how.

The authorities point to federal and statelaw provisions that were designed to punishdrug dealers,and manufacturers who attemptto increase their profits by diluting drugs (e.g.,cocaine or methamphetamine) with variouscutting agents, or who add binding agents totheir drug (e.g., MDMA) in order to sell it intablet form. The federal law provision on thissubject outlaws "any material, compound, mix-ture, or preparation, which contains any quan-tity of" a controlled substance.

Under this provision, ten grams of an in-nocuous legal substance like vitamin B12, istreated exactly like ten grams of a controlledsubstance if the vitamin B12 has any amountof an illegal substance mixed into it. It is clearthat Congress designed this provision to in-crease the punishment of drug dealers andmanufacturers who increase their sales andprofits by stretching drugs or dealing in tab-lets. Nevertheless, in order to argue that

entheogenic mushrooms are illegal, federal andstate prosecutors have interpreted this provi-sion in a preposterous manner. Relying on thisprovision, prosecutors make the bizarre andultra-reductionistic argument that entheogenicmushrooms are illegal "containers" or "mix-tures" of the controlled substances psilocybinand psilocin.

This absurd argument denies the undeni-able: that living organisms are very differentthan inert cutting and binding agents. Thistheory outlaws any life-form that naturallyproduces a controlled substance, therebyelevating federal law over Nature herself. Un-der such a theory, not only would many com-mon plants be outlawed (morning glories forinstance), but our own brains would also beoutlawed because they naturally produce andcontain the controlled substance lV,N-dimeth-yltryptamine (DMT)!

Whether or not entheogenic mushrooms areproperly considered illegal mixtures or con-tainers of controlled substances, it is clear thatextracting psilocybin or psilocin from mush-rooms is unlawful. Federal and state laws con-sider it "manufacturing" a controlled substanceto extract it from a substance of natural origin,

such as a mushroom or its mycelium. Conse-quently, following the extraction processdetailed in this book is illegal in the UnitedStates. Additionally, California is unique inexplicitly outlawing the cultivation—with orwithout eventual extraction—of any "sporesor mycelium capable of producing mushrooms. . . which contain" psilocybin or psilocin.

This leads to a quick note on the legality ofspore prints from entheogenic mushrooms. The"mixture/container" argument is clearly notapplicable to the spores of these mushrooms.The spores do not contain psilocybin or psilo-cin. These substances are first produced, inmost cases, when the mushroom enters itsmycelial growth stage. Therefore, spore printsof entheogenic mushrooms are legal under fed-eral law and in every state but one. As statedabove, California is unique in passing lawswhich expressly address the legality of somemushroom spore prints. Under California laws,it is a crime to transport, import into Califor-nia, sell, furnish, or give away, mushroomspores for the purpose of using them to culti-vate mushrooms that naturally produce psilo-cybin or psilocin.