This website is dedicated to the
science of ethnomycology, the study of mushrooms used by ancient cultures. For
millions of years on our planet, humanity has been involved in a symbiotic relationship
with plants. Not only have plants supplied mankind with a never ending food-source,
the necessary nourishment for our bodies and life itself, but they have also
served us in another way: an extremely important and intricate one, yet an often
overlooked one. I am referring to those plants which, traditionally, have been
known to pharmacologically expand human consciousness into the mystical/spiritual
states. The study of these plants is called "Entheobotany", or "Ethnobotany".
A sub-field (of this study), known as "Ethnomycology" is specifically dedicated
to mushrooms which have consciousness expanding qualities, and therefore deep
roots imbedded in the religious traditions, writings and indigenous knowledge
of mankind. The term, "Ethnomycology" was coined by its father, the late Gordon
Wasson. This line of study is constantly expanding as more and more correlations
come to light regarding the usage of mushrooms in a particular culture or religion.
Constituents: The entheogenic constituents of A. muscaria are ibotenic acid (alpha-amino3-hydroxy-5-isoxazole acetic acid), muscamol (3hydroxy-5-aminomethy1 isoxazole), and possibly muscazone(Ott). Muscamol appears to be the primary intoxicant. After ingestion, a small amount of ibotenic acid decarboxylates into muscamol, which produces the intoxication. Taken orally, ibotenic acid is entheogenically active at 50-100 mg(Ott and Stafford) Taken orally, muscimol displays activity at 10-15mg.