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SACRED MUSHROOMS AND THE QUEST FOR MEANING SACRED MUSHROOMS AND QUEST MEANING FOR THE An inspired New York banker dedicated much of his life to ethnomycology, discovering the shamanic practices of ingesting fungi with psychedelic and spiritual properties and experiencing his own mystical visions. Psilocybin—A Powerful Entheogen silocybin, also known as psilocybine or 4-PO-DMT, is a prodrug for the classical hallucinogen compound psilocin, or 4-HO-DMT (4- hydroxyl-dimethyltryptamine), the active metabolite of psilocybin, responsible for the psychoactive effects of the drug. Both drugs are members of the indole and tryptamine classes. Psilocybin is produced by over 200 species of fungi, most notably those of the genus Psilocybe, such as P. cubensis, P. semilanceata and P. cyanescens, and reportedly has also been isolated from about a dozen other genera. Collectively known as psilocybin mushrooms, these are commonly called "boomers", "sacred mushrooms", "magic mushrooms" or, more simply, “shrooms". Possession, and in some cases usage, of psilocybin or psilocin has been outlawed in most countries across the globe. Proponents of its usage consider it to be an entheogen and a tool to supplement various types of practices for transcendence, including meditation, psychonautics and psychedelic psychotherapy. The intensity and duration of entheogenic effects of psilocybin mushrooms are highly variable, depending on the species or cultivar of mushroom, the dosage, individual physiology, and set and setting. Once ingested, psilocybin is rapidly metabolised to psilocin, which then acts as a partial agonist at the 5- HT2a and 5-HTia serotonin receptors in the brain. The mind-altering effects of psilocybin typically last anywhere from three to eight hours; however, to individuals under the influence of psilocybin, the effects may seem to last much longer, since the drug can distort the perception of time. Psilocybin has a low toxicity, and a lethal dose from ingestion of the drug has not been documented. Sacred Ground n 13 May 1957, the well-read pages of Life magazine carried a CQ) srcunaereatin article that was to alter profoundly the West's attitude toward the wilder side of the natural world. Here was the first-ever personal account written by a westerner, describing the extraordinary psychological effects induced by a mushroom deified and ritually worshipped by native Mexicans. Consumption of the sacred Mexican mushroom allowed one to contact the gods, experience profound visions and gain mystical knowledge. Or at least these were the most extravagant of the native Mexican beliefs about the mushroom that were reported by anthropologists during the first half of the 20th century. In pre-Columbian times, the mysterious mushroom had been known by the Aztecs as "God's Flesh", testifying to its divine potency. Such veneration ensured the mushroom a cult status among native Mexicans, despite the violent cultural upheavals wrought by the Spanish Conquest in the 16th by Simon G. Powell © 2011 An edited extract from Chapter I, “Sacred Ground”, of The Psilocybin Solution: The Role of Sacred Mushrooms in the Quest for Meaning (Park Street Press, VT, USA, 20II) Website: http://www.thepsilocybinsolution.com NEXUS ° 17 (Source: from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psilocybin) by Simon G. Powell © 2011 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com