Where Did They Come From? The History
There aren’t clear findings on where mushrooms came from, but we know it’s been around for over 4,000 years due to the ancient cave paintings illustrating them.
They can even date further back than 4,000 years. There’s not enough research to suggest if magic mushrooms have been around longer than we know.
Shrooms have been consumed worldwide, including in Russia, Mexico, China, Canada, and many other countries. Several cultures have used shrooms for spiritual and ritual purposes due to their unique effects to elevate the mind.
Researchers like J.P Morgan and Robert Gordon Wasson made the first Western discovery in the 1950s. The research led Robert Wesson to Mexico to uncover the miraculous properties of the magic mushrooms and the potential benefits they provide.
Magic mushrooms are known all over the world today since over a million people have ingested them once or twice. With over 200 species of magic mushrooms, we don’t know much about the natural substance. Studies and research are being done to satisfy our curiosity about the functions of shrooms.
Many users enjoy them to enhance their mental reality and alter their perceptions. Others enjoy it for spiritual reasons. This guide explains the ins and outs of magic mushrooms along with their benefits, effects, and identification.
What Are Magic Mushrooms?
Magic mushrooms are natural substances known all over the world that contain psychedelic properties like psilocybin known to produce mental highs in individuals.
There are many different types of magic mushrooms with various potencies that grow anywhere near trees, logs, grass, and other damp, favourable habitats.
The natural substances grow on the ground in abundance and contain mycelium webs that make up the mycorrhizal network. The network connects and shares nutrients among plants and trees, as the National Forest Foundation mentioned in “Underground Networking: The Amazing Connections Beneath Your Feet.”
It’s an entire system underground that mushrooms cultivate and bring about the interconnectedness of living plants. When you eat magic mushrooms, they interact with your mental and physical functions to produce a chemical reaction, resulting in heightened sensory perceptions. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms that converts into psilocin, the compound responsible for making a person trip.
The trip feels like you’re flying into another reality, and everything becomes distorted. Hallucinations may come depending on the amount consumed. They’re distinct substances that do more than elevate your mind since they provide benefits for certain mental issues. There are studies done about how mushrooms interact with the mind and body, but there’s other unknown knowledge we don’t know about them.
Are Psilocybin Mushrooms Safe?
Yes and no. Psilocybin shrooms are safe to consume if you understand the risks associated with consuming them. Those who consume them are prepared, take the right dosage, and use the right mushroom species.
The risks involved with the substances include the following:
- Experience hallucinations without the use of mushrooms
- Experience fear and confusion
- Accidentally consuming poisonous magic mushrooms
These can interfere with your daily lifestyle and can provide you with a bad trip. This can allow you to avoid taking mushrooms again.
You need to take precautions and prepare for a mushroom trip to avoid unnecessary issues.Many individuals who consume shrooms know how to take mushrooms since most are experienced with taking them.
How To Consume Magic Mushrooms
When consuming magic mushrooms, there are many factors you need to understand before doing so.
Start With A Low-Dose
One factor is consuming mushrooms with a low dose, especially if you’re a new user. The lower dose can give you an elevated sensation throughout the mind without overpowering it. When starting with a low dose, you can increase it over time to receive the desired result you need for your mushroom trip. Make sure to avoid eating shrooms on an empty stomach, as this can intensify the mushroom journey.
Choose A Comfortable And Safe Environment
You need to pick a comfortable and safe environment before consuming magic mushrooms. It’s best to have soothing music, a comfortable room, a quiet environment, and low lights to avoid having a bad trip. Many users ensure their experience is an enjoyable one that allows them to have internal self-reflections.
Be In A Positive And Relaxed Mindset
Make sure you go into your mushroom experience with a positive and relaxed mindset to avoid having negative influences. If you have a negative mindset, you may have negative flashbacks hallucinations, and embed fear into your subconscious mind. By keeping a clear and good mental attitude for your mushroom journey, you can have a pleasant experience.
Have A Trusted Friend As A Trip Sitter
You should also have a trusted friend to hang out with while you experience the mushroom trip. The friend must respect your space and leave you alone as you begin the mushroom journey into blissfulness. They can be in another room or the same room as long as they don’t interrupt you or do anything that can negatively influence your trip.
Chew And Swallow The Mushrooms Slowly
Chewing helps break down the mushroom cells for your body to digest them better, allowing the properties to enter the bloodstream faster for quick absorption.
You need to chew them enough to swallow without choking since they’re pretty dry. If you dislike the taste, try drinking a flavoured tea while you chew the mushrooms.
Avoid Mixing With Alcohol Or Other Drugs
It’s best to avoid mixing mushrooms with alcohol and other drugs since there are negative reactions that can cause a very bad trip. Mushrooms are powerful enough when eating them by themselves, you don’t want to add to the mix by having other robust drugs to enhance the experience further.
Stay Hydrated
When you’re on a mushroom trip, you must stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Your body will need water to get rid of the mushroom compounds, and drinking it can make you feel better after you’re done with the trip. You can get dehydrated and tired if you don’t drink water. Water is an important part of the mushroom journey to have a positive experience.
Prepare For The Trip With Music Or Art
Finding the right music genre can help soothe your mushroom journey and make it more pleasant. You can create some artwork to express creativity and experience calmness during your trip. Mushrooms enhance your creative flow, making it easier to feel at ease.
Expect And Embrace The Psychedelic Experience
When you’re having a sensational journey, you should be okay with the experience and not put too much stress on your feelings. As you feel new sensations and different sensory acuities, be in tune with them and avoid putting too much pressure on them.
Follow Harm Reduction Practices
If you find that mushrooms are becoming an addictive problem or other issues associated with shrooms, you need to follow harm reduction practices, as per the Government of Canada. “Harm Reduction: Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy.”
These include the following:
- Surround yourself with a positive community
- Utilize counselling sessions
- Learn safe drug use with educational training
- Take part in leadership roles and contribute
The harm reduction practices can provide you with safety and security to avoid any negative issues from occurring.
How To Identify Magic Mushrooms
With various mushrooms types you can identify the right type of mushrooms by looking at the following:
Natural Substrate: Make sure the mushrooms you’re looking for match their natural substrate of how they like to grow, whether in cow dung, grass pastures, or under pine trees.
Appearances: Know the appearance of the mushroom you’re looking to find. Mushrooms, like the Golden Teacher mushrooms, provide a golden and smooth sticky mushroom cap. Avoid misidentifying similar mushroom appearances.
Climate: Another indicator of identifying the right mushrooms is the climate. Some psilocybin shrooms like to be around different areas of the world, ranging from central to South America and other humid places. Ensure you find the right mushrooms that meet the identification traits you seek under these factors.
The Negative Effects Of Magic Mushrooms
There are negative effects of magic mushrooms that can interfere with the natural flow of your mental and physical processes.
Hallucinations
Getting extreme hallucinations can cause fear, which harms your mental condition. If you experience fearful hallucinations, make sure to take deep breaths and calm yourself. This can re-center your internal functions and may reverse the negative effects.
Anxiety
Mushrooms can provide severe anxiety, causing you to have a mental breakdown if it’s not regulated. This occurs when your internal being isn’t centred and provides an obstacle. To avoid having severe anxiety, prepare to take small amounts of shrooms beforehand.
Paranoia
The psilocybin in magic mushrooms interacts with certain brain signals that enhance your perception awareness, causing paranoia.It can also occur randomly throughout your day when you’re not on a mushroom trip. This can be detrimental to your mental functions, and it’s best to seek support to minimize this negative effect.
Confusion
You may experience confusion during your trip, resulting in a loss of self and being unsure of the sensory perceptions you’re receiving. The mushroom trip can be intense, especially if it’s your first time. Pick a less potent mushroom with a low dosage to avoid extreme confusion.
Nausea
Mushrooms may cause nausea within your body since your internal digestive system can’t digest the mushrooms smoothly. This can occur if you don’t chew the mushrooms all the way, which makes your digestive system work harder to break them down.
Vomiting
If you are having nausea, then vomiting may come afterward. It can happen when you don’t properly prepare your mushroom consumption beforehand. It’s best to utilize safe preparation methods to ingest mushrooms by grinding dried mushrooms or utilizing the lemon tek method to prevent vomiting.
Increased Heart Rate
Another negative effect is increased heart rate during your magic shroom journey. Your body is experiencing heightened sensory perceptions that enhance your physical processes, like heart rate. Taking extra protocols before you have a mushroom trip can combat this negative effect.
Impaired Coordination
You will be in a state of heightened awareness, making your internal self lethargic and peaceful, resulting in impaired coordination. It’s best to avoid doing anything that requires effort when you’re experiencing a psychedelic experience.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks can occur in individuals with sensitivity to enhanced senses. This can trigger them into a state of panic, especially for new users. That’s why taking a small amount of the right mushroom type is important to avoid a panic attack.
Potential For Dangerous Behavior
Magic psilocybin shrooms can result in dangerous behaviour in different users consuming them frequently. If an individual has extreme fear during their mushroom journey, they can potentially cause harm to themselves and those around them. We recommend having a trusted trip sitter with the individual experiencing the trip to avoid dangerous behaviour.
Interaction With Medications
Mushrooms can negatively interact with medications when you’re on a mushroom trip. Psilocybin in mushrooms combined with antipsychotic medication enhanced the dread of ego dissolution and altered states of consciousness, according to Psychopharmacology (Berl), “Drug-drug interactions between psychiatric medications and MDMA or psilocybin: a systematic review.” Users taking mushrooms should avoid taking medications during their trip to have a clean experience that won’t interfere.
The Bottom Line
The benefits of magic mushrooms have the potential to provide individuals with positive properties to their mental and physical functions of the body. Understanding proper consumption methods, identifying mushroom species, and knowing the potential negative effects of magic mushrooms can provide a smooth experience.
Many users partake in the natural substance to alter their perceptions of reality and enhance their daily routines.
Whether you enjoy consuming raw mushrooms or making mushrooms in a drink, they can allow you to have positive personal development. Magic shrooms have risks you should eliminate or prevent by following a clear-cut and safe protocol.
When you prepare for a trip, block out the entire day to ensure nothing can interfere with the journey.
Getting a trip sitter can be a good support for you to enjoy your mushroom trip safely. They need to be trusted and not influence your shroom journey negatively.
Are Magic Mushrooms Addictive?
Yes. Psilocybin shrooms can be addictive if you’re taking them too frequently. It’s not wise to ingest mushrooms back to back since it can cause long-term effects. Utilizing harm reduction strategies can help combat addiction to mushrooms. A good support system can be helpful as well.
Can Magic Mushrooms Go Bad?
Yes. Shrooms can deteriorate over time if they sit longer than a year without anyone touching them. The potency can decrease exponentially, resulting in an ineffective mushroom trip. It’s best to store mushrooms in an airtight container in a cool, dark place to keep them fresh for one year.
Can You Die From Magic Mushrooms?
No. The only severe damage a person can experience is being put into a coma for a long period. Mushrooms have a very low toxicity rate and can provide a bad trip involved with several factors.
How To Dry Magic Mushrooms?
To dry mushrooms, you can air dry them, use a dehydrator, and use a desiccant. When air drying, make sure they’re in an environment that isn’t humid. For desiccant drying, you need to pre-dry the shrooms before conducting this procedure.
Are Magic Mushrooms Good For Anxiety And Depression?
Yes. Magic shrooms may positively affect mood and mental chaos in certain individuals. They’re known to soothe and elevate the brain’s serotonin levels, resulting in uplifting emotions.
Are All Magic Mushrooms The Same?
No. They aren’t all the same since they have different potency strengths and strain types grown in different habitats. Blue magic mushrooms are more potent than mushrooms that don’t have blue bruising and can give you an extremely elevated journey.
What Is The Active Compound In Magic Mushrooms?
Psilocybin is the active compound in magic shrooms that’s responsible for producing psychedelic effects on the mind and body.
Are There Any Medical Uses For Magic Mushrooms?
Yes. Numerous studies have indicated shrooms are a potential medicine for individuals with mental issues. Psilocybin in shrooms has the potential to minimize depression and anxiety in patients with cancer, according to Cureus, “Analysis of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy in Medicine: A Narrative Review.” More research needs to be done to identify the hidden opportunities of magic mushrooms.
How Long Does it Take for Shrooms to Kick In?
The time it takes for mushrooms, often referred to as shrooms, to take effect can vary depending on a few factors, such as the method of consumption and the dosage. When shrooms are eaten whole, the effects typically kick in around 30 minutes after consumption.
If the shrooms are consumed as tea, the effects can begin even sooner, approximately 10 to 15 minutes after drinking. However, these times can vary from person to person.The way you consume shrooms can alter how quickly you feel their effects.
For example, if you follow the lemon tek method or drink mushroom tea, the effects might kick in a bit faster, typically within 25 to 45 minutes. Additionally, the dose plays a significant role in how quickly the effects of shrooms are felt and how intense they will be. A lower dose, such as 1-2 grams of dried mushrooms, might take around 30 to 60 minutes to kick in, while a higher dose of 3-5 grams or more could take up to 90 minutes to begin.
It is also noted that while the average time for the effects to start is around 30 minutes when shrooms are eaten whole, some individuals may begin feeling effects as soon as ten minutes after consumption, and sometimes, it could take up to an hour. The entire experience, or “trip,” usually lasts for about 4 to 6 hours.
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