It has been known for a long time that magic mushrooms are not the hype of the 21st century, but where do they come from, who discovered them and what were mushrooms demonstrably used for over 5,000 years ago?
The use of magic mushrooms can be traced back thousands of years. The first evidence of the use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms dates back to around 9000 — 7000 BC. On the Tassil Valley in present-day Algeria, rock carvings were discovered showing masked “gods” covered with mushrooms. There are references to the consumption of magic mushrooms on every continent from North Africa to South America. Mushroom carving appeared around 1,000 years ago. The way and why mushrooms were eaten is speculated by many researchers, but it is believed that they played an important role in religious ceremonies.
When scientist R. Gordon Wasson traveled to Mexico in 1950 to research various indigenous cultures, he was invited by a Mazatek shaman to take part in a mushroom ceremony. Maria Sabina was the name of the woman who was known and respected as a healer in the small village of Huautla de Jimenez. In her simple mud-brick house, she held healing ceremonies for the sick. In doing so, she combined Christian prayers with ancient shamanistic rituals. During these treatments, the healer and her community frequently consumed mushrooms. Before that, mushrooms were not given much attention. In 1957, his experience was published in a Time Magazine article under the name “Seeking the Magic Mushroom.” Thanks to Wasson's editor, the term magic mushrooms was coined. The topic thus found its way into Western culture and was brought back into public awareness. Shortly thereafter, the psilocybin and psilocin found in the mushrooms were isolated by chemist Dr. Albert Hoffmann. When Wasson returned to Mexico and showed the isolated psilocybin to the locals, Maria took it and confirmed the effect of the chemically produced psilocybin. This made it clear that psilocybin is the decisive substance of action. However, Maria Sabina regretted having told Wasson the secrets of mushrooms. Following the publication of the article, more and more tourists flocked to the country in the late 1960s who wanted to experience the effects of mushrooms. Magic mushrooms, which were long considered sacred in the culture, were sold on every corner. More and more tourists also came to the healer's village, who, according to Mary's statements, had “no respect” for the substance.
Some Victorian ethnobotany researchers, such as Richard Evan Schultes, wrote about the Indian use of psychedelic potions and snuff mixtures.
Scientist Terence McKenna even claims that magic mushrooms played an important role in people's cognitive development. The so-called Stoned-Ape Theory assumes that the rapid and drastic development of the human species was directly influenced, if not strongly promoted, by the consumption of psilocybin-containing mushrooms. Monkeys are said to have left the trees and entered the grasslands 2 million to 300,000 years ago when Africa's forests declined and savanna developed. On the grasslands, they followed and hunted prey, which often left behind large amounts of manure. The species Psilocybe Cubensis found in Africa, as well as many other psilocybin-containing fungi, thrive in dung. It is therefore almost impossible that apes did not encounter mushrooms at that time. It is also very unlikely that they did not eat them. The hypothesis therefore suggests that taking mushrooms enormously accelerated the development of cognition, empathy, and language. This is said to have ultimately driven much faster cognitive evolution.
When Dr. Timothy Leary began to conduct studies with psychedelic mushrooms between 1960 and 1962, psilocybin was still legal. At this point, magic mushrooms were both consumed as stimulants and used in medical studies. Unfortunately, Dr. Leary was not supported by his colleagues, which is why the Harvard psilocybin program came to a standstill. Leary then became one of the leading advocates of magic mushrooms and psychedelics. Mushrooms and the psychedelic experience shaped the decade of the 1960s, despite the ban in 1965.
However, the ban in 1965 was successful; psilocybin had been forgotten. However, the psychedelic experience is slowly finding its way back into our society. After the Netherlands and Portugal have decriminalized psilocybin-containing truffles as a stimulant, countless studies are now also being carried out with psilocybin, in which even the Charite is involved.
Find out everything about the studies and clinical advances related to psilocybin in the next blog post. If you want to know what a psychedelic experience in the forest feels like, take a look at our new podcast episode on the “Mycelf Podcast”. In the episode, founders Lionel and Philemon Schibli talk about a breathtaking psilocybin trip in the forest and share the insights they were able to gather there.