PSYCHEDELICS - Sciencemadness.org

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____________________________________________________ Psychedelics
locin. Psilocin is 4-hydroxydimethyltryptamine; psilocybin is
the same, with an added phosphor group. Both are indole
alkaloids, like LSD, and are related chemically and in activity
to the neural transmitter substance serotonin. Psilocybin is
probably converted to psilocin in the body. The effects of these
tryptamines are roughly comparable to LSD, differing primarily
in the duration of the effect, which is about half as
long as LSD. Numerous studies have been done on the pharmacological
and psychological effects of psilocybin. Wasson's
1962 bibliography listed a total of 362 technical and lay
items; 22 since that time the number has probably passed
1000. These lie outside the scope of this article.
The use of the sacred mushrooms is heavily concentrated
on Oaxaca, where it is used by the Mazatecs, Chinantecs,
Chatinos, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, and Mijes. In each tribe the
preferred species of mushroom and the particular rituals used
vary somewhat. Secrecy about the mushrooms toward for-
eigners is the general practice. Puharich wrote, "The first thing
one learns from the Chatinos is that no one of them will pub-
licly admit that the sacred mushroom exists, that a rite involv-
ing its use exists, or that any practitioners of the rite exist." 23
Wasson makes a great deal of the religious motivation of the
curanderos. "Performing before strangers is a profanation,"
and "the curandero who today, for a big fee, will perform the
mushroom rite for any stranger is a prostitute and a faker." 24
Yet Wasson's own original curandera, the famous Maria Sa-
bina, does perform rituals for strangers, sometimes for a fee,
sometimes not. 25 It is hard for an outsider to evaluate the
motivations of a Mexican curandera. According to recent re-
ports, there are now always a dozen or so Americans in Hu-
22 R. Gordon Wasson, "The Hallucinogenic Mushrooms of Mex-
ico and Psilocybin: A Bibliography." Botanical Museum Leaflets,
Vol. 20, No. 2, Harvard University, 1962.
23 Andrija Puharich, M.D., "The Sacred Mushroom and the Ques-
tion of its Role in Human Culture." Unpublished research memoran-
dum, 1962.
24 Wasson, op. cit. (18), pp. 34-35.
25 Frederick Swain, "The Mystical Mushroom," Tomorrow, Au-
tumn 1962. Also in Psychedelic Review, #2, 1963, pp. 219-29. See
also Nat Finkelstein, "Honghi, Meester?" Psychedelic Review, #10,
1967.