Jochen Gartz - Magic Mushrooms Around the ... - preterhuman.net

an individual experiences repeated applications of
hallucinogenic substances.
In closing this section, I would like to
present a short account of an experience that
illustrates how the effects of psychotropic
substances can vary across individuals, depending
on the setting in which the experience takes place:
After ingestion of 0.6 g of pulverized
mushrooms in orange juice, the effects began to
manifest after about 30 minutes: An endless
sequence of images behind closed eyes. At the same
time, no distinctly euphoric nor dysphoric
emotional states were noted; the reaction to these
images is most fittingly described as "temporary
amazement". The initial images of entwined
ornaments changed with the passage of time and
became plants, some of whom had several surreal
characteristics not known to exist on Earth. I
believe these images reflected my longstanding
preoccupation with the world of plants. Then,
when a mirror was placed in front of me, I
perceived "a gloomy-looking fellow with a fixed
gaze". Then I admitted, somewhat reluctantly,
that this impression did, in fact, reflect my
everyday demeanor and that I usually did not make
it easy for others "to see behind the facade ". The
experimental guide confirmed my own impressions.
Prior to this incident, we had never discussed this
issue.
States as well as from Switzerland and the former
Czechoslovakia have, for the most part, been
extensively analyzed. It was discovered that the
combined analysis of several dried mushrooms
for alkaloid content yielded an average value of 1
% psilocybin of the dry weight, regardless of
country of origin. The issue of chemical race has
been hotly debated with respect to other species,
such as the fly agaric mushroom. But in contrast
to plants, such a phenomenon has not yet been
proven to exist in the higher mushroom species.
So far, there is no evidence to support the notion
that the basic chemical make-up of a species can
vary dramatically from sample to sample. Among
the species discussed here, Psilocybe
semilanceata and Inocybe aeruginascens (see
Chapter 3.4) appear to be the two species with the
lowest degree of variability in psilocybin content
across samples. The first three analysis results
shown in Table 1 represent data from my own
research conducted in the course of a workshop
with other investigators in Prague.
TABLE 1
Average Psilocybin Content of Dried
Psilocybe semilanceata Samples
Origin Psilocybin (%)
The Psychotherapeutic Potential of
Psilocybin's Psychotropic Effects
The preceding account of an experience by
a 67-year-old mycologist contains elements that
illustrate the beneficial potential of psilocybin's
psychotropic effects as an adjunct to
psychotherapy. We will return to a discussion of
these benefits in Chapter 9.
In accordance with their strong
psychoactivity, chemical analyses of Psilocybe
semilanceata specimens have revealed high levels
of psilocybin. It is safe to say that this species
has been more thoroughly studied than any other
Psilocybe species, including the Mexican species,
whose dried mass is known to contain 0.2 - 0.6
psilocybin.
Collections of Psilocybe semilanceata
from England, Scotland, Norway, Finland,
Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, the United
1. Dubener Marshlands,
Eastern Germany 0.96
2. Prague, Czech Republic 1.05
3. Krasna Lipa, Czech Republic 0.91
4. Norway 0.95
5. Pacific Northwest, USA 0.93
6. The Netherlands 0.97
Fresh mushrooms are about 90% water,
that is, one gram of mushroom material contains
an average of 1 mg of psilocybin.
Psilocin, a comparatively less stable
compound, is the phenol analogue of psilocybin
(see Figure 19, p. 27) and thus oxidizes much
more readily than psilocybin. Psilocybe
semilanceata contains only trace amounts of
psilocin, if any at all.
On the other hand, baeocystin as the