of Psilocybe - Mycophilia

Figure 2.Figure 3.photographed the ceremony ratherthan partaking again, and so we havethe images on pages 104-105 (Figure3) of the ceremony that was held inan underground room in completeblackness photographed by pointingthe flash towardsaudible sounds.For the hordesof mostly youngpeople who wouldsoon descend onthis region, thenext pages, 106-107, became likea biblical guide,for they contain“Rare vision-givingfungi shown forthe first time”(Figure 4). On his last trip to southernMexico before writing the Life article,Wasson was accompanied by ProfessorRoger Heim, a mycologist and head ofFrance’s Muséum National d’HistoryNaturells. Heim would collect and namemany of these magic mushrooms. Therewas the prized Psilocybe mexicanaHeim, found in pastures (see Figure 13in the accompanying article “The genusPsilocybe in North America” by M. Beugin this issue of FUNGI); the “Crownof Thorns,” Psilocybe zapotecorumHeim, found on marshy ground (seeFigure 13, Psilocybe hoogshagenii Heimsensu lato, in the accompanying articleBeug); the “Mushroom of SuperiorReason,” Psilocybe caerulescens Murrillvar. nigripes Heim also found onmarshy ground (see Figure 4 in theaccompanying article by Beug); and“Children of the Waters,” Psilocybeaztecorum Heim, found on woody debris(see Figure 18 in the accompanyingarticle by Beug). There was also theabundant Psilocybe cubensis (Earle)Singer, found on dung (Figure 5).Psilocybe cubensis was to become thelow-potency less desirable Psilocybeserved to uninformed gringos who wouldsoon be flooding to Mexico in pursuit ofthe Magic Mushrooms.About his experiences Wasson said“For the first time the word ecstasytook on real meaning. For the first timeit did not mean someone else’s stateof mind.” But Wasson also issued acaution that was soon to be lost on themasses: “hallucinogenic mushroomsmust be treated with extreme caution.Among the Indians, their use is hedgedwith restrictions of many kinds. Unlikeordinary mushrooms, these are neversold in the marketplace, and no Indiandares to eat them frivolously, forexcitement. The Indians themselvesspeak of their use as muy delicado, thatis, perilous” (p. 106).Fast forward to the present and anarticle hot off the presses as I write this.The title is “Hallucinogens as Medicine”and it appeared in the December 2010Scientific American (Griffiths and Grob,2010). Roland Griffiths is the leadinvestigator of the psilocybin researchinitiative at Johns Hopkins. CharlesGrob’s research at UCLA includeslooking at psilocybin for treating anxietyin cancer patients. “Early results from thenew trials point to the promise of theseFigure 4.Figure 5.therapies, with some patients reportingprofound spiritual experiences and,hence, the ability to make important lifechanges… understanding how mysticalexperiences can engender benevolentattitudes towards oneself and otherswill, in turn, aid in explaining thewell-documented role of spirituality inpsychological well-being and health.”But they also caution that “In theJohns Hopkins study, even after carefulscreening and at least eight hours ofpreparation with a clinical psychologist,about a third of the participantsexperienced some period of significantfear and about a fifth felt paranoiasometime during the session… otherpotential risks of hallucinogens includeprolonged psychosis, psychologicaldistress, or disturbances in vision orother senses lasting days or even longer.”In unsupervised situations, they reportthat paranoia following mushroomusage has led to accidental injuries andeven suicide.When the Life magazine article waswritten, no one yet knew what drugFigure 6.was present in themushrooms. It wasAlbert Hoffman,a Swiss researcherworking for SandozPharmaceuticals whosuccessfully isolatedand synthesized thetwo principal activeingredients of themagic mushrooms,announcing hissuccess in the late1950s. He namedone compoundpsilocybin (Figure6) and the other psilocin. Psilocin issimply a psilocybin molecule that hasbeen dephosphorylated (loss of thephosphate group, P, and its surroundingoxygens in the Figure 6, leaving an –OHgroup in its place). Psilocin is the morepotent of the two chemicals, but sincethe GI tract quickly dephosphorylatespsilocybin, it matters little which drugyou ingest – they both wind up aspsilocin as they enter circulation andmimic serotonin (Figure 7) in the brain.A few years before, Albert Hoffmanhad synthesized LSD-25, one of manyderivatives of lysergic acid he wasmaking in a search for a drug to helpstop excessive bleeding in childbirth.The lysergic acid is isolated from ergot,the resting stage of the fungus Clavicepspurpurea. Ergot, a contaminant in grainthat looks much like a blackened kernelof wheat, was known to produce feelingsof intense heat followed by severe loss ofblood flow, resulting in a gangrene-likecondition, leading, in severe cases, tothe loss of arms and legs. The condition,produced by ergotamine, is known as32 FUNGI Volume 4:3 Summer 2011 FUNGI Volume 4:3 Summer 2011 33Figure 7.