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Written by Michael S. Smith
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Wednesday, 24 December 1997 |
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Page 4 of 6
The last method I would like to mention is the most interesting and may produce the strongest effects. This is to combine any of the above methods with Peganum harmala seeds or extract to produce monoamine oxidase inhibition. I have never tried this method myself but am aware of one such experimentation which produced very strong effects. I've been awaiting a report from this acquaintance, but have yet to receive it. I first heard of this technique from an employee of an occult bookstore and herbal center which sells many uncontrolled entheogens. This employee, and practitioner of Wiccan magic, stated that if Peganum harmala is used with A. muscaria the A. muscaria dosage could be cut in half. I first thought she was confusing her mushrooms, as a dosage of Psilocybin mushrooms can be halved when taken with P. harmala. I mentioned this to her, and to my surprise she stated that she has tried the A. muscaria/P. harmala combination. I later talked with the owner of the store who stated that there is a history of this combination. I personally am unaware of this type of usage in the entheogen community, but it's possible that it exists in Wiccan practices. Upon my mentioning of this combination on the old Visionary Plant List I received a response from JRH who had mentioned this to J. Ott as a way to clear up the linguistic controversy of Wasson's and Flattery's opposing theories. JRH stated that Ott didn't have anything to say about this possibility.
Due to environmental factors and the possibility that the time of harvesting (see Amanita myths below) effects the alkaloid level and composition of each mushroom it is important to make an attempt to equalize the alkaloid content of the collection you have. This can be done by grinding up all the Amanita's you have into a powder or else dicing them into small chunks and thoroughly mixing together. The powder is best used in the tea or gel cap method, while the diced mushrooms are good for eating dry or cooking with. If you have whole fresh mushrooms to be heated or dried caps each individual should get an equal portion of each mushroom so that everyone gets exactly the same amount and concentration of alkaloids. By this you can possibly avoid differences in effects among the individual participants.
A couple interesting myths have surrounded these mushrooms for a number or years of which I have difficulty accepting due to their lack of controlled scientific study. The first of these is that North American specimens lack the potency levels of Eurasian specimens. Personally I don't see how a scientific control group could be produced with a mushroom that is reputed to contain highly variable alkaloid contents from mushroom to mushroom. Now if controlled experiments could be done in a lab environment with North American and Eurasian specimens grown in the same substrate and with identical environmental conditions and then tested for alkaloid concentrations the results might be more reliable. (Hell, it could be the tree which define the mushrooms alkaloids.) But until this is possible I will accept it as a drug enforcement lie produced to discourage experimentation. Also, don't forget that mushrooms are not plants that have difficulty disseminating throughout the world. The spores are easily transported through the air by wind currents, so I doubt there is any distinctions between North American and Eurasian Amanita muscaria. Just a thought.
A second rumor is that A. muscaria collected in the beginning of the season are more potent, and less toxic to the system, than those collected towards the end of the season. I personally have not done any experimentation in this area, but I do believe that further scientific study is needed to verify this information. From what I understand this is myth has some support in the ethnobotanical lore of Siberian tribes.
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