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Written by Michael S. Smith
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Wednesday, 24 December 1997 |
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Page 5 of 6
Once you are ready to explore the realms of Amanita muscaria intoxication it is recommended that you start by equalizing the strength of the mushrooms by the above mentioned methods. A low dose trial is always in order to test the power of the material you have and to examine how ones body reacts to this particular collection of mushrooms. I believe 5 grams or less is a good starting point which can be gradually increased according to ones desires. Usually the first effects can be felt within the first half hour and vary according to each individuals constitution, but any augmentation of dosage should not be consumed until the effects are in full swing, about 2 hours after ingestion.
The Amanita Intoxication
The Amanita intoxication can be quite variable, from nausea, sweating, and salivation produced from a high level of muscarine in the mushroom, to the more desirous effects of euphoria, elevated mood, auditory and visual hallucinations, and increased strength and stamina produced by the muscimol, or the best of all, to feel the desire to dance and sing. But it must be understood that within this mushroom is heaven and hell. While with one experiment you can find bliss, within the next you may find terror. In one you may feel power and strength and in the next find the deepest somnambulance. This mushroom makes no guarantees, and I believe that it is just such a lack of predictability that has instilled this mushroom with such awe and mystery through Old and New World alike. These are not organisms that you want to carelessly ingest, therefore I suggest that someone care and supervise for you. And unless they are truly sick in body I would attempt to refrain from calling an ambulance, the sickness will pass in time. And remember to first identify Amanita muscaria from its more deadly relatives, A. phalloides, A. ocreata, A. virosa, and A. verna, before gathering on your own. Each of these potentially deadly species can be differentiated from A. muscaria by their saclike volva. If you have any doubt whatsoever about the mushroom you have then discard it.
Cultivation
Amanita cultivation in a lab environment has always been an impossibility due to the symbiotic mycorrhizal relationship of this mushroom to its host trees. But if one has the necessary host trees in their area, and resides in the proper temperate zone or elevation, try and simply take a few dried or fresh caps that are in sporination (fully flattened or upturning with longitudinal tears along the striations), crush them up thoroughly, and mix the crushings into the top soil. See if it will take. If one doesn't want to make the initial investment of the caps simply chop up the stems from sporinating specimens, which will naturally have collected some of the falling spores, and mix with the soil. Clark Heinrich states that he simply buries the stems under the proper host tree for cultivation, but then again he probably lives the the perfect environment. I would recommend that this be done in the Fall soon after the fruiting season or in early Spring so that the spores can receive their proper life cycle. My own observations (I've yet to actually learn this) of Amanita growth suggest that mycelia growth takes place primarily throughout the Spring and Summer months and is highly dependent on rain and soil moisture preceding the Fall fruiting. If the season is dry just water your mushroom garden every few days. A host tree in a large container that can be left outdoors year round may be a candidate for cultivation if one is in the right zone.
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