Psilocybin Cubensis Pt 1.

It is impossible to enter into the world of fungus without being exposed to magic mushrooms. What are magic mushrooms? - some ask. They are specific species of mushrooms growing naturally in the wild contain psilocybin. Upon ingestion, this compound is broken down into psilocyn, which dissolves the brains default mode network. This is like the guardrails which structure our mind and thoughts. On psilocybin the world around us breaks down, and we are filled with a sense of awe and mysticism for the natural world. We are simultaneously reverted back into a state of child-like innocence but also forced to confront who we have become as adults - the pain and suffering which has molded us.

The experience of taking psilocybin is heavily dependent on the environment. Some like Terrence Mckenna recommended taking it at night in the dark. John C Lilly, the renowned neurologist turned psychonaut, built isolation tanks and would float in darkness as he tripped. Others take it in the serenity of nature, a heavily grounding experience which brings us back to our roots as hunter-gathers outdoors.

A famous John Hopkins study - still ongoing - exposed people to synthetic psilocybin - taken in a clinical setting. Of those who took the compounds, the majority reported it as life-changing and a minority described it as unpleasant but reported no negative effects.

This magical compound, with the power to show one their life and the power to connect them to what seems to be a deeper and truer self - how can this be lumped into the same category as other scheduled I controlled substances - such as heroin, cocaine, or meth.

The experience of taking psilocybin is so breathtakingly profound as though one's mind has taken a portal into another dimension and sees things in a higher state of being. It reveals to us the nature of our reality and strips away the endless layers of consumerism, capitalism, egoism, and endless anxieties of modern living. How can such a substance be said to be a bad thing?

Before the reader assumes that this is a glowing review and advocacy for the taking of this substance, I can assure that this is not the case and am about to provide more nuance.

As someone who's been a part of the mushroom community for some time, most of those I know who have taken mushrooms either occasionally or regularly, do not seem to be substantially different from those who do not. I have met those who microdosed and those who regularly ingest 2 - 3 g worth (a moderate but not small dose). And the way they live their lives seem to be very similar if not identical to those who do not take any sort of entheogenic substance. In fact, I have met some, who having lived a lifestyle of cultivating and consuming psilocybin, who seem to be more depleted and unhealthy than those who have gone without.

Despite the illegality of the substance, some ~2% of Americans have consumed psilocybin on a yearly basis. This is far from the majority, but it is also hardly a trivial percentage. A small percentage of a large number is a large number. And if magic mushrooms truly were so life changing, I would think that it would have spread much more naturally and be self-evident that it is good for people. Therefore, despite the widespread belief that psilocybin helps people process traumatic experiences and "dissolves the ego," the fact that many Americans (and people across the world for that matter) have taken these substances but seem not much different is a clue about the nature of the substance.

In my view, psilocybin acts as caffeine does. "What are you talking about? How in the world are caffeine and psilocybin comparable whatsoever." Fundamentally, caffeine is not healthy for the body and does not provide extra nutrients or create energy. Rather, it forces the circulation of energy by pulling from the body's reserves. This gives you this bump of "caffeine high" which lasts some hours and gives you the "energy" to do work or socialize, whatever it may be. In the same way, psilocybin does not create energy but rather pulls from the body's reserves in order to manifest this processing of trauma/enlightening experience. This is corroborated anecdotally by accounts of users of magic mushrooms exhibiting signs of prolonged exhaustion for days after taking the substance.

Even if that doesn't make much sense, the essence of what I'm saying is that both substances are depleting in that the tax the body to bring about their desired effects. Caffeine much less so and psilocybin much more so. Of course, the level of intensity is very much dependent on the dosage. Caffeine being much more mild if drinking a cup of green tea (~25 mg) as opposed to taking two expresso shots (~200 mg). And psilocybin being much more mild when taken at lower doses (1 - 2g) or even microdoses (~0.1 grams??) as opposed to Heroic doses (~5g) or insane blackout ruin your body doses (20 - 50 grams).

My point is that if we make the assumption that psilocybin is depleting, then it should be used very carefully and not on a whim. As societies of the past strengthened women's bodies in preparation for pregnancy, the taking of these entheogenic substances should not be taken by those who are weak or sick or those suffering from constitutional deficiencies.

Yes, this advice does conflict with the idea of someone who is mentally unhealthy taking it as a means of processing psychological grief. Magic mushrooms do genuinely seem to have the quality of allowing the ego to dissolve and letting years of built-up trauma wash through the body.

However, I still maintain that the experience, while enlightening, is very depleting and should be used with extreme caution and care. There is much thinking and research to be done about the quality and nature of the substances. And as elaborated upon in the beginning of the article, there is much good associated with magic mushrooms. I am only proclaiming the warning that to the extent something is powerful, it should be respected and feared.

It is said that it is not the trip that is actually significant, but what comes afterwards. Psilocybin seems to give a split moment of extreme clarity into one's life and allows for the processing of built-up grief. What I think that saying means is that if one takes medicine to resolve an illness, one needs to ask why is that illness there in the first place? Taking psilocybin only shows that a problem is there and provides temporary relief but in order to actually make progress in life one must deal with the root of the issue.

In the Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor, it is written that trying to cure an illness once its manifested is like digging a well when people are starving from thirst or forging weapons in the middle of the field in the heat of battle. Magic mushrooms point us towards deficiencies in our lives but they are not the medicine onto themselves. And perhaps the reason we find the experiences so intense is because in recent centuries, humanity has found itself living in a way that is so misaligned from what is natural and good.