Amanita Muscaria (Fly Agaric Mushrooms, Amanitas), the highly
visible and strikingly beautiful mushroom, also known as the Fly Agaric,
is yellow to red in color and speckeled with white. Amanita muscaria is
probably humanity's oldest entheogen. Amanita muscaria's history has it
associated with both Shamanic and magical practices. It was identified
as the "Soma" of the ancient (4000 BC) Rig Veda by Gordon Wasson. So,
Amanita muscaria has historical use as far back as we have history, and
it shouldnt be hard to suppose that prehistoric humans, in their
activities as hunter/gatherer, recognized that there were mushrooms and
other plants that had benefits not related to hunger. Our ancestors must
surely have been intrigued by the Amanita muscaria--they appeared
magically from nowhere, in strange and beautiful shapes and colors and
gave magical visions of the beyond when eaten.
Today Amanita muscaria mushrooms are widely known: the Alice in
Wonderland mushrooms, the fairytale mushrooms regularly seen in
fairy tale books. Yet most people aren't aware that they are, in fact,
real. A must have addition to any ethnobotanical collection.
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