Amanita Muscaria and Altered States

Amanita Muscaria, a mushroom I was surprised to find, appears in one of my favorite childhood games, Super Mario Brothers. Pictures of the Amanita Muscaria, also known as the Fly Agaric mushroom, can be found on Christmas cards, in children’s stories such as Smurfs, and many other places. It is, in fact, the most commonly pictured mushroom in western culture. Fly Agaric mushrooms are famous for their hallucinogenic properties; I wonder how could the Fly Agaric mushroom, a mushroom the FDA lists as poisonous and a hallucinogen, be so prevalent in our culture?

Effects of digesting Amanita Muscaria vary widely, they can range from nausea, drowsiness, sweating, twitching, auditory effects, visual distortions, euphoria, low blood pressure, and relaxation. It is best known for effecting mental thought. Amanita Muscaria dates back centuries to a time of folklore and mythology; folklore and mythology being the main basis for much of, if not all of, today’s children stories. The Fly Agaric was used by some, not all, of the shamans in Siberia, and there are many unconfirmed reports of its usage across the rest of the world: by Native Americans, in India, and the Middle East. It also has connections to Christmas, ethnobotanist Jonathan Ott believes that Santa Claus is based on Fly Agaric. He bases this on the the colors of the mushroom, red and white, the drying of the mushroom in stockings over a fire, reindeer under the influence of the mushroom, and that shamans would enter a house with a bag full of mushrooms. I find if hard myself to agree with this idea of Ott’s, but he does point to why it fits into the Christmas season.

Whether any of this was true or not, the idea that a hullucigenic substance can create a spiritual connection or transplant someone into an alternate state is still part of our culture today. How many cults have there been in the last twenty years where you hear about a leader believing he is connected to a god or gods, whether from a drug induced thought or one of his own, and he should lead his followers to death? (This is not true of all cults, as there are many which are not practicing any illegal or harmful acts.)

Many people besides spiritual leaders and creative artists go into “altered states.” Criminals in prison may go into an altered state to mentally survive; when giving a speech, someone may picture everyone in the room naked, that to is an altered state; athletes will go into an extremely focused state before a game. We all use “altered states” from time to time.

Perhaps Vincent Van Gogh got better with age or focused more on painting; then again, perhaps, his deteriorating mental health did. Does it matter? Does being in an “altered state” take away from the artist; did I write that paper or did the altered state? Did I paint that picture or was it the effects of a drug? Did I see Jesus in a taco or not? I don’t think you can know, though, I’d like to think I was the artist and not something else . :)

Blog entry about Amanita Muscaria and altered states, since my copy of Altered States has not arrived yet.