Amanita Muscaria

I'm new to mushrooms, which come to think of it, is a little strange given that i've lived in the pacific northwest since '85 and was always somewhat interested in hallucinogens. At any rate, the thought of harvesting and ingesting shrooms did not occur to me until i spotted a high school kid with a  skate board gathering some mushrooms under a spruce tree in the park where i often walk. 

He was quite open about explaining they were liberty caps which turned out to be wrong. I researched the shrooms online and they seem to be conifer mushrooms. They were in fairly large patches in the spot at the park. A friend of his who came along later had eaten some, saying he'd felt nothing. I felt confident about consuming them after a little research online. I took 30 to 40 of the larger ones, which were almost the size of a quarter. After about an hour, I began to experience a kind of hallucinatory picture perspective which I recognized from hashish trips. I then had rushes of body warmth and other interesting experiences but the psychoactive content in those shrooms is obviously low.

I did some more research and found the shroomery website which is very possibly the best out there for shrooms - then I went hunting. After circling a field near a public building, I came across what almost seemed like a trumpet blast, flags waving and someone yelling - "over here, hey yoohoo, over here! " -  there, secluded behind a small rising, the unmistakable, bright red globe with white warts all over of Amanita Muscaria. I later confirmed the shaggy concentric circles on the thick white base. Right beside it was a huge golden plate, a more mature specimen, about eight inches across. Nearby, there was another, still bigger plate which had toppled over. There were also two more, a small and smaller partly pink ones beside the red globe. 

I had been searching for psilocybin mushrooms, liberty caps or, preferably, wavy tops, not this. I circled my find slowly, staring at it a little in awe. The aura of legend around these plants  - or at least what I knew of the plant at the time, made them a little intimidating. 

I left them where they were and went home and researched them. I then dug out my pack sack and went right back. The location is within easy walking distance. I put the three larger shrooms in the sack and took my hoard home.

I carefully confirmed the identity of the shroom from info online but there was no mistaking it. My previous ideas about the shroom went out the window and after a few hours contemplating them, I ate a quarter of the red globe, which was about the size of a large man's fist. It is nice tasting and chewy with a pleasant texture but leaves a metallic taste in the mouth which seems to increase gradually for a while before it goes away. It may be that the drug itself is what increases awareness of the taste as the hallucinogen kicks in.

Anyway, the effect was mild at that dosage so a day later, I ingested the other three quarters of the red globe. This had a fairly strong effect which seemed to be introspective rather than experiential. It was generally pleasant with only mild physical discomfort in the nausea and loss of coordination. The most stunning effect was after falling asleep - if that is what the unconscious part of the trip was. I had a strong sensation of becoming part of a larger consciousness. It had a specific shape - defined boundaries like an immense, dark, awe inspiring dome. 

My sleep was fragmented for the next few days but the day following the ingestion of the soma, I had a lucid dream involving a UFO which caused some panic at the house where I was living.  The ship was cube shaped and strangely covered in vegetation - vines, leaves, branches and such. It approached my house, circled it, then parked right up beside it, suspended in the air. 

I am familiar with lucid dreams, having worked with them for some time in the past. After confirming it was a dream, I was able to control the outcome. This dream was strangely reminiscent of the experience while unconscious under the Soma but as if from the other perspective, my human body perspective, which was thus looking at the higher consciousness, represented by the UFO.

Amanita Muscaria stikes me as a learning tool rather than a party drug. I think that, when taken, the expectation should be of getting an in depth exploration of  yourself. That can be uncomfortable at times.

I have just eaten another piece of the soma about 40 minutes ago, this time of the large golden plate that was growing beside the red globe. This piece was about 5 inches long, 2 wide, and perhaps 3/4 of an inch thick. I've been preserving them wrapped in paper towels in the fridge for the short term. 

I am feeling the onset of the soma, I have slight nausea but nothing to bother about, which was also the case the last time. I am thinking of putting the head phones on and listening to the "ancient, shamanic, primordial cd of the "altered states" collection put out by Transparent.  It is quite amazing all on its own. If able, I'll do a report.

The above was written at 4:30 pm Saturday, november 10. It is now 11:30 pm- I either was unable or, perhaps more accurately, uninterested in pursuing the write up. I went out for a walk around the block to see if any hallucinatory effects were evident before trying out the cd -. no hallucinating. Colors were bright and there was a feeling of animism in all things but nothing heavy and no giggly feelings or excitement of any kind. 

When I got back, I lay in bed with the cd on but had to get up again and search for other headphones as the ones on the cd player were not working right. It was a hassle trying to locate another pair of headphones and it interfered with the mood - but I finally settled down. 

The cd is an advanced brain wave synchrony type of sound production. It claims to reproduce or instill in the listener a kind of echo of the brain wave patters of traditional shamans in a trance state. There are guttural human voice sounds and music designed to transport you. It seems to work best if you are not on anything -  any drugs - from my experience; and it was the same this time. After half an hour or so, I put it aside and went unconscious for a couple of hours, soma does seem to induce sleep. I don't remember anything of significance during the unconscious state. This could change if memories come up later which is sometimes the case.

I've become a little fascinated by Amanita Muscaria. I'd like to try a dose twice as strong next time. I'll have to deal with drying the mushroom, or dipping the slices in brandy and freezing them first as it looks like its turning to mush in the fridge. I think I'll have to allow a bit of time to cycle the mushroom out of my system before trying again.