What is Amanita Muscaria?

If you are into exploring different experiences as far as psychedelics are concerned, one you might want to educate yourself about is amanita muscaria. Now, we usually focus on hemp and marijuana, but there are other things worth touching on. Amanita muscaria is definitely one of those things.

Amanita muscaria is a type of toadstool mushroom. Yes, some people might refer to these as magic mushrooms (although not the same kind that you are probably familiar with), because they can be psychedelic or hallucinogenic. Today, we explore the amanita muscaria mushroom.

Key Takeaways

• Amanita muscaria is a psychedelic mushroom known for causing visual and auditory hallucinations.
• This mushroom is also toxic, and must first be boiled to remove or reduce its toxicity.
• Amanita muscaria is not the same as a psilocybin mushroom.

A Brief Amanita Muscaria History

There are many instances throughout history where these mushrooms have been used for a variety of purposes. This mushroom can be found in boreal and temperate regions in the northern hemisphere.

The earliest records of this mushroom existing dates back to 1256 when a man named Albertus Magnus mentioned it in his work known as the De Vegetabilibus, an informational collection of plants and mushrooms. When it was first recorded, it was known as the fly mushroom, because it was often used to kill flies. It was turned into powder and then put into milk, which would then kill flies that drank it.

This practice of sprinkling it into milk traces back to Frankfurt, Germany. It is also thought that the Vikings used to take amanita muscaria to enter their trances. These trances were known as the berserker rages, with the berserker Vikings often taking psychedelics, such as these mushrooms, to enter an altered state of mind, which they would then charge into battle with.

There are also reports, although unconfirmed, that native aboriginal groups in North America used the amanita muscaria mushroom to induce trances, mainly for religious or spiritual purposes. In other words, they would take these psychedelic mushrooms to go on spiritual journeys.

Is Amanita Muscaria Psychedelic?

Yes, amanita muscaria is a psychedelic. It is an intoxicant that affects the mind and may cause extreme auditory and visual hallucinations. Besides hallucinations, you may also feel a distortion in space, a change in depth perception, a lack of awareness of time, agitation, dizziness, and confusion, along with general intoxication.

Besides psilocybin mushrooms, these amanita muscaria mushrooms are some of the most popular psychedelic intoxicants out there. If you want to get really high and go on a psychedelic trip, then the Amanita Muscaria mushroom is something to consider.

What is the Main Psychoactive Ingredient in Amanita Muscaria?

Something that you are probably wondering is what substances in the amanita muscaria mushroom cause the psychedelic effects.

Amanita muscaria Active Compounds

The three main psychedelic components contained in this particular mushroom are muscimol, muscarine, and ibotenic acid. Ibotenic acid, incidentally, was used by the Intelligence Agencies for a long time for interrogation purposes, as it does alter the state of mind.

Ibotenic acid may cause visual and auditory distortion, euphoria, confusion, sensations of floating, and even retrograde amnesia. We then have muscimol, another psychoactive substance that peaks around 3 hours after consumption and can last for up to 24 hours.

The effects of this particular psychoactive compound include out-of-body experiences, synesthesia, euphoria, and a dream-like state of mind. We then have muscarine, another compound found in these mushrooms which may have both auditory and visual hallucinogenic effects.

Is A. Muscaria Poisonous?

Yes, the amanita muscaria mushroom is highly poisonous. Although the alkaloids that we discussed above, ibotenic acid, muscarine, and muscimol are psychoactive components, they are also highly poisonous.

Ingesting this mushroom can result in nervous system depression, gastrointestinal upset, seizures, nausea, dizziness, headaches, extreme sweating, and in severe cases even a loss of consciousness, slipping into a coma, and in very rare cases, death. Yes, ingesting a very large quantity of Amanita Muscaria mushrooms can, in some cases, be lethal.

What is Amanita Muscaria Like?

Amanita muscaria mushrooms generally have hallucinogenic effects. They can have both auditory hallucinogenic effects, which means they make you hear sounds, as well as visual hallucinogenic effects, which means that you see things that aren't there.

Your perception of reality may get very distorted. You're also going to feel like you are floating, you might forget where you are, and your perception of time might be completely altered. These effects should be felt anywhere between one to three hours after consumption, although effects may last for up to a full day or 24 hours.

It is also very likely that because these components are not only psychoactive but also poisonous, you are going to feel some degree of discomfort, particularly dizziness, headaches, and gastrointestinal upset, as well as sweating.

Amanita Muscaria Effects

As discussed above, the amanita muscaria mushroom might produce auditory and visual hallucinations, alter your perception of reality and time. It can make you feel like you are floating, produce sensations of lightness and tingling, and also cause general mental impairment.

It may also have a wide variety of side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, headache, bloating, dizziness, sweating, tremors, and more. As discussed above, this is a poison, and in some cases, it can lead to very serious side effects such as coma and death.

How to Prepare Amanita Muscaria

The good news with the amanita muscaria mushroom is that if you want to feel its psychedelic effects without suffering the poisonous effects you can prepare them in a way that reduces the effects of the toxins.

All you have to do is parboil these mushrooms to allow the toxins to leach out. Done properly, this should remove enough of the toxins to prevent any kind of poisoning from happening, especially as far as anything lethal is concerned, yet leave enough of the psychedelic compounds in place to make you feel high.

All you have to do is take your mushrooms, put them in water, and boil them for about 15 minutes. You should try to use at least one liter of water for every full-size mushroom to be safe. After you have boiled the mushrooms for 15 minutes, drain the water, refill the pot, and then repeat the process with fresh water.

Amanita Muscaria vs Psilocybin

Amanita muscaria and Psilocybin mushrooms are two different kinds of mushrooms. Psilocybin mushrooms contain Psilocybin as the main ingredient, the hallucinogenic, whereas amanita muscaria contains ibotenic acid, muscarine, and muscimol. The effects of both of these types of mushrooms are quite different.

Psilocybin mushrooms tend to cause feelings of relaxation, physical lightness or heaviness, as well as perceptual distortions, particularly visual hallucinations. At higher doses, visual and auditory hallucinations are very common, along with anxiety, nausea, and sweating. These mushrooms take around 1.5 hours to take effect and generally last for about 6 to 8 hours.

Amanita muscaria usually causes extreme auditory and visual hallucinations, drowsiness, muscle jerks, pupil dilation, sweating, euphoria, and increased body temperature. It can take up to three hours for the full effects to be felt and can last for up to 24 hours. Many people also report a very sedative-like feeling, combined with euphoria and a dreamlike or lucid state of mind.

It is said that amanita muscaria is much more intoxicating than Psilocybin. Waking up not knowing where you are, after having performed some extreme feats, is common when we are talking about amanita muscaria, but not as common with regular Psilocybin or magic mushrooms. People generally remember their trips on regular Psilocybin mushrooms, whereas many people forget what they did after having taken amanita muscaria.

What Color is Amanita Muscaria

Amanita Muscaria features caps that are up to 8 inches in diameter, and feature a hemispherical or globose shape. They are usually bright red in color, with a bit of orange and yellow towards the edge of the cap. They generally have white or yellowish spots that are slightly rough and raised off the cap.

What is Amanita Muscaria Extract?

Amanita Muscaria extract is a powdered extract of the muscaria mushroom. The muscimol and ibotenic acids are extracted and dried, thus forming a powder. They may also be mixed with liquids to make tinctures.

Where to Find Fly Agaric?

This mushroom can usually be found growing under pine, birch, or spruce trees, usually in larger wooded areas. This mushroom can generally be found from late summer to late fall.