Is Mushroom Fungi or Mushroom Safe To Take

It appears that throughout nearly all of known human history, fungi have been a topic of interest for us—one of mystery, divinity, and fear. These oft-misunderstood organisms, as well as the topic of mushroom safety, has a long and storied history.

Mushroom Fungi and Psilocybe Cubensis Potency and Strength

Mushroom fungi with certain magical effects have always held a place of reverence in the mind of man and for therapy and medicinal purposes and uses, as well as in trying to determine the strongest psilocybe cubensis spores of the various mushrooms and fungi specimens. We’ll discuss those kinds today for the most part, we’ll begin with a far more sinister tale: the death of Siddhārtha Gautama, who might be better known as Buddha.

Artistic depiction of Buddha

How Did the Buddha Really Die? Some Say it Was a Poisonous Mushroom

For those who aren’t terribly familiar with Buddhism, the Buddha was a spiritual teacher who lived roughly 2,500 years ago. The Enlightened One lived to be about eighty years old, and several texts concerning his activities around the time of his death still exist. It is, however, quite a subject of debate as to what eventually ended his life (in this realm, anyway).

Some scholars believe that Buddha didn’t die in the traditional sense—he passed on, but rather than unexpectedly (or unwillingly) as so many people do, he may have literally chosen the time of his death, during which he was surrounded by his friends and followers.

As miraculous as this notion is, there is another, more mundane story that some believe to be the true manner in which events passed: Buddha, having shared a meal with the metalworker Cunda Kammāraputta while traveling to Kushinagar (a town now in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh), suffered a severe case of dysentery and passed shortly thereafter.

There is some confusion as to what Buddha ate that may have caused the dysentery. In the original texts, the food was described as sukara-maddava. This roughly translates to “pig’s delight,” which may indicate that he had eaten a simple meal of bad pork—but it’s also well known that pigs love to eat mushrooms and truffles (hence pig’s delight). Thus, it could in fact be that the Buddha consumed a poisonous mushroom.

…Have I not taught from the very beginning that with all that is dear and beloved, there must be change, separation and severance? Of that which is born, come into being, compounded, and subject to decay, how can one say: ‘May it not come to dissolution”? There can be no such state of things…

Buddha, Approx. 400 B.C.

The Mesoamerican “Mushroom Cult” – True History?

Mesoamerica refers to the historical region that we would now call Mexico and South America. Extending south from central Mexico to Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica, among other areas, this region of the world has a rich and mysterious history. One of those mysteries is the so-called Mesoamerican mushroom cult.

Little evidence for the group or groups exists outside of a large number of stone mushroom statues. The thing is, these statues are everywhere—Mexico, Guatemala, and other various locations throughout what was Mesoamerica. The creators of these statues, despite their surely great numbers, suddenly stopped making them long before even Columbus arrived to that part of the world.

Soma, The Elixir of Immortality… And Maybe a Magical Kind of Mushroom Fruiting Body

As a reader of The Psilocybe Philosophy blog, what comes to mind if someone were to describe something as “a red plant with no leaves or flowers with a juicy, meaty stem”? What comes to mind when considering the mushroom fruiting body part of the mushroom, or even a psilocybe cubensis liquid culture where colonization could begin.

Amanita muscaria in nature
“Hmm,” you might have thought. “That sounds familiar.”

Amanita Muscaria

If you immediately thought this was referencing mushroom of some kind, probably Amanita Muscaria, then you’d have come to the same conclusion as many scholars with regard to the mysterious plant Soma. Mentioned dozens of times in the Rig Veda, an ancient collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns and one of the four sacred texts in Hinduism, Soma is the name given to a sacred “plant” which was processed into a drink.

Soma, once in the drink form, was considered to be an elixir of immortality, an elixir of the gods, and—understandably—the most valuable liquid not just on Earth, but in the universe. It’s said that the gods would drink it as a means of sustaining their immortality (which is very similar to stories about the Greek ambrosia, which gave the ancient gods their power).

➢ If the topics we’ve discussed here today interest you, they read about Sacred Mushrooms: Mushrooms in Religion – Mushroom Healers, Teachers, Gods: Mushroom Worship Throughout History.

➢ If you’d like to become a bona fide mushroom expert, one of the best ways to start is to study rare or exotic mushroom spores.