Everyone is doing psychedelics, or at least everyone is thinking about it. Scientists are publishing studies on the mental health benefits of LSD and magic mushrooms, while microdose has become the fashionable wellness supplement of the day. U.S. college students even favored psychedelics over alcohol during confinement, a measure reinforced by a 2020 study that said the former may cause people to accept more distressing experiences.
The growing popularity of psychedelics has even influenced their legal status. Since 2019, several cities, including Denver, Santa Cruz, Washington DC and Seattle, have decriminalized magic mushrooms and psychedelic-assisted therapy centers have been opened across the country. He Observer it was even recently reported that the legal psychedelic market is expected to be worth about $ 7 billion by 2027.
For those who want to try psychedelics, mushrooms are a good first bet. Of course, you can buy them from a dealer, but you can also feed them or even grow them yourself, making them a pretty easy-to-get psychedelic. Interestingly, if you decide to grow them, you can buy and have spores legally in most states, because they do not contain any psilocybin, which puts magic on magic mushrooms, but it is illegal to germinate and produce mushrooms.
But before you get to the issues of spores (and storage, dosing, and half-way activities), you need to wrap your head around the different types of mushrooms available. Seconds Double Blind, there are 180 different species of psilocybin-containing mushrooms that grow around the world, and many of them contain their own subset of strains that often have a different look, taste, and feel from each other. Those looking to eat mushrooms should be extremely be careful and only take mushrooms that are absolutely safe that they are what they think they are, as many species of wild mushrooms are poisonous and can even be deadly.
To give you an insight into what’s out there, here are four of the most common species of magic mushrooms, how to identify them and how they feel.
Psilocybe Cubensis
Also known as golden halos, cubes or gold caps, psilocybe cubensis is the best known species of magic mushroom, thanks to its ease of cultivation and wide distribution. How Double Blind notes, if you’ve ever taken mushrooms without knowing what kind they were, they were probably cubes. For those looking to feed on these fungi, which contain psilocybin and psilocin, they usually grow on cow dung (mmm!), Sugar cane mulch, or rich pasture soils, and can be found in several places in the southern United States. , Central and South America. India, Southeast Asia, Australia and more. In the northern hemisphere, you will find them between February and December, while in the southern hemisphere, you will find them from November to April.
The golden halos are named after their color “cinnamon brown cinnamon to golden brown”, which, according to Wiki of Mycology, becomes “bluish / purple when it dies due to oxidation of its psilocin content”. The cubes are larger than most other species of magic mushrooms, with their caps (usually flat and smooth) widening as they mature. It is estimated that there are between 40 and 60 strains of the species, which are the most famous, Golden Teacher, B +, Penis Envy and Mazatapec, so it is impossible to summarize what are mushrooms psilocybe cubensis or what effect they have as to species: each strain. it is unique. In addition, those grown at home will differ significantly from those found in the wild, both in appearance and potency (indoor-grown strains are usually stronger).
B + is a popular variety among those looking to grow their own mushrooms because, like Healing mushrooms reports, “it is easy to work with, accepting a very wide range of growing conditions and substrates, and producing large, thick layers.” It has a reputation for being “very visual, warm and spiritual” and is considered a good choice for beginners.
Golden Teacher is also favored among home growers and is considered suitable for the former, as trips with this variety are usually shorter (two to four hours) and offer a “quiet and relaxing experience with only gentle visuals, but strong “. The Mazatapec variety also takes a little longer to grow than the B + or the Golden Teacher, but it remains a popular choice for novice hikers as it is “very soft on the body” and allows you to experience the ” powerful spiritual journey “that brings you.
Penis Envy: Called “the most desirable magic mushroom today.” The third wave – gets its name from its cock-like appearance (a thick stem with a bulbous lid). This strain is said to be especially potent, “with unusually high concentrations of psilocybin and psilocin, contributing to a more intense, visual, and euphoric experience.” Old natural trails he adds that Penis Envy mushrooms can induce “deep introspection, abstract thinking and feelings of connection to the world.” Because they take longer to mature and do not produce as many spores, The third wave he says Penis Envy mushrooms are “notoriously hard to find or cultivate, which is perhaps where envy comes from.” Again, others speculate that the name comes from its large size of cock appearance.
Freedom hats
Also known as psilocybe semilanceata, pixie hats or witch hats, freedom hats are some of the most common. i powerful magic mushrooms of the world. These small mushrooms usually grow in the colder northern hemisphere (mostly in Europe) in meadows such as meadows, pastures or lawns, usually those that have been fertilized with sheep or cow dung (unlike psilocybe cubensis, they do not grow directly on manure). ).
They are some of the smaller psychedelic mushrooms, with stems only 1.5 to 4 inches long and bell-shaped caps 0.2 to 1 inch with a “nipple-like bulge” at the top. They are usually yellow to brown, but fade as they mature. Seconds Double Blind, are difficult to grow indoors, so most of the freedom hats consumed are picked up in the wild, but can easily be mistaken for mushrooms that look similar, so, as always, be careful. You also need to choose a lot for a single dose, as they dry out even smaller than they already are.
The first recorded experience of a person tripping over freedom hats was in 1799, when a British family ingested them as part of a meal after picking mushrooms in London’s Green Park. According to a report from a doctor at the time, shortly after eating the freedom caps, the father and his four children were attacked with “excessive laughter”, followed by vertigo, dilated pupils. and delusions. Sounds like fun!
Alongside these effects, those who eat freedom hats can also feel happy, empathetic and social, and experience visual hallucinations. Mushroom place says they are ideal for beginners because they are “one of the friendliest” “magic mushrooms”; just be careful with your dose.
Wavy hats
Acquiring its name from the clearly wavy shape of its brown-brown caramel cap (which fades when dried), the wavy cap species, also known as psilocybe cyanescens, grows on “woody results” such as splinters of wood or beds of mulch plants in the gardens. trails and parks. In fact, according to Analytical cannabis, the corrugated lid has “used the wood and mulch production industries to increase its spread around the world.” These mushrooms are found mainly in the Pacific Northwest, as well as parts of Europe, Asia and New Zealand.
Although wavy hats tin be cultivated inside, Psillow reports that it is particularly difficult, i.e. most are fed or grown outdoors. Like freedom caps, this type of mushroom has several aspects and is also particularly potent, containing “high psilocybin, very high psilocin, and a small amount of baeocystin.” If you find the right one, you can be sure that their power makes them highly sought after, with effects that include feelings of calm, happiness, and deep thoughts.
Flying mushrooms
Forget everything you just read about freedom hats and wavy hats (sort of), flying mushroom mushrooms (also known as psilocybe azurescens, blue runners, or blue angels) are even stronger. As reported Analytical cannabisthey are “generally regarded as the most potent wild mushroom ever discovered,” containing “three to four times more” psilocybin, psilocin, and baeocystin than freedom cubes or caps.
Flycatcher mushrooms, named after their wide, flattened tapas, grow on the west coast, even in Oregon and California. The Boy Scouts reportedly first found them in Oregon in 1979, but were not officially classified until 1996. These mushrooms are also given their alternate names (blue runner or blue angel) by the way they are. the stem turns blue when handled.
Unlike the species mentioned above, flying saucer mushrooms have a particularly appalling side effect: they could be temporarily paralyzed after ingesting a high dose. But if you’re prepared for that and make the decision to stay still for a while, maybe you’ll be fine, or you could just take a lower dose. Other than that, these fungi are said to produce “intense visual hallucinations and deep journeys to alternate realms of consciousness.” Kind of like a trip on a flying saucer, I guess.
For those looking to identify your magic growing or feeding mushrooms, you can join the r / ShroomID subreddit here, learn mushroom spore identification here, or get your hands on Paul Stamets ’book, Psilocybin mushrooms of the world – which has been called “the most complete field guide” of mushrooms – here.
Happy journey!
Brit Dawson
Brit Dawson is a London journalist who writes mainly on sex, women’s rights and sex work. She is also the writer of Dazed.
