The History of Magic Mushroom Use
The world considers psychedelic mushrooms taboo in this decade, even though they are not new to us. Although they might seem like a recent discovery for the lack of research, their journey is just as long and complex as a psychedelics trip. It goes back to when ancient civilizations used Magic Mushrooms in religious rituals to explore a great spiritual experience.
Scientists started researching this substance, and Magic Mushrooms suddenly entered the dark era of the war on drugs.
Undoubtedly, the Magic Mushrooms have come a long way to get accepted in society. Let’s have an overview of the mesmerizing, tragic, and amazing journey of Psilocybin mushrooms.
The History of Psilocybin:
Magic mushrooms make us look back to the start of civilization 12000 years ago; initial use may have started even before the beginning of civilization. Archeologists have dated the earliest evidence of Magic Mushrooms back to 10,000 BCE. The evidence came from a painting that had illustrations of psychedelic mushrooms. Archeologists take rock paintings in Spain as another piece of evidence that take us back to 4000 BCE; it depicts that people in Europe might have used Magic mushrooms at that time.
The evidence makes some researchers assume that humans might have been consuming Magic Mushrooms since they came into existence. Shrooms are common on all continents, and most aquatic life has been living on them; it makes indirect psychedelics consumption possible.
Much of the old Central American art depicts mushrooms as a way to connect spiritually to God. The use of Psilocybin in Central America for healing, celebration, religious, and spiritual ceremonies leads us to 1500 BCE. Many other herbs became a part of the spiritual-religious practices. However, the Spanish overcame America and banned the rituals that involved Magic mushrooms, declaring them substances against the Catholic church.
The Early Research on Psilocybin:
An unfortunate incident in which a family picked and consumed Magic Mushrooms made scientists add it to the taxonomic classification in 1799. Various ethnobotanists were intrigued to experience the effects of Magic mushrooms, and when two loa shamans consumed shrooms under proper guidance, the potential benefits of the substance shook them. Some professors at Harvard availed pharmaceutical magic mushrooms and made their students consume them. However, authorities dismissed them when they found the professors making undergraduates part of possibly risky research.
The War on Drugs:
Psychedelics became popular in the 1960s, and a scientist synthesized LSD that the world warmly welcomed. However, Un convention regarding psychotropic substances banned shrooms for their strong hallucinogenic effects in 1971. It became a part of the Schedule 1 drugs list in 1970. President Nixon passed a Controlled substances act that launched the war on drugs. It impacted the research on Psilocybin as all sorts of research got halted because of the ban.
The Return of Magic Mushrooms:
Research on psychedelic mushrooms began again in 1997 when Zurich University studied the substance and found how it increases brain activity. The study results started the process in other institutions too. The continued research has shown jaw-dropping benefits beyond just increasing brain activity. The potential benefits have come to light leading to the decriminalization of Magic Mushrooms on a greater level.
