WHAT IS PSILOCYBIN?

Nature is filled with extraordinary compounds. Plants produce all kinds of secondary alkaloids, often as a defense mechanism to protect themselves. Yet, scientists are still unsure of the purpose of one of Mother Nature’s most mysterious substances: psilocybin. Found in over 180 species of mushrooms in nearly every corner of the globe, psilocybin is a natural psychedelic alkaloid. In the body, it’s broken down into psilocin, which causes the psychedelic effects. There is a whole genus of mushrooms that contain psilocybin and psilocin: Psilocybe. There are also more psilocybin mushrooms outside of this genera, and some speculate there are even more to be discovered.

The most diverse species of psilocybin-containing mushrooms live in a magical country just south of the US, Mexico. The late Gastón Guzmán, who was a leading expert in Psilocybes and the first to discover many psilocybin species, estimated there were 55 different species in Mexico alone. However, his daughter, Laura Guzmán Dávalos, also an esteemed mycologist and professor at the University of Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico, tells me there may be even more species in less studied parts of the world, like Central and South America as well as Africa. In fact, she explains that although her father identified over 40 species in the Americas, she believes there are more to be found here, especially in remote, tropical jungles. It’s not that far-fetched of an idea considering that many mycologists like Dávalos believe only 3 to 8 percent of the estimated 2.2 to 3.5 million species of fungi have been named and identified at all.

With so many different species of psilocybin mushrooms, are there different magic mushroom experiences? Many psilonauts (those who regularly use magic mushrooms) would argue yes, and indigenous people who use mushrooms ceremonially would probably agree. The indigenous people of the Sierra Mazateca mountain region of Oaxaca, Mexico, believe different mushrooms have their own fuerza, or power. “There are certain species that are more prized and coveted,” Christopher Casuse, who has been working with the Mazatec for over a decade, tells me. For this reason, different species are employed for different ceremonial uses. Many mushroom users outside of the ceremonial context say something similar, that different types of mushrooms have their own “signature”; some create certain types of visual experiences, physical sensations, or have particularly strong introspective effects, for example.

This variance in experience could be due to the slightly different chemical structures of individual species and strains of shrooms. For instance, different species have varying levels of psilocybin and psilocin. And even among one species, strength varies. Psilocybe cubensis, one of the most popular species of psychedelic mushrooms, can have between 0.15 to 1.3 percent psilocybin and 0.11 to 0.5 percent psilocin. And it’s considered “moderately potent.” Plus, there can be many strains of one species of mushroom, especially among cubensis, which are also the most commonly cultivated psilocybin-containing mushrooms. What’s more, homegrown varieties can be stronger than naturally occurring strains due to advanced cultivation techniques.

But beyond psilocybin, there are even more secondary alkaloids produced by mushrooms that could be affecting the experience as well, such as baeocystin and norbaeocystin, though more research is needed to say for sure. It could be very similar to the “entourage effect” theory of the cannabis experience. While THC is the dominant alkaloid that produces the cannabis high, many scientists believe it’s actually the combined effect of the over 400 compounds found in the plant, including other cannabinoids and flavor-producing terpenes.

However, with psilocybin mushrooms, your environment and mind-set going into the experience may play an even larger role in their effect than the chemical composition of the fungi. A concept known as “set and setting” in the psychedelic community can drastically change the mushroom experience, often referred to as the “trip.” We’ll explore these ideas in more depth in later chapters, but they’re important concepts to get familiar with as we begin this journey.

Speaking of environment, Psilocybes grow in a wide variety of settings. While some prefer pastures and cow manure, others thrive on disturbed land in cloud forests. Paul Stamets, a leading authority on psilocybin mushrooms who’s identified a few new species, theorizes why they prefer such habitats in his book and identification guide, Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World. He writes that, before human civilization, psilocybin mushrooms thrived after ecological disasters like landslides, floods, hurricanes, and volcanoes. “This peculiar affection for disturbed habitats enables them to travel, following streams of debris.” Then when humans came into the picture, we were constantly creating ecological disturbances, and so we were the perfect creatures to coevolve with—always creating ideal conditions for shrooms to thrive. Now, psilocybin-containing mushrooms seem to grow at the edge of human civilization, near things like parking lots and graveyards, and they particularly love landscaped areas with mulch, like in front of police stations, causing Stamets to speculate “an innate intelligence on the part of the mushrooms.”