Did Siberian shamans and magic mushrooms inspire the Santa Claus
myth?
Plant
Spirit Shamanism: Fly Agaric - Sacred mushrooms in Shamanic Ritual
by Ross Heaven
A few years
ago, I was called as an expert witness in a criminal case involving
trance and possession. The circumstances of the case are not
important to this article but, not to leave you hanging, had to do
with a man who had flown to the UK from Nigeria and was found to be
carrying cocaine when he was stopped by Customs Officers. His
defence was that he had been entranced, or possibly drugged, by a
group of men who had planted the cocaine on him before he boarded
the plane.
What was more
interesting for me was that I got to have lunch with another expert
witness, a toxicologist from one of the UK's leading teaching
hospitals, who had a keen interest in mycology and planned to
publish a book on the sacred use of fly-agaric (Amanita
muscaria) in spiritual healing and ancient warriorship
practices.
As a result of
his studies, he had recently worked with a TV production company who
had made a documentary with him to test one of his personal pet
theories: that the Zulu War was fought by the indigenous people
under intoxication from the sacred mushroom. This had given them,
not only superhuman strength and imperviousness to pain, but a sense
of fearlessness and their own divine purpose in battle. It was this
that had helped them leave the field victorious, he claimed.
Obviously, the
TV company could not stage another war to test this theory, but what
they could do - and did - was to get two martial arts experts into a
ring to fight it out for the cameras.
In the first
part of this experiment, the combatants met equally and fought a few
rounds together. Neither emerged as a clear winner in this carefully
matched contest.
In the second
part, however, one of the fighters was given five strips of fly-agaric
to consume. He was allowed to rest while it took effect, and then
both fighters met again.
Except they
didn't, exactly. According to the expert I was speaking to
(interestingly, over a lunch of mushroom paella), the fighter who
had taken fly-agaric simply flew across the ring as soon as the bell
rang, hardly even touching the ground, and threw his opponent so
hard that he ended up on the floor outside the ropes. The
intoxicated fighter never even broke a sweat and was not breathing
at anything above normal levels when his opponent was counted out.
Usage and
effects of fly-agaric In the modern West, we have lost most of our
ancient ceremonial practices and no longer believe in a 'spirit
world'. Consequently, fly-agaric (if it is considered at all) is
regarded only as a dangerous and potentially poisonous 'drug',
rather than a route to the divine.
In his book,
Ploughing The Clouds, however, Peter Lamborn Wilson argues
convincingly that fly-agaric is not only the sacred Soma referred to
in the Rg Veda, but that it was used in many European countries and
was also central to the Irish Keltic tradition of shamanism, which
still continues in its basic form, today.
The mushrooms
themselves, bright red with white spots, are gathered for ritual use
in these traditions during the hottest months of the year - July and
August - when they are most infused with the element of fire and the
breath of the sun/Sky Father. The most powerful mushrooms, in fact,
are said to dry themselves, ready to be picked for their communion
with man. These are considered far 'stronger' than those picked
early and dried artificially. Smaller mushrooms are also said to
have much greater power than larger ones, and it seems likely, from
modern experimentation, that their narcotic effects are certainly
more intense during the early growing phase.
For non-ritual
usage, the mushrooms are used in much the same way as coca leaves in
the Peruvian Andes, to create a gentle shift in consciousness,
accompanied by mild euphoria and increased energy. In such usage,
the mushrooms are simply rolled into a ball and swallowed whole,
without chewing. One larger mushroom (3-4cm) or 2-3 small ones is
enough.
For prescribed
ritual usage, however, several mushrooms are normally consumed,
usually in a set, or sets, of three. "The Rg Veda always speaks of
Soma in sets of three cups and, in Siberia today, three Amanitas are
still considered the proper ritual dose", says Wilson.
An elaborate
ceremony will often accompany the ritual consumption of 'magic
mushrooms'. This may take the form of a 'hunt' for the mushroom,
followed by the 'killing' of its spirit by symbolically attacking it
with spears, clubs, or arrows, so it is 'made safe' for human
ingestion. It is then prepared in a time-honoured way which is
designed at all stages to honour its power, avoid its wrath and, at
the same time, gain control of its spiritual force. Only then is the
mushroom eaten, under highly contained, sacred conditions, and in a
Holy space defended by the shaman, who will lead the ritual
throughout.
Once ingested,
what we would call the 'narcotic' effects of fly-agaric begin after
about 30 minutes.
Outwardly, the
intoxication may appear as involuntary muscle spasms, followed by a
sense of the fluidity of reality and sensory disorientation.
Occasionally, there is vomiting, during which whole mushrooms may be
regurgitated. Paradoxically, however, this often serves to intensify
the otherworldly sensations of flight and entry to a 'non-ordinary'
space.
Inwardly, the
shaman, and those who partake of this sacrament, are now in
communion with the gods.
According to
one description at Erowid.org, which, perhaps, bridges the gap
between outward effect and inward sensation, the impact of fly-agaric
is that "the nerves are highly stimulated and the slightest effort
of will produces very powerful effects. If one wishes to step over a
small stick, he steps and jumps as if the obstacles were tree
trunks. If a man is ordinarily talkative, his speech is now
constant, and he involuntarily blurts out secrets, fully conscious
of his actions and aware of his secret, but unable to hold himself
in check. A man who is fond of dancing dances, and a music-lover
sings incessantly. Others run or walk quite involuntarily, without
any intention of moving".
Two of the
most interesting aspects of fly-agaric are that it retains its
effectiveness almost permanently, and that its effects are easily
transmitted to others, notably through ingestion of urine from the
first person to eat the mushrooms. The same effect can be
transmitted to a third, fourth or fifth person in exactly the same
way.
In fact, the
ability of the mushroom to act in this way may be partly at the root
of the 'Father Christmas' myths that are observed in the Winter
rituals of the West.
In the
shamanic traditions of Siberia, the shaman would ingest fly-agaric
in order to journey to the Sky Father and bring back gifts of
knowledge and power for his community. Dressed in a warm, fur-lined,
ritual costume, with a thick belt hung with bells, the shaman would
make his journey at nightfall to consult with these otherworldly
spirits. In the hours that followed, the shaman would need to
urinate and might walk into the woods to do so. Reindeers would then
eat the urine-covered snow as part of their normal grazing and also
become intoxicated.
'Flying'
(intoxicated) reindeers with one sky-borne human (the shaman) who
controls them... the similarities in costume... the bells and the
belt... the red and white of the mushroom... the journey through the
sky to deliver gifts... all the elements of the modern day Father
Christmas are there, creating a rather idyllic view of fly-agaric.
We must
remember, though, that the Amanita has not always had such a
'peaceful' reputation. The Vikings, for example, are said to have
ritually ingested it in order to enter the 'berserker' state, ready
for battle (indeed, the Icelandic name for fly-agaric contains the
word, 'berserk'), just as the Zulus did, according to my
toxicologist lunch mate.
Properties and
chemistry One of the first studies of fly-agaric was made in 1863,
by two German chemists who published a book on the properties of
muscarine, a toxic alkaloid that they had isolated from the Amanita.
For almost a century, their study (which turned out to be wrong) was
taken as gospel and muscarine was erroneously believed to be the
main active ingredient of fly-agaric mushrooms. Various confusions
followed and it was not until 1964 that its true constituents were
isolated - and then almost simultaneously by three different
laboratories, in Japan, England and Switzerland. Finally, the
correct compounds were identified as ibotenic acid and muscimol.
Muscimol is
the psychoactive constituent. A tiny part of the ibotenic acid is
changed to muscimol within the human system, following ingestion of
the mushroom, and this produces the effects for which fly-agaric is
known.
Research shows
that ibotenic acid will create an hallucinogenic effect in humans,
at doses as small as 50mg. The onset of these effects may be rapid
or quite slow, ranging from 30 minutes to 2-3 hours, depending on
body type, susceptibility, habituation, and the circumstances of
ingestion.
In any case,
three hours is usually enough for the full effects to be felt, which
will then last for 4-8 hours, depending on dose, and will normally
include muscle spasms (as if one is actually taking a 'journey' of
sorts), visual distortions ('visions'), altered auditory perception
('hearing voices'), and loss of equilibrium (changed perspective on
'normal reality').
A considerable
amount of ibotenic acid is excreted quickly after fly-agaric is
consumed, and remains unaltered in the urine. This adds credibility
to the Siberian experience (along with the residual Father Christmas
myth) since, after eating the mushroom, the shaman would excrete
ibotenic acid in his urine and reindeers could ingest this and
reprocess its ibotenic acid content as muscimol, producing a similar
hallucinogenic effect. The animal would then excrete ibotenic acid
in its own urine, and the process would continue.
In this way, a
50-100mg dose of ibotenic acid could produce 10-15mg doses of
muscimol for up to 10 users, so that one intake of mushrooms would
certainly be effective across four or five generations of animal or
human ingestion.
Trees and
mushrooms, mushrooms and trees It seems that there is also a
symbiotic relationship between the fly-agaric mushroom and the birch
tree - the mushrooms grow in the shade of the tree - which would
account for the 'sacred birch' tradition in European shamanism.
Indeed, within
shamanism, trees, per se, are held as sacred, as homes of the
elementals or gateways to spirit, and connections between different
life forms (such as the mushroom and the tree) are revered since the
shamanic belief is that we are all - every life form - connected,
one to another. This animistic principle of connection would
certainly have been reinforced for the shaman experiencing the
magical effects of fly-agaric, so that the birch tree would become
sacred by association.
The fly-agaric
mushroom is still found wherever the birch is common, including the
UK and the Americas. Distinguishable by its bright red colouring and
white spots, it is best prepared for ceremonial use (according to
some shamanic traditions, as well as the advice of my toxicologist
lunch mate) by cutting it into thin strips which are then boiled in
milk for 30 minutes or so. The liquor is then drunk and the mushroom
strips eaten. An alternative is to dry the mushrooms and add them to
vodka, drinking the alcohol-Amanita mixture when the liquid turns
orangey-red.
Naturally, in
ritual usage, fly-agaric must always be taken in a sacred way with
the intention of revealing true spiritual knowledge, and with full
reverence for its power. To do otherwise is simply to engage in
'drug-taking', with all the inherent dangers of misuse and the
consequences of superhuman, Zulu-like, strength which we mere
mortals and Western suburbanites may then have to deal with.
About the
author: Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author
of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness
Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The
Lover, The Journey to You, and Love's Simple Truths. His website is
http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read how to join
his sacred journeys to the shamans and healers of the Amazon.
Get more information or purchase Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)
mushrooms online
|
Want More on this Topic?
Search New Age Information
Enter keyword(s) below, then "Search"
|
|
|
|
