Category Archives: History

The Mushroom in Christian Art

Posted on March 1, 2012 by

Here it is, another “Jesus was a mushroom” book. I swear, A. muscaria gets into people’s brains and makes them obsessed, they see mushrooms in everything (not that I know what’s that like, not at all). The Mushroom in Christian … Continue reading →

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Sacred Weeds

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

Sacred Weeds was a 1998 British documentary series covering several psychoactive substances and their use throughout history and today. Here is the episode on Amanita muscaria, including a set of volunteers taking the mushroom as a test.

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Freud and Mushrooms

Posted on November 1, 2011 by

Psychoanalyst Dan Merkur discusses Sigmund Freud’s fascination with the fungi kingdom in his paper “Freud’s Mushroom Hunting” (click for PDF). Of their frequent forays together, Freud’s son Martin said: “Father would have done some scouting earlier to find a fruitful … Continue reading →

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Reindeer and Amanita

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

Those who have done any research on Amanita muscaria use will have come across the legend that certain Northern peoples would drink the urine of reindeer who had eaten the mushroom, thereby getting high (it is a fact that the … Continue reading →

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Witches in the Woods

Posted on December 24, 2010 by

Artist Rima Staines writes about illustrating the tale The Old Woman in the Woods: The Fly Agaric Mushroom (Amanita Muscaria), that little white-spotted red-cap growing deep in the forest that appears so very often in fairy tale illustrations is a … Continue reading →

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And I thought *I* had mushrooms on the brain…

Posted on December 14, 2010 by

For some people, everything becomes a mushroom. Here’s a great example which moves from Santa to the Pope to Easter eggs to the Holy Grail to video games. Since it’s the season for it, I’ll post my favorite image here, … Continue reading →

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Mushroom Santa

Posted on November 28, 2010 by

A lot has been made of the supposed connection between Santa Claus and A. muscaria – mostly because of the red-and-white colors (unlikely, when you consider that Santa’s classic costume is mostly an invention of advertisers, less than 100 years … Continue reading →

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