There are many sources of information on the fly agaric that are speculative at best (Christian Rätsch, R. Gordon Wasson and Carl Ruck come to mind), but here are a few good ones:
- Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom by Andy Letcher – covers several hallucinogenic mushrooms, and debunks many of the common misconceptions and myths.
- Firefly Pages: The Little Red Man – from an overall excellent site on entheogens
- “In Search of Mukhomor, the Mushroom of Immortality” (Salzman et al.), in Shaman’s Drum Number 41, Spring 1996
- “Raven’s Bread” (Ahlber-Venezia), in Idunna #58, Winter 2003
- Erowid.org page on the amanitas – packed with useful information, articles, personal experiences
- The Seidhman Rants – Heathen practitioner of seidhr and friend of the little red man
- Tungus shaman Tatiana Urkachen talks about Amanita mushrooms (video)
- “A Study of Cultural Bias in Field Guide Determinations of Mushroom Edibility Using the Iconic Mushroom, Amanita muscaria, as an Example” by William Rubel and David Arora (links to PDF on Arora’s website)
- “Poisonous Mushrooms Used in Ur-Orgies” – a chapter from Scatalogic Rites of All Nations by John G. Bourke, 1891 (PDF)
- “Russian Use of Amanita muscaria: A Footnote to Wasson’s Soma” by Ethel Dunn, Current Anthropology, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1973), pp. 488-492 (PDF)
- “Amanita muscaria: The Gorgeous Mushroom” by Christal Whelan, Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 53, No. 1 (1994), pp. 163-167 (PDF)
- “Amanita muscaria and the Thunderbolt Legend in Guatemala and Mexico” by B. Lowy, Mycologia, Vol. 66, No. 1 (Jan. – Feb., 1974), pp. 188-191 (PDF)
- “Soma and Amanita muscaria” by John Brough, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1971), pp. 331-362 (PDF) – a fantastically thorough examination – and essentially debunking – of Wasson’s Soma theory
As to procuring your own Amanita muscaria, of course foraging for them personally is always best, but if you don’t live in the right climate, they can be found online in several places, my favorite being Bouncing Bear Botanicals.
