PSYCHEDELIA
santa shrooms
STORY by WES ABNEY @BEARDEDLORAX
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oregonlEAF.COM
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enerations have been entranced So how does this tie into the concept by Santa’s magical holiday flight of garland draped trees or the red and for more than 200 years of rewhite themes of Christmas? It starts with ligious and esoteric psychedelic the humble nature of the mushroom’s mythology. Ask any seven-yearmycorrhizal relationship with pine trees. old the meaning of Christmas The mushroom is symbiotically tied to and you’ll get an earful. the pine tree and cannot survive or be Yet surprisingly little is known about the true cultivated separately. Gathered from origins of the flying reindeer and the magical under the tree, the caps would be hung figure who traveled with them, spreading cheer out to dry like our modern ornaments and goodwill in the form of presents left under before being consumed on a ritual day. pine trees. Who is this Santa Claus, and how Found in regions all over the world, did he fly? the mushroom has been consumed for Without entering the depths of religious thousands of years. history, the concept of Christmas as we know The earliest recorded uses are traced it is less than 200 years old. In fact, the first in Siberia as a shamanic tool, and as commercial Christmas card was only created in a recreational high. But the people 1848, and the “modern” Christmas traditions weren’t the only ones consuming the of decorations and gifts trace fungi. The native reindeer their American roots in the mid would partake as well, 20th century. Today Christmas engaging in their own portrayed is a highly commercialized mix psychedelic experience in art for of ancient and modern tradieach year, as Shamans centuries, tions that all center around a would visit homes with a the visual single figure clad in red and magical treat and often connection of white - Santa Claus. dressed in red and white. the mushrooms But what if Santa wasn’t a The psychedelic effects to our current person, but a mushroom? This of the mushroom vary Christmas is where the legend gets fun, significantly by the region color scheme with the beautiful Amanita and season of harvest is undeniable. Muscaria coming into play. and carry a variety of Perhaps the most iconic image effects that can seem in mycology, they have classically shaped bright contradictory. From depressant and red caps with little white dots all around the sedative effects to delirium and stimulaoutside surface. Portrayed in art for centuries, tion, consuming these “Santa Shrooms” the visual connection of the mushrooms to our is in no way comparable to an average current Christmas color scheme is undeniable. psilocybin trip.
But the interesting effects that come with Amanita Muscaria are the perceptual phenomenon of synesthesia, micropsia and macropsia, or the “Alice in Wonderland” syndrome in which objects become larger or smaller, and where perception can be radically altered. Could this be what led to the visions of reindeer flying, and gifts left from Shaman’s dressed in red and white? With Santa’s workshop known to be in the arctic circle, is it possible that our modern version of Christmas is all based on a psychedelic trip? Sadly, science and history both point to a more mundane truth. Much of Christmas dates to a poem in 1822 by New Yorker Clement Moore, later titled “T’was the night before Christmas.” While there are many illusory connections between the historic uses and colors of Amanita Muscaria, there is no direct evidence of shrooms leading to Christmas legends. With a little imagination, it’s pretty easy to envision Santa flying around in a celestial trip, spreading good cheer in a psychedelic high. So, should you consider trying to fly with the reindeer this Christmas? While Amanita Muscaria can be found around the Northwest, the mushrooms are classified as poisonous. This is mainly due to toxins that can be present in varying ratios in the caps, though fatalities are extremely rare. Ancient customs involved drinking the urine of either a shaman or reindeer, which acted as a filter and increased potency. But we’ll leave the Santa-mushroom-fetish conversation for a different day, although it might make for a fun conversation with a glass of eggnog this Christmas.
* T h i s i s t h e fi r s t a r t i c l e i n o u r e x p l o ra t i o n o f p s yc h e d e l i a w h i c h i n c l u d e s b o t h n a t u ra l s u b s ta n c e s l i ke m u s h ro o m s a n d m a n - m a d e s y n t h e s i z e d c h e m i c a l s . T h i s i n fo r m a t i o n i s fo r e d u c a t i o n a l a n d e n l i g h t e n i n g p u r p o s e s , a n d L e a f N a t i o n d o e s n o t a d v i s e o r p ro m o t e i l l e g a l d r u g u s e . W h i l e we d o b e l i eve i n t h e p o t e n t i a l m e d i c i n a l a n d re c re a t i o n a l u s e s o f p s yc h e d e l i c s , a l l i n fo r m a t i o n i n c l u d e d i s i n t e n d e d a s t h e o re t i c a l . D o n o t e a t w i l d m u s h ro o m s w i t h o u t c o n s u l t i n g a n ex p e r t . B e s a fe . Tr i p we l l .
DEC. 2018