Psilocybe mexicana mushroom

Psilocybin Mexicana is a psychedelic mushroom. It was first used by the early natives of Central America and North America over 2,000 years ago. This species was discovered by French botanist Roger Heim.

Magic mushroom Mexicana

 It was from this species that Dr. Albert Hofmann, working with specimens grown in his Sandoz laboratory, first isolated and named the active entheogenic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Uncertain of whether or not the artificially cultivated mushrooms would retain their natural psychoactive properties, Dr. Hofmann consumed thirty-two specimens. The following is his account of the experience, published in his classic text, The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens:

 "As I was perfectly aware that my knowledge of the Mexican origin of the mushrooms would lead me to imagine only Mexican scenery, I tried deliberately to look on my environment as I knew it normally. But all voluntary efforts to look at things in their customary forms and colours proved ineffective. Whether my eyes were closed or open, I saw only Mexican motifs and colours. When the doctor supervising the experiment bent over me to check my blood pressure, he was transformed into an Aztec priest, and I would not have been astonished if he had drawn an obsidian knife. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, it amused me to see how the Germanic face of my colleague had acquired a purely Indian expression. At the peak of the intoxication, about 1½ hours after ingestion of the mushrooms, the rush of interior pictures, mostly changing in shape and colour, reached such an alarming degree that I feared I would be torn into this whirlpool of form and colour and would dissolve. After about six hours, the dream came to an end. Subjectively, I had no idea how long this condition had lasted. I felt my return to everyday reality to be a happy return from a strange, fantastic but quite really experienced world into an old and familiar home."

Sclerotia Grow Kit Ready to grow Psilocybe Mexicana

 Psilocybe mexicana Solitary or in small groups among moss along roadsides and trails, humid meadows or cornfields, in particular in the grassy areas bordering deciduous forests, and limestone regions. Common at elevations between 1000–1800 feet, rare in lower elevations, known only from Mexico and Guatemala. Fruiting takes place from May to October.

 Like some other grassland species such as Psilocybe semilanceata, Psilocybe tampanensis, and Conocybe cyanopus, Psilocybe mexicana may form sclerotia, a dormant form of the organism, which affords it some protection from wildfires and other natural disasters.

History of Psilocybe

Hallucinogenic species of Psilocybe have a long history of use among the native peoples of Mesoamerica for religious communion, divination, and healing, from pre-Columbian times up to the present day.

Hallucinogenic Psilocybe were known to the aboriginal Mexicans as teonanácatl (literally "divine mushroom")and were reportedly served at the coronation of Moctezuma II in 1502. After the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the use of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms, like other pre-Christian traditions, was forcibly suppressed and driven underground.

By the 20th century, hallucinogenic mushroom use was thought by non-Native Americans to have disappeared entirely. However, in 1955, Valentina and R. Gordon Wasson became the first Westerners to actively participate in an indigenous mushroom ceremony. The Wassons did much to publicize their discovery, even publishing an article on their experiences in Life in 1957.
In 1956, Roger Heim identified the hallucinogenic mushroom that the Wassons had brought back from Mexico as Psilocybe and in 1958, Albert Hofmann first reported psilocin and psilocybin as the active compound in these mushrooms.

There is some skepticism in whether or not these "sacred mushrooms" were actually those of the Psilocybe genus. However, according to Heim's research in Mexico, he identified three species of Psilocybe that he believed were used in these Indian ceremonies. The species identified by Heim were; Psilocybe mexicana, P. caerulescen, and P. zapotecorum. Variety of Psilocybe mushrooms that make up the teonanácatl group of hallucinogenic mushrooms, including Psilocybe cubensis.
During Heim's field and culture work, he was under the guidance of a descendent of the Mazotecan ancestors (the natives which partook in experimenting with these hallucinogens), the head of the family, Isauro Nava Garcia.
He was an avid observer of the fungi in his environment while identifying specific characteristics about the fruit body of the Psilocybe genus his ancestors utilized, as well as knowing where they could be found.
At present, hallucinogenic mushroom use has been reported among a number of groups spanning from central Mexico to Oaxaca, including groups of Nahua, Mixtecs, Mixe, Mazatecs, Zapotecs, and others.

 The popularization of entheogens by Wasson, Timothy Leary, and others has led to an explosion in the use of hallucinogenic Psilocybe throughout the world. By the early 1970s, a number of psychoactive Psilocybe species were described from temperate North America, Europe, and Asia and were widely collected. Books describing methods of cultivating Psilocybe cubensis in large quantities were also published. The relatively easy availability of hallucinogenic Psilocybe from wild and cultivated sources has made it among the most widely used of the hallucinogenic drugs.