DOSE:

1 cap

oral

Amanitas - A. muscaria

BODY WEIGHT:

195 lb

After searching for specimines the day before up by Mt Rainer I strangley found one 4' yellowing Anamita Muscaria growing in a small island in a Safeway Parking lot right by my house!

NOTE TO ALL:

I read an account here that yellow ones are bad and the earlier in the season the better, I didn't feel this was necessarily true and at least my individual results proved otherwise... (also this mushroom was picked in late November in Federal Way Washington) I do understand that the deadly Amanita phalloides is also yellow but the cap stays much more concave and all the in all photos I have seen the distinctive white chunks are not present at all and it has a much dryer appearance, in other words quite a bit distinct from the Anamita Muscaria in it's mature yellow state (there is evidence that points to the more mature ones as being the most potent).

IMPORTANT CHEMICAL CONVERSION:

My next question was how to prepare it. I really didn't want to dry it out since I felt preperation was the most important aspect of taking these mushrooms. I read a report that the ancients used to cook the mushrooms over an open fire with very good effects. I also read about the important chemical conversion which takes place when the mushroom is heated converting the more harmful Ibotenic acid to more stable alkaloid Muscimol which produces the pleasant euphoric results that are akin to the legendary Soma.

PREPERATION:

Since I had no open flame available I decided to creatively come up with my own method of preperation using a scientific/intuitive approach. I had a 2 piece pan set probably for steaming veggies. It had a bottom part that was a shallow pan that I put about 1/4' of water in. The top part had it's own handle but the bottom had holes. I set the mushroom topside down in the upper pan and then put the lid on and heated it in my oven on the lower rack at 350 F. for about 10 minutes until the pan was quite hot. Then I removed the lid on the top of the upper pan, moved the it to the upper oven rack and set the oven to Broil so the mushroom was exposed. After about 10 minutes I covered the top, moved it to the lower rack and set the oven to 350 again for about 10 minutes, removed it an let it sit with the lid on top to simmer and cool.

EATING:

In it's cooked state the mushroom cap had faded to a lighter shade of yellow and the flesh turned a kind of a grayish brown simular to dark turkey meat although a little lighter.

After reading all the reports of consuming this mushroom and by the looks of it (in it's raw state) I expected a very bitter unpleasant taste. When I put a small triangular section in my mouth I found it quite the contrary! It was DELICIOUS, I thought of the ancient name for shrooms: Flesh of the gods, it tasted a little like chicken broth but even tastier and it's texture was not slimy at all but quite light and pleasant. I slowly ate the remaining portion of the mushroom cap over a period of 2 hours. Since it was my first experience with this type of mushroom and words of caution I decided to wait after eating the first bite and monitor my body to ensure it was alright.

INITIAL EFFECTS:

About 2.5 hours after first eating a felt quite a euphoric effect and never had any syptoms of nausea, sweating, cramping, although perhaps slight muscle spasms and a slight increase in syliva. In the reports I had read it seemed that those that had mixed a little 'herb' with thier mushrooms seemed to have better experiences so I decided to smoke a little. During this time is when I really started noticing the effects. I felt very Euphoric and felt as though I was moving between plains of existance (for a lack of a better explanation). I 'felt' that I should take a hot bath so I got in and started the water running. As the water filled so did my consiousness and the intensity of the euphoria. I put my head below the hot water and started to breath deeply and relax.

THE CROSSROADS:

In the accounts I have read I identified a kind of crossroads in around the begining of the 'journey'. It seemed it was the place where you it is determined whether your experience will be a good one or a bad one. I reached this place while I was meditating in the bathtub. It felt as if I was at the gate of the upper and lower 'regions' or plain of exsitances. Perhaps it was the '10 Heavens' described in the '2nd Book of Enoch'(aka Secrets of Enoch) I guess it's kinda like passing a test for the 'Doorman' or kinda like Indiania Jones test of purity in order to get the Holy Grail....(hmmm that's an interesting analogy...) It began when I felt a slight pain on the right side of my chest and it seemed that something was trying to provoke me into fear and take me that way. I used my logic to tell me that my heart was on the left side and that by focusing on it, I was making seem worse than it was, and my faith to know that good things were going to happen as long as I kept my head. After I fought off this fear, it seemed there were beings wanting to take me in a downward direction, it seemed interesting, but in my heart I knew that was not the path I wanted to take. I am a very spiritual person and Know my Creator and Christ but in a more spiritual real way than a religious one, so I asked my Creator if I could enter the upper Heavens. When I did this a strong sense of affection came from my heart for my Creator and a desire to embrace and praise Him. As I naturally did this I felt myself lifted up and up into a much higher relm (perhaps the 7th Heaven) where God resided. I just felt this great White Light permiating my being with love and affection, It felt as if I was hugging my Creator and He was embracing me as a loving father would embrace his young child. I never understood before this time why in all the visions of God's presence the Angels and all beings are in a constant state of praising Him (actually seemed quite boring and laboring before this moment) but I wanted to do nothing else, it was as if that was what I was truly created to do and through my praise I was truly connnecting with Him and the circle was finally complete.

It was truly the most AWESOME spiritual experience of my life! Many other things happened that at this time don't feel that it is appropriate to share at this time but I felt great the rest of the night and fell into a deep sleep at about 7:00 in the morning (7 hours after first ingestation) and slept very deeply and contently until about 2:30pm, I awoke feeling great and but still with that inner glow that started the night before.

CONCLUSION:

I do not believe the Amanita Muscaria should be used in a strictly recreational way. I think that disrespects what this unique icon in nature was created for and may result in a bad or unsatisfactory experience. Remember the Ancients used it as the central part of a spiritual ritual of connecting with their Creator. Perhaps we should treat this gift with the same respect and attitude. Those not Emotionally and spiritually strong should probably aviod this mushroom and stick the the psilocybin varieties, but if you truly want to see beyond the physical world and be changed from it by connecting to the truth then this may be the best instrument for doing so IMO.

FOOTNOTE:

I am not an expert in anyway in this type of mushroom and I admit that my methods were probably more intuitive than scientific but I did do my research and I think it is essential that you do your own too if you wish to take this journey, if for nothing else your own self assurance at the begining of the experince to avoid the ever destructive element of fear.

The purpose of this writing is only to share my own experience to assist in the education of others.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 19200
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 4, 2002	Views: 117,597
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Amanitas - A. muscaria (70) : Mystical Experiences (9), Glowing Experiences (4), First Times (2), General (1), Alone (16)