mushrooms would certainly be effective across four or five generations of animal or human ingestion.
Trees and mushrooms, mushrooms and trees
It seems that there is also a symbiotic relationship between the fly-agaric mushroom and the birch tree – the mushrooms grow in the shade of the tree – which would account for the ‘sacred birch’ tradition in European shamanism.
Indeed, within shamanism, trees, per se, are held as sacred, as homes of the elementals or gateways to spirit, and connections between different life forms (such as the mushroom and the tree) are revered since the shamanic belief is that we are all – every life form – connected, one to another. This animistic principle of connection would certainly have been reinforced for the shaman experiencing the magical effects of fly-agaric, so that the birch tree would become sacred by association.
The fly-agaric mushroom is still found wherever the birch is common, including the UK and the Americas. Distinguishable by its bright red colouring and white spots, it is best prepared for ceremonial use (according to some shamanic traditions, as well as the advice of my toxicologist lunch mate) by cutting it into thin strips which are then boiled in milk for 30 minutes or so. The liquor is then drunk and the mushroom strips eaten. An alternative is to dry the mushrooms and add them to vodka, drinking the alcohol-Amanita mixture when the liquid turns orangey-red.
Naturally, in ritual usage, fly-agaric must always be taken in a sacred way with the intention of revealing true spiritual knowledge, and with full reverence for its power. To do otherwise is simply to engage in ‘drug-taking’, with all the