aboriginal mushroom use?

[psycho0]

not sure if its the right forum but is there any evidence of aboriginals using magic mushrooms?

cheers!

aaron

[SunChaser]

Magic mushrooms probaly didnt exist in Australia back then, there all introduced I think :confused:

[Gunter]

Is that certain?

Not that they were not used, but that there are not indigenous Basidiomycota representatives that could be considered magic mushrooms?

[Rev]

If wasson is right then some headway could be made linguisticaly by looking at which cultures were mycophilic and which were mycophobic

[Gunter]

The following species of the genus Psilocybe are found in Australia. This list comes from the book Psilocybin Mushrooms of the world By Paul Stamets.

I am only including the species that I suspect as natives, though there occurrence elsewhere does not mean that they didn't originate in Australia.

P. australiana *

P. eucalypta *

P. subaeruginosa *

P. tasmania *

P. unidentified (There are photographs of an unidentified collection made in Melbourne.)

* Are considered by some to be members of a species complex of P. subaeruginosa, though the author includes this information, he does not agree, and I do consider him to be an authority upon the subject. He does however keep the possibility open.

Considering this, as well as other information about habitat, distribution and season, I would say it certainly appears to be the case that there are native Psilocybes. I didn't mention the other active species that seem to be introduced, there are a handful of names there as well.

There is no mention of their use or lack of it, but I would be surprised if they had not been eaten by someone at some point in the distant past.

[Rock n Liam]

I believe that Maoris although living around native active mushrooms, never used them either. I have no evidence of this at the moment, but remember it being discussed sometime in the past.

[Rev]

the fact that europeans lived in close proximity to so many actives and yet there is but scant evidence for earlier usage and almost nothing until after wassons publication suggets to me that thos eexperimnting with fungi are a minority

and it happens infrequently

the folklore that does exist suggest also that unwary consumers are more likley to tell tales of strange poisoings - a 'suprise' trip can cause a lot of anxiety as u might know.

I think both a cultural context and a special kind of person needs to discover it and then it can become a cult.

thatll happen not often and die out far too easily

theres a possibility but i wouldnt hold my breath

i think more intereting is the way that members of these cultures be it maori or indigenous or indeed anyone at all have appropraited the mushroom and how they incorporate it into their own lives and indentity

Particularly for indigenous people it may help them reconnect with the shamanic past and make real sense of their remnant imagery and ideas about time and place.

well it does for me anyway

[ajna]

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=...=mg17022914.700

^ someone with a New Scientist subsription may be able to find out more?

i have wondered about this myself.