Surprisingly Enjoyable Plus Headache
Amanitas - A. muscaria (Smoked)
by Gnostikoi
After reading about Amanita Muscaria, I got curious and ordered 28 grams from an online supplier. It arrived a few days ago; what I received was about ten large (5-8' diameter) red and white caps (no stems) wrapped in newspaper. Since they arrived in the middle of my work week, I haven't been able to invest the time to try eating them yet, but last night I took a small piece of a cap, peeled the red skin from it, and packed a wooden pipe with the flesh from directly underneath the skin.
My mental state was not the most appropriate for a visionary plant, which is another reason that I haven't wanted to eat them yet; my girlfriend just recently had a baby and things have been a little tense lately. I meditated for about ten minutes before smoking in order to clear my mind, but it was only partially effective. I also offered up a short prayer to the mushroom immediately before partaking.
The taste of the smoke, surprisingly, was not bad. I had heard that it was very harsh, but it seemed manageable to me. I did notice a slight headache after about three or four hits, but it was gone quickly and I suspect it was due to combustion by-products and not the mushroom itself - it was sort of like the headache you can get from standing behind a car that's running.
The effects of the mushroom came on quickly, and I found them very pleasant. As I said in the title, it reminded me very much of cannabis, with a few notable exceptions: although I felt euphoric and I quickly became tired (and fell asleep about an hour after smoking) my mind remained sharp, or at least it seemed that way. I had distinctly strange, irrelevant trains of thought, which I don't remember clearly now, but what pleased me was that I was able to follow these trains of thought to their logical conclusions, unlike with cannabis where my thoughts bounce from one subject to another. I was able to hold intelligent conversations with sober people, and my girlfriend said that it was unlikely that anyone who didn't already know that I had taken a drug would guess that I had from talking to me. I will not try this out, but I suspect that I could even function adequately at work under the influence of this substance - work being a busy medical office.
Overall, it was a very positive experience, and I am looking forward to further experimentation with Amanitas. I know that eating them is significantly different, and I will try it when I have the time to spare, but I have a feeling that I will find smoking them more enjoyable - from what I've heard the body load is pretty unpleasant when eating them, whereas I had no negative effects from smoking them except the headache, which only lasted about five minutes. I highly recommend smoking Amanitas to anyone who enjoys cannabis - while it is not the same and is not really a substitute, it is an enjoyable experience in itself.
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Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid.
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