In 1955, banker and amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson traveled to Mexico with a friend, where they became “the first white men in recorded history to eat the divine mushrooms.” Seeking the Magic Mushroom, published two years later in Life magazine, introduced psilocybin mushrooms to the West. Wasson wrote about his personal experience eating the mushrooms, and their ceremonial use by the Mazatec people as a healing agent. The essay came at a perfect time, exposing a whole generation of young people to a natural, non-toxic, and easily grown psychedelic agent that had long been overlooked in the West. Wasson’s testimony also showed that such compounds had a long history of spiritual and therapeutic use, and were not just for reckless hedonists. Since the starry-eyed hippies of the 60s had no other guidance for taking mushrooms, this ceremonial context set a valuable precedent (although, then as now, not everyone was interested in taking the experience seriously). Wasson’s story profoundly influenced the psychedelic movement of the 1960s, and led many people to visit curandera Maria Sabina (whom Wasson unsuccessfully attempted to protect by using the pseudonym Eva Mendez). After reading the article, Timothy Leary traveled to Mexico and had his own mushroom experience, which ignited his journey as psychedelic guru. As soon as […]
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