Tassili Doctor: The practice Of Psilocybe Medicine
By Dr. Karl D. Buchanan
While a wealth of information exists regarding modern research into the psychiatric use of the psilocybe fungi, there is relatively little of scholarly merit on their place in physical medicine. The universally accepted academic "guru" of modern psilocybes, Gordon Wasson, believed from subjective experience that psilocybes were actually deleterious to the health though he consumed them on some 24 reported occasions. What Gordon Wasson probably did not know, though his daughter Marsha, a trained nurse might, is that the symptoms he experienced which led him to believe this were the same symptoms anyone might experience in any situation where they were enduring what is medically termed as a "healing crisis". What Wasson perceived as "damage" was actually the effect of the massive purging of toxins shed into the blood and elimination systems. The body, unable to eliminate the toxins as fast as it has shed them feels discomfort, fatigue and headache. This is not disease but the symptom of healing, and is curable by adequate fluid and electrolyte intake. I suggest that subconsciously or spiritually Wasson may have suspected this, as I find it difficult to imagine such a man defying both his own instincts and intellect. The Shaman might say "His body knew it." I think it is worthy though sad to note that Gordon Wasson passed away of natural causes which as yet cannot be attached in any way to his use of psilocybes during his lifetime. We may have few documented accounts, but the ones we have are clear, and so far no evidence of harmful effects is showing. It has been shown that psilocin/psilocybin mildly irritate the gastrointestinal tract, and for that reason they are not typically used to treat GI diseases. Further research should be done in this area, though the potential negative effects while not lethal or difficult to relieve are certainly unappealing to the volunteer. Psilocybes are also unresearched and potentially deleterious in the treatment of brain tumors, brain injuries or other organicity and specifically should not be used in such cases until adequate studies of effects, risks and merit can be shown.
The most obvious place for psilocybes is in the frontline treatment of infections generally. Patients treated with P. cubensis equadorians exhibited the additional healing of any infected scratches/cuts i.e. redness before treatment entirely gone within 12 hours.
Patient with early signs of strep throat (lesions forming and discolored) treated with 1.5 grams of P.c.E. was afebrile (without fever), comfortable, and lesions as well as other symptoms gone within 16 hours. A patient given 5 gms for dental abcess, though prostrated for several hours again was afebrile and pain free, the lime-sized abcess resolving completely within 48 hours. In most cases 4-5 grams or more are given, however it has been shown that even amounts as small as 1.5 gms have been in those cases adequate. There has been no case where significant healing was not shown. Dosage requirements again are a matter for further confirmation, owing to the fact that in cases like bronchial infection or potentially septic abcess, the healer is compelled to take a better-safe-than-sorry position, hence not enough research exists yet to establish more than a patient-based educated guess with regard to prescribed dosages for specific conditions. Unlike the shittake, which has immunomodulating properties and is most commonly consumed weekly as cooked fruitbodies for therapeutic support, psilocybes are best suited for one-dose high expectation treatment something that is also curiously enough translated in their general nature, i.e. instructions included. Patients unprepared for the potential effects of psilocybes should only be given doses of 1.5 gms and under. If it is determined that a higher dose is needed the patient must be adequately prepared for the potentially unsettling side effects. There has been reported the daily use of a single low dose of .5 gm for therapeutic support in chronic reynauds syndrome, and more conclusive information in that area may be shortly forthcoming.
Prostration during treatment with psilocybes is common, and seems to be related to the degree of severity of the infection more than the amount of the dose given. There are optimal preconditions to treatment such as fasting and hydration, however ideals are difficult to approach when immediate cases present. Under clinical conditions parenteral fluids are acceptable, especially in cases where the patient is already suffering some degree of dehydration. No other foods or medicines should be given during the first 4 hours of treatment, though this is excepted where uncomfortable nausea may be relieved by a small snack or other GI upset may be relieved with various natural or pharmaceutical medicines such as calcium carbonate or paregoric. Especially all alcohol, stimulants, tryptamines, harmalines etc. should be avoided in combination use for immunomodulation.
We extend ourselves consciously into a visible message left for us 5,500 years ago on a wall, but have we received all that our magnificent ancestor was bequeathing? The reappearance of Tassili man and his mushrooms in our culture today should be a sign for the faithful that when the human need is great the great return. The worldwide occurrence of psilocybes implies in the clearest writing that this medicine may be had forever by all who seek it. Is the current resurgence in interest one of solely religious concern? Or is the good and humble, practical mushroom also nearer us now to help us all face the things in our biological environment which must shortly, surely come?
Though the benefiting patient population for the use of psilocybes in medicine is broad, the primary concern of allergy to mushroom fruit and mycelia is its first parameter. Patients tolerant of mycomedicals need only be treated with the strain and dosage/regimen appropriate and there are many basic conditions for which psilocybes are the visibly appropriate choice. Many of these strains produce full fruit within four to six weeks, and flush as well or better than other gourmet species which make psilocybes, at least medically speaking, immensely economical to produce and a true "commercial" mushroom. Though some of the more potent psilocybes like P. azurescens are more difficult to rapidly produce, or possess additional characteristics like higher atropine levels in P. cyanescens, none the less they may find a place of applicability as growing research into this important area of mycomedicine becomes more available and developed. Until then we only need to remember our benevolent ancestors and their enduring goodness left in beautiful simplicity for us in our times. No translation required.
Dr. Karl Buchanan is a professor of psychology and health sciences. His practice is primarily pro bona, and he has appeared professionally in medical marijuana and religious conscience cases. He currently resides on a mountain in the Ozarks and serves as senior health officer at monastery of the rose chapel.
Sources:
The Holy Bible King James version
Dr. Richard C. Webb/Rose Chapel College - Botany and Horticulture
Rabbi Ariel Pedersen - Mycomedicine / Jewish tradition and history
Thomas J. Riedlinger - "The Sacred Mushroom Seeker"
Union of Concerned Scientists - Publication "Warning to Humanity"
Centers for Disease Control World Health Reports
The Farm/Mushroompeople and Frank
Mycoculture/Lentenula edodes
Richard Evans Shultes - "Hallucinogenic Plants"
Paul Stamets/Fungi Perfecti -"Mycomedicals"
Paul Stamets "Psilocybe Mushrooms of the World"
Paul Stamets & J.S. Chilton -"The Mushroom Cultivator", Paul Stamets -"Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms"
Mushrooms...A Good Place To Look For New Antiviral &Antibiotics
By Stephen L. Peele, Curator FMRC
For many years, working under a Federal DEA Schedule I Permit, I have studied mushrooms that produce controlled substances. Psilocybin and Psilocin are the two best known said type compounds. My interests were in Immune Enhancement Capabilities of these mushrooms. These compounds include antibiotics, antitumor agents, antiviral agents, and even anticancer agents. One of the anticancer agents, Lentinan, showed 80% remission factor in Sarcoma and other related cancers, with just a 10 day treatment. If Lentinan was applied before cancer implant, it was 100% effective. Panaeolus subbalteatus, a psilocybin producing mushroom, has shown to be effective against polio virus in mice. Other psilocybin producing mushrooms are now believed to have powers of improving hearing, eyesight, circulation, and activating the bodies immune system. There have been stories I have read were certain people who live down in some of the valleys in Mexico, live to be 130 to 140 years old. There is evidence which points to Mexican mushroom cults as the source for these stories.
One investigator set out years ago to find out the truth about the old age/mushroom story. He spent several months talking with members of certain tribes that used "Sacred Mushrooms". The thing he didn’t know was, these people were very private. They did not like outsiders coming in and asking a bunch of questions...especially ones that pertained to their "magic and well being". So when he asked an older person just how old they were, they would not get a truthful reply. The Indian did not want him to know he was 97, so he said "68". In turn, when you read his notes, you would read things like "I spoke to another one of the Indians today. He was 68, and like the others, looked much older than his age." He came back and stated the whole thing is a lie. There was no evidence that any of these people are living any longer because they eat some type of mushroom. And that’s how the story stayed until another investigator went down.
Dr. Ben Cass and his wife Jan, who was also a doctor, spent some time with these Indians and came up with a different story. They came to visit one week with their son. Dr. Ben stated that he believed these mushrooms somehow improved their immune system, and with even just monthly "eatings", this seems to launch them safely into their mid-eighties.
60-70% of people over 65 who catch the flu, die! If you had a better immune system, or a younger persons immune system, you would not die as easily from flu, colds, or any of the other ailments which kill older people so many times. It was all this information together that made me want to find out just what might be in these mushrooms.
Another researcher, Dr. Paul Steinberg who was working with St. JohnsUniversity, also had the same kind of questions I did about this. He contacted me and said he had heard of my research and wanted to work with me. He started looking into the mycelium of Psilocybe cubensis. His team found that the mycelium was producing new and unknown antiviral and antibiotics, and that psilocybin had antiviral activity itself. They soon made another important discovery. The mycelium produced many of these anti-agents for only short periods of time, replacing them with new ones, and ending the old ones. Dr. Paul described this as natures own defense. It was as if there was a design here. Bacteria and virus always work very hard in developing immunity to said type agents. But in this case, this did not work. If immunity to the anti-agents was built, that agent was gone, and a new one took its place. This gave answer to how mushroom mycelium could live and grow in a dung heap teaming with millions of bacteria. When the said type mushroom mycelium is grown on sterile grains, different types of bacteria not found in dung are suddenly seen. As the mycelium has no acquired immunity built to fight these types, these contaminants kill off the growth of the mycelium. He also stated that these anti-agents were very selective, leaving alone good or beneficial ones! The word on the research must have gotten out, for the team was hounded out of the lab, and huge legal arguments suddenly came into focus.
I then discussed all this with Mr. Gordon Craig at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). He became very interested and we started scheduling tests with extracts from controlled mushrooms. All needed and required paper work was filed with the Federal DEA.
The Federal DEA teamed up with Florida HRS and stopped this important research. The Florida HRS placed me under a $5000 a day fine, retroactive 5 years, if I was to release any more of these said extracts. They claimed that they were new Investigational Drugs.
All this meant nothing to me as all testing and research was being done In-Vitro. No human testing was ever done by me or done under my supervision. It was all done in test tubes and culture dishes. I contacted a lawyer about all this, and we began putting a case together. One day, at one of these meetings, he stated that there was nothing we could do. He quoted something about "The King can do no wrong", meaning the Federal and State governments. I never really understood all this. I just figured the government had a talk with him, told him to stop working on the case, and that was the end of that.
In today’s world of ever increasing diseases, even mentioned in the Bible, we need to have all of the antiviral and antibiotic compounds available to us. AIDS, Ebola, and now SARS, all run rampant and unchecked. I would think it is time for our government to take a different attitude than "Mycophobia". |
