Psilocybe cubensis: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Psilocybe cubensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi Domain: Eukaryota Division: Basidiomycota Class: Hymenomycetes Order: Agaricales Family: Strophariaceae Genus: Psilocybe Species: cubensis
Binomial name
Psilocybe cubensis

Psilocybe cubensis are a psychedelic mushroom whose active ingredient is psilocybin. They belong to the Agaricaceae family. They grow on cow dung (and deer dung in the wild) and bruise with a bluish/purplish color, often still visible on dried stems. In the US, they are sometimes found growing wild in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest. It is used in Mesoamerica, notably by the Chol and the Lacandon Maya people in southern Mexico to communicate with their deities.

It was identified as Stropharia cubensis by F.S. Earle in Cuba in 1904 (hence the specific name). It was later identified independently as Naematoloma caerulescens in Tonkin in 1907 by N. Patouillard and as Stropharia cyanescens by W.A. Murrill in 1941 in Florida novelty. These synonyms were later assigned to the species P. cubensis. It is later founded throughout U.S. Gulf Coast, Mexico, Central America, South America, West Indies, Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Australia.

Its psychoactive compounds are:

• Psilocybin (4-Phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine)
• Psilocin (4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine)
• Baeocystin (4-Phosphoryloxy-N-methyltryptamine)
• Norbaeocystin (4-Phosphoryloxytryptamine)

Psilocin and psilocybin are substances isolated by Albert Hofmann in 1958 in a related and less potent species, P. mexicana. All four compounds are presumed hallucinogenic, though it is suspected that baeocystin and norbaeocystin are less psychoactive than psilocybin and psilocin.

Psychedelic mushrooms have rich and varied spiritual significance -- they have been used in religious ceremonies for centuries. The Aztecs reserved them for their holiest ceremonies and called them Teonancatl ("divine flesh"). Lacandón priests take them in seclusion with "god pots".

Please note that individual brain chemistry plays a significant role in determining appropriate doses. For a modest psychedelic effect, a minimum of one gram of dried cubensis mushrooms is ingested orally. 0.25-1 gram is usually sufficient to produce a mild effect, 1-2.5 grams usually provides a moderate effect. 2.5 grams and higher usually produces strong effects. For most people, 3.5 dried grams (1/8 oz) would be considered a high dose and likely to produce a very intense experience. Above this, the mushroom experience rapidly becomes overwhelming. For a few rare people, doses as small as 0.25 grams can produce full-blown effects normally associated with very high doses. For most people, however, that dose level would result in virtually no effects.

People taking MAOIs need to be very careful, as psilocybin and psilocin are metabolized by the enzyme monoamine oxidase. An MAOI reduces the body's ability to handle the mushrooms (roughly doubling their potency), and can lead to an unpleasant, prolonged, or dangerously strong experience.

While it's nearly impossible to overdose on magic mushrooms (one would have to consume nearly their entire body weight in fresh mushrooms), the effects of very high doses can be completely and dangerously overwhelming.

Depending on the particular strain, growth method, and age at harvest, psilocybe cubensis mushrooms can come in rather different sizes. It is recommended that one weighs the actual mushrooms, as opposed to simply counting them. Fresh mushrooms have an average water content of about 90%, so doses with fresh mushrooms are thus ten times larger than for dried.

Effects start after approximately 20-45 minutes (depending on how it was ingested and what else is in the stomach) and last from four to five hours. Hallucinatory effects often occur, including walls that seem to breathe, a vivid enhancement of colors and the animation of organic shapes. At higher doses, experiences tend to be less social and more entheogenic, often intense and spiritual in nature.