Fly Agaric

Fly Agaric
(Amanita muscaria)


Back to mushrooms again.....  This morning I watched this video and found it be very interesting on sepeculative link made between the fact that reindeer seek these mushrooms out and eat them as do Siberian shamans.... which could perhaps be the basis of Santa and his flying reindeer.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCS9ePWuLU

    From Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs:

Folk Names: Death Angel, Death Cap, Magic Mushroom, Redcap Mushroom, Sacred Mushroom, Fly Fungus
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Mercury
Element: Air
Deity: Dionysus
Powers: Fertility
Ritual Uses: There is speculation that at least some of the mystery religions of classical times centered their secret rituals around the use of the amanita.
Magical Uses: Place on the altar or in the bedroom to increase fertility.

Unfortunately, the amanita is so virulently poisonous that it is unwise to use it.

From Ellen Dugan's "Garden Witch's Herbal" :

   Common names include agaric, Deadly Amanita, death cap, redcap mushroom, and raven's bread. Technically, this is not a botanical; it is a fungus. This storybook-looking toadstool comes into fruiting in the autumn. It can grow up toten inches in height and is described as having a 'fuit body,' with a stem ringed with remnants of a veil and bright red cap dotted with white warts. This fungi's bright red color boldly declares its lethal nature.

The cap is large (four to six inches) and spread out quite horizontally. This mushroom's habitat is birch, pine, spruce, and cedar forests in Europe and North America. It grows in poor soils in marshes and along roadsides. The quintessential of toadstool, it is one of the most recognizable of the gothic plants today.

  Though it is considered highly poisonous, Amanita Muscaria is believed to be the world's oldest hallucinogen. It was used by Siberian and Lapland shamans in vision quests and in healing rituals, which gave them a sense of flying. This mushroom is reported to be a popular food for reindeer. Interestinglyl, the shaman in Lapland ate it for enlightenment - which may explain where the legends of flying reindeer and Santa all dressed in red and white came from!  In Europe, these mushrooms were thought to be symbols of good luck at the winter holidays and New Year's Day. This red and white mushroom also became a popular motif in early twentieth-century European postcard art.

  Magically, the fly agaric is associated with the Norse god Odin, who was a shamanic god of knowledge. According to old folklore, these fungi bring good fortune and luck to you and they also open a doorway to the world of the fae, elves, and other earth elementals. The astrological association is Mercury. The elemental correspondence is Air.

Warning: While researching this fungi, I discovered a lot of conflicting information about its legality. In some countries, it is considered illegal to grow, sell or to possess the fly agaric mushroom. Other places warn that it is a Class A drug - meaning possession could get you a fine and up to seven years in jail. Finally, this toadstool, while gorgeous, is considered intensely poisonour. Should you stumble across some growing wild in the woods, leave them be. I suggest that you leave these toadstools alone and work your spontaneous magick for good luck right there while leaving the plant untouched.

As I do every autumn about this time I am reading the book "Harvest Home" by Thomas Tyron... and yesterday I reached the part where the main character is out in the woods with local wise woman called Widow Fortune.  She finds a large ring of these mushrooms/toadstools growing and she becomes quite excited... "She quickly knelt and began breaking the stems at the base and handing them to me. I examined one: though it was handsome, it certainly looked like the most poisonous thing nature could provide. The cap was about four inches across, a brilliant red, with small warty bumps on it. The surface felt sticky, and bits of pine needles had adhered. The stem was white and pulpy-feeling, and the gills on the underside were a delicate formation of pale white. I had never seen the old woman so excited, her face was flushed from her exertions as she demolished the ring little by little. Then she carefully wrapped each mushroom in a piece of tinfoil. When she had finished, she gave me her hand and I helped her to her feet.

  'There,' she exclaimed with pleasure, dusting her dress and handing me the basket to carry, 'I knew we'd find some fly today, if we persevered.' 

   'Fly?'

  'Those ,' pointing to the mushrooms, 'are fly agaric,' They were called 'fly', she explained because they were once used to kill flies and other insects. 'If it would kill flies, how about humans?' I asked. She laughed.

  'I expect it could, you eat enough of them. Or at least they'd make a body mighty sick.'

  'What do you use them for?'

  'A woman always thinks it takes two to keep a secret, but I'm here to say it takes one.'  "

Of course late in the story he finds out more of what the good Widow Fortune uses them for.