Zam's Mushroom Elixir Ritual
Erowid
6/15/1997

teonanacatl image by Michael Maleedy (mikem@spin.net.au) A ritual that I've been developing goes something like this:

  1. Start a pot of at least 3 cups of water boiling per person.
  2. chop mushrooms while waiting for water to heat up
  3. place mushrooms in small tea pot or ceramic bowl with spout
  4. pick your favorite herbs, you might consider stomach helpers like ginger, mint, etc or some mildly stimulating herb if you find mushrooms 'sleepy' (damiana, a tiny bit of green tea, etc). I would recommend against trying a new tea or herb for the first time as part of your mushroom Elixir, so work with the herbs beforehand- everyone has very different tastes. I have personally found that Yogi brand Licorice tea (with black pepper) combines very well with Teonanctl - think about taste combinations- mushrooms taste 'earthy' to me with a mysterious bite.
  5. pour ~1 cup hot/almost boiling water over them and go about your pre-mushroom rituals, change clothing, clear a space, get your blanket, find your jacket, prepare an altar, or whatever would make the experience more focused or magical, make you comfortable, try to have everything you are planning on needing prepared before you drink, etc.
  6. Music / Sound: I choose a mellow, meditative music for the drinking period to help me focus and relax.
  7. After 10+ mins, pour the 1 cup Mushroom Elixir into your ritual drinking vessel, straining with a tea strainer (available everywhere) or get a little teapot that has a built in strainer.
  8. Pour another cup of water over the wet mushrooms
  9. Hold the Mushroom Elixir and reflect on where you are, why you are choosing the Mushroom today. Drink slowly and relax into the taste. Imagine that you enjoy it :)
  10. wait at least 5-10 mins before straining off the second cup, then pour another 1/2 - 1 cup of water over mushrooms for a third extraction.
  11. drink 2nd extraction and save the third for later.
  12. relax and lie back and await the peak. I find that if I remain still during the peak, I experience very little stomach unpleasantness.

I find that it is quite pleasant to drink the mushroom tea slowly, the effects come on quickly in the tea form and by the time I've finished my first cup, I can feel the Mushroom approaching. By the time I've finished the second cup, there are distinct alerts. I save the third extraction for an hour or more after the first two and find that when I go back to drinking it while bemushroomed to be an interesting and positive experience and the effects also are increased by the third cup at T+60-120. I wouldn't recommend drinking the 3rd cup much after 2 hours as I've found trying to extend the mushroom experience after that to be somewhat unrewarding.

Last Modified Tuesday, 26-Oct-1999 22:12:46 PDT Used by Erowid with permission of author
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