FOREST TREK & EQUINOX (SHROOMY QUEST)

[Maïwa]

The trek in the northern Quebec forests was great. We first left in the after noon and our plan was to go out two hours upnorth. We arrived and it was raining hard, very, till we arrived to set camp and then it all stopped, leaving us with yet another blissfull synchronicity!!
Cant forget the full moon we had, autumn shed her first skin.

The mountanous area we were in was so beautiful, the Elk 's ritualistic mating calls ranging in the hills , the loons and a varitety of critters amongst the forst floor where scattering little noises form one side to the other. It is definetly the last mushroom hunting season here, and the best!! The Entheogenic
mushroom, Amanita Muscaria and many of its varieties were our desires under the fire on this trip. This entheogenic mushroom ( the little red/orange/yellow ones with dots in those fairytales!) , muscaria, are
plentyfull between august to start of october here and they are such beauties to have before you. Our catch now dries by the wind here,
we will attemp to make the traditional brew.


So heres my shots!!




The divine soma!!!



Amanita Var Muscaria Var Formosa



How cute!!



"Mom what are they doing?"



Nice big one here!! Nice decoloration on this one, the var. muscaria are very much lighter in color up north here, but i definetly got some reds, and the cooler it gets the more the reds come out!!
I have a patch that grows every year now ive found nice big musacarias,
must go by boat..lol



Nice amanita var muscaria var flaviconia here..



Well this week end we leave for the hunt again, ill have some more shots for ye all!! These ones dried pretty nicely with the wind,
We found these at the full moon during the Equinox time, it was very much appreciated that we got the rain , a blissfull synchronicity of course

The temperature is going down to like 10 degres celsius at night these days, so the var muscaria "Reds" shall arrive shortly!!

[Avery L. Breath]

Nice!.......... is it that time of year to go amanita hunting already?

[Maïwa]

well depends on your area, here in Quebec yes it has for the past couple weeks, on in to october.

The west coast is earlier and sometimes they sprout around nov-dec, in california I believe, but on the west coast it is definetly more than once a year.Its all year round in the redwoods environmental areas, gotta find em'.....

Good hunting all!!!

[Green2Herman]

Thats:
Amanita muscaria var. formosa

You really want:
Amanita muscaria var. muscaria

[TroutMask]

We already saw Amanitas come and go here at 9500 feet. Already had our first snow, too...

-TM

[Maïwa]

Thats:
Amanita muscaria var. formosa

You really want:
Amanita muscaria var. muscaria

Well theres more than one LOL, haha,
most are the formosa , the last is flavoconia,
Flavoconia have a chrome yellow- to orange color, where the warts are chrome yellow or orange , unlike the formosa.
And the spores are ellipsoide and flavoconia's amyloid.
Well thats what i specified, living here in Quebec and having the oppertunity to study with these varieties of amanita musacaria's,
ive learned quite a bit through time.I prepare the flavoconia aswell as the formosa  in with the "REDs"  in my  equinox brew...
There less potent but all depends on the preparations, lol
Its been alot cooler here so, the night cold is making way for beautiful var muscaria's.

By the way, its proven that it is not the muscarine nor the muscimol that is a main hallucinogen in this fungy, niet even enough to be spoken about...lmao....

[Maïwa]

You guys gonna love this new catch







they love to sing in the studio!!!
or make us sing....hihi :lol:
-WS

[Green2Herman]

By the way, its proven that it is not the muscarine nor the muscimol that is a main hallucinogen in this fungy, niot even enough to be spoken about...lmao....

Thats interresting. More information would be fun.

[Maïwa]

I though youd like the muscarias...lol
but hmmm. let me see...

 

Only in the last few years, too, has the chemistry of the intoxicating principle been known. For a century, it was believed to be muscarine, but muscarine is present in such minute concentrations, even after drying that it cannot act as the inebriant.Other compounds, such as muscimol, are found in lesser concentrations and may contribute to the intoxication.
 Since 1869, a century ago, when muscarine was isolated, most workers have assumed that the toxicity and hallucinogenic properties of Amanita muscaria could be attributed to this compound. Later studies, however, have demonstrated that muscarine is a very minor constituent of the mushroom which could not alone be responsible for such potent effects. Furthermore, sundry other compounds were detected in the same species: acetylcholinc, choline, ibotenic acid, muscimole, agarine, muscazone, muscaridine and bufotenine; and even atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine were reported, probably erroneously, from chromatographic studies. There is evidence, too, that the report of bufotenine in Amanita muscaria is in error because of confused identification of the botanical material with another species, A. citrina or A. porphyrina, in which bufotenine is undoubtedly present in the carpophores. The recent investigations carried out by Eugster and Waser indicate that the central nervous activity of Amanita muscaria is due primarily to muscimole, an unsaturated hydroxamic acid which is formed by decarboxylation and loss of water from ibotenic acid, the zwitterion of α-amino-α[3 - hydroxy - isoazoylyl- (5)]- acetic acid monohydrate. Muscazone, also an amino acid, is a pharmacologically less active principle in Amanita muscaria. Inasmuch as ibotenic acid appears to be a precursor of muscazone as well as of muscimole, it is probable that the often reported variation in intoxication potential of the fly agaric may be due to fluctuations in the ratio between ibotenic acid and muscazone. There is evidence that still other as yet uncharacterized principles may take part in the toxicity of this species of fungus.

//http://leda.lycaeum.org/?ID=16535

So the muscimol is amongst alot of compounts after drying, so the main inebriant is definetly not uniquely muscimol, sorry i cannot backup what i said before clearly, i cant find the write up I read...lol, :roll:
anyhow, this year was less of a good hunt for amanitas var. muscaria- the seasons where much warmer, but do have some weeks into october.. :wink:The proper drying of the mushrooms, is what turns the muscaria into muscimol, which is an inebriant of course.

[Green2Herman]

Its a complex one.

[Maïwa]

Quite intriguing one yes.. :lol:
I love the roots this entheogen bring us back to, its uses and the people
-civilisations whom did, i am glad to have this grow in my environing area, a  true gift..

To all a great autumn season!!

-WS

[Krayken]

Would you mind sharing your drying technique and your brew recipe with us? I only ask because this is my first year picking my own AM and am somewhat overwhelmed with all of the info. that is out there.

I did however go on my first hunt this evening:









So, now that I have all these, I'm not exactly sure what to do with them as far as drying and preparing...well, something with them.

[JRL]

Be still my beating heart!

[Krayken]

LOL, I hear ya JRL!! I almost pee'd my pants when I came across these. There were just as many, if not more, immature ones that will be ready in a few more days. Whats even better is that this is on my own property.

[JRL]

You want to trade some for some cactus?