All around the world, people of all cultures have pursued the secrets of life. It may not be too surprising that the pursuit frequently involved mushrooms. Chinese texts going back to 475 BCE reference the search for the "Mushroom of Immortality," and though the Lingzhi is the oldest known mushroom used medicinally, it's not the one. Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs were the only ones allowed to eat wild mushrooms believed to be sent to Earth by lightning from the gods, and by consuming them would become immortal. Across the way in Mexico and Guatemala, mysterious mushroom-capped statues were found that suggest a possible mushroom cult in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica where hallucinogenic mushrooms were worshiped as gods. Hindu cultures describe a drink called Soma made from the mysterious Amrita plant which was consumed by the gods to achieve their immortality. Anthropologists believe the plant may have been a mildly hallucinogenic mushroom that grows in cow dung. Now that's a trip.

08.19.19