warriorsoul said:
"I have used Amanita muscaria continuously for several months at a time, and I think it is a real health-enhancer when correctly used. The key factor is dosage.

Basically, use no more than 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, and no more than about half a cup in a day. If muscaria agrees with you, you can use it every day if you like throughout the cooler months of the year. I think it is too warming for the hot days of summer, but fine the rest of the year, and it can really help you to stand up to winter cold.

Beware of what you read from the "authorities" on the effects of this mushroom. An absolutely INCREDIBLE amount of misinformation has been printed about Amanita muscaria, and I probably know as much about its medicinal effects as anyone in the country.

Once you have your mushrooms, you need to think about preservation. The traditional way to do this is the one you should avoid, namely drying. It gives the mushrooms a bitter, metallic taste and makes them rather nauseating. You can keep them in the fridge a few days wrapped in paper towels provided you cut off the usually maggot-containing stalk. You can mince the shrooms with garlic and pickle in vinegar and salt, preserved in the fridge (a spoonful or so is great in a salad dressing). To keep longer, dip the mushrooms in brandy (or rum, or whatever spirit you like...) and freeze them. You must include a preservative when freezing or the mushrooms will spoil even while frozen. You can also sauté the mushrooms in olive oil or butter and freeze cooked, if you want to avoid alcohol.

These mushrooms have an absolutely delicious taste when properly prepared, and are one of the outstanding gourmet fungi of the world. The intensity of the flavor seems to have some correlation with the potency, so you can get an idea of the quality of the raw mushrooms by tasting a little bit. If the mushroom is strong, the meaty flavor will fill your whole mouth. Amanita muscaria seems to especially favour rich French sauces and hearty Italian ones. It can really enhance the flavor of meat dishes, even in amounts as small as a teaspoon or two, and I have used it in this way as a flavor enhancer. It is far finer than MSG. For some reason, it does not seem to go well with chile or Mexican dishes. It is also excellent in omelets and scrambled eggs. One of my favourite ways to prepare it is to sauté it with minced shallots in butter, then add a little sour cream and salt and pepper. Served over a slice of toasted French bread, it is simply wonderful! It is also superb in pastas.

During the early fall, before it got cold and when I had large quantities of fresh mushrooms, I experimented with larger doses (but no more than 1 cup total in a day). With 4 tablespoons at a meal, I often had a little nausea, and would either get drowsy or become hyper and speedy. In the latter case, I often became hyperaware, with a distinct feeling of the heebie-jeebies, like you get when you sleep in an old house and can hear every crack and creak. Both this and the nausea would wear off in half an hour. If I continued such doses throughout the day, I felt a pleasant but distinct sense of intoxication and an oddly detached feeling like being wrapped in a soft fuzzy blanket. By nightfall, I would have rather pretty closed-eye visuals of what looked like jewel-encrusted objects. I would go out into the nearby woods to meditate at night. The darkness was deep and velvety and welcoming and house lights were supernally luminous and beautiful. In meditation, I felt wonderfully expanded and immersed in a blissful ocean of quiet yet profound peace and joyfulness.

I have read the 9th Book of the Rig Veda (the one with the Soma Hymns) under the full influence of Amanita muscaria and I am absolutely convinced that it really is the Sacred Soma of Ancient India; it was remarkably easy to identify the sentiments the authors expressed with what I, myself, was feeling. I don't think anything else would have the same effect, certainly not Syrian Rue (completely non-euphoric) or psilocybe (physically gruelling if you attempt extended use). Two things the ancient poets mentioned that I also found true was that Soma gave you deep, restful, healing sleep when you were ill, and it banished fearfulness and gave courage without also banishing your common sense. The ancient poems clearly describe using Soma for multiple times per day (Vedic Law allowed you to use it three times in one day) and taking it daily for extended periods as a tonic and medicine, just as I had done.

I didn't use such high doses again after winter started, but I experimented with abruptly ceasing use temporarily after that period to test for addiction potential. I liked it so much that I was a little concerned about this. It took 3 days to completely come down after extended use of muscaria, but there were no withdrawal effects and no craving. I had the same experience when I ran out of my frozen mushrooms the following spring. I think it is reasonably safe in that regard. The Siberian natives often used muscaria rather abusively in the winter with some signs of physical harmful effects (very similar to those associated with kava kava addiction), but this reflected the horrendous winters they had to endure and the lack of any alternatives. The natives say that the potential harm of muscaria was trivial compared to the harmfulness of the Russian vodka which replaced it. They also used it as a medicine to give restful sleep to the seriously ill and as a stimulating tonic for hard work in the winter. I and a friend have confirmed this winter tonic effect. The potency is increased if you combine it with Oriental Red Ginseng; such a combination can give great endurance and cold-resistance. On the other hand, I did not find muscaria particularly helpful by itself in straight depression; it is primarily meant for seasonal and weather-related depressive conditions and possibly shyness and phobias. A wonderful gift from Sweet Mother Gaia!

Anyway, don't take my word for it, explore this wonderful fungus for yourself, just don't overindulge! I have never used it in seriously entheogenic doses, I found it far too spooky and unnerving long before I got to that point, but you can read vivid accounts in various "trip reports" available on the web. Most people who have used it in such large doses tend to become afraid of it and avoid it, so such usage is an entirely different matter than the uses I have described here. I can't help you with that."

warriorsoul said:
Muscimol, the main active compound in Amanita muscaria and closely related species, is a GABA mimic, it binds to the same GABA receptors as benzodiazepines and barbiturates.
GABA regulates anxiety, learning and neuronal excitability.
Low doses of muscimol show anticonvulsant and antispasmodic activity; much like Valium.
Higher doses work as both a stimulant, anticonvulsant and deliriant.

I think there is great potential for muscimol as a treatment for seasonal depression, anxiety, phobias, ADD, as a sleep aid, weight control and maybe even epilepsy. It doesn't work for everyone; what drug does? One thing is clear, the history of the chemistry of Amanita muscaria demonstrates the tortuous path and halting progress of science.

The muscaria chemotaxonomic group of Amanitas (muscaria, pantherina, gemmata, flavoconia, parcivolvata, flavorubescens, frostiana, regalis, and more) contain no amatoxins or phallotoxins, and are not hepatoxic.

http://www.namyco.org/toxicology/poison_syndromes.html
NAMA in regards to the above mushrooms.
"In humans, there are no reliably documented cases of death from toxins in these mushrooms in the past 100 years, though there is one case where a camper froze to death while in the comatose state."

The ibotenic acid is converted into muscmol in the body, the urine has a higher percentage of muscmol compared to ibotenic acid so it has less side effects.

Drying them in the sun or with heat will also speed the conversion.


The muscaria group will be getting renamed soon, all the North American muscaria (except for the PNW yellow) will become Amanita flavivolvata or variant thereof.
The European muscaria will get split into two species, Subalpine and general Eurasian populations.
Interestingly the color of the cap predates the speciation event and is a polymorphism, this means cap color is not a reliable indicator of species however it is still a reliable indicator of the varieties within each species when taking the geographic information into consideration.

The Pacific North West (PNW) yellow variant will get its own variety status under Amanita muscaria, it will be the only muscaria left in the continental U.S.

"A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study of different regional populations of A. muscaria by Geml, et al. found three distinct clades within this species representing, roughly, Eurasian, Eurasian "subalpine", and North American populations. (Alaska contains examples of all three clades, leading to the hypothesis that this was the center of diversification of this species.) The study also looked at four named varieties of this species; var. alba, var. flavivolvata, var. formosa (including var. guessowii), and var. regalis from both areas. All four varieties were found within both the Eurasian and North American clades, evidence that these morphological forms are simply polymorphisms found throughout the species rather than distinct subspecies or varieties."

Despite references to the mushroom as being “poisonous” I figured that there were enough references to pickling the mushroom that it would be safe to eat it if I began culinary preparations the way mushroom pickling is begun — with boiling. In consultation with David Arora I begin eating Amanita muscaria after having boiled it in lightly salted water for a few minutes. Even though I had confidence that the boiled mushroom would be perfectly safe to eat, I worked up, one day at a time, from a tiny piece of cap, to a quarter cap, to half a cap, to a whole cap, and the only effect, which increased as the quantity of cap eaten increased, was one of great pleasure, because the Santa Cruz, California, variant of A. muscaria is big, thick, and sweet tasting.

This is how I prepre Amanita muscaria for the table. First, I choose firm, healthy caps. After cleaning them I slice them thinly and then boil them in a plentiful supply of lightly salted water — 1 teaspoon per quart (liter) of water. I empahsize plentiful water — and I emphasize the salt. It is my opinion — though I have not tested this scientifically — that both the plentiful amount of water and the salt are necessary to insure that that toxicity is leached out into the water — which is thrown away. After the mushrooms are drained, then I continue with the dish, preparing them by frying in butter or olive oil, or preparing them in a light oil and vinegar dressing, or in some other way.

Since the initial testing period, David has fed hundreds of people Amanita muscaria following my method with no ill effect. David has also now visited Nagano Prefecture, Japan, and seen the Japanese Amanita muscaria harvest, eaten at a restaurant that serves the mushroom, and tasted the famous Japanese muscaria pickles. One of his photographs from that trip is published below.

Over the last couple of years two people have contacted me to say that even after boiling the mushroom the way I suggest that either they, or a guest, have felt ill effects. It may be that there is something about how they boiled the mushroom that was different from my own method — perhaps less salt or not as much water. But it is also possible that the mushrooms have varying quantities of the toxin, some much more than others, enough so that all the toxin is not cleared in the first boiling. Multiple boilings in plentiful lightly salted water is the safest way to eat this mushroom.

In closing, in addition to A. muscaria’s reputation as a drug for shamans, or as a pickle for a Japanese meal, I’d like to add that to mushroom collectors muscaria is known as a beacon, an omen of good tidings. It is what mushroom collectors call an “indicator” mushroom. Where muscaria is growing boletus edulis, the porcini of Italy, is likely to grow too.

I wouldn't use it too often, though. There are indications that it might be neurotoxic at high doses, but as far as i know the effects of frequent use of are not very well studied.

Anyway, most of the times this mushroom (fly-agaric)won't be mistaken for any other amanita. There are no other amanita's that have such a beautifull red color like shown on the photo.