I have not yet had the pleasure of tasting this delectable fungus and this question is mainly aimed at those who have. I have read a lot of experience reports on this stuff but its nature is still mysterious to me. The amanita experience is not like what any of the serotonergic hallucinogens produce, OK I got that. Beyond that what class of hallucinogen does this mushroom fall into?

Is fly agaric more like a deliriant or a dissociative? Some places say one some say the other, some reports sound like one and some sound like the other. Is it both? Neither? Am I wasting my time trying to make a complex visionary entheogen fit into some neat category?

Do tell

Good question, I like seeing stuff like this broken down.

From what I've read, I'd steer well clear of fly argarics. But hey, each to their own.

I've been told its kind of like a waking dream. I was interested for a while (I even chanced across the perfect picking spot while out on a bike ride), but the more I read into them, the more I just thought "just wait until the libs are up". Call me a wimp, but the thing that really stuck out is the close relationship to the death cap mushroom, and the toxicity of fly argarics themselves. After reading that, I just figured there are safer ways to fly

I have no experience with this mushroom but I hope this helps.. amanita falls into the category of a psychedelic and deliriant. Poisoning yourself with this kind of mushroom (or other similar mushrooms) is possible but is somewhat rare. This mushroom has great potential as an entheogen if used and prepared correctly. With that in mind different species have different alkaloid levels. Have the right material and start low.. experiment from there.

The waking dream Ive read as well. That youre kinda popped into this vignetted hypervivid lucidity.

Sounds very intriguing, but I have also seen few say to stay clear of these.

The only time Amanita's worked for me was when I consumed a few fresh. Yep I know this isn't recommended (although I have heard of one guy who works with them who prefers them this way). They made me spaced out, nauseous and dizzy. Dizzy might be the wrong word actually, but I had NO centre of balance, so standing up was tricky. I shared a hash joint with a friend and experienced a little glittering volley of visuals, and my friend who partook also saw little faces in the wood grains of our bunk beds at the time.

The feelings of dizziness lasted well into the next day. Based on this one experience, my preference is very much with psilocybes, and I am personally highly skeptical that Aminata muscaria is the God-intoxicant soma as Gordon Wasson states from the Hindu Vedas. I'm sure there are deeper realms that could be accessed, and the setting was not conducive to allow one to go inside one's self (was a university trip to France a number of years ago now, I wouldn't dream of partaking of such things in a setting like this these days). Was weird and had power for sure, but don't think I had enough to give or took them in the correct setting to have a really informed opinion, but psilocybes certainly feel a lot easier on the body.

an almost dizziness (like ^ said) that is almost akin to drunkenness.
a feeling like you are floating as you sit
very very mild mood enhancer.

it seems nigh impossible to get strong effects without drinking your pee or something similar

As I understand it, and someone please correct me if this is wrong:
Shaman consume the mushroom and then tribal members drink their Shamans urine for the very simple reason that these mushrooms kill approximately 1-10 (perhaps more) people. The Shaman is someone who has already found out the hard way that they can ingest these (ie: they aren't dead) whereas the rest of the tribe has likely been told they are poisonous for fairly obvious reasons. Essentially the Shaman is acting as a filter.
I believe this is from eskimo lore of some sort but I am not completely sure, its something I learned a very long time ago.
I suppose its possible to get people to not try this by raising the idea of drinking urine as an added deterrent as well, but I don't know that either for a fact.
Its sort of an amusing concept:
"You can only consume this poisonous mushroom safely if you drink that guys urine."
That would stop me cold I think.
Any way....


Cheers!
Mealea

I know a guy who ate it once. He told me that he fell asleep, and had some weird dreams. Other than that, he felt extremely sick and nauseous.

I eat Amanitas from time to time. It's.... an interesting experience. I like low doses. It could be described as a slightly psychedelic glass of red wine. Higher doses can be more difficult.

My friend eats a small amount on a daily basis. He likes the mild effects. I don't believe that he consumes more than a cap or two in a day.

I prefer to eat them fresh, sautéed in butter and garlic. I've never eaten them fresh, uncooked.

I was at a regional rainbow gathering near Fairplay, Colorado in the mid nineties and mentioned to a few folks there, that I had noticed abundant amanita muscaria growing under the long needle pines that were just above the aspens in elevation. Within a few hours there were dozens of baskets and bags being toted back to the gathering. Many (perhaps topping two hundred) people had ingested some amount that evening - most told me a half small to as much as two large caps (large being four or five inches across). Some peeled the red top off first for fear of it's toxicity and some disregarded the need for this technique but, I heard of no ill effects from anyone. Those who shared their experiences with me were unanimous in it be extremely euphoric to ecstatic.

I have heard similar (and first hand, real time account) effects from a. pantherina.

I collected some a. muscaria myself in eastern Missouri about ten years ago, though a bit smaller than those I saw in Colorado. They had partially dried when I shared them with a small group of friends on a fall camping trip. I would somewhat compare it to opium or alcohol without the stupor. A sense of total comfort and well being with a dose of about one cap at two inches diameter. We all decided to go on a walk, as we would typically do with any psychotropics. During the walk we kept noticing a well lit area a few hundred feet into the forest off the trail. As we speculated as to what this large well lit facility might be, we started to notice the light was following and coming from overhead to shine on adjacent areas of the forest. We all started looking for spacecraft or some similar source for the light and finally noticed that the trail would also appear well lit if we focused on it for a moment. It was a cloudy night without a moon and it was easy to clearly see the colors and shapes of rocks on the trail. An all around positive experience with no perceived body load. I still have a small fear of toxicity and would probably do no more than twice a year.

If hunting yourself and you'd like a good field guide, my favorite carry friendly book is Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (if you're in north America). It has quick referencing, listings of look alikes, and many clear identifying features for each species that are easy for the novice mycologist to grasp.

I believe if you cook them for ten minutes in boiling salt water they are inactive. I think they're part of the Japanese kitchen prepared this way.

Your friend might be interested in this website I found a while ago, by a guy who started microdosing fly agaric tincture to treat his lyme disease symptoms:
flyagarictincture.blogspot.com

I ate some fly agarics for a couple of nights in a row when I was sixteen, two or three dried caps per night. I don't remember them doing much more then putting me in a dreamy state and then I would fall asleep. No nausea either but they might have been weak specimens. I believe the strength varies between regions.

I have a jar of tincture in the fridge and I have been microdosing lightly a while back. Didn't notice much effect. I stopped dosing when the drops of mushroom soaked wodka started tasting like the rubber dropper on the vial that I kept in my bag a bit too loosely .
When I start again I'll up the dose. It seems such an interesting mushroom to work with.

Btw I think this episode of Sacred Weeds belongs on this thread:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq3S6Ktj1Nk

thanks for sharing that amanita blog, twofourtwo ! fascinating. the medicinal applications of amanita need to be thoroughly investigated.

i have the highest respect for amanita, it has provided me with several mystical and healing experiences. Big Red is up there with aya, psilocybe, and all the rest...

however it is qualitatively diverse, and can be like cuddling with a grizzly bear, so patience is key when working with this ally.

i got lucky, my first experience was with 2g of siberian baby caps, and it was very powerful, electric, crisp & immersive... so i knew right from the beginning that amanita is not to be dismissed...

personaly i feel the following;
within the first hour i get tired, sometimes i fall asleep for about an hour, sometimes 2 hours.
then i wake up confused and in the following hours it starts to get more and more energetic and clear untill i feel reborn and full of energy at +6 to +8 hours.

i like it at places i havent been before because the sleep and waking up makes me feel comfortable, like im at home.

tried it over 10 times from 8 to 30g dried, never had a hard experience, always gentle (although people find it very funny to see me in the confused state when i wake up)

had a very nice, clear but mystic experience in combination with 2g psylos (and 15g amanita)(all dried)

forgot to mention my experiences were with semi drie amanita, they tend to absorb water from the air again, can make a lot of difference in weight

If you are new just be really careful. The amount of ibotenic acid and muscimol can vary significantly. Also, the morphology of Amanita muscaria can be highly variable like all species (look at all the different looking humans for example). In some populations it can be more orange or even light yellow or pink, the warts (remnants of the universal veil) can easily wash off in the rain, some have more margin striations than others, etc. Take a look at the named subspecies like flavivolvata, guessowii, formosa, and persicina for examples of the variability.

Further, the genus Amanita has several species with very nasty toxic compounds responsible for fatalities but with delayed onset of 24 hours or more. Joining a local mushroom club can be a very fun and educational way to learn about these fascinating organisms or at least check online with an expert first to confirm your ID. The shroomery has a really good hunting/identification subforum.

I love amanita muscaria, but I don't use it like most people.
What I did for a time, was smoking a pure joint (approximately 0.75g) of amanita once a day. I did this for one month in total, without using anything else like cannabis or alcohol. The experience of smoking a pure joint of amanita holds a special place in my heart. Your mind falls quiet, colors are just a bit more intense, but the most important is that over time you feel really connected with the nature around you. It also feels a bit like a dream, yes.

The taste and smell are really nice, and with smoking you don't have any negative effects, except for getting tired when you smoke too much (=more than 3 joints).

After a month I was able to listen much better to my instincts, I was more flowing. I felt the "emotions" of the plants around me much better. And I was in an almost constant meditative state of mind. Amanitas feel very sacred to me, like an old wise wizard teacher.

I never tried making a tea of them, tho. But I want to try that too once.

This autumn I will definately go questing again for amanitas.

Note: The youngest are the most potent, they also seem to carry a golden aura around them.