Flying with Amanita

 A TRIP TO ANCIENT GREECE

Well hello there everyone, this is the second entry of Psicodelika, the website which main purpose is to spread wisdom about psychedelics and other mind altering substances and practices. So let’s get right to it, just like last time with the article on the hallucinogenic mushroom Amanita Muscaria, an entry you should definitely check out if you haven’t already. So get ready to launch, grab a cup of whatever beverage you prefer and read what our team has carefully brewed for you this time.

Who doesn’t admire the ancient Greeks with all the art they created, the wide variety of science fields they covered, summarizing, the great forever to be remembered culture they bequeathed humankind? They also did advances and speculated about what we call now perception altering substances, and we will start talking about the most common in the life of an average Greek citizen: Wine. Dionysius is the god of wine for a reason, as while he was left by Hermes to be taken care of by the sweet nymphs in the wild to be protected from the wrath of the goddess Hera, one of his ways to spend the days was to grow different kinds of plants, therefore discovering the vine plant, and as smart as he was he also figured out how to make the delicious dark red drink, even white or pink if you are feeling fancy we all know as wine. The psychoactive component in wine is a form of alcohol called ethanol, a central nervous system depressant ,synthetized from fermented sugars that will indeed get you drunk after a few shots, resulting in dizziness, euphoria and if you go over the line, maybe even result in coma, seizures and even death, so take care out there you kiddos when partying! You don’t want to go to the Hades too soon! Let’s talk now about ambrosia, the divine food or drink of the Gods, believed to provide with longevity or immortality with its intake. Some modern researchers such as the mythologist Danny Staples believe the ambrosia’s active ingredient to be the muscimol from Amanita Muscaria. Another psychoactive drink the Greek used was kykeon, a potion made some times with water, others with wine, maybe even grated cheese and other ingredients. This beverage has been discovered to have contained ergot alkaloids, a fungus that infects rye and is the active ingredient in LSD, a substance that tipically produces altered thoughts, feelings, and awareness of one's surroundings and the desired hallucinations of most people who embark in the journey of psychedelia.

But wait, the ancient Greeks had even more drugs, we all now know about opium, well, it has been used since Neolithic ages and also the ancient Greeks used it. They used basically the same methods that have been utilized by most cultures, they made cuts to the poppy cocoon, (yes, the opium comes from the famous poppy flower) then waited till the làtex from the inside dripped out and picked it up, turning it into a powder that could be consumed by smoking or mixing it with líquid and drinking it. That’s it for todays entry, if we get more visits to our posts we’ll keep a series that will be about drugs in ancient, and not so ancient civilizations, so subscribe if you want to see more!

Psicodelika is only for information and harm reduction purposes so we are not to be taken liable from any negative side effects from the consumption of any drug, better stay away from them, but if you don't... well here we are!