Searching for ‘shrooms
by Caramie Schnell
Some mushrooms are magic — and we’re not talking about the kind that make you see rainbow-colored garden gnomes running through your kitchen. The Amanita muscaria mushroom is known by the moniker “Christmas mushroom” because of its red cap and white spots. It was believed to “magically” bring Russian nomadic people food during the harsh winter months, mushroom expert Bill Windsor said. The ‘shroom is part of the Amanita family of mushrooms, nicknamed “death caps” because some of them will kill you.
Some mushrooms are magic — and we’re not talking about the kind that make you see rainbow-colored garden gnomes running through your kitchen. The Amanita muscaria mushroom is known by the moniker “Christmas mushroom” because of its red cap and white spots. It was believed to “magically” bring Russian nomadic people food during the harsh winter months, mushroom expert Bill Windsor said. The ‘shroom is part of the Amanita family of mushrooms, nicknamed “death caps” because some of them will kill you.
“It’s called a magic mushroom because it kept early people alive in the winter,” Windsor said, holding the bright red mushroom in his hand. “Early shamans used to eat the mushrooms and hallucinate. They would keep their urine and the next shaman would drink it and get high, too.”
The smell of the mushroom in the shaman’s urine was irresistible to reindeer of northern Europe and as they peed, hunters would wait as the deer walked right up to the shaman, he said.
Voila — dinner.
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