Researchers at a Utah university have fixed their attention on a psychedelic that was previously unknown to Western science. Eating this fungus raw triggers hallucinations, but the chemical basis for its hallucinogenic activity currently has the mycologists stumped.
There are hundreds of species of mushrooms in the class commonly referred to as magic mushrooms. Most are in the Psilocybe genus, and their hallucinogenic activity comes from a chemical called psilocybin.
This mushroom, Lanmaoa asiatica, is completely different. Only scientifically named in 2014, it contains no psilocybin, and scientists are still trying to isolate its active chemical compounds.
Though “new” to Western science, the mushroom has for a long time been well-known in the markets of the Chinese province of Yunnan. There, it is called “xiao ren ren” (“little people mushroom”).
When properly prepared, xiao ren ren is apparently delicious. But when undercooked, the mushroom is reported to reliably produce visions of “little people”.
According to Utah PhD researcher, Colin Domnauer, 96% of patients hospitalised in Yunnan for consuming undercooked xiao ren ren report seeing visions of the little people. The hallucinations have been dubbed “lilliputtian”.
“A prominent Daoist text from the 3rd century CE refers to a ‘flesh spirit mushroom,’” according to Domnauer. “If consumed raw, [it] allows one to ‘see a little person’ and ‘attain transcendence immediately.’”
What’s striking about this psychedelic is that its effects seem to be cross-cultural. Domnauer says that the “little-person” visions have been reported after consumption of Lanmaoa asiatica in the Philippines.
And in the Papuan highlands, they were reported too. An early explorer’s account has a highlander saying the little people would tease him, and he would try to chase them away.
So the Lanmaoa asiatica mushroom isn’t just a puzzle for mycologists and chemists. It’s also a puzzle for theorists. Since the 1960s, Westerners have understood the differing nature of psychedelic drugs’ effects as deriving from variance in “(mind)set and setting”, i.e., the mental state and context in which psychedelics are consumed.
The appearance of the “little people” suggests an altogether different dynamic at play.
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