Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe1

  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe. The role of altered states of consciousness in the production of geometric and figurative art by prehistoric cultures in Africa and Europe has been hotly debated. Helvenston and Bahn have tried to refute the most famous hypothesis, Lewis-Williams’ neuropsychological model, by claiming that appropriate visual hallucinations required the ingestion of LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline, while arguing that none of these compounds were available to the cultures in question. We present here mycological arguments that tell another story. A prehistoric worldwide distribution of the mushroom genus Psilocybe, and therefore of psilocybin, is supported by the existence of endemic species in America, Africa, and Europe, the disjunct distribution of sister species, and the possibility of long-distance spore dispersal. It is more difficult to point to instances of actual prehistoric ritual use in Africa and Europe, but there are a growing number of suggestive findings.

Sobre el Origen del Género Psilocybe y su Uso Ritual Potencial en África y Europa Antiguas. El papel de los estados alterados de conciencia en la producción de arte geométrico y figurativo por culturas prehistóricas en África y Europa ha sido fuertemente debatido. Helvenston y Bahn han tratado de refutar la hipótesis más famosa, el modelo neuropsicológico de Lewis-Williams, al afirmar que las alucinaciones visuales apropiadas requieren la ingestión de LSD, psilocibina o mezcalina, al mismo tiempo que sostienen que ninguno de estos compuestos estaba disponible para las culturas en cuestión. Presentamos aquí argumentos micológicos que cuentan una historia diferente. La distribución prehistórica mundial del hongo del género Psilocybe, y por ende de la psilocibina, es apoyada por la existencia de especies endémicas en América, África y Europa, por la distribución disyunta de especies hermanas, y por la posibilidad de dispersión de esporas a larga distancia. Es más difícil señalar ejemplos de uso ritual prehistórico reales en África y en Europa, pero hay un número creciente de hallazgos sugerentes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figs. 1–2
Fig. 3
Figs. 4–5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Akers, B. P., J. F. Ruiz, A. Piper, and C. A. P. Ruck. 2011. A prehistoric mural in Spain depicting neurotropic Psilocybe mushrooms? Economic Botany 65:121–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bahn, P. G. 1988. Comments. Current Anthropology 29:217–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2010. Prehistoric rock art: Polemics and progress. Cambridge University Press, New York.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bednarik, R. G. 1990. On neuropsychology and shamanism in rock art. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 31(1):77–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berlant, S. R. 2005. The entheomycological origin of Egyptian crowns and the esoteric underpinnings of Egyptian religion. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 102:275–288.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borovička, J. 2008. The wood-rotting bluing Psilocybe species in Central Europe––An identification key. Czech Mycology 60(2):173–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2011. Lysohlávka lesní, Psilocybe silvatica, záhadný druh evropské mykoflóry [Psilocybe silvatica, a mysterious species of European mycoflora]. Mykologický sborník 88:4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———, M. E. Noordeloos, M. Gryndler, and M. Oborník. 2011. Molecular phylogeny of Psilocybe cyanescens complex in Europe, with reference to the position of the secotioid Weraroa novae-zelandiae. Mycological Progress 10:149–155. doi:10.1007/s11557-010-0684-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———, M. Oborník, J. Stříbrný, M. E. Noordeloos, L. A. Parra Sánchez, and M. Gryndler. 2015. Phylogenetic and chemical studies in the potential psychotropic species complex of Psilocybe atrobrunnea with taxonomic and nomenclatural notes. Persoonia 34:1–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bressloff, P. C., J. D. Cowan, M. Golubitsky, P. J. Thomas, and M. C. Wiener. 2002. What geometric visual hallucinations tell us about the visual cortex. Neural Computation 14:473–491.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charters, A. D. 1957. Mushroom poisoning in Kenya. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 51:265–270.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clottes, J. and D. Lewis-Williams. 1998. The shamans of prehistory: Trance and magic in the painted caves. Harry N. Abrams, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crous, P. W., I. H. Rong, A. Wood, S. Lee, H. Glen, W. Botha, B. Slippers, W. Z. de Beer, M. J. Wingfield, and D. L. Hawksworth. 2006. How many species of fungi are there at the tip of Africa? Studies in Mycology 55:13–33.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cullinan, E. R., D. Henry, and R. W. Rayner. 1945. Fungus poisoning in Nairobi District. The Eastern Africa Medical Journal 22:252–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Froese, T. 2013. Altered states and the prehistoric ritualization of the modern human mind. Pages 10–21 in C. Adams, A. Waldstein, D. Luke, B. Sessa, and D. King, eds., Breaking convention: Essays on psychedelic consciousness. Strange Attractor, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2015. The ritualised mind alteration hypothesis of the origins and evolution of the symbolic human mind. Rock Art Research 32(1):90–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———, A. Woodward, and T. Ikegami. 2013. Turing instabilities in biology, culture, and consciousness? On the enactive origins of symbolic material culture. Adaptive Behavior 21(3):199–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———, ———, and ———. 2014. People in the Paleolithic could access the whole spectrum of consciousness: Response to Helvenston. Adaptive Behavior 22(4):282–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J., S. M. Burrows, Z. Xie, G. Engling, P. A. Solomon, M. P. Fraser, O. L. Mayol-Bracero, P. Artaxo, D. Begerow, R. Conrad, M. O. Andreae, V. R. Després, and U. Pöschl. 2012. Biogeography in the air: Fungal diversity over land and oceans. Biogeosciences 9:1125–1136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gartz, J. 1996. Magic mushrooms around the world, a scientific journey across cultures and time. The case for challenging research and value systems. Claudia Taake, trans. & ed. Los Angeles, California: Lis.

  • ———, D. A. Reid, M. T. Smith, and A. Eicker. 1995. Psilocybe natalensis sp. nov.—The first indigenous bluing member of the Agaricales of South Africa. Integration: Journal for Mind Moving Plants and Kultur 6:29–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geml, J., I. Timling, C. H. Robinson, N. Lennon, H. C. Nusbaum, C. Brochmann, M. E. Noordeloos, and D. L. Taylor. 2012. An arctic community of symbiotic fungi assembled by long-distance dispersers: Phylogenetic diversity of ectomycorrhizal basidiomycetes in Svalbard based on soil and sporocarp DNA. Journal of Biogeography 39:74–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzmán, G. 1983. The genus Psilocybe. Cramer, Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2002. A successful coincidence: The hallucinogenic mushrooms, the genus Psilocybe, the traditions and the development of mycology in Mexico. Pages 9–14 in J. E. Sánchez, G. Huerta, and E. Montiel, eds., Mushroom biology and mushroom products. Universidad Autónoma Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2005. Species diversity of the genus Psilocybe (Basidiomycotina, Agaricales, Strophariaceae) in the world mycobiota, with special attention to hallucinogenic properties. International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 7(1–2):305–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2009. The hallucinogenic mushrooms: Diversity, traditions, use and abuse with special reference to the genus Psilocybe. Pages 256–277 in J. K. Misra and S. K. Deshmukh, eds., Fungi from different environments. Science Publishers, Enfield, New Hampshire.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2012. New taxonomical and ethnomycological observations on Psilocybe s. s. (Fungi, Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetidae, Agaricales, Strophariaceae) from Mexico, Africa and Spain. Acta Botanica Mexicana 100:79–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— and M. L. Castro. 2003. Observations on some known species of Psilocybe (Basidiomycotina, Agaricales, Strophariaceae) from Spain and description of a new species. Boletín de la Sociedad Micológica de Madrid 27:181–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— and Z. L. Yang. 2010. A new species of a bluing Psilocybe from Asia (Basidiomycota, Agaricales, Strophariaceae). Sydowia 62(2):185–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———, J. W. Allen, and J. Gartz. 1998. A worldwide geographical distribution of the neurotropic fungi. An analysis and discussion. Annali dei Museo civico Rovereto 14:189–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———, S. C. Nixon, F. Ramírez-Guillén, and A. Cortés-Pérez. 2014. Psilocybe s. str. (Agaricales, Strophariaceae) in Africa with description of a new species from the Congo. Sydowia 66(1):43–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halling, R. E., T. W. Osmundson, and M. A. Neves. 2008. Pacific boletes: Implications for biogeogeographic relationships. Mycological Research 112:437–447.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Härkönen, M., T. Niemelä, and L. Mwasumbi. 2003. Tanzanian mushrooms. Edible, harmful and other fungi. Norrlinia 10:1–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helvenston, P. A. 2015a. Psilocybin-containing mushrooms, Upper Palaeolithic rock art and the neuropsychological model. Rock Art Research 32(1):84–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2015b. Suppositions of psilocybin-mushroom incorporation as the main driver of human cognitive and symbolic evolution. Rock Art Research 32(1):97–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— and P. G. Bahn. 2003. Testing the "Three Stages of Trance" model. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 13(2):213–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——— and ———. 2005. Waking the trance fixed. Wasteland, Shelbyville, Kentucky.

  • ——— and ———. 2005. Waking the trance fixed. Wasteland, Shelbyville, Kentucky.

  • ——— and ———. 2006. Archaeology or mythology? The "Three Stages of Trance" model and South African rock art. Cahiers de l'AARS 10:111–126.

  • Hibbett, D. S., D. Grimaldi, and M. J. Donoghue. 1997. Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes. American Journal of Botany 84:981–991.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson, D. 2006. Altered states of consciousness and palaeoart: An alternative neurovisual explanation. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 16(1):27–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kosentka, P., S. L. Sprague, M. Ryberg, J. Gartz, A. L. May, S. R. Campagna, and P. B. Matheny. 2013. Evolution of the toxins muscarine and psilocybin in a family of mushroom-forming fungi. PLoS ONE 8(5), e64646. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064646.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kupferschmidt, K. 2014. High hopes. Science 345:18–23.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Williams, D. 2002. The mind in the cave: Consciousness and the origins of art. Thames and Hudson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 2014. Comment on: Froese et al.: "Turing instabilities in biology, culture, and consciousness.". Adaptive Behavior 22:83–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——— and S. Challis. 2011. Deciphering ancient minds: The mystery of San Bushman rock art. Thames and Hudson, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— and T. A. Dowson. 1988. The signs of all times: Entoptic phenomena in Upper Paleolithic art. Current Anthropology 29:201–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ——— and D. Pearce. 2005. Inside the Neolithic mind: Consciousness, cosmos and the realm of the gods. Thames and Hudson, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumbsch, H. T., P. K. Buchanan, T. W. May, and G. M. Mueller. 2008. Phylogeography and biogeography of fungi. Mycological Research 112:423–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noordeloos, M. E. 2010. Strophariaceae s.l. Fungi Europeai no. 13. Candusso, Saronno, Italy.

  • Pearce, D. 2004. "Testing" and altered states of consciousness in Upper Paleolithic art research. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 14:82–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de. 1955 (1530). Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España. Acosta-Saignes, M., reimpressor. Alfa, Mexico City.

  • Samorini, G. 1999. Nuevas fronteras de la etnomicología. Pages 51–80 in J. M. Fericgla, ed., Los enteógenos y la ciencia, nuevas aportaciones científicas al estudio de las drogas. Los Libros de la Liebre de Marzo. Colección Cogniciones, Barcelona.

  • ——— 2001. Funghi allucinogeni, studi etnomicologici. Telesterion, Dozza, Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamets, P. 1996. Psilocybin mushrooms of the world: An identification guide. Ten Speed, Berkeley, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, J. W., J. Spatafora, K. O’Donnell, F. Lutzoni, T. James, D. S. Hibbett, D. Geiser, T. D. Bruns, and M. Blackwell. 2004. The fungi. Pages 171–194 in J. Cracraft and M. Donoghue, eds., Assembling the tree of life. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tibuhwa, D. D. 2012. Folk taxonomy and use of mushrooms in communities around Ngorongoro and Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 8:36. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-8-36.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vedcourt, B. and E. C. Trump. 1969. Common poisonous plants of East Africa. Collins, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasson, R. G., A. Hofmann, and C. Ruck. 1978. The road to Eleusis: Unveiling the secret of the mysteries. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitley, D. S. 2009. Cave paintings and the human spirit: The origin of creativity and belief. Prometheus Books, Amherst, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Tom Froese and Laura Guzmán-Dávalos dedicate this article to the memory of Gastón Guzmán, who sadly did not live to see its publication. Tom Froese was supported by UNAM’s PAPIIT (project number IA102415).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 20-126, San Ángel, DF, 01000, Mexico

    Tom Froese

  2. Instituto de Ecología, Apartado Postal 63, Xalapa, Ver., 91070, Mexico

    Gastón Guzmán

  3. Departamento de Botánica y Zoología, Universidad de Guadalajara, Apartado Postal 1–139, Zapopan, Jal., 45101, Mexico

    Laura Guzmán-Dávalos

Authors
  1. Tom Froese
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gastón Guzmán
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laura Guzmán-Dávalos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Guzmán-Dávalos.

Additional information

1Received 2 November 2015; accepted 17 April 2016.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Froese, T., Guzmán, G. & Guzmán-Dávalos, L. On the Origin of the Genus Psilocybe and Its Potential Ritual Use in Ancient Africa and Europe1 . Econ Bot 70, 103–114 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-016-9342-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-016-9342-2

Key Words

Search

Navigation