Not just because of their seemingly mystical powers or because of their rich and storied history of use as medicine for both the mind and body, but because something as powerful as they are evolved naturally (as far as we know) around 10 or 20 million years ago, well before the human race even existed
Humans first discovered the mind-expanding power of psilocybe cubensis many thousands of years ago. Cave paintings from 9000 B.C. are believed to depict the use of magic mushrooms.
There is ample evidence beyond that showing cultures across the globe incorporating p. cubensis into their medical and spiritual practices. This evidence includes every civilization from the Ancient Greeks to the Ancient Egyptians to the Aztecs and Mayans and many more.
Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms have had a close and profound connection with humanity since the dawn of civilization, and perhaps even earlier than that.
However, the narrative regarding them was flipped in the middle of the 20th century, when their rising popularity with the 1960s hippie counterculture led to them being outlawed and listed as a Schedule 1 drug in America
What was once viewed as a sacred opportunity to lift the veil of everyday consciousness and peer into a world beyond the self became seen as a pastime for criminals and degenerates that supposedly only led to permanent madness, prison, or death.
Public perception of psilocybe cubensis remained relatively similar for about three decades, up until the late 1990s when research in European countries began to find some fascinating results.
A study from the University of Zurich determined that psilocybin can increase brain activity, leading to a boom in psychedelic research that has been steadily growing for the past two decades.
In 2018, doctors in America were given the ability to treat terminally ill patients with psychedelics, and the FDA granted “breakthrough therapy” status to psilocybin, opening the door for research into the therapeutic properties of the psychedelic compound.
This status was a tremendous leap forward for psychedelic research, and it may finally lead to humanity coming full circle on its relationship with psilocybin, from profound spiritual tool to hated dangerous drug back to the profound spiritual tool, only now with science to back it up.
Research in America and Europe aims to determine psilocybin’s ability to treat issues such as addiction, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, cluster headaches, and more. It’s also been shown to be effective in helping relieve the terminally ill from their fear of death.
Another fascinating medical benefit of psilocybin is its ability to sharpen memory and enhance one’s learning ability by stimulating brain cell growth. A study by the University of South Florida found that psilocybin binds with brain receptors and triggers the growth of new brain cells in mice.
These discoveries may bode well for researchers who are hopeful about psilocybin’s usefulness in treating chronic depression and PTSD.
As research into the power of psilocybin continues, hopefully public perception of magic mushrooms, and psychedelics in general, begins to come around to the truth that humans seem to have known for thousands upon thousands of years: this amazing fungus is here to help us.
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