Panther Caps

Cluster 9 Fly Agaric, Panther Caps and "Soma, the colorful, fascinating, sometimes frightful, legendary mushrooms that have been used shamanically and may, as "Soma, have provoked "the religious idea in homo sapiens (R. Gordon Wasson)... 

Psilocybin and psilocin molecules are the primary psychedelic agents in the psychoactive mushrooms known so far, but four related molecules may in some way contribute to the mental effects. The term "psilocybian mushrooms has been proposed to include all of the dozens of species containing psilocybin it will be used in that sense here. Quite distinct isoxazolic molecules are present in the Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric) and Amanita pantherina (Panther Caps) mushroom species, which are said by some people to create psychedelic states. 

The Fly Agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) was the earliest fungi species recognized as having psychoactive potential. It was used by shamans in Siberia and in an area along the eastern part of the U.S.-Canadian border and may have inspired the world s earliest religious text, the Rig-Veda. Panther Caps (Amanita pantherina) contain psychoactive principles similar to those in Fly Agarics, which are drawn here about half natural size. 

Fly Agaric and Panther Caps will grow only in "mycorrhizal relationship with just a few trees—the birch, larch, fir, pine and oak. A symbiotic association between the root cells of these trees (living or dead) and the fungus mass of underground filaments is necessary if the mushroom is to sprout. "Where these trees are not, Wasson writes, "neither does fly-agaric grow. ... 

After Wasson stirred interest in Fly Agaric, it didn t take long for people to notice that its close relative, the Panther Cap, also has psychoactive effects. The cap for this species comes in yellowish to grayish brown. Like the Fly Agaric, it is usually covered by prominent white "warts (remains of the "veil that encloses it when young). 

The stem of A. pantherina bears a large, lacy ring, or "collar. Appearing at its base is this species most important distinguishing feature—two or three layers or hoops of tissue attached to the stem (other remnants of the veil, left over from when the stem expands). The Panther Cap, like the Fly Agaric, can be found throughout woodlands—under trees or near stumps. The spores of both are white, so a "spore print should be taken on dark paper. 

Amanita pantherina, the Panther Cap, is a close relative that contains the same psychoactive components as Fly Agaric. 

Reports on the experience of Fly Agaric and Panther Cap mushrooms are fairly rare but seem to indicate that somatic sensations vary considerably, a result of dosage differences, the time of year when they are picked (effects seem to decline at the end of the season) and whether they have been dried. The First Book of Sacraments, from the Church of the Tree of Life, summarizes the effects brought about by ingestion of Fly Agaric ... 

After witnessing a considerable number of Fly Agaric and Panther Cap experiences, Jonathan Ott agrees, but he urges potential users to start with no more than V4-V2 cup of chopped or sautded material. Here are other warnings from Ott ... 

Fly Agaric and Panther Cap specimens should be dried before ingestion. This is best done on a drying rack or by suspending them on a wire and leaving them in the sunlight until they resemble those pictured above. Properly dried, these mushrooms retain their psychoactivity for at least a year without marked diminution in potency. 

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