Psilocybin mushrooms – “Magic mushrooms”

Psilocybin mushroom
“Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as psychedelic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic group of mushrooms that contain the psychedelic compounds psilocybin, psilocin and baeocystin. Common colloquial terms include magic mushrooms and shrooms. They are used mainly as an entheogen and recreational drug whose effects can include euphoria, altered thinking processes, closed and open-eye visuals, synesthesia, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences. … Over 100 species are classified in the genus Psilocybe. Psilocybin mushrooms may have been used since prehistoric times. They are possibly depicted in Stone Age rock art in Europe and Africa, and have a history of use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Many cultures have used these mushrooms in their religious rites and ceremonies. … In 1956 Roger Heim identified the psychoactive mushroom that the Wassons had brought back from Mexico as Psilocybe, and in 1958, Albert Hofmann first identified psilocybin and psilocin as the active compounds in these mushrooms. Inspired by the Wassons’ Life article, Timothy Leary traveled to Mexico to experience psilocybin mushrooms firsthand. Upon returning to Harvard in 1960, he and Richard Alpert started the Harvard Psilocybin Project, promoting psychological and religious study of psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs. After Leary and Alpert were dismissed by Harvard in 1963, they turned their attention toward promoting the psychedelic experience to the nascent hippie counterculture. The popularization of entheogens by Wasson, Leary, authors Terence McKenna and Robert Anton Wilson, and others has led to an explosion in the use of psilocybin mushrooms throughout the world. By the early 1970s, many psilocybin mushroom species were described from temperate North America, Europe, and Asia and were widely collected. …”
Wikipedia
W – List of psilocybin mushroom species
Guardian: Is it safe to take magic mushrooms?
The Essential Guide To Psilocybin Mushrooms