Siberian Shamans have been known to use psychedelics to aid them on their journeys. One in particular is a mushroom known as Amanita muscaria or agaric. The Shaman's journey into the spirit world allows him to gain knowledge of other plains of consciousness. This is the foundation of the Shaman's power as it gives him the ability to communicate between this world and that of the spirit powers.
(http://www.russianlife.com/archive/article/params/Number/140/)
A. muscaria was widely used as an entheogen by many of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Its use was known among almost all of the Uralic-speaking peoples of western Siberia and the Paleosiberian-speaking peoples of the Russian Far East.
In western Siberia, the use of A. muscaria was restricted to shamans, who used it as an alternate method of achieving a trance state. (Normally, Siberian shamans achieve a trance state by prolonged drumming and dancing.) In eastern Siberia, A. muscaria was used by both shamans and laypeople alike, and was used recreationally as well as religiously.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria#Siberia)
to Siberian shamans Fly Agaric represents the focal point of their mysteries and the means to the experience of divine ecstasy, a trance-like state that enables them to fly into the world of their gods, battle with demons and obtain fantastic visions - just as it always has. It is this magical flight that is alluded to by the common name 'Fly Agaric', not, as has often been suggested, its alleged power to ward off flies, for which it is quite useless.
(http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/plantprofiles/flyagaric.php)
"The first known account is found in a journal written in 1658 by a Polish prisoner of war, who describes its use among the Ostyak of Western Siberia. The myths of many Siberian peoples contain fly-agaric themes. In many Finno-Ugric languages words meaning 'ecstasy', 'intoxication' and 'drunkenness' are traceable to names meaning fungus or fly-agaric. Among the Vogul peoples the consumption of the fly-agaric was restricted to sacred occasions, and it was abused on peril of death. To the Ugrian shaman it was as essential to his vocation as the drum. Among the Selkup it was believed that consumption of the fly-agaric by those who were not shamans could be fatal. Only some shamans among them used it; others preferred alternative methods of achieving spiritual ecstasy" (Rudgley 39).
(http://www.dhushara.com/book/twelve/tw4.htm)
The German ethnologist Enderli spent 2 years among the Chukchee and Koryaks of Eastern Siberia towards the latter part of the 19th century. During his stay he had an opportunity to witness first-hand one of these much fabled, mushroom induced trance sessions. According to his report the task of preparing the dried mushrooms fell to the women, who usually did not consume them themselves. After selecting a few suitable specimen they began to chew them thoroughly so as to make them pliable and moist. They then took them out of their mouths, rolled them into sausage shapes, and gave them to the two men who proceeded to place them deep down their throats and swallow them whole. After the fourth mushroom had been ingested in this manner the first effects began to show. The men started to tremble and twitch as though they had lost control of their muscles. Their eyes took on a wild glow, quite unlike the glazed look of alcohol inebriation, though the men apparently remained fully conscious throughout this phase. The agitation increased until they suddenly fell into a trance-state and began to sing monotonously in low voices. Gradually their chanting became louder and wilder till they had worked themselves into a frenzy, their eyes glaring wildly, shouting incomprehensible words and both of them going quite literally 'berserk'. They demanded their (ritual) drums, which the women brought immediately. At once they began a wild, unbelievably frenetic dance accompanied by equally wild and ear-shattering drumming, yelling and singing while both men ran about the yurt in a manic fury which left nothing untouched. Everything was thrown about, kicked over and turned upside down until the place was in a state of total chaos. Eventually, almost as if struck dead, both of them collapsed exhaustedly and fell into a deep sleep.
For the shaman this phase is the most important aspect of his exhausting ritual. It is in this trance-like sleep that the gateway to the 'Other-World' is opened, and he experiences vivid, even lucid dreams and ecstatic visions, often of a strongly sexual and sensual nature. In this state he can diagnose the causes of diseases, determine the whereabouts of lost objects, retrieve lost souls, fight with demonic forces or gleam visions of things to come. This otherworldly state however, does not last long. After about half an hour of sleep the shaman briefly awakes to full consciousness but soon the inebriation sets in once more and continues in gradually weakening cycles of excitement, frenzy, exhaustion and sleep.
Among the Koryak the mushroom was prepared by several different methods, the commonest of which was the one described above. On occasion though they boiled the fungi to cook a mushroom soup - though this is said to reduce its potency and thus more mushrooms were needed. Sometimes dried mushrooms were soaked in distilled Bilberry juice - obviously a fairly modern method since distillation only arrived in Siberia in the 1500. Occasionally they were mixed with the juice of Willow-Herb. No research is known to have investigated the possible synergistic action of this combination. Medicinally it was used for 'psychophysical fatigue' and for bites of venomous snakes. (Saar, 1991) It was also applied externally to treat joint ailments (Moskalenko, 1987). In Afghanistan a fly agaric smoking mixture known as tshashm baskon ('eye opener') is used for psychosis (Mochtar & Geerken, 1979). In Western medicine Fly Agaric serves as a well known homeopathic remedy, used for tics, epilepsy and depression, and in conjunction with homeopathic Mandrake tincture, is used to treat Parkinson disease. (Villers & Thümen 1893, Waldschmidt 1992).
However, people who have subjected themselves to self-experimentation often report visions of gnomes, not unlike those found in the suburban gardens mentioned above. These reports parallel mushroom lore from Siberia, which tells of ‘mushroom-men’, small stocky, sometimes neckless beings, who move swiftly and lead the shaman on his journey to the 'Other-World'. This curious lore is substantiated by a number of Siberian cliff drawings that strongly resemble descriptions of these Fly-Agaric men. The number of these little men is said to correspond with the number of mushrooms consumed, which is why the Yurak always take 2 ½ mushrooms. They say, that the 2 ½ mushroom men run ahead along convoluted paths, and the shaman can only keep up with them because the half man runs more slowly.
(http://www.sacredearth.com/ethnobotany/plantprofiles/flyagaric.php)
"Ancient peoples, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland, and the Koyak tribes of the central Russian steppes, believed in the idea of a World Tree. The World Tree was seen as a kind of cosmic axis onto which the planes of the universe are fixed. The roots of the World Tree stretch down into the underworld, its trunk is the 'middle earth' of everyday existence, and its branches reach upwards into the heavenly realm.
"Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi-nomadic people, as the reindeer provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the mushroom; they will seek it out, then prance about while under its influence. Often the urine of tripped-out reindeer would be consumed for its psychedelic effects.
"The effects of the A. muscaria usually include sensations of size distortion and flying. The feeling of flying could account for the legends of flying reindeer and legends of shamanic journeys included stories of winged reindeer, transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the World Tree.
(http://nmazca.com/3142857/2007/12/santa-as-shaman-and-how-reindeer-took.htm)
The Inuit tribes have a deeply-rooted Shamanistic culture, and had highly developed methods for initiating new shamans, such as various forms of isolation and self-denial, such as fasting, solitary confinement, celibacy, dietary and purity restrictions, and protracted prayer. Igjugarjuk, a Caribou Inuit shaman, claims to have been isolated by his mentor in a small snow hut where he fasted and meditated in the cold, drinking only a little water twice, for thirty days. After his initiatory vision, which was brought on by the consumption of the Amanita muscaria mushroom, he continued a rigorous regime involving a special diet and celibacy:
"Frequently a candidate will gain shamanic powers during a visionary experience in which he or she undergoes some form of death or personal destruction and disintegration at the hands of divine beings, followed by a corresponding resurrection or reintegration that purges and gives a qualitatively different life to the initiate. For example, a Caribou Inuit initiate named Igjugarjuk, in his long and arduous initiatory vision, was at one point reduced to a skeleton and then was 'forged' with a hammer and anvil. Autdaruta, another Inuit initiate, had a vision in which he was eaten by a bear and then was vomited up, having gained power over the spirits." - James R. Davila, "Hekhalot Literature and Mysticism"
(http://www.amanitashop.com/amanitas-inuit.htm)
The Koryaks live in the central part of Kamchatka in villages separated by forest and tundra, and reachable by us only by helicopter.
Tatiana Urkachan, is a shaman or tribal healer, living in the town of Palana. Tatiana told us that she was a 7th generation shaman, and that what she knew about healing had come to her by being passed down through the ages. The Koryaks use this mushroom in a variety of ways, including administering it to their old people to insure their sleep at night and their energy during the day. Tatiana, the Even shaman, uses this mushroom externally as a poultice to treat patient wounds, as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic, and internally (by herself) as a device to allow her to visit the spirit world to seek, for example, the cure for an illness (physical, mental, or spiritual), or the place where a successful hunt could occur.
In Kamchatka, one birch in particular, the endemic Betula ermanii, is believed to be the pathway between the world we know, the upper world, and the underworld: a ladder is sometimes made of birch wood to give the shaman a visual means by which to ascend or descend in the shaman’s journey to effect a cure, offer protection from evil spirits, or secure a successful hunt. [When we tried to present the Koryaks with a gift of dried Amanita muscaria from Colorado, not only would they not accept it, but they told us they would not even use Amanita muscaria from the mainland, just a few miles across the Sea of Okhotsk. They only use the fly-agaric associated with their local birch tree, which they regard as sacred, all others being profane,] The Koryaks who use Amanita muscaria do not use any alcoholic beverages, such as vodka.
The fly-agaric mushroom is gathered by the young and middle-aged Koryaks in the summer and early fall and dried for use during the winter months primarily by the elderly. It is also used by villagers during feast times, to celebrate the end of a hunting/gathering season, or a wedding. It is eaten dried or soaked in blueberry juice and drunk with the juice. One to three mushroom caps are usually consumed at a time, and there are no reported side effects when taken in this way. Excessive numbers of mushrooms eaten, or mushrooms eaten by people who also drink alcohol, such as vodka, are known to cause 24 hour poisonings.
Elsewhere, Richard Evans Schultes has reported the use of Amanita muscaria by shamans of the Dogrib Athabascan peoples of the Mackenzie Mountain range in north-western Canada. The Creation stories of the native peoples of Alaska and western Canada have much in common with those of the Kamchatka peninsula. They both use animal myths, often involving the Raven or Coyote, often referred to as Trickster Gods, in shape-shifting stories, to account for the appearance of human beings and the cunning needed to develop the skills to find and cook food – and survive.
(http://www.nemf.org/files/various/muscaria/part2.html)
"Tatiana is the 72 year old 7th generation shaman, a member of the Evin tribe in the town of Palana. She escaped the Stalinist purge which virtually wiped out the Evin & Koryak shamans and their ancient traditional use of mukhomor (now only the very elderly use mukhomor, while the young have been seduced with vodka). Tatiana is described in Shaman magazine (Spring or Summer 1996).
TATIANA's TEACHINGS - from notes of my August, 1994 Kamchatka trip:
Preparation:
Pick lone A. muscaria mushrooms, not ones in a family. Smaller ones (with open caps/veils) are stronger. Dry in the shade, preferably with a breeze, cap side up. Dig with fingers, use no knives.
Journeying:
Ingest dried mushrooms in odd numbers (3, 5, or parts of 3 or 5 mushrooms). Drink water. If you take a lot, you'll be in a state of lethargy. Tell your family not to bother you for hours, a day, three days, a year. (Tatiana, because of her 7th generation shamanic status, is in a permanent state of journeying and doesn't use Mukhomor for this purpose. She says that she can control ingestors by communicating with the mushroom inside of them.)
Medicinal Uses:
Three small fresh pieces of mukhomor good for sore throat and cancer. For arthritis: Place several young A Muscaria into an airtight container. Put container into a cool dark place (like a basement) until liquid comes out of mushrooms. Take a mushroom in hand, squeeze out moisture and place the pulp on arthritis. Bandage overnight. Mushroom body can be replaced in liquid and will last a long time." - (Visit to Kamchatka (Tatiana's Teachings) the Siberian Muscaria & Telluride Muscaria by Carter/Jo Norris)
(http://www.iamshaman.com/amanita/wapaq.htm)
A koryak legend tells us that the culture hero, Big Raven, caught a whale but was unable to put such a heavy animal back into the sea. The god Vahiyinin (Existence) told him to eat wapaq spirits to get the strength that he needed. Vahiyinin spat upon the earth, and little white plants--the wapaq spirits--appeared: they had red hats and Vahiyinin's spittle congealed as white flecks. When he had eaten wapaq, Big Raven became exceedingly strong, and he pleaded, "O wapaq, grow forever on the earth." Whereoon he commended his people to learn what wapaq could teach them. Wapaq is the Fly Agaric, a gift directly from Vahiyinin." - (Plants of the Gods – Richard Evans Shultes, Albert Hofmann)
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