Fly-Agaric
This section is about the use of the Fly-Agaric mushroom, for medicinal and spiritual use, by the Celtic and Pre-Celtic people of Ireland. This is probably the most well known fungi because of it's association with the fairy folk, was a very important fungi to the Druids of the Celtic tribes. It was referred to as the 'Flesh of the gods', or 'Food of the Gods' because they believed that they were in direct communication with the Earth and the Universe when they consumed this Fungi. Although all the Celtic people consumed Liberty-caps, the Fly-Agaric was usually only taken by the Druids and other magic users. It was considered too powerful for those not trained in the higher levels of the mind.
This Fungus contains some very powerful psychotropic compounds. These fungi are the fruit of an Organism that can live to be thousands of years old. Most of this organism is the root system with only the fruit being seen here in the photos. The fruit of this organism is well known but few realise the fruit found over a certain area will usually all be from the one organism.
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2 comments:
Interesting.
I heard it say the Saami used an interesting, albeit a slightly digusting method for processing the fruit in historical times. They let a choice reindeer eat the fruit and collected its urine, which the Noaídi (shaman) drank for Shamanic purposes, using the psychotropic properties of the mushroom. It might as well be that the Celtic red-and-white iconography or Kenning for the otherworld may be referring to that mushroom.
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