That said, the broad, overlapping cultural references are never less than fascinating.įLY AGARIC serves both an academic audience and nonacademic enthusiasts. Occasionally in these chapters, there’s a sense that authors are over-inferring the connection between myth and mushroom. Gordon Wasson’s 1968 publication “Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality.” Wasson’s seminal book explored the connections between Amanita and the sacred Soma mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit Rig Veda. Nearly half the book addresses cultural references to fly agaric, with many of the authors responding to R. Millman’s work, and the Salzman and Lincoff chapter on Kamchatka are especially compelling, as well as Ewa Maciejczyk’s chapter on Amanita muscaria chemistry. Similarly, the chapters on archaeological evidence by Carl de Borhegyi and Giorgio Samorini are excellent and well-documented.

They consider the Fungi from every angle: mushroom gathering, identification, and preparations the chemistry and physical reactions associated with its psychoactive properties and its extensive religious-mythic references from regions as diverse as Siberia and the Yucatán Peninsula.įeeney’s first section on mushroom hunting, Amanita basics, and Amanitas in North America is very strong. Feeney and his coauthors consider Amanita muscaria and its near relations. Over the course of 29 chapters in FLY AGARIC: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, and Exploration–many of which stand out for their careful scholarship and clarity–editor Kevin M.

Soma divine mushroom of immortality