There really is magic in those mushrooms
For years I have believed that everyone should experience, at least once, a full fledged mushroom trip. A 2006 study shows that the long term effects of such a trip are both profound and positive.
From Wired magazine:
For the 2006 study, Griffiths recruited 36 people who hadn’t previously taken the drug. Six were given a ritalin placebo, while the rest received 30 milligrams of pure psilocybin — a dose roughly equivalent to five grams of dried psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, though mushroom potency varies widely. Psilocybin works by activating serotonin receptors in the brain, though the precise neurological cascades have not yet been identified.
Volunteers took the dose under the guidance of two trained mentors, with the traditional laboratory setting scrapped in favor of a living room appointed with a comfortable couch, headphones and other spiritual journey aids.
At the time, the volunteers reported mystical experiences — typically described as a “sense of unity” — in which the confusion of the world and of competing value systems came together in a coherent whole. These were not described in recreational terms, but as profoundly meaningful spiritual events. Fourteen months later, over half reported substantial increases in life satisfaction and positive behavior, while no long-term negative effects were reported.
