Why Does Psilo cybin Exist in Nature?

Psilocybin is the focus of much interest, and not just from folks looking for a natural pathway to spiritual awakening. Far from it, in fact—the compound has attracted the attention of the scientific and medical communities, psychologists, therapists, and, of course, law enforcement.

Fortunately for us studying, mushroom spores don’t contain psilocybin, no matter how potent the mature form of the fungi may be. This is the reasoning behind the fact that psilocybin mushroom spores are legal in all but three states in the US.

Proponents of psilocybin’s many benefits were recently vindicated in several groundbreaking ballot initiatives which we covered in detail here on The Psilocybe Philosophy in our blog post Washington, D.C. and Oregon Psilocybin Initiatives Approved: What it Means for You.

Guess what? I found out the hard way find there’s a lot they need to learn about, particularly if the spores they want to work with are from psilocybin-containing species.

With all the talk about psilocybin in the media lately, people have a lot of questions. Is it safe? Can it help treat Tinnitus? What about PTSD? Addiction? Advocates of the compound would tell you that yes, it can do all of those things and more.

However, there’s one question that people never seem to ask.

Why does psilocybin exist in the first place?

Why Magic Mushrooms Are Magical for Humans?

Scientists estimate that fungi have been around on planet Earth for some 1.5 billion years or so. That’s roughly 5-10 times longer than us humans have been here.

A few Mycologists even believe that mushrooms—including the kinds with psilocybin—may have had an integral part to play in our own evolution as humans. Notable proponents of the theory include its creator, the late, great Terence McKenna, and more recently, mycologist Paul Stamets.

Scientists also suspect that humans have been interacting with psychoactive mushrooms for at least 11,000 years. This, no doubt, is because psilocybin has such a profound effect on us as people.

“Psychonauts” who have explored this state of consciousness report experiencing a feeling of oneness with the world and people around them, and many believe that psilocybin mushrooms can offer a spiritual experience. In other words, the mushroom has something to teach them. This is why popular psilocybin mushroom spore strains have names like Golden Teacher.

Interestingly, the reason psilocybin causes these experiences in humans isn’t fully understood. We know that as a compound, psilocybin is similar to serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible for regulating our perception and emotional states. Psilocybin activates serotonin receptors in the prefrontal cortex. Recent research published by Johns Hopkins suggests that psilocybin influences the claustrum, a poorly understood region of the brain scientists believe controls the ego and our sense of awareness.

John Hopkin Psilocybin Playlist

Is there more to it than meets the eye? After all, ancient Mesoamerican cultures referred to psilocybin mushrooms as the divine flesh or flesh of the gods, and there’s a theory that mushrooms might literally be aliens from outer space (s’m not kidding).

But aside from all this, the question still remains: what’s the benefit of containing psilocybin for the fungi itself? Like most other evolutionary traits, the reason psilocybin exists is for the survival of the mushroom. And as we learned a moment ago, mushrooms have been here for a very long time indeed—plenty of time to perfect their methods of doing so.

Certain Species of Mushrooms Evolved to Contain Psilocybin For Their Own Survival

As it turns out, humans aren’t the only creatures that can be neurologically influenced by psilocybin—insects can too.

However, unlike us, insects don’t have a hallucinogenic response. Instead, they experience an appetite suppressing effect. If you’re a mushroom, that’s actually pretty convenient.

So, here’s how mycologists think it works: since psilocybin-containing fungi typically grow on things like mulch, decaying grass, leaves, and wood, and animal waste (feces), they have some competition for the nutrients in those places. Can you guess who?

Yes, we know that snails aren’t insects. They’re mollusks. Just roll with it, all right?

Right, insects. Specifically, invertebrates that eat wood and plant life, and some that even like to eat mushrooms. Basically, bugs are just as much of a pest to mushrooms as they are to us, if not more so—the insects want to eat the same food the fungi wants, and in some cases, to eat the fungi itself.

Except when one of these insects consumes a portion of a psilocybin-containing mushroom, it’s likely to find itself feeling less hungry, because psilocybin can suppress the neurotransmitter responsible for hunger. Not only does the insect stop eating the mushroom, but it’s also no longer interested in eating the surrounding nutrients the fungi need to survive.

Having said all this, there’s still some mystery to be found. We might understand why certain fungi contain psilocybin, the question still remains as to how so many species of fungi contain it. Scientists currently theorize that it must have to do with horizontal gene transfer between mushroom species, even though this process is very uncommon.

There are still so many questions to be answered about psilocybin as a compound as well as psilocybin-containing fungi—which is why psilocybin mushroom spores are so fun to study for amateur microscopists.

Interested in Researching Psilocybin Mushroom Spores for Yourself? Here’s How to Get Started

If this introduced more questions than answers, that’s because psilocybin research is still pretty much in its early stages. But I put it all in a nice package in this Course