Fly agaric

Amanita muscaria

The well-known red mushroom with white spots. Contains ibotenic acid and muscimol, which act on the brain. Causes nausea, muscle twitching, confusion, a dreamlike state and sometimes deep sleep. Drying partly converts ibotenic acid into the stronger muscimol.

Safety notes

Poisonous: can cause vomiting, seizures, delirium and unconsciousness, especially in children. Fatal poisonings are rare, but the related panther cap and death cap are far more dangerous and are confused with it. Since 1 December 2008 the fly agaric has been on List II of the Opium Act. This information describes traditional use and is no encouragement or advice. Use is at your own risk; the makers of this site are not responsible for the consequences. Never alone, never together with alcohol, other drugs or medicines, not in pregnancy, with heart disease or mental illness (also in the family), and do not drive. In an emergency call 112.

Cautions by tradition (1)

Home, kitchen and folk use: Poisonous and easily confused with deadly amanitas. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.

Preparation

Peoples in Siberia such as the Chukchi, Koryak and Kamchadal ate the mushroom dried in the sun or over a fire, sometimes in reindeer milk or with berry juice. They also drank the urine of someone who had eaten it, because muscimol is excreted unchanged. The amount of active substances varies greatly by mushroom and season.

Use in traditions

In 1730 the Swedish officer Philip Johan von Strahlenberg, who had been a prisoner of war in Siberia, described its use there. The name comes from the old custom of putting the mushroom in a saucer of milk to stun flies. In the late 1960s R. Gordon Wasson argued that the fly agaric was the soma of the Indian Rig Veda; this has never been proven and many researchers doubt it, as they doubt links with the berserkers and Santa Claus.

Applications

Use by tradition

How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.

Home, kitchen and folk use

Attributed effects

By shamans in Siberia for a dreamlike state; in Europe as a fly trap.

Preparation and amount

Eaten dried in Siberia, sometimes in reindeer milk or berry juice; in Europe put in a saucer of milk against flies.

Caution: Poisonous and easily confused with deadly amanitas. Use at your own risk; never alone and not with medicines. Illegal in the Netherlands.

Sources

All herbs from Europe →