A GABAergic Psychedelic: Amanita Muscaria

It’s the mushroom of fairy tales, ancient shamans, and old-world superstition—its red cap speckled with white spots as familiar in folklore as it is in fantasy. But Amanita muscaria, the so-called “fly agaric,” is more than visual mythology. It’s a psychoactive outlier. A neurochemical trickster. A pharmacological puzzle hiding in plain sight.

Native to both lowland and high-altitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere, A. muscaria thrives in the shaded symphony of coniferous forests—particularly under fir, black pine, birch, and beech. It typically emerges in late summer through autumn, glowing like a warning or invitation, depending on who you ask.

While its Western reputation has largely branded it “poisonous,” indigenous traditions, ancient linguistics, and modern psychonauts have long told a more nuanced story. And science is finally catching up.

A Brief Name with a Long Legacy

The name “fly agaric” stems from its traditional use as an insecticide—its compounds known to stun or kill flies when diluted in milk. In Catalan, it's known as reig bord or farinera borda; in English, its other alias is the “false oronge.”

But far more fascinating than its pest control properties is its cultural persistence. In Northern Asia, linguistic evidence from as far back as 4000 BCE suggests that the word for "intoxication" shares the same root as Amanita muscaria. In the Paleolithic caves of the Sahara, polychromatic rock art depicts what appear to be psychoactive mushrooms—likely muscaria—suggesting ritualistic use predating modern civilization.

In North America, the mushroom appears in the traditions of the Dogrib Athabascan tribes in Canada and the Ojibwa and Ahnishinaabeg peoples around the Great Lakes, where it was known as miskwedo. Usage persisted well into the 20th century.

And in 1730, Filip Johan von Strahlenberg, a Swedish military officer imprisoned in Siberia, wrote the first Western account of its use as an intoxicant among shamanic cultures. To this day, tribes such as the Ostyak, Vogul, Kamchadal, Koryak, and Chukchi continue to use A. muscaria in spiritual ceremonies.

Not Your Usual Psychedelic

What makes Amanita muscaria so unusual isn’t just its history—it’s how it works.

Unlike psilocybin, LSD, or DMT, which act primarily on serotonin (5-HT2A) receptors, Amanita muscaria relies on an entirely different neurological mechanism: the GABAergic system. Specifically, its effects come from muscimol, a potent GABA-A receptor agonist that induces sedation, altered proprioception, dream states, and at times, full dissociation.

Its Key Compounds Include:

• Ibotenic acid – a neuroexcitatory compound that converts to muscimol when dried; agonist at NMDA and AMPA receptors, structurally similar to glutamate.

• Muscimol – the primary psychoactive agent; sedative, hypnotic, and dissociative, often inducing lucid dreams or out-of-body experiences.

• Muscarine – present in small quantities; not responsible for psychoactive effects.

• Muscazone – mildly psychoactive; pharmacological role still uncertain.

These compounds create a trip that’s more hypnagogic than hallucinogenic, more shamanic trance than serotonin surge. Users report experiences that are often symbolic, subtly surreal, and nonlinear—an altered state that speaks in riddles rather than visions.

The Myth of Toxicity: Overstated and Oversimplified

For decades, Amanita muscaria was clumped with its truly deadly cousins—like Amanita phalloides—and painted with the same toxic brush. But this narrative doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.

What’s True:

• Raw ibotenic acid is problematic. It can cause nausea, confusion, tremors, or delirium—especially when consumed fresh or improperly prepared.

• Individual sensitivity varies widely.

What’s Not:

• It is not lethal at typical doses. Documented deaths are vanishingly rare and usually involve massive overdoses, misidentification, or unsafe combinations.

• Proper drying (around 80°C) significantly reduces ibotenic acid content and converts it to muscimol, making the experience more predictable and manageable.

In short, it’s not inherently dangerous—it’s misunderstood.

A Different Kind of Journey

The Amanita muscaria experience defies conventional psychedelic language. It’s not visual in the traditional sense. It doesn’t inspire cosmic downloads or fractal mandalas. Instead, it speaks to the body—altering proprioception, warping sense of size or movement, and ushering the mind into a liminal, dreamlike state.

Reported Effects:

• Body feels disproportionate, like shrinking or expanding

• Time becomes elastic or irrelevant

• Closed-eye visuals resemble dreams more than hallucinations

• Sleep-like sedation, yet accompanied by lucid awareness

• Emotional neutrality or gentle euphoria

• Mystical experiences with a detached, third-person perspective

This is not the domain of rave culture or open-eye kaleidoscopes—this is the realm of the shaman’s cave, the dreamer’s corridor, the liminal veil between waking and something else entirely.

Ancient Roots, Modern Reawakening

From reindeer who deliberately seek it out, to shamans who drink the muscimol-rich urine of those who’ve consumed it, Amanita muscaria has long been a bridge between dimensions—a natural pharmacology of altered states.

Its use today is quietly growing in ceremonial and therapeutic circles, particularly for individuals who don’t tolerate traditional serotonergic psychedelics. As researchers explore its anti-inflammatory, GABA-regulating, and sleep-promoting properties, the mushroom’s renaissance has begun—albeit more underground than mainstream.

Legal Status and Access

Unlike psilocybin-containing mushrooms, Amanita muscaria remains legal in most countries, including the United States, Canada, and most of Europe (with exceptions like Romania, Australia, and Thailand). This legal ambiguity, paired with its unique psychoactive mechanism, makes it accessible—but not necessarily easy to approach.

It is widely available in dried, capsule, and tincture form, though potency can vary dramatically between batches.

Responsible Use: Guidelines for the Curious and Cautious

1. Never consume fresh mushrooms. Always thoroughly dry to convert ibotenic acid to muscimol.

2. Start low—microdoses around 0.1–0.5g of dried mushroom are common for testing sensitivity.

3. Wait at least 2–3 hours before considering redosing.

4. Do not mix with alcohol, sedatives, or benzodiazepines.

5. Have a sober sitter present, especially during early explorations.

6. Keep a journal; symbolism and insight often come through in dreams or during sleep.

Conclusion: What If the Most Misunderstood Mushroom Was Also the Most Misrepresented?

Amanita muscaria defies every rule. It’s not serotonergic. It’s not recreational. It’s not reliably visual. And yet, it offers something rare in the world of psychoactive exploration: a glimpse into the liminal spaces between wakefulness and dream, control and surrender, consciousness and the collective unconscious.

In an era of clinical trials and standardized doses, perhaps it’s the unpredictability of A. muscaria that makes it sacred. A mushroom that asks not to be used, but to be met.

Not every medicine comes wrapped in ceremony or capped in psilocybin. Some, like this one, come from the forest floor—unassuming, iconic, and patiently waiting to be understood.