Psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics are coming back into favor after several decades of war, which was aimed at them in the 1960s. As a result of negative public opinion and the lack of support from politicians, research in this area has been very difficult, probably wasting the therapeutic potential of these compounds for many years. Today, however, we will look into slightly more distant times – what was the role of psilocybin and other psychedelics in human life thousands of years ago and why did psilocybin come into being in nature and what could its path of evolution have looked like?
Ancestors of psilocybin mushrooms
Studies suggest that Agaricales mushrooms (order Agaricae, fleshy mushrooms with gills, such as Psilocybe) appeared on the planet about 90 million years ago in the mid-Cretaceous. The alkaloid psilocybin in the family Inocybeaceae, belonging to the order Agaricales, appears in the Miocene, between 10 and 20 million years ago. It is likely that the period of psilocybin’s appearance in the Psilocybe family also falls around this time. [1]
However, there are some doubts. There are 3 theories about the spread of psilocybin mushrooms around the world:
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- They spread via land bridges (a strip of land connecting two continents or landmasses) when this was still possible. [1]
- Their evolutionary ancestors spread before the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, which is why we see unique species of psilocybin mushrooms on different continents. [1]
- Long-distance dispersal of spores, assuming that spores can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers by wind. Therefore, the presence of Psilocybe in Africa and Europe may be more recent, coinciding with the appearance of psilocybin in other genera of the order Agaricales around 10–20 million years ago. [1]
What is the natural role of psilocybin in nature?
Although our species has found uses for psilocybin mushrooms in religious ceremonies, medicine, and recreation, psilocybin was supposed to have played a different role in evolution. Studies suggest that it played a defensive role in the mushrooms, protecting them from insects and invertebrates. This is suggested by the hypothesis that the neuroactive properties of this substance act as a repellent. Damage to the mushrooms results in the production of a blue pigment related to psilocin, and the products of its decomposition are supposed to have toxic effects. [2]
In addition, the appearance of psilocybin in unrelated mushroom lineages may be evidence of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between them and indicate that psilocybin played an important adaptive role in the environment. If the substance could provide evolutionary benefits, the ability to biosynthesize it arose independently in different species, enabling survival in similar ecological niches, such as the decomposition of dead organic matter. [2]
As such, the psychoactive effects in humans seem to be an accidental side effect—psilocybin evolved to affect the nervous systems of insects or other animals, not humans, who were not its targets. [2]
It is difficult to determine how long ago, or even if, psychedelics accompanied young, developing civilizations, much less prehistoric peoples. There is also a lively debate among scientists on which continents psilocybin mushrooms occurred naturally and to which they were introduced.
Use of psychedelics – the oldest reports [3]
The oldest written evidence of ritual Psilocybe consumption comes from Mesoamerica, where a 16th-century Mixtec codex depicts a ceremony in which deities consume sacred mushrooms before dawn. Although there is speculation about psilocybin’s use outside of Mesoamerica, these paintings provide clear evidence of its importance in the culture of the region before colonization. Despite prohibitions by the Spanish Inquisition, the tradition of consuming these mushrooms survived and is still practiced by numerous ethnic groups in Mexico, where 57 species of Psilocybe have now been described, 44 of which are still used in rituals.
There are also other sources of information that may indicate much earlier human contact with psychedelic compounds, and while they are not as official as those of the Mixtec people, they still strongly reference the symbolism associated with psychedelics.
Examples include the widespread use of cave paintings, such as those in northern Australia dating from around 10,000 BC, and in Spain, where depictions of magic mushrooms date back to around 4000 BC. This suggests that psychedelics have long been an important part of the human experience, helping to connect with transcendence, spirituality, and nature.
Psilocybin in Central American Cultures
One of the most interesting examples of psilocybin use is in the rituals of the Aztecs, Maya, and Toltecs. Known as Teonanácatl (which translates as “flesh of the gods”), these mushrooms were a central element of religious ceremonies. The Aztecs believed that psilocybin came from the serpent god Quetzalcoatl, the creator of life. With it, they could communicate with the gods, obtain prophetic visions, and also cure illness and numb pain. Unfortunately, after the Spanish conquest, the use of magic mushrooms was banned and had to go underground.
Siberia and reindeer
In Siberia, psilocybin had its own specific place in the culture of the indigenous tribes. There, Amanita Muscaria (red fly agarics) became popular and were used for rituals and visions. An interesting aspect is the observation that reindeer also consumed these mushrooms, and people sometimes drank their urine to prolong the psychoactive effects.
Ancient Egypt and Greece
In ancient Egypt, psychedelic mushrooms were seen as a gift from the god Osiris and were called “food of the gods.” They were used only for religious purposes, reserved for priests and aristocrats. In ancient Greece, during the mysterious ceremonies of the Eleusinian Mysteries, potions containing psychedelics were consumed, which according to some historians, was intended to achieve enlightenment and unity with the deities. The secrecy of these ceremonies was so closely guarded that revealing the details was punishable by death.
“Stoned Ape” – theory of human evolution [4]
Psilocybin even has its own theory, which claims to be a key to the transformation of our primitive ancestors into modern humans.
The theory was developed by Terence McKenny, who suggested that at the end of the last Ice Age, as the jungles of North Africa began to give way to open grasslands, our primitive tree-dwelling ancestors abandoned their habitats in favor of a life on the plains. In their new environment, their diet changed, and one of its components became psilocybin-containing mushrooms, which grew in the excrements of grazing ungulates.
Psilocybin, according to McKenny, had varying effects depending on the dose consumed. In small amounts, it improved visual perception, in moderate amounts led to increased sexual activity, and in large doses, it caused hallucinations and glossolalia (spontaneous production of speech-like sounds). McKenna argued that these properties of psilocybin gave an evolutionary advantage to tribes that incorporated the mushrooms into their diet.
The effects of this substance on primates may have been significant. McKenna suggested that synesthesia, or the combining of different senses (e.g., ascribing visual images to sounds), induced by psilocybin may have played a key role in the emergence of spoken language. With this ability, our ancestors could use sounds to create images in the minds of other members of the tribe, which increased communication skills and supported the development of society.
However, around 12,000 years ago, climate change began to limit the availability of psilocybin mushrooms, which had a profound effect on human development. McKenna believed that the disappearance of these mushrooms from the diet could have led to the return of brutal social structures that had previously been mitigated by regular psilocybin consumption.
McKenna’s theories, although controversial and difficult to verify, open up a field of reflection on the influence of psychedelic substances on the evolution of our species.
Literautre:
[1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12231-016-9342-2
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614622000095