29/12/2022
From day 4 of the NAMA Instagram takeover
Fair fortune finds you my fungal friends on the fourth day of the takeover!
I’m sure some of us are familiar with various fungi-related theories by respected professionals in their fields as well as unknown and opinionated individuals alike on the “stoned ape” theory of the likes of the McKenna brothers and John Allegros (outlined in his book “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross”) et al, but today I’d like to touch on an aspect of both, though at the same time, a new perspective of my own..
We live in a time where shamanic usage of psychoactive mushrooms along with the burgeoning new legal clinical usage is being utilized with many disparate opinions as to the viability and safety of them. I put forward a simple word I came to learn of recently which I believe most aptly describes psychoactivity in the compound (which from Greek Roots means roughly “To become possessed of God”) and I hope to see this terminology increase in usage someday, possibly replacing the stigmatized terms “hallucinogenic” or “psychedelic” thanks to the demonization of the "War on Drugs" and the backlash of TimothyLeary and his "beatnik" compatriots' anti-establishment stance.. Along that somewhat increasingly parallel mentality, application and verbiage. This leads me to posit my own theoretical assumptions on this entire subject and What I refer to as the “Lightning Callers Theory”.
In some of the earliest pre Vedic Hinduism texts, a bolt of lightning was hurled to the Earth and up from the land it struck a mushroom grew and from it sprouted the God that is referenced as “Soma '' , A literal God upon the Earth, as well as the name of the sacred substance of intoxication of the gids themselves, but I’d like to focus for now on the second part of this, that of the Lightning itself and how fungi contribute to the process of lightning and storms themselves. A Japanese study has shown when controlled electric currents are passed into inoculated substrate it increases rate of growth and yield substantialy! Here’s the basic idea:
If you can see mushrooms or mycelium anywhere on the roots or other places on any tree, the chances that the tree has been completely inoculated and has no chance of being able to have that fungus removed is essentially slim to none. Fungi are a natural part of the life cycle of trees, plants, and all other living things on earth and are the reason organic material is able to decompose and return to the soil to feed the next generation of life.
It has been proven that fungal spores travel all the way up to the troposphere, where they can beckme the nuclei for condensation and cloud formation.
These clouds may become storm cells and as the ionic charge builds in them until, from above, they begin to seek the negative ionic discharge which is shown to be produced by Mycellial networks below.
Due to this buildup, the eventual ionic discharge of electrical energy discharges as lightning. Hence why lightning strikes from below to above meeting in the middle on high speed photography. It is also suggested that not only do trees act as a natural form of “lightning rods”, but trees inoculated by fungi may be more prone to being struck by lightning than others.
When the tree is struck by the lightning, it inevitably will be damaged or destroyed, meaning that the process of the decomposition cycle has been not only ensured, but has been expedited, therefore, it is easy to posit that the fungal sporulation creating this opportunity to allow and encourage this cycle could very well be a willful act being made to occur intentionally!
Essentially, when you think of it you wouldn't want to think about it as going from the roots of a tree all the way up when your job is to decompose and recycle it but if you could bring it to the ground and do it all at once make your job more efficient which is one thing fungi are prolifically known for.
Thusly I propose "The Lightning Callers Theory."
Follow for more in depth future theories and more to come!
