Destroying Angel. Amanita possibly bisporgeria or virosa. I can't remember the region specific binomial. This little guy will give you food poisoning like symptoms for a few days. Followed by a recession period where you feel good again. After a few days of that, it will start inducing acute renal failure and a few days of agonizing pain before death. Such a beautiful mushroom
Not a bad haul for only a couple hours in the woods. Got some birch polypore and Amanita muscaria in the dehydrator for some teas and a gang of paw paws for some snacks and wine. Unfortunately, the honey mushrooms didn't make it through the night and got all soggy... Now is a beautiful and fruitful time in the Appalachians. Lots of mushrooms fruiting, fruit orchards are harvesting, hunting season is here. We've lived along side of this wilderness since our ancestors came here and it's our duty to honor, protect and, enjoy the world that they built for us. If you're not going outside, you're wrong.
Some cool toads, a milk snake, wine caps and, ovoids are back in for a brief fall season! We saw a big northern water snake too. He was too quick to catch though
“I used to do psychedelics a lot.
I thought they'd show me the secrets of the universe, tell me everything I needed to know and help me master my reality.
And they do,
But then you come down.
And then most of the time it amounts to little more than a strange ass vacation.
You're not really changed on a fundamental level.
Not one that will outlast a week or two anyway.
Because psychedelics are amazing for generating insights.
But if you don't know how to integrate those insights, then they fade away into memory, turning into something you technically know, but don't embody.
Which is worse than ignorance.
I'd rather be completely ignorant than under the delusion of wisdom I don't truly understand.
The ignorant can learn, the deluded cannot.
Ever met anybody who claimed to know the secrets of the universe.. but their life screams of their inability to apply them?
That's delusion.
Fact is, most people who get into psychedelics or even spirituality in general are attempting to escape, avoid or 'transcend' their humanity.
But if not grounded in humanity, what good is wisdom?
What good are blueprints if you can't build a house?
Even if you learned all the secrets of the universe, if you never dealt with the parts of yourself that are too afraid to use them...
Then who fucking cares?
Especially when a genuine attempt to master simply being a human, connects you to all the universal wisdom you'd ever need.
And it becomes applicable.
If you forego your humanity for spirit, you won't have either.
If you truly become human, spirit will find you.”
—Washington Irving
I thought they'd show me the secrets of the universe, tell me everything I needed to know and help me master my reality.
And they do,
But then you come down.
And then most of the time it amounts to little more than a strange ass vacation.
You're not really changed on a fundamental level.
Not one that will outlast a week or two anyway.
Because psychedelics are amazing for generating insights.
But if you don't know how to integrate those insights, then they fade away into memory, turning into something you technically know, but don't embody.
Which is worse than ignorance.
I'd rather be completely ignorant than under the delusion of wisdom I don't truly understand.
The ignorant can learn, the deluded cannot.
Ever met anybody who claimed to know the secrets of the universe.. but their life screams of their inability to apply them?
That's delusion.
Fact is, most people who get into psychedelics or even spirituality in general are attempting to escape, avoid or 'transcend' their humanity.
But if not grounded in humanity, what good is wisdom?
What good are blueprints if you can't build a house?
Even if you learned all the secrets of the universe, if you never dealt with the parts of yourself that are too afraid to use them...
Then who fucking cares?
Especially when a genuine attempt to master simply being a human, connects you to all the universal wisdom you'd ever need.
And it becomes applicable.
If you forego your humanity for spirit, you won't have either.
If you truly become human, spirit will find you.”
—Washington Irving
It's no secret that I use medicinal mushrooms. I don't advocate their use for everyone though. This quote above really sets it in. Using medicinals to better yourself is a very real and powerful tool given to us by the Gods but, it's not a black and white thing. You absolutely will not better yourself through blasting dmt or taking 5 hits of acid at some bullshit dubstep rave or hippy festival. In my experience from my early days, that can actually cause more harm than good. The progress comes from introspective use. Meditation. Self awareness. Family. You need to recognize your issues and meditate on them before you take your journey. Determine what you're looking for before you begin your search. Often, my wife and I take our kids out on hikes specifically to forage medicine. We get exercise, we learn about nature, we learn about each other, we laugh. We spend time as a family. We come home and learn to preserve what we've found while we make dinner and play games or dance to music or whatever. Natural medicine is best used as such. It's not for degenerates to take and fuck each other while shitty music plays in the background and burnt out retards steal and beg because they don't want a job. If you decide to use it, use it wisely and you will absolutely enrich your life.
❤1
After a couple weeks of absurd amounts of overtime, we're hitting a new (to us) trail right hear in the heart of my beloved Pennsylvania. So, I'll have some new content up tonight for y'all. In the meantime, have some stainless steel welds