Saint Petersburg has this reputation: the reputation of a liberty caps' stronghold or even of the place from where this tradition spread to all of Russia. At least, it had it when I was younger and was interested in public opinion. In my case, this image is justified: magic mushrooms came into my life in my middle 20s and have never left it. It has become a rite that happens once or twice a year, like a sauna but the one for consciousness.
I was a consumer first, not a gatherer but, eventually, someone taught me this craft. So there was my third harvest this autumn. I have collected 181 Psilocybe semilanceata for my private use.
This happened at the very beginning of October during a row of sunny but cold days. Three men over forty took a train away from the city and camped in the woods. In half an hour's walk, there were abandoned Finnish pastures where the mushrooms could be found.
Several hours of crouching in the grass and, at the end of the day, I saw mushrooms even when I was having my eyes closed. (In childhood, this effect used to happen to me after all day long picking up wild strawberries.)
Our campground was situated in a vast pine tree forest near a lake, one of the many in this area. We collected plenty of wood and were burning fire to make our camp cozier and warmer. +4 at night, everybody wore sweaters, thick jackets, etc, I had two pairs of trousers and three layers of socks on me.
We boiled a part of our harvest in a small saucepan on a portative gas burner, added a lot of condensed milk in it, split the drink into three cups, and quickly drank it.
We didn't eat the boiled mushrooms. But my friend didn't throw them away; instead, he put them aside onto a log like if he didn't want to call them garbage and even offered them a seat. (I came up with this thought later, when, high on mushrooms, I sat down on these funny worms).
It was not a dream team. Two of us met each other for the first time brought together by the third person, our mutual friend. Both nature lovers but too different types... This didn't become a problem but I decided to keep my distance from that guy and preferred walking in the forest alone or with my friend.
Soon, I felt high, blue lichens on the pine bark glowed and flowed, I saw a grid of geometrical patterns though dim.
The stars were getting brighter, the Milky Way was as milky as never before. I put a travel mat on the ground and lay down to admire the sky. It was clear that the trip wouldn't be wild but the natural beauty was overwhelming.
"Anybody wants to have a stroll in the forest?"
...lights galloping on branches and trunks, the crackle of twigs underfoot, like a mockumentary about researchers wandering through the wood in search of a witch hut. But no witches there, only kids under giant trees were playing.
...I and my friend were sitting on a wooden pier among the reeds, with head flashlights on, and staring up in fascination: the stars looked as lights of a giant spaceship floating above us.
I asked my friend if he had a harmonica with him. He nodded and, having understood me without words, took the instrument from a pocket and started sending a message to the passengers above us.
The deep silent night, black shadows of trees all around, the dark mirror of the lake in front of us, and, over it all, the lingering call of the harmonica, low and gentle as the voice of a magic beast, emerged and flew away to the astonished portholes.
I felt how they could see us from there and I was enchanted with that spectacle: two tiny spots of light in the thick of the forest, making archaic, inexplicable sounds, surrounded by the incomprehensible and attractive alien world. We were na'vi on our Pandora where every bush and every bug were on our side because we are all from here, co-evolved and rooted through each other, one whole. I didn't think it, I was feeling it.
...at last, the spaceship had gone and the sky was, back, just regular amazing sky scattered with usual shimmering stars. I was sitting on a granite boulder alone in the forest with a flashlight off. If a fox or a lynx were nearby, they could hear me mumbling words of gratitude to the mushrooms. I was happy that, again, I was allowed to get in.
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These are my photos, taken with Nikon D750 + Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D in October 2021. This is not a cross-post, the images were never published on the Internet.
Thank you for stopping by! 😎
Regards,
@x-rain
What if the bugs where aliens? You didnt thought about it, didnt you? 😄
I didn't. 🙂 That would change everything. Probably, I would feel unity with all the Universe and cry with happiness. I was on this wave. I didn't mention in the post that I was crying alone in the night forest about my dearest people, friends and family, how I am tough with them, how they try to be better people... but I am tough, tough (but I was feeling good - remorse, not depression at this moment)... It was a sentimental night 🙂 Later I was listening to Radiohead in the tent and I was ready to cry again. Maybe because of high dampness in the forest, I don't know. 😄
What a nice trip! :)
magic mushrooms for life! :D
Haven't picked those by myself yet... only being with friends around me who harvested :)
I guess now it's the right time to check on our northern mountain site, after a week of rains and much colder weather :)
Any advice how to surely recognize them? although I'm pretty familiar with their shape and overall appearance...
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STOPin my opinion, you'd better use #ru instead of #palcoin... oh, and bwt I doubt using #palcoin instead of #palnet will earn you those tokens, at all... intresting photosession. I love a few of images here.
Thank you! About tags - I am still learning what certain popular tags actually mean on Hive. I copied #palcoin from somewhere just to add extra tag without even being sure about the meaning and if number 9 tag can work at all.
So thank you for advice. I should find a post about tags on Hive to learn things. If any available.
#ru - I thought it is about posts in Russian language + somebody visits it?
PPPS. are you in the know about the #trippythirsday fun chellenge by @blacklux? I guess this post fits it just perfectly! but its not Thursday today... well, you may edit the tag backwards, haha?
I had no idea...
well, you may edit the tag backwards
I could... I don't want to offend somebody by this tiny fraud for having extra hive. Better, I'll join the challenge next time.
I guess it isnt a fraud... well, anyway, up to you ofc! (next week in December?.. ;)
I have added the tag, you are right. I posted the story at 3 a.m. on Friday, but it was Thursday in New York and Havana.
Adding to that pile of posts is a chance to find some like-minded people so... it was a good piece of advice. Thank you. I'll look at posts there.
Maybe no upvotes anymore for this entry although it is bigger than other my posts - bigger as a reportage and a story. There can be reasons or this is random but ... I promised myself to think less about why-s and how-s. Better to move on.
exactly!!!! I am personally happy that you did it.
this challenge is not very popular and not wide-circulated, so I doubt there is a pile of posts.. I guess @blacklux would be happy to see each +1 of them.
let me send a !BEER and !PIZZA your way. by the way... its #fungifriday today!
Great finding!
Thank you! :)
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:) Gracias!
oh, dont mention it, as they say :D
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