Reading sample

Foreword

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You know when you're so happy you don't know how to express your feelings? That's exactly how I feel right now. I could hug the whole world and I'm just so delighted that I can present this book to you—inspired by my great experiences with fly agaric microdosing.

Apparently you are just as curious as I am about what you can achieve with this powerful mushroom and I can tell you: It's incredible how Amanita muscaria can enrich our health, psyche, intuition and inspiration in so many ways!

Admittedly, I was rather skeptical at first when I heard about microdosing from good friends: "Really, you eat fly agarics?" I thought. Fittingly, this saying from my childhood popped up in my mind: "Yes, you can eat them, but only once, haha".

"Believe us, you'll be amazed at what you can achieve with microdosing", I was told, and they smiled knowingly. As I'm already a big fan of natural healing methods in plant form, their

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information made me very curious. I immediately set about researching the consumption of tiny amounts of fly agaric based on their reports and was amazed.

My partner and our families also became more and more interested as I began passing on a lot of my newly acquired knowledge. To this day, I’m still very happy about this, because microdosing is really good for each of us in different, individual ways. And I am convinced that Amanita Muscaria can also do a lot of good for many other people!

The great, even fascinating, thing is that fly agaric always starts exactly where it can optimally support you. As a mum of two toddlers, for example, I definitely don't get enough sleep and I would be lying if I said that my little ones don't occasionally push me to my limits. Thanks to the few milligrams of fly agaric I've been taking daily for some time now, I sleep so well and deeply that even short nights are very restful. I am more relaxed and focussed, and although I am already a very active person, I feel more energy and drive.

You're not "high" or intoxicated, if that's what you're thinking. You simply get a more positive mood and learn to take better care of yourself and your needs. Even extreme situations, such as stress or anger at work, no longer affect my husband and I as much or even keep us busy for hours afterwards, as was often the case in the past. We are also no longer looking for

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channels to relieve such short-term overloads, as the fly agaric is already doing this very successfully on our behalf.

For our family, microdosing generally helps us to live in harmony with each other and improve communication. It's easier for us to ignore social demands from time to time and simply do exactly what we feel like doing as a family without feeling guilty about minor issues, such as leaving the housework undone.

I could go on for hours, but let's get back to my reasons for writing this book. Our lives have simply changed for the better and I wanted to share this with my friends and family, and with the world. Especially as I found out during my research that the fly agaric is said to help cure serious illnesses such as depression, anxiety and sleep disorders, and even cancer.

I gathered a lot of my information and knowledge from Baba Masha's wonderful book and interviews with the renowned shaman Vadim Strutsenko, who have both been studying and working successfully with Amanita Muscaria for many years. My aim is to summarize her experiences and knowledge, along with the inspiring work of the shaman and my own observations, to share it with everyone who can benefit.

In any case, I found it incredibly rewarding to learn that microdosing can help alleviate and even completely cure the

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most common diseases of civilization without any risk of developing an addiction. Considering that in several countries almost up to half of the population suffer from either chronic pain or addiction, this would be a real health revolution! I would therefore strongly encourage you to research fly agaric and its power.

We all have our own, shall we say, "little problems" and/or minor to major health restrictions. And of course, Amanita muscaria alone cannot make you and your loved ones healthy and fit in the blink of an eye. You also need to take more care of yourself, in as many ways as possible. Regular exercise or sport, preferably in nature, going to the sauna, not smoking, avoiding alcohol and abstaining from convenience foods and sugar are already a very strong basis—and the fly agaric can help you enormously to implement these healthy lifestyle changes consistently and almost effortlessly.

To conclude, I would be delighted to use my story and this book to inspire and motivate you to bring Amanita muscaria into your life and to continue to open yourself up to the many healing possibilities offered by nature!

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Introduction

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Welcome to the fascinating world of the fly agaric, an extraordinary mushroom with unique properties that go far beyond its botanical characteristics. In addition to learning its many health benefits, this book invites you to discover the transformative power of the fly agaric, which lies in its spiritual application and deeper meaning.

What has remained hidden from the general public in relation to the fly agaric is quite a sensation. This is because fly agarics have been used by many plant experts, shamans and medicine women and men for thousands of years to treat many health complaints. More and more alternative practitioners and doctors are also recognizing the potential of the fly agaric as a remedy for many diseases and symptoms.

On the other hand, it serves as a kind of key to a world of barely imagined possibilities. It gives us the ability to look deeper and

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recognize what potential lies within us. And it gives us the energy, drive, creativity and focus we need to be active and tackle things with vigor. Through the fly agaric, we understand how we can find our way back to our roots and stand up for ourselves again in a peaceful, harmonious way.

The strong spiritual effect of the fly agaric is due in particular to its active ingredient muscimol. This influences our GABA receptors, i.e. the nerve endings that form the connection between the brainstem and the cerebrum. This connection is weakened by the fly agaric in a positive way, which leads to a profound change in consciousness.

Negative thoughts, fears and addictions that originate in the brainstem are weakened or disappear completely through the power of the fly agaric. In our hectic times, many people no longer live as consciously as we used to. Nowadays, we need all of our energy to "reconcile" the many different aspects of life. Our strength is literally eaten up by many things, some of which are completely unnecessary. Work, further education, social recognition, finances, household chores and much more put a lot of pressure on the majority of people. We constantly have the feeling that time is breathing down our necks, that we have to fulfill certain expectations and that we have to perform at our best in all areas of life. This is exactly where the versatile and wonderful power of the fly agaric comes into play: not only

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does it give us the strength we need for our everyday lives, it also gives us creativity and a real desire to do things and get things done. At the same time, the fly agaric brings us inner clarity, mental energy and a balanced, good-humored mood.

Our deep desire for a happy and fulfilling life is often impaired by external influences such as the pressures of society and the education system. The fly agaric is our tool to gently, almost effortlessly, free ourselves from these shackles and take our lives back into our own hands. By consciously using the mushroom, bad habits, negative and self-destructive behavior, traumas and our own personality can be changed, enabling a kind of "reprogramming" of our own reality.

Many of us have lost touch with ourselves and have completely forgotten the deep desires that lie dormant within us. The fly agaric serves as a catalyst to reconnect with our soul. By consciously confronting our innermost desires and needs, it becomes possible to reshape our own lives and realize ourselves.

This book therefore also explores social structures that often cause people to lose their own identity and get caught up in a system that obscures their true purpose. The toadstool offers an alternative perspective that encourages people to free themselves from external constraints and listen to their own inner voice.

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Perhaps you have recognized yourself in the above descriptions of our often rather rigid and uncreative lives and would like to do something about it? Or perhaps you don't (yet) realize that you could use some support in certain areas of your life... This is exactly what happened to me when I began to intensively study the masterful skills of the fly agaric. I was particularly touched by the words of the shaman Vadim Strutsenko, whose experiences and advice we will discuss in detail later.

He asks us very specifically and urgently: Are you really in control of your own life? Or are you doing things that do not fulfill you and your soul and do not make you happy? Are you living your life in such a way that you really want to live it in all its aspects as it is at the moment? Or are you living it according to social norms in the belief that there is no other way, struggling with fears and worries and not even remembering what YOU actually want?

At this point, I realized that we can and should be so much more than conformist, almost uniform beings who fulfill externally imposed goals. This book will help you to realize what potential lies within you and will probably create a strong desire to exploit it and live according to your own values.

Journaling is presented here as a very helpful companion on this journey to yourself. Keeping a daily journal accurately, but with hardly any time investment, is a valuable tool for gaining

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clarity about your dreams, goals and your own emotional state. The background lies in finding and restoring the connection to the three levels of the physical, emotional and mental body. This is emphasized by shamans and healers, among others, as the key to highest self-realization and joy of life.

This book invites you to consider the fly agaric not just as a plant, but as a powerful tool for self-healing and personal transformation, and hopefully for a healthier life allround. A journey into the world of the fly agaric is above all a journey to oneself, to the deepest longings of the soul and to a fulfilled life.

For a more pleasant reading experience, the terms Amanita muscaria and its abbreviation AM are used in the following as synonymous with the fly agaric. In order to separate more factual information such as that based on Dr Masha's study or other scientific research from more spiritual matters and experiences, we also use two fonts in this book: the majority of research-relevant and medically oriented topics are printed in straight type, while experiences of a more spiritual and emotionally profound nature, such as those of shamans and medicine women or men, are presented in italics.

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III

Baba Masha and Her Study

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3.1 Who Is Baba Masha?

Baba Masha, M.D., is a pediatrician and obstetrician/gynecologist with a doctorate in medicine and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Of Russian descent, she lives in Northern California.

With a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a doctorate in medicine, she created the created the virtual character “Baba Masha” to broadcast a disease prevention program in mainly Russian speaking areas named “Radio Psychedelix” starting in 2014.

She published information about the medicinal use, health benefits, dosage and usage rules, set and setting as well as the history of a variety of psychedelic and non psychedelic medical plants. She presented her personal experiences but most

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important her scientific research results of more than ten years with Iboga, Ayavaska, Magic cacti, Salvia Divinorum, cannabis, bufo, mushrooms and other alternative remedies used in shamanism.

Masha initiated and ran diverse educative projects during the broadcast period and collected public data regarding cannabis- addiction, magic mushroom microdosing and the benefits for body and psyche that comes from psychedelic plants.

She broadcasted the summary of this information on 17 Telegram channels, three YouTube channels, a Q&A live streams, volunteer reports respectively questionnaires, and more.

One very detailed study Baba Masha initiated and ran, took place between 2018-2022. This international widespread assignment focussed on the effect of Amanita muscaria on humans with more than 12.000 volunteer trials which consumed between 0.1 and up to 50 grams. Masha then composed and published her study in her revealing book “Microdosing with Amanita Muscaria''4 as a summary of this research.

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3.2 Rediscovering the Potential of Amanita Muscaria: Project Objectives, the History of the Project and its Structure

In modern international pharmacology, no comprehensive study of the medicinal effects of Amanita muscaria exists to date. This includes reliable data on the systematic microdosing of this mushroom and its effects on nosological entities on a global scale.

The most recent project does not pursue theories, but presents systematized material collected over two years. It does not claim scientific discovery, but is based on personal experience with Amanita muscaria from different geographical zones on all continents. This study presents descriptive statistics as a qualitative study of the experiences of over 3,000 Amanita muscaria microdosers.

The project pursued a comprehensive exploration of the various facets of Amanita muscaria microdosing. The focus was not only on the general effects, but also on specific aspects that are of fundamental importance for potential medical applications.

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Aims of the Project

Research into the Spectrum of Diseases

A central question of the project was the identification of diseases that could be positively influenced by the microdosing of Amanita muscaria. A broad approach is pursued here, which includes various disease patterns and their possible reaction to microdosing. Through systematic investigations and data collection, the aim was to gain a comprehensive picture of the extent to which Amanita muscaria can contribute to the correction of various diseases.

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Skin Conditions

Many people around the world suffer from skin conditions or experience recurring inflammatory processes in their skin. In order to record the positive effects of fly agaric on all known diagnoses in connection with the epidermis, a separate study would certainly be required on this topic, as it is very extensive.

For this reason, Dr Masha reduced the surveys for her study to five very widespread skin diseases. However, the predominantly good to very good healing effect of the fly agaric microdosing gives rise to the assumption that numerous people affected by various other skin problems could also benefit from taking Amanita muscaria.

Eczema

Eczema is a chronic skin condition caused by inflammation. Typical eczema symptoms include itching, redness and the formation of small, fluid-filled blisters. As these skin blisters resemble the air bubbles that form when water boils, they gave the disease its name. The Greek word eczeo means "to boil".

Some project participants observed an improvement in all eczema symptoms through the use of Amanita muscaria. As eczema was not asked about at the beginning of the study, Dr Masha was only able to include it in the results protocols after

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the publication of her annual report and the subsequent success reports.

Positive effects of microdosing on eczema symptoms were noted by 51% (23 out of 45) of the participants. A significant improvement by applying the fly agaric tincture to affected skin areas was noted by 17% (8) of the test subjects. Positive effects from oral ingestion of AM alcohol tincture were observed in 16% (7) of cases and 16% (7) reported no change in eczema appearance.

Warts and Skin Pigmentation

The very extensive reports on the healing effect of AM on the various skin conditions were only submitted to Dr Masha by the microdosers almost at the end of the project. The positive effects of AM microdosing on the removal of warts, skin growths and pigmentation spots were therefore summarized under one category in the participant questionnaire so as not to over-inflate it.

Good results from the use of AM microdoses were seen in 40% (52 out of 128) of the participants. Positive effects from the topical (external) application of AM products were found in 9% (11) and 51% (65) saw no changes with either application.

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Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a skin disease that manifests itself in inflammatory lesions of the skin cells. It is not contagious, so it cannot be transmitted from person to person. The triggers for the occurrence of psoriasis have not yet been well researched. Autoimmune, genetic, stress-related, neurotic and psychosomatic causes as well as immunodeficiency are suspected. Psoriasis can occur anywhere on the body and manifests itself in rashes, excessive scaling and red patches, accompanied by itching and pain.

The positive effect of AM microdosing on psoriasis was also discovered by the project participants. On this basis, further investigations were carried out into the effect of the various dosage forms of Amanita muscaria.

Improvement in psoriasis with the use of AM microdoses (all product forms) was noted by 65% (35 of 54) of the questionnaire participants, with no change occurring in 28% (15) of cases. Negative results were observed in 7% (4).

A positive effect from the oral application of AM powder was reported by 64% (45 of 70) of the subjects; the ingestion of AM tincture was categorized as curative in 19% (13). Improvement with topical application of AM tincture was observed by 6% (4) of participants and AM ointment helped 11% (8) of those affected.

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Nail Fungus

Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nail. Symptoms include changes in the appearance of the nails such as discoloration and the thickening and detachment of the nail from the nail bed. There are around fifty different types of fungi known to medicine that can infect the nail plate.

The spread of onychomycosis depends on various factors, such as climatic and social conditions, age, gender and occupation. Chemical influences, such as wearing synthetic fiber socks and tight shoes made of synthetic materials, also favor the growth of the fungus. The use of certain medications (cytostatics, hormone preparations, etc.) can also be the cause of onychomycosis.

There are also a number of diseases that can trigger the development of nail fungus. These include

• Diabetes

• Peripheral angiopathy (diabetic vascular diseases)

• Obesity

• Conditions of immunodeficiency

• Endocrinopathy (hormonal disorders)

• Oncology (tumor diseases)

• Gastrointestinal diseases

• Diseases of the nervous system

• Blood diseases

• The introduction of the fungus is usually preceded by an injury to a nail, a violation of the body's natural defenses in connection with immunodeficiencies or a disruption of the life support systems, which leads to neurotrophic changes in the nail bed. In the presence of favorable conditions, the pathogenic fungus is introduced and begins to multiply, triggering the infectious process. Taking Amanita muscaria microdoses alone does not lead to an improvement in the disease. It is also necessary to eliminate the causes in order to achieve success with the fly agaric.

• After a course of Amanita muscaria microdoses, 20% (49 out of 245) of participants experienced a complete cure, 33% (81) an improvement in the condition of the nail plate and 47% (115) no results.

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High Blood Pressure

Hypertension is a condition in which the pressure of the blood on the blood vessels exceeds the norm. Hypertension is when the blood pressure is persistently high. As soon as the blood pressure exceeds 140/90, this is referred to as high blood pressure. The causes of hypertension include

• Heredity
• Lack of exercise • Obesity
• Smoking

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• Alcohol consumption

• Diabetes

• Osteochondrosis

• Atherosclerosis

• Age-related hormonal changes

• Systematic stress

• Excessive demands / overload

Negative emotions

In Dr Masha's study, neither the causes nor the degree of hypertension were taken into account.

The positive effect of microdosing AM on hypertension was observed by 73% (46 of 63) of the participants; no change was observed by 19% (12) and negative results were observed in 8% (5).

Mood Enhancer and Energizer

The project participants stated that AM microdosing is a good mood enhancer. This was particularly true when taken in the morning on an empty stomach, according to 88% (868 out of 981) of respondents. Drowsiness occurred in 12% (113) of users.

 

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Users described the effects of taking it in the morning as an improvement or increase in the following characteristics:

• Balance

• Bliss

• Body awareness

• Cheerfulness

• Energy boost

• Serenity

• Creativity

• Deeper appreciation of nature, the world, the self and life

• Desire to act

• Ease of communication

• Effectiveness of the day

• Endurance

• Self-awareness

• Well-being

• Feeling of purpose

• Mood enhancement

• Emotional connection and empathy

• Feeling of happiness

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• Focus and concentration

• Physical strength

• Mental clarity, optimism, stamina and motivation

• Peacefulness

• Purity of thought

• Potency

• Vitality

  Some negative feelings also disappeared or diminished, e.g.

• Irritability

• Mental chatter (constant discussions with oneself)

• Worries about the past and future

• Anxiety

  Those participants for whom the morning intake sometimes caused drowsiness changed their AM use routine for 7 days as a test: after switching to evening intake for a week and then back to morning consumption, the drowsiness effect disappeared and they also benefited from the positive properties mentioned above.

  Pain Relief

  This section describes the analgesic properties of Amanita muscaria in various forms, including dried mushroom, lotion

 

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and alcohol tincture. The participants were asked about joint pain, musculoskeletal pain, menstrual pain, migraine and sudden and seemingly causeless (neuropathic) pain.

Dr Masha herself also confirms the long-term pain-relieving effect of the AM tincture from her own experience. She had tried all possible alternative and conventional medicines to treat her back pain caused by an age-related musculoskeletal disorder.

The only reliably effective and long-term pain relief she experienced was with the fly agaric. She used the Amanita tincture for several years, reducing the dosage slightly each year, but still benefits from a long-lasting effect. Although Amanita muscaria does not eliminate the actual underlying disease and therefore the cause of the pain, it reliably spares her a risky operation on her spine. The recipe for the alcohol tincture can be found in chapter 6.5 of this book.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Skeletal Muscle Pain

The study participants confirmed the pain-relieving properties of Amanita muscaria in the form of microdoses, tinctures and lotions. Relief of arthritis pain from AM (all dosage forms combined) occurred in 70% (333 of 477), with no results in 30% (144).

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