Three Phases of Growing Psilocybin Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms)

 

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using? 

Feeling Overwhelmed - Let's Simplify!

When I realized that I needed to grow my own mushrooms for personal medical use, I scoured the internet trying to find all the information I needed to do this. 

I watched videos, re-watched them more times then I could count, read articles, and read books, then re-read them all taking notes. All of it was done to try and figure out how to do this. I had nobody I knew that grew mushrooms that could help me with this. 

It took a lot of time but I finally got there! God helped me with this process, and I feel the need to pass this on to others that are struggling to figure this out, just like I did.

I truly believe God helped me see that there were really three phases to this process. It helps to break it up into three categories so it's not so overwhelming. You don't have to think about the whole process, just the stage and step you are on. 

How do you eat an elephant... one bite at a time. That's how you have to look at this. There are lots of steps, but you can do this. I promise!

Before we go on further, I'm going to use a bunch of words you probably don't know what they mean. Here is a good place to start, to begin to understand the anatomy of a mushroom, and the grow cycle of a mushroom.  

Article: Basics about Fungi and Mushrooms

Brief Overview of the Three Phases

Phase 1: Prepare the grain, inoculate it with spores, and grow the mycelium. Once the mycelium has grown throughout the grain, this is called "grain spawn"in the mushroom world. Here is a picture below of grain spawn that has been fully colonized by mycelium in a grain jar. It took about 4 weeks for the mycelium to completely grow in my jars of grain. 

In fact, I was surprised I saw NO growth for about 8-9 days. I almost threw out the whole batch thinking that my spore syringes didn't have spores. I'm glad I didn't. I had a very successful grow, with 0% contamination.

                                                               

Phase 2: Prepare your tubs with liners and lids (not air tight! Those mushrooms need oxygen to grow!), prepare your substrate (a fancy word for dirt), transfer the grain spawn to the tubs, with a casing layer (top layer of the substrate to protect it from outside contamination). I promise all of this will make sense. I will make a post for each of these steps.

 

 Phase 3: Let the tub sit in darkness, with the lid on, for the mycelium to colonize the whole tub. Then you introducing fruiting conditions. Grow mushrooms, harvest mushrooms, dry the mushrooms, grind them up and put them in capsules (optional). YAY!

 

Basics and Vocabulary: Fungi and Mushrooms and Their Cultivation

 

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using? 

What is Fungi or Fungus?

The study of fungus is called mycology. In scientific terms, fungi is any group of spore-producing organisms that feed on organic matter. These include molds, yeast, mushrooms, and toadstools. 

So mushrooms are fungi, but they are not the only type. They reproduce with spores instead of seeds. They feed on organic matter that is dying. 

Fungi are our decomposers! When a tree goes down in the forest, with the help of fungus, the tree is turned back into nutrients for plants and animals and of course fungi. When an animal or a person dies, with the help of fungus, the body of the animal or human will be turned back into nutrients for other plants and animals.

Could you imagine what our world would look like if the dead plant and animal matter never decomposed? 

Thank you fungi!! You do an incredible, necessary, and mostly invisible job!! 

Are Mushrooms a Plant or Animal? 

This is a fun fact. Mushrooms are not plants or animals, although they act a little like each of them. They are in their own category: fungi.

Mushrooms grow like plants. They need nutrients, they grow in the ground, they have roots, and they need a little bit of sunlight.

But plants take up CO2, and produce oxygen. Mushrooms do not!

In fact, scientifically, mushrooms are closer related to animals than to plants. 

Animals and mushrooms, take up oxygen and produce CO2. 

That's right, mushrooms need oxygen to live!

The Anatomy of a Mushroom

First off, you need to know what a fruiting body of a mushroom is. It's the part that grows above ground. It's the part of the fungi that we call "mushroom". 

Think of a mushroom like an apple on a tree. The apple is the fruit of the tree, and it holds the seed of the tree. The apple is the most tiny part of the apple tree. The mushroom is the fruit of the mycelium, and holds the spores of the fungi. The large part of a mushrooms is underground where we can't see all the magic the mycelium is doing.

Cap / Pileus: is the top of the mushroom that is often round, sitting on top of the stem. It houses the spore producing surface of the fruiting body, which consists of gills, teeth (like on lion's mane) and spores.

Scales: these are parts of the mushroom that form hard-shelled protection for the fungi. They often appear in various shapes and sizes. Scales are often developed from the left over parts of the universal veil.

Margin: a mushroom cap margin is the edge of the cap, where the surface meets the underside. The margins can exhibit specific characteristics that will aid in identification.

Gills: the scientific name is lamellae. They are thin, papery structures that hang vertically under the cap. They house the spores, and their sole purpose is to produce spores. The spores are then dropped by the gills by the millions in which they are scattered by the winds, insects, and animals, to make more mycelium and mushrooms. 

Spores: a uni-cellular organism (one cell) paramount to he reproduction and growth of mushroom fungi. The spore of a mushroom contains all the necessary materials to form a new fungus. A fruiting body - the mushroom - will release millions of tiny spores. The spores are often different colors ranging from white, cream, yellow, green, purple, brown, rust, or black.

Ring / Annulus / Collar: this is the ring-like or collar-like structure sometimes found on the stipe or stem, of the mushroom. The annulus represents the remnants of the partial veil, after it has ruptured to expose the gills or other spore-producing surface.

Partial Veil / Veil / Velum / Inner Veil: the thin membrane that covers the gills and stem of an immature mushroom. It's temporary, and is broken as the mushroom fruiting body grows bigger, and the cap is ready to have the gills spill the spores. The spores won't drop from the mushroom until the inner veil has been broken.

Stem / Stipe / Stalk: a stalk-like feature of a fruiting body, that supports the cap. It also will often have the partial veil attached to it, and hanging from it, after the veil has been ripped open.

Universal Veil / Outer Veil: is the thin temporary membrane that fully envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled mushrooms. 

Volva/Base/Bulb: A cup like structure at the base of the stalk of certain mushrooms, that is a remnant of the universal veil.

Mycelium:  a network of fungal threads or hyphae. Mycelia often grown underground, but sometimes the mycelium will grow on the outside of a mushroom - like with fuzzy feet! 

 

Fuzzy Feet: the fuzzy white stuff that will grow on the bottom of your mushrooms sometimes. This is nothing to worry about! It's actually just aerial mycelium, and completely safe to eat. Some people believe they develop when the mushroom doesn't have enough oxygen. I have not been able to tell this either way. I have some mushrooms that seem to have plenty of oxygen and still get fuzzy feet, and others that have not been aired out for a bit (not a ton of oxygen) with zero fuzzy feet. It might have to do with the level of humidity, but I really couldn't tell from my non-scientific experience.

The Life Cycle of a Mushroom

I love this little diagram above. It is missing a couple of items that I will talk about. There is another diagram coming up below as well that has a few more items on there. 

Understanding the life cycle and the parts of the mushroom, are incredibly important when you start reading about mushrooms, and want to grow them. People will use the language of parts of mushrooms and phases of growth, so you need to learn them! 

Inoculation and Germination

A spore is kind of like a seed from a plant, but it's totally not a seed. It's what fungi use to reproduce. 

The full-grown mushroom body releases millions of spores. Then inoculation occurs. That means the spores land on something in which the environment allow for the spores to start growing. This is called spore germination.

Spore germination is when a strand of hypha emerges from the spores. A mass of hyphae make up the body of a fungus, which is called mycelium (plural, mycelia).

Spore germination can only happen if the environment is just right. It usually needs high humidity, and a favorable temperature and a food source. There always needs to be presence of water and oxygen. 

Mycelial Expansion / Colonization / Hyphal Knot / Pinning

After germination has begun, the mycelium continue to grow as quickly as possible. There are lots of different organisms that are competing for the food in this environment, and it's important for the mycelium to get a strong hold and out-grow their competitors. 

During this stage the developing mycelium break down organic matter and absorb nutrients from the surroundings. The mycelium expand at an exponential rate. Below is a picture of what people call grain spawn in a jar. It's been fully colonized by the mycelium, meaning taken over completely the food source in this jar, and actively breaking down the grain. The jar is full of grain, and the mycelium is spawning all over the place... thus the name grain spawn. 

If you want to know even more about grain spawn, please click on this link: What is Grain Spawn?

                                                       

Eventually, the mycelium wants to start fruiting. To do that it will first create something called a hyphal knot. You can think of a hyphal knot as the beginning of a young mushroom, which is also knows as a primordium. These baby mushrooms or "pins" form a pinhead as it starts to evolve and sprout from it's mycelial phase. This phase is also called pinning. 

The picture below shows both pins and hyphal knots. The pins are colored, and look like the tiniest of baby mushrooms. The knots are white concentrated spots, that look like some thread has knotted up (what a great name for it... "knots").

When you read about others growing mushrooms, they will talk about "pins", and now you know what they are talking about. It's the smallest form of a fruiting body of the mushroom starting to grow. They look just like the top of a sewing pin. 

 

During pinning, mushrooms use cell division to form all the cells they need to produce the final mature mushroom. 

However, once pinning is complete, they no longer use cell division to grow. Instead, they flood the existing cells with water and nutrients, allowing them to expand rapidly. 

That is why mushrooms can grow in a matter of hours... pinning to fully grown mushroom, with it opening and ready to drop it's spores! No joke! 

Fruitbody Selection

From thousands of primordia (the baby "pins"), the growing fungi selects the most promising few to develop into mature fruitbodies, or mushrooms. This is called fruitbody selection. 

Mature Fruitbody

The fungi channels all of it's energy and nutrients to develop the fruitbody, which will then produce spores, allowing the fungi to reproduce and to spread. Spore generation is the sexual reproduction phase of the mushroom life cycle. 

Mushrooms typically reproduce asexually. Although, they do have the ability to reproduce sexually when two compatible mycelia clumps fuse. 

Mushrooms can release  millions to trillions of spores everyday, but they don't produce spores all the time. Once the temporary veil breaks, the spores start to release, and release until there are no more spores left, and the mature fruitbody is picked, or starts to rot.

Psychedelics, Bipolar Depression, and My Personal Protocol

 

                   

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using? 

Can People With Bipolar Have Psilocybin and Psychedelics?

The short answer is we really don't know. 

All I know is my experience, and that of 8 other bipolar friends I've talked to.

I'm trying to gather information the best I can, but this is not scientific, and it's all based on personal accounts. 

All of us have had psychedelics, and not only does it not kick us into psychosis, but it keeps us stable. No hypomania, no mania, no psychosis. 

No depression!!!! That's the biggest help for me. 

When I say no depression, I want to make it clear that it's not 100% perfect in taking it away. There are degrees of depression present at different times. When you have a more challenging psilocybin ceremony, the depression is a little stronger those two weeks. 

But it has completely taken away my suicidal thoughts. I never knew how heavy this burden was to carry, until it has been taken away. 

All glory to God!!! Truly!!! God lead me to these medicines, and God grows these beautiful plant medicines for us. Thank you Heavenly Parents!!!

 A Moving Target

My first dose of psilocybin was 3 grams. This was a great anti-depressant for 12 days. 

2nd dose 2.5 grams: dose lasted again for 12 days. 

3rd dose 2.5 grams: dose lasted for 12 days. This time I was hoping for the macro dose to last longer, by starting to microdose in between. 

The microdosing led to hypomania. I was directed by God to stop all microdosing, and to only macrodose. I asked how frequently and I was told every 3-4 weeks. At the time, it was feeling like a lot, really too much to take psilocybin every 1.5 to 2 weeks. 

So I was relieved to find out it would only be every 3-4 weeks. 

But what about the other 1-2 weeks that I would have depression coming back? What about covering that time? 

At the time, I didn't know what God would lead me to, but I knew that He would. That night I got a dream that was so clear! Usually that doesn't happen to me. 

In the dream, I popped in my mouth a ketamine lozenge. As I was waking up from the dream, I literally said out loud "oh, I'm supposed to take ketamine!" 

So I connected with one of the at home ketamine companies, and got the ketamine ordered. 

So for parts of February and all of March, I used ketamine to help fill in between the psilocybin ceremonies. 

It feels like all of this a bit like a moving target. The ketamine isn't helping like I was expecting that it would so I'm changing it up again. 

Psilocybin and Ketamine Protocol

I take between 2.5 to 4 grams of dried mushrooms every 3-4 weeks. I am slowly trying higher doses, to see if the psilocybin anti-depressant effects will last longer. I have not gone above 4 grams yet.

I have found that psilocybin lasts about 12-18 days, and then I can feel the depression coming back. I used to try to use psilocybin once per month, and then once or twice per month use a dose of an at-home ketamine lozenge. 

Week 1 - psilocybin mushrooms

Week 2 - still covered by psilocybin mushrooms

Week 3 - if I'm feeling the darkness of depression, then I will take a dose of ketamine

Week 4 - same as week 3

I did this twice, so for two months I tried this. The first ketamine lozenge was an absolute joke. The IV dose of ketamine I had was for 100mg. That is pretty close to 400mg of a lozenge by mouth. 

My doctor wanted to be super careful so she started me on 250mg. It did absolutely nothing but make my body a bit numb and hard to move. I didn't dissociate or have any kind of psychedelic effects, and it didn't do anything to help my mind be more open to therapy like ketamine usually does. 

This didn't surprise me, with such a low dose. I was curious to see what it would do though. I found out... nothing! I literally spent an hour in bed being totally and compltely bored. I meditated, I planned my week, I went over notes in my head for the class I'm taking. 

That ketamine dose didn't touch the depression AT ALL. 

My second lozenge of ketamine was for 375mg. This was closer to being therapeutic, with ever-so-slight psychedelic effects. But again, it didn't do anything for the depression. It gave me a huge headache that lasted for two days, which is very unusual for ketamine for me. Usually I have a mild headache that goes away after a couple of hours. 

The second dose of ketamine didn't help any with the depression either. Maybe some relief for a day or two? 

Ketamine Lozenges vs. Ketamine IV or IM

It totally blew me away the difference in taking ketamine by mouth instead of by IV(intravenous - it goes in your vein) or IM (intramuscular - it goes into your muscle). 

IV ketamine was easier on my body (less of a headache) but so incredibly therapeutic! It truly healed my depression!

You really need to get the right dose that is right for you. I was able to get to that dose through the IV and IM sessions. 

Once we switched to the IM, I have a feeling that they didn't get the dose right either. But it was 100% better than the ketamine lozenges by mouth! 

So that was just my experience. If you have only had the ketamine lozenges, and it didn't work well for you, don't give up just yet! Try ketamine IV or IM. It probably costs more, but it's more effective. 

My Current Protocol

So currently, I'm taking a macrodose of psilocybin mushrooms every 3 weeks. The dose is usually between 3-4 grams of dried mushrooms. 

I always do a ceremony around taking the mushrooms. That includes preparation with fasting, prayer, and clearing my space and protecting my space spiritually.

Psilocybin Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms) Saved My Life

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing or Using?

Suicidal Depression

For 11 years I had suicidal bipolar type II - depression. Everyday I would on average have 4-7 suicidal thoughts. I was truly disabled. I was functioning at maybe 5% of what I used to be. I was just languishing in such darkness. 

For years I didn't know I had bipolar depression. Typically with type II bipolar, you live in a suicidal depression for 99% of your life. Every 3-4 months I would have 4 or 5 days of having a huge amount of energy in comparison to normal. That was considered hypomania. It just looked a lot like the old person I used to be as happy with incredible amounts of energy. 

That is why bipolar type II can be really tricky to figure out. If you hypomania isn't really far out there in relation to doing weird stuff, it can be hard to track that it's hypomania. 

My truly incredible, one-of-a-kind husband is the most kind, strong, and truly best human on this earth! I literally thank God everyday I married him and that he is the father of my children. For these 11 years that I have truly fallen apart, he has held everything together. 

Do you know what it's like to live in "survival mode" for 15 years? Ugh... I do. I would not wish it on anyone. Truly not anyone.

15 years ago, the terrible depression started. It was 11 years ago that it became suicidal depression. It's beyond difficult. You can't possibly know the sacrifices that were made. The trauma that we all went through. 

I have done a whole lot of work over the years. I learned what depression was. I read books, I took classes, I watched videos, I read articles, I read studies. I went to therapists, I took medications that made everything worse. I joined groups, I journaled, I took herbal remedies, I used essential oils, I exercised, I went to the temple, fasted and prayed, and read my scriptures.

I learned so much over the years. I was able to gather so many incredible tools, learning how to deal with depression, and how to deal with suicidal thoughts on a daily basis.

In fact, I can truly say, I learned how to have depression but not suffer in it. What do I mean by that? I learned how to be kind to myself. I don't allow self-hate talk. I used cognitive behavioral therapy to unravel distorted thoughts (all that self-hate talk especially). I learned to to learn how to love myself just the way that I am. 

I learned how to accept the way that my life was - that I might not ever get better. This might be the path that God has chosen for me, and I got to a point in which I was at peace with that. His will be done. If this was His plan for me to truly learn what long-suffering was, I was okay with that.

But that didn't mean the depression didn't go away. It just meant that I really learned and understood my triggers. I learned that when I had suicidal thoughts that became suicidal plans, that it wasn't anything to panic over, but I turned to my safety plan and went to work. 

Those thoughts were red flags that I wasn't okay. It meant that I needed to simplify my life (even more!!), have less time with the kids, go away by myself, or do whatever I needed to do to be able to get back to a stable place of just thinking of wanting to die, instead of planning it. 

Ketamine

God led me first to ketamine. It's an incredible medicine that does similar work that psilocybin does. It immediately took my suicidal thoughts away, and immediately took the depression away. It was incredible! It was a miracle! 

After 15 years of trying to find something that would help me, I finally found the group of medicines that makes my brain okay - psychedelics! 

Although ketamine was working for me, there were some serious drawbacks to it. 

First, it's crazy expensive, and it was ALL out of pocket. But if you have ever felt this level of desperation that I have, you would be willing to pay a lot to get some relief from the relenless and hopelessness of depression. 

The nearest ketamine clinic was 2 hours away. So I had to spring for 1 night stay at a hotel for each dose of ketamine I had.

The ketamine treatment itself was $325 with just the physician, and $500 with the nurse and therapist. That is for each dose! 

The first two weeks they like to have 6 doses ($1950 for the medicine, plus 8 days for the hotel) to get into a therapeutic range, and to find out what dose works for you.

Then the doses went to monthly. Each dose I had, the ketamine lasted shorter and shorter amounts of time. After the first 6 doses, the anti-depressant effects lasted for 2 weeks. 

A month later, it lasted one week. 

A month later, it lasted 3 days. 

A month later, it lasted 1 day. 

A month later, there were no anti-depressant effects. 

I knew I wasn't therapeutic anymore, and there were some serious problems with communicating this to the doctor. I changed from IV to IM during this time as well (intravenous meaning it went in my vein and intramuscular meaning it when in my muscle). 

All I knew was this medicine that fixed my brain, that turned on the light in my head, was not working anymore! 

God was leading me another way. I knew it was time to move onto the next medicine in this category. I live in Oregon so psilocybin was everywhere in the news. I was feeling more drawn to this medicine. There were several things in my life and in my spiritual life that were pointing me to try psilocybin next. 

Psilocybin

Psilocybin is the major active ingredient in "magic mushrooms" that will create psychedelic effects. That is why they are called psilocybin mushrooms. 

My first dose of psilocybin.... Dec 11, 2022 -  3 grams of psilocybin mushrooms

I will never forget it.

Psilocybin mushrooms have literally saved my life. 

I went from functioning at a 5% level in my life as a mom and wife, to now I would say more like 75% and 80%. I have so much more energy! I used to have 4-7 suicidal thoughts in a day, and since I've been taking psilocybin mushrooms regularly, I have not had ANY! It's truly a miracle. 

Did you read that closely?!? 

I don't have suicidal thoughts anymore!!! Psilocybin took away my suicidal thoughts and depression!!

I have bipolar type II, and have been living with suicidal depression for 11 years. 

Psilocybin mushrooms have given my life back and literally saved my life!! I used to not be able to spend much time with my children because it would be too overwhelming or over-stimulating. Now I play with them all the time! 

My children comment on it all the time, how I have more energy, and I have a desire to be with them. I have had all of my children at different times tell me how much this means to them, with tears in their eyes. 

How can you even measure such power and such difference in a person's life?!?

I am truly a new person. It's weird, because I have accessed the person I was before being depressed... happy, energetic, fun, highly motivated, goal-oriented. 

I'm still that person, but I'm also a different person. 

When you have been called to endure long-suffering, you travel a road that makes you into a better person. It's literally like metal that is refined. It's super heated so that the dross can be taken away and tossed. Then it's heated some more and heated some more and then beaten, and heated, and beaten, and heated, and beaten, until it's what the creator wants the metal to become. 

I have endured the heat, and I have endured the beating. Me and my whole family have. Somehow we survived, and I know that we are better people because of it. 

So when I say that mushrooms have saved my life, it couldn't be more true. 

It literally took away thoughts of wanting to kill myself, but it also gave me my life back.

Psilocybin Mushroom Dosing: Micro or Macro?

 

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing?

What is Microdosing Psilocybin Mushrooms? 

Micro = very small

In really simple and general terms, microdosing is taking a super small amount (like 1/30th of a typical dose) of mushrooms every other day. Some people will do every day, and some people will do once every 3 days. It's a little different for everyone. 

The usual dosage for microdosing is anywhere from 0.05 - 0.5 grams

The goal of microdosing is to not get any of the psychedelic effects of a normal macrodose. So it's going to take a little time for you to find the dose that works for you.  

What is the #1 rule of dosing.....

Start Low and Slow!!

A good place to start is 0.1 grams, every other day. If you are super sensitive to medications, you might want to even start lower at 0.05 grams every other day.

Get a journal, and start writing down how much you are taking and on what day. Track your moods, and any other changes in your life. It will help you to see the bigger picture and what is working for you and what isn't.

**** SUPER IMPORTANT**** 

The day you try a new and higher dose, you need to make sure for about 4 hours, you don't have to work any machinery, drive, tend children, make important decisions, or go to work. 

The dose might be too much for you, and it might make you "high" for 3-4 hours. You CANNOT drive in that condition. 

Please be responsible and safe.

If the super low dose does not do much for you, you can move up the dose. You can go by 0.1 grams or by 0.05 grams, whatever you feel comfortable with.

If you take a dose, and you feel weird (heavy limbs, colors or patterns doing strange things) it means you have taken too high of a dose, and you need to bring it down to the last dose you had that was therapeutic, but not making you feel high.

For instance, when I tried 0.1 grams I didn't feel anything. I took that for three doses and then tried 0.2 grams. 

0.2 grams was too much for me! I didn't have increased energy when I took it. Instead I had heavier limbs, and just felt high. It lasted for about 4 hours. 

So I know my dose is 0.1 grams for microdosing. 

Unfortunately, after about a week of microdosing for me, I could not sleep until 4am one evening. This is a classic symptom of hypomania. That's no good. 

So I can't microdose personally. It kicks me into hypomania with my type II bipolar.

However, although it doesn't work for me, I know scores of people that it does work for. 

I know people that microdose and it's saved their lives, as macrodosing has saved mine.

What is Macrodosing Psilocybin Mushrooms? 

Macro = large or large scale

Macrodosing is when you take a larger, or normal therapeutic dose, when compared to a microdose.

The usual macrodose is anywhere from 1.0-5.0 grams. 

Same #1 rule... Start Low and Slow!!

This article is a great place to understand what the different dosages do to your mind and your body. It will help you be able to set goals for yourself, and find out why you are taking what dosage. 

        What's My Dose? Dosing Chart for Psilocybin Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms)

 As for how often to macrodose? That is completely a personal thing. Some studies show that some people are one and done. Meaning they have one dose of psilocybin, and their depression has gone away. 

I truly believe these are the people that have situational depression. Not like those of use that langish is a depressive puddle of tears and shame. 

Those of us that have a default mode network in our brain that is over-active and needs to calm down... well we need more doses than just one. 

For me, I have bipolar type II. That means 99.9% of the time I live with a suicidal depression. Literally for the last 11 years I've had typically 4-7 suicidal thoughts a day. 

Since I've been macrodosing, the suicidal thoughts are GONE!! I'm totally serious. 

I have more energy. The depression is 75-95% gone. I'm FUNCTIONING AGAIN!!!! For the last 11 years in particular, I have truly been disabled, not able to function as a wife and mother. 

So I have a macrodose of psilocybin anywhere from every 12 days to once per month. I try to go as long as possible without. 

Having a psilocybin journey that often can be really difficult to do. It's like super therapy, and it takes a lot of energy and work to process what you went through, and what you have learned. 

So typically I take a macrodose every 3-4 weeks. 

I immediately have the depression lifted. It's like a light has been turned on inside my head. I can see clearly. I love myself and my family again. 

Then slowly, especially starting around day 12 for me, it wears off and the light goes out. The darkness comes back. 

It hasn't come back fully yet - with suicidal thoughts and all. But the depression comes back enough that I start isolating, and I have to spend significant time away from the kids. That's how I know it's getting bad enough, that I need another dose of medicine to take the darkness away.

Storing and Using Psilocybin Mushroom's - To Grind or Not to Grind?

 

 Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing?

Do You Need To Grind Up Your Mushrooms?  

Nope, you don't have to. 

Especially if you are giving the mushrooms to a friend. It might be nice for them to see that they truly were mushrooms before they pulverize them as well. 

Mushrooms that are dried and whole keep the same potency as those that are ground up. How you store them is a personal preference from what I have studied about this. I know lots of people have different opinions on this.

I've stored my mushrooms for a year, ground up, inside an airtight glass jar, with desiccant pouches to keep out any extra moisture. I have not seen any decrease in potency.

Secondly, do you seriously want to eat that desiccated cardboard-like mushroom? Ummmm... I'll pass! 

Put the powder in a capsule. Put the powder in chocolate. 

Put the powder in a small cup cover with lemon juice. This is called lemon tek.  Let the mushrooms sit for 20 minutes. The lemon juice will buy into more phosphates, allowing more psilocybin to turn into psilocin (bottom line is that it makes the mushrooms stronger). Additionally the lemon tek supposedly  starts to digest the mushroom and help decrease chances of it causing nausea. 

I use lemon tek every time I have a psilocybin ceremony.

Thirdly, and I believe this is actually the most important part - you want to make your dosage consistent. You want to grind up your mushrooms, and mix everything together, to make the dosage of psilocybin consistent. 

Not all mushrooms stems have the same amount of medicine, and not all caps have the same amount of medicine. Even if the same mushrooms are literally growing together, the two mushrooms will have differing amounts of psilocybin. 

So the best way to get a consistent dose is to grind up all the mushrooms you have of one type (please don't mix different strains if you can help it), and then mix the mushroom powder very well. 

How Do You Grind Your Mushrooms Into Powder? 

To grind them up, I personally use a mortar and pestle. Let me explain.

When I ground up my first mushrooms, I had read in several places that they used a coffee grinder. I bought a nice coffee grinder that I was going to use specifically and only for psilocybin mushrooms. 

The coffee grinder had great reviews. Lots of people said they used it to grind up spices as well. I thought this was going to go smoothly. 

Goodness was I wrong. 

I put the mushrooms in the little hamper thing where you usually put coffee beans. The mushrooms were too light to go down! So I had to unplug the grinder, and use a butter knife to jam the mushrooms down the thing. I was shocked how long it all took! 

After I got enough of the mushrooms down the gullet of the grinder, suddenly a HUGE poof of mushroom powder went EVERYWHERE!!!

It was leaking precious mushroom powder out all the crevices of this thing! I couldn't believe it! So much of this poofed out into the air, landing on me, my clothes, the counter, the coffee grinder... everything!

The first time I used it, I put in 14 dried grams through the grinder and came out with only 12 grams. I was shocked that I had lost only 2 grams. 

Enter mortar and pestle....

So read up on these babies, because you want a good one, and you want to make sure you season it right. 

It's so simple! And easy!!

Put the mushrooms in the mortar. Load it up all the way! Those mushrooms grind down very easily and very quickly.

Use the pestle to start making the mushrooms into powder. It's quick and easy work. 

This way, there is no mushroom powder on everything in the room! It's quick, easy, and mush more efficient and clean. Plus, there is not a huge loss of mushrooms.

Making 00 Capsules

So personally, I really love to use capsules. They are easy to swallow, I don't have to taste anything that I don't want to taste. 

I'm not going to go into making capsules here. You can find out how to do that all over the internet. 

When you are making capsules for psilocybin mushrooms, you can't make a bunch all at the same time. For instance, I have a capsule maker that allows me to make 50 capsules at the same time... mass producing them. You can't do that with psilocybin mushroom capsules. 

You have to be precise in your measurements. You have to weight it out. I've linked below to all the stuff that I bought off Amazon. It does help me out if you are able to purchase these things from the links below.

Get a capsule filling kit. You are going to need to do this by hand, one at a time. This is the kit that I bought and really like.  

Get a scale that can read up to 0.000 grams. I got this one from Amazon.

I only have experience with using 00 size capsules and wanted to share what I know about that. These are the capsules I get from amazon. 

You can easily fit 0.1 - 0.25 grams into one capsule. 0.3 is really pushing the limits on the size of these capsules.

When I stuffed, and stuffed and stuffed, the most I could get into one capsule was  about 0.34 grams. I was hoping for 0.5 grams, but I couldn't ever get close at all. 

There are obviously capsules that are larger. But size 00 capsules are pretty large already. I recommend just making 0.25 grams per capsule. It makes it easy to get to the right macro dose. 

If you are microdosing, you can easily do a 0.05-0.3 grams per capsule. 

After you make your capsules, be sure to label the bottle or bag you store them in. 

I will get different colored capsules for different dosages, so I don't ever mix them up on accident. 

If you have questions about what your dose is, this is a good place to start to understand what your goals are, and how to find your dose. 

What's My Dose? Dosing Chart for Psilocybin Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms) 

What's My Dose? Dosing Chart for Psilocybin Mushrooms (Magic Mushrooms)

  

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing and Using?

What's My Dose?

I love this question! It's super important that you find this out. What are your goals of treatment? How does your body respond to the different doses? 

#1 rule to dosing is always start low and slow. You need to find out how your mind and body are going to react to this medicine. You can always add more later, but you can't take it away. Once you are on that mushroom journey, there is no going back! 

One of my teachers in my psilocybin facilitator class brought this issue up to us. He told us of a story of him smoking outside. When he offered a cigarette to a friend, the friend said "No thanks. I've already had my dose." 

My teacher was blown away! He had never realized what his "dose" was for nicotine from smoking, and challenged himself to figure that out. 

What about caffeine? What about alcohol? What about psilocybin?

Do you know your dose? What dose is therapeutic with what your goals are?  

First off... if you are taking a dose greater than 0.5 grams, especially the first time, you should have a sober friend with you. Mushrooms can do very strange things to your mind, and you can get very confused, very quickly. 

 Be safe! 

Pride and Dosing

So I'm going to step onto my little soap box now, so bear with me as I try to explain something that is super annoying in the psilocybin mushroom space. 

It's pride. 

A weird pride in seeing how high of a dose people can go, and trying to look cool, strong, or courageous for doing it. 

They want others to put them on a pedestal for taking a higher mushroom dose.

For instance, look at the highest dose of mushrooms that people consume. They like to call it "heroic" as a dose name.

SERIOUSLY!?!?

Why are you considered a hero for taking a huge dose of mushrooms?!?!

ummmmm... can you say PRIDE and NARCISISM!?!?

 Are you saving someone's life? Are you being courageous in a way in which people call you a hero? If so, why do you feel you have to up someone else, when talking about doses?  If so, why do you feel like you need to tell the universe what a crazy high dose you are able to do? 

Just stop. 

It's just pride, and we don't need that in this beautiful and sacred space. Not everyone is like this, but there is definitely a weird culture that I have noticed in circles about this. 

All that matters, is the dose that works for you. 

All that matters, is the dose that is therapeutic for you. 

We are all different. We all respond to mushrooms differently. Even in the same person, every journey is going to be different. 

I love the quote... you don't get the journey you WANT.... you get the journey you NEED.

Some of us have had more psychedelic ceremonies/journey's than others. Some of us have been on psych meds for a long time. Some of us are very sensitive to medications and others not. 

Everyone is different, and therefore their dose will be different than yours. 

Please don't judge your dose to someone else's dose. It's just not helpful. 

Just because you need a lower or higher dose does not make you a better or lesser person. 

Dosing Chart for Psilocybin Mushrooms

All of these doses are for dried mushrooms, not fresh. Fresh mushrooms have a whole lot of water in them, and so they will weigh much more than dried mushrooms. 

Also these doses are for psilocybin cubensis mushrooms. In general for every 1 gram of dried mushrooms, you will have 10mg of psilocybin.

🍄 MICRODOSING: 0.05 - 0.5 grams; This dose is low enough to not create a feeling of being "high" and is considered sub-hallucinogenic. It can create mood enhancement (less depression and anxiety), better concentration, increased energy, and increased mental stamina. 

🍄 MINI-DOSE: 0.25 - 0.75 grams; This dose is just above microdosing, whatever that is for you. You will feel a little buzzed, maybe your limbs will be heavier. You will probably have mild euphoria, visual enhancements, short term memory problems, and altered sound and smell perception (it gets better!). If you are hoping to get more out of a talking therapy session, this might be a good starting dose for you.

🍄 LOW DOSE: 0.5 - 1.5 grams; I don't like to call this "museum dose" because I don't believe in using mushrooms for recreation. I think it's disrespecting the medicine, and you can invite dark energy or dark spirits to be with you if you are not careful. 

This medicine is to be respected, and used as medicine. 

At this dose you can have closed and open eye visuals. All your senses are more enhanced. You can have distracted thought patterns and enhanced creativity. You wills have greater feelings of euphoria at times.

At this dose your subconscious can be opened up and you start dealing with past traumas. You do NOT want this to happen when you are not in a safe space, with people that you know, like at a concert.

PLEASE DON'T USE MUSHROOMS RECREATIONALLY!!!!

Did you know that in Mexico, where we first learned of psilocybin mushrooms as a western society, they do not use mushrooms recreationally there? I didn't know that until I learned it in my class. 

Mexicans understand that Psilocybin mushrooms are spirit medicine. It's a gift given to us by God and needs to be respected. It can hurt you if you use it in a wrong manner (recreationally). 

If you are using mushrooms to better understand yourself, your goals in life, your spirituality... these are all good things to use this medicine for. It doesn't only need to be used for those that are mentally ill. 

🍄 MODERATE DOSE: 2.0 - 3.5 grams; At this dose you can start having warped and kaleidoscope visuals. If you look at your hand, you might not recognize it as your hand. It feels like you are out of your body somewhat. Mild to moderate hallucinations or spiritual visions. At this dose you will have 3D closed eye visuals. You can also have minor synesthesia, which means that your senses can blur or blend. For instance, you might be able to visualize music as it's playing. You can "see" the music. It's very common at this dose to have a distorted sense of time. Usually that a short amount of time has passed but it feels incredibly long...a few hours can feel like days or even months. 

At this dose, you will be faced with past traumas. It's incredibly important that you have had set intentions for the journey, and that you are in the right mindset, healthy, and in a good setting with people that you trust, and people that can hold you during a re-visit to a past trauma. 

2.0-4.0 grams is a therapeutic level when you look at the studies out there. This dose level creates the most lasting change in people. The anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-addiction properties will last longer, and the spiritual/mystical experiences you have will help you to permanently make changes in your life for the better. 

🍄 HIGH DOSE: 3.5 - 5.0 grams; At this dose you have heavy hallucinations. The likelihood of your ego dissolving is much higher. What this means is that for some time, you can lose the sense of who you are and where your body is. Ego dissolution can be an incredible experience. It can be like a re-birth. 

The old self has died, and the new person that is formed is a better version of yourself. Someone that can now see that they are connected to every other creation on earth be that humans, animals, plants, fungi, rocks, soil, etc. All things have spirit, and you realize that you are part of that. 

At this dose you can have a mild disconnect from reality. You can get very confused about what is really going on. You can have a complete loss of time. Synesthesia (blending senses) increases, and out of body experiences are increased. 

🍄 MEGA DOSE: 5.0 grams +; At this dose you will have the complete altering of senses. You will have ego death. You will have complete disconnect from reality. 

You cannot overdose on psychedelic mushrooms. But that doesn't mean that you need to keep pushing the dose because of some weird pride or competition you have with yourself or your friends. 

How many times do you need an ego death in your life?

Personal Disclosures - Be Smart When Growing

 

Disclaimer: What are Your Intentions For Growing?

Please Be Smart And Don't Go To Jail

I am not encouraging anyone to break any laws by taking psilocybin mushrooms. This is illegal in many countries and most states here in the United States. There are a few states that have legalized it with very specific rules surrounding it. There are many cities in the USA that have legalized it.

Please understand local laws very carefully before growing your own mushrooms or taking them. You can go to jail for growing mushrooms or being in possession of them, even an amount that is just for your own personal use. 

Please be smart about this. Don't tell everyone that you grow mushrooms, even if it's just for your personal use. You don't want this information getting out. 

If someone asks you where you get your mushrooms, tell them "from a friend" and end the conversation quickly.

I am lucky to live in the state of Oregon, USA. It is legal for me to have a small amount of mushrooms, that is just for my personal use. It's not encouraged, and in fact, if I'm caught with under 12 grams of dried mushrooms, then I can get a ticket for it (comparable to a traffic ticket).

That is what this blog is about. I grow enough mushrooms for my personal use, and want to help others that are in the same boat. I scoured the internet trying to figure this out, read books, watched more youtube videos than I could possibly count. 

I'm going to try and simplify what I learned and share it with you. 

That being said, about mushrooms being illegal, I truly understand the desperation of people needing help, of needing medicine to treat many psychiatric illness. Many of us, myself included, the current psychiatric treatments don't work for us. I've tried several medications, that all gave me suicidal flooding. Instead of the typical 3-7 suicidal thoughts a day, these medications caused 40-50! The only time I felt at peace is if I was planning my death. 

Mushrooms Heal

I still don't know how I lived through taking those psych medications. Each time I tried one, I would have FOUR months of suicidal thought flooding! 

Those medications separated me from my feelings, numbing me. They separated me from my mind... I literally lost IQ points and couldn't read books and study like I usually do. My mind didn't have the capacity to hold the information anymore. Those medications separated me from my sexuality. I couldn't orgasm anymore. Those medications made me gain weight like you wouldn't believe. Those medications separated me from my people. They gave me social anxiety for the first time ever. They separated me from God. For the FIRST time in my life, I could literally not feel God. For the first time in my life, everyday I would ask myself if there was a God. It was HORRIBLE!!!

The tiny little rope that I was so desperately clinging to, trying not to die, was severed with these medications. One of them gave me these terrible side effects for A WHOLE YEAR!!! My primary care doctor said it would only be for a few weeks. It just wasn't true for me. A whole year I had social anxiety for the first time in my life from a SNRI. 

What do psilocybin mushrooms do? They CONNECT me! 

I have never felt so connected with other people, with nature, with God, and with myself. I am able to connect with my feelings and HEAL. I connect with my history, and with my traumas, in an ordered and safe manner. I am able to face those trauma's and memories with a trusted loved one or with my God literally standing by me. I am able to connect sexually like I did before I got sick with depression. I love sex again! My food addiction is much easier to contend with. It feels more of a choice than an addiction now. I'm connected to God and nature in a way that I can't even put into words. Instead of just having faith that there is God, I have SEEN God and been in His presence. My brain is working better than when I had depression, but still not perfect. But you can't expect the mushrooms to fix everything! At least it doesn't make it worse like typical psych meds do. 

Bottom line... mushrooms HEAL! They are not just numbing you like psych meds do.

How are these psych medications legal, but mushrooms are not!?!? 🙍 I'll tell you, it's all about money. Big pharma wants nothing to do with mushrooms, because they can't make money off it. The only reason that psilocybin studies are moving forward, is because of private donations. 

It's disgusting that these plant medicines have been made illegal. How narcissistic can our government be? What gives them a right to outlaw something that grows in the forest and is such a potent medicine for mental health?!?

Psilocybin mushrooms truly have saved my life. I'm one of those that have a dangerous deadly mental illness - suicidal depression.

The desperation of drowning for so long, longing for death for so long, that you would literally try anything to help the suffering and pain to stop. 

I know that desperation. 

That desperation lead a conservative housewife to learn how to grow psilocybin mushrooms. If you are in the same boat, I understand. I'm glad you are here. 💓

Being Led To Psychedelics

God was gently leading me to the use of psychedelics to heal my bipolar depression, but I was scared to try them. I have never been drunk. I had never used any kind of drug before that caused dissociation. The strongest drug I had up to that was morphine for pain when I had surgery. I didn't dissociate from that experience.

My journey with a documentary. I saw something about psychedelics helping depression. From there, I did more research and found all the studies on depression, anxiety, OCD, and addiction, and how much they are all helped with psychedelics. 

This was truly mind blowing! I was raised to believe these substances are "drugs" not medicine. 

ALL medicine can be used as a drug - recreationally in a way in which is not helpful to the human body. Take alcohol for instance. It can disinfect a wound, but when taken internally, alcohol is like a poison to your body. 

Alcohol is THE most dangerous drug this world has ever seen... and yet it's legal and socially acceptable. It's all so backwards!

Psychedelics sounded really intrusive and scary. But it turned out so different from that for me. 

Mind you... I have learned some VERY important things about psychedelics. Like set and setting, like clearing and protecting your journey space with prayer (especially using the name of Jesus Christ to cast out any evil or dark spirits or energy), and learning how to bring light into dark spaces in your mind. You do that by inviting God with you, to all of your journey's. You have to submit to God, and what he wants to show you and heal you from.  

Some journey's are difficult, as you are processing emotions and memories that are not fun. You are truly shown WHO you are - the good and those parts that need some serious work. And yet.... all of your parts are beautiful and it's okay! 

I love this image! As he is sleeping, he is being protected and watched over. 

Psychedelics are very similar to sleep. Your subconscious is working, and you are incredibly open to truth and light, which means you are also open to dark spirits and energy, if you don't protect yourself.

Yes, there are difficult psilocybin ceremonies/journey's at times. Journey's that leave me shaken, making me increase my level of prayers than ever before in my life, trying to clear up what I saw and what I'm feeling. Journey's that I have to journal about, and cry about, and talk to loved ones about (or a therapist!).

But I also have never felt more alive! I have never felt more connected to my body, my feelings, my sexuality, my family, my community... nature, this world, this universe! 

Traditional psych meds disconnect you.... psychedelics connect you! 

It's truly beautiful work. It's difficult, but it creates harmony and wholeness inside you. You learn how to find your inner healer. The answers have been inside you all along. You just need medicine that can help you find those answers and find that healing. 

Why Grow Your Own Psilocybin Mushrooms? 

So why did I grow my own mushrooms, for personal use? 

First off, when I was quietly grown mushrooms in my own home, I'm not supporting the black market and drug dealers. I support plant medicine, not drugs like meth and heroin. 

Secondly... $$$$ This medicine that my brain needs to be able to function like everyone else that is neurotypical, can get quite expensive. It gets expensive and sketchy relying on others for something that is so important in my life.

Thirdly, if I get them from another grower, I really don't know the processes they have used, and I like having that control of my own grow. I use plastic that is food grade. I use rye berries that are organic. When processing mushrooms, I treat them like food and handle them with proper food handling techniques. These are important things to me. 

I'm An Amateur Mycologist

I am an incredibly amateur mycologist! I like this quote, because growing mushrooms is truly an art. There are a lot of ways to do this, and how you do it, is probably different from others. 

It's like that quote that there are 10 ways to skin a cat. As long as it gets done, that's all that really matters. Make this work for you.

I have just started learning about mushrooms this last year. I have had one successful grow, with 0% contamination rate. I think I'm very lucky, and I know God has helped me in this process as well. 

During one of psilocybin ceremonies, I was shown a time in which I was tending my mushroom bins. I had an angel standing next to me, whispering things to me. Helping me to know what to do. 

I do want to share what I have learned. I know there are lots of people in my same situation, with the same concerns I have. I want to help those people.

So I hope this blog helps you understand this process better. So much has already been written on this subject. I'm going to do a lot of pointing to other blogs, books, and videos, that helped me get the knowledge that I have.