I am really interested in this topic. Clearly more research needs to be done, both from scientists and drug enthusiasts, An unusual magazine article caught my attention -Halluciogenic stones from iceland: "Stoned on Stones" "It was the most intense hallucinogenic experience that I've ever had, and I've done every trip there is," says Icelandic writer Smari Einarsson. "DMT, peyote...you name it. We have these magic mushrooms here that grow wild. I've eaten those more times thank I can count. They cannot even come close to the effect of these rocks." Volcanic rocks, which cover the Icelandic landscape, have been getting local kids high for five years now, ever since a local artist did a performance piece called Rock Soup. Jon Sigmundson's art piece was meant to make a commentary on Icelanders' high standard of living, which he believes relies on taking for granted third-world suffering. He made rock soup, he said in a written statement, to "try and live on nothing." The serendiptous discovery he made is that these rocks get you fuggin' wasted. It is actually the lichen that lives on the rocks that gets you off. You take a few stones, boil them in a pot of water, strain it all through a colander, and drink it down like tea. Some people add ginger and honey, but it has a nice taste undiluted. It's very earthy. People who have "taken stones," as it's called, share strikingly similar stories. "Trolls," says a young Icelandic girl who was interviewed at local Reykjavik bar Sirkus.She'll only give her first name, which is Essa. "Every time we do stones, we see the same group of trolls. They are no unkind, but they aren't overly friendly either," she says. "Mostly what they do is advise you. You always come away from a stones trip with a question that you had on your mind answered. You also the most vivd colors ever. It's like living in Fantasia!" So I decided to do a little research, but found only a few scattered reports of mountain goats eating lichen for its intoxicating effects: "According to Ronald K. Siegel, a pharmacologist who has studied intoxication in animals, it is common for animals deliberately to experiment with plant toxins; bighorn sheep will grind their teeth to useless nubs scraping a hallucinogenic lichen off ledge rock. And another reference to lichen by Shulgin: A. Shulgin wrote about this in PIHKAL. The chemicals in some lichens can react with essential oils in some natural products (i think he used orange juice as the example) to make synthetic THC: Dear Dr. Shulgin: In PIHKAL you have mentioned that the chemicals obtained from lichens can easily be brought to react with certain essential oils from natural sources, to make synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol. Are there more detailed references to this process beyond what is in your book? –Tengu Dear Tengu: There certainly are! The tetrahydrocannabinol molecule from Cannabis can be viewed as a combination of two very different halves. The right half (as the structure is usually drawn) resembles the nucleus of many of the substituted benzene-ring containing components found throughout thelichen world. Isolation of these products can give the raw materials that can be converted to the compound olivetol, a simple amyl-substituted resorcinol compound. The left half is a terpene which contains ten carbon atoms, and which is substantially identical to the essential oil, pulegone. This component makes up some 80 to 90% of the Oil of Pennyroyal. The fusion of these two materials has been shown (Claussen et al., Tetrahedron Vol. 24 p. 2879 (1968)), to produce several products, one of which is delta-3-THC. This is a close structural isomer of delta-9-THC, the principal active component of marijuana, and is known to be active in man. -- Dr. Shulgin There is also another source That shouws psychoactive lichen was used by the native American Indians: "earth flower" HALLUCINOGEN Pima Area: southwestern U.S. Notes: unidentified lichen; Pima and Papago names translate as "earth flower." "This lichen, which has a strong odor, is the color of gray ashes and grows on rocks and dead wood in certain spots on the hills. It has more religious meaning than any other plant, and is smoked, mixed with tobacco, at summer dances, when its distinctive odor is noticeable. Like marijuana, the smoking of [it] 'makes young men crazy.' 'The pima believer that if they smoke this lichen they can get any women they want, but this is just a superstition,' explained George Webb." Curtin, LSM. 1984. Ethnobotany of the Pima (By the Prophet of the Earth). Univ. of Arizona Press. Page 77.
fascinating! i am currently reading a novel for class by philip k. dick called "the three stigmata of palmer eldritch" which deals largely with hallucinogenic lichens from alien planets. at the time it was written it was almost surely just a fantastic idea, nothing based in knowledge of something real like this. i'm really interested in finding out what the active substance in the lichen is! as well as if its presence is universal among that type of lichen or if it is there due to environmental factors. and i'd be quite interested in trying it, too.
anyway, i'd be very interested to learn what magazine featured this article, as i can find virtually no references to psychoactive lichens via the internet which was not presented here (different sites, same references)
The Articel was from Vice magazine. I remeber there was a small picture of a round, dark blue coloured stone with this artice as well, if that is any help. I find it very unusual that there is not more information on this subject. Even with all the new synthetic psyochoactive chemicals that have been made in the past 20-30 years, there are still a number of natural, psychoactive plants that are almost unheard of. As I said before- there needs to be much more research on this subject. The lichen hasnt even been properly identified yet, the name is still unknown, and it is a complete mystery as to what the chemical gives the lichen its intoxicating effects. Perhaps someone from the states can go look in the rocky mountains for a grey colured lichen with a strong odour... although lol, I wouldnt recomend going around eating and smoking various unknown plants.
everyday i learn something new u never know that the same thing u click on will teach u a new thing or even change your life! haha sound great! ive never heard of it. gona research as well =]
hahah I thought I commented here. Long time ago I was into model trains and i had some Lichen for fake trees and I smoked it.. ... I remember it wasnt very good, but it had me spinning for a minute.. But it was really nasty.. I was prolly 14..
well which of the species of lichen is psychoactive? Acarosporales Agyriales Arthoniales Lecanorales Lichinales Ostropales Peltigerales Pertusariales Pyrenulales Teloschistales Verrucariales Incertae sedis id really like to experience this lol
<--- Sounds interesting. How chemically active can such a simple organism be? Could chemicals in the algae like plant have to allow for some strange synergy to take place when combined with the fungus.
