mushrooms | The Blog of Baphomet

Living in the northern hemisphere, in the British Isles, as we head towards Midsummer there is so much light! As I write this it’s 9:30pm on the 19th of June and the sky is still blue with the longest of twilights.

Spring, with its blossom and bluebells, gives way to the branching white heads of umbellifers and the yellow glow of St John’s Wort as we reach the height of the year. The floral gems of Sedum acre, also known as ‘biting stonecrop’, – from its habit of growing low across almost bare rock – are scattered over the ground at Midsummer. Its habit of growing in luxurious patches over stone gives rise to an alternative name for this vibrantly coloured plant, ‘golden carpet’. The ones shown here are from a little spot beside the river where I like to practice my Qigong.

I’ve been pulling back on some of my work, or at least trying to, so I can focus on doing more writing, I’m currently about 13k words into a new book project. That said, there’s still plenty of cool things planned over the next few months that I wanted to share with you…

One big project that reaches its next stage this year is the release of more of my Magical Qabalistic pathworkings with Treadwell’s Books. These guided audio journeys through the tarot paths and sephira of the Tree of Life are designed to work even if you only know a little Qabalistic symbolism, while those more familiar the Tree will be able to appreciate the rich iconography woven into the pieces. Each journey is built using a carefully crafted blend of spoken word and original soundscapes, using contemporary and cross-cultural imagery to make the Qabalistic system really accessible. There is some challenging material here; these are not a series of easy-going well being meditations. Unsurprisingly the path of The Tower and sphere of Geburah include some challenging material. My intention has been to provide a deep and, at times, intense set of practices which can be used multiple times. I’m planning eventually to produce guided audio journeys for every sphere and path of the Tree of Life.

The first group of pathworkings are already available here and I’ll be teaching a two-part workshop which will sit alongside the new audio tracks that are due be released in the autumn. If you’ve never explored the Qabalah before these workshops will give you an easy introduction to the system, while experienced practitioners will discover new ways to think about and connect with the various zones of the Tree.

I’ll also be teaching sessions on The Magick of Aleister Crowley and Knowledge & Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel online, and presenting two in-person events at Treadwell’s for those who are able make it to London in September, The Magic of Sound and Vision and Psychedelic Magic.

Another big project, this time with The College of Psychic Studies, is the first London exhibition from The Order of the Sun and Moon (OSM). Kate Southworth, Greg Humphries and I will be showing our magical artworks at the College from the 30th of August until the 27th of September. We’re also doing some in-person esoteric art workshops and a group ceremony on the opening weekend. And before that we’re inviting you to a free online event where we’ll be sharing some of our practice, including a preview of some of the artworks we’ll be showing in London. In February 2025 OSM will be exhibiting again in St.Ives, Cornwall to coincide with a show at the Tate gallery, St Ives of work by the occultist, artist and esoteric founder of the Order, Ithell Colquhoun.

I’m going to be doing additional workshops with the College later in this year – see my listings on their site for details – which will include a deep-dive, eight-part course on the Eight Colours of Chaos Magic in theory and, most importantly, practice.

Finally, I’m proud to be a member of The Fellowship of Psychonauts; we offer multidisciplinary teaching in psychedelic space holding, with a focus on an apprenticeship model and practical skills development. Our next psychedelic ceremonial retreat in the Netherlands will be held in October this year, from the 9th to the 15th, with additional sessions before and after the retreat providing a six month training program. This program is for people who already have some psychedelic experience, and want to broaden and deepen their space-holding practice. It’s also for those who want to get a better understanding of ceremony, and to have an opportunity to explore what other roles they might be suited to within the wider psychedelic community. To find out more and register your interest click here.

The sun stands still, the tide of the year changes. I wish my friends in the northern hemisphere a bright Midsummer, and a cosy Midwinter for my friends in the south.

From the heights of the heavens, to the depths of the earth, we are one heart, connected.

Sending blessings to you all from sunny Devon!

Julian

Here in Britain, the autumn—season beloved of poets and witches—has arrived. For many people, myself included, the rapidly changing amount of natural light (and particularly the disappearance of direct sunshine) can come as something of a shock. As the dark rises, and we scurry into the new academic year, the romantic melancholia of the season can feel difficult, even oppressive. We may describe our feelings simply as being ‘under the weather’, we may declare ourselves ‘depressed’ or medicalize our emotions as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Me and Damh the Bard are on the same page when it comes to our love of the sunshine. But Dave is a Leo (check his luxurious mane of hair) whereas I’m (predictably) a sex-drugs-occult obsessed Scorpio. So while the autumn does sometimes drag me down, with its blank grey days, there is also excitement as the dark rises; anticipation of Halloween and the following day, my birthday! Autumn brings those mists and mellow fruitfulness, and in all that fruiting there is an additional excitement. The appearance of a wonderful medicine that can help us address, amongst other things, the psychological challenges of the dwindling light. Appearing at just the right time to support our seasonal wellbeing, as if planned by Nature Herself ;). I am of course talking about that most magical of plants (okay, yes I known it’s not technically a plant…) the liberty cap mushroom Psilocybe semilanceata.

Food of the Gods

One of the most potent forms of psilocybe mushroom, the magical elf caps of Psilocybe semilanceata start to sprout at this time of the year. One can find them throughout the British Isles, notably on the damper, western side of the country. Of course without a licence it would be illegal to pick and use these mushrooms, even for the purposes of helping to mitigate one’s depression or SAD. Though arrests for psychedelic mushroom foraging are uncommon, there are cases of people being prosecuted for doing so (for instance the recent bust of Paul Lee Corbett, a 63-year-old man from Washington State facing a charge punishable by five years in prison).

What makes the current legal situation with mushrooms even more insane is that, thanks to the scientists at the cutting edge (or should that be ‘gently waving and breathing’ edge?) of the Psychedelic Renaissance, we now know that this is a very valuable medicine. It can get you high, it can be enjoyable, it can be challenging and it can definitely help you. Psilocybin, in addition to being a remarkably safe substance (arguably safer even than LSD) can catalyze many capacities within humans; this substance can help us problem solve, it can help us deal with our end of life anxiety, it can help us address psychosomatic illness, it can help us unpick our addictions to other substances or debilitating behaviors, it can reliably trigger mystical experience. It’s about as close to a panacea as you can get.

Mushrooms in your mind – Placebo vs Psilocybin

Psychedelic mushrooms can be found growing in the depths of many cultures and have, since the mid 20th century, rapidly sprouted in the consciousness of modern Western culture. From Maria Sabina, sharing her mycophilic mystery with Valentia Wasson and her daughter, through to Terence McKenna’s inspirational, and maybe even partly true, Stoned Ape Theory These days, even with legal limitations on our use of them, mushroom culture is alive and well and now boasts it’s own special day which is coming up soon!

Adding to the now traditional pro-cannabis celebrations of 4/20, advocates of mycelial magic have, over the last few years, been promoting the festival of ‘9/20’ (the 20th of September). Using a variety of tactics the 920 Coalition want to encourage appreciation of and dialogue about the beneficial use of psychedelic mushrooms. Meanwhile, The Psychedelic Society are doing their bit with a petition to change the classification of psilocybin in British law. There are also ways you can get down and dirty with mushrooms by cultivating your own. In Europe the irrepressible Darren Springer has been running workshops helping people learn how to cultivate delicious oyster mushrooms.

Putting a cap on September

As the autumn rains begin to fall across the Northern Hemisphere people are out and about searching the hills, as perhaps their ancestors did, for the sacred magical mushrooms. Mushrooms that bring us laughter, healing, ecstasy and communion with the spirits. (I’m not sure why ayahuasca has such prominence these days when a large dose of mushrooms will have a very similar visionary and healing effect).

It is indeed the case that harvesting psychedelic mushrooms is prohibited in many places. In that respect I would simply like to quote what I heard recently from the awesome mushroom advocate Kilindi Iyi. Speaking as an African-American he pointed out that black people in the USA didn’t get the vote by voting for it. They had to break the law, reminding me of that Thomas Jefferson quote: “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.”

Happy Mushroom Season All!

Julian Vayne

PS I’m facilitating a Magical Mushroom Ceremony next month in London, same date time and venue as Darren’s Shroomshop growers workshop. See Darren for production tips or come to my workshop and ceremony for ideas on how to hold and explore psychedelic mushroom space. Follow this link for tickets. Hope you can join us!

Ahoy!

horns