R. Gordon Wasson
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R. Gordon Wasson (born 22 September 1898, died 23 December 1986) was an author, amateur researcher and banker. In the course of his self-funded research, he made significant contributions to the field of ethnobotany.
Wasson's studies in "ethnomycology" begun on his honeymoon trip to the Catskill Mountains, when his wife, Valentina Pavlovna Guercken, chanced upon some edible wild mushrooms. The marked difference in cultural attitudes towards the fungus kingdom in Russia compared to the United States fascinated the pair, and led to the writing of the book Mushrooms, Russia and History 1957. In the course of their investigations, they mounted expeditions to Mexico to study the religious use of mushrooms by the native inhabitants, and became the first westerners to participate in a Mazatec sacred mushroom ritual. In 1957, their experiences were published in a Life magazine article (Seeking the Magic Mushroom), bringing knowledge of the existence of psychoactive mushrooms to a wide audience for the first time. Through his collaboration with Roger Heim, the mushrooms were subjected to scientific study, and eventually the chemical structure of the active compounds, psilocybin and psilocin were determined by Albert Hoffman, using matrial grown by Heim from collections made on expedition with Wasson. Two species of mushroom, Psilocybe wassonii Heim and Psilocybe wassonorum Guzman were named in honor of R. Gordon Wasson. Also in collaboration with Albert Hoffman, R. G. Wasson was the first westerner to make a botanical collection of the Mazatec hallucinogen Salvia divinorum, leading to its description as a new species, and bringing it into cultivation outside of Mexico.
Experiences with the magic mushrooms apparently had a profound effect on Wasson, and fungi remained a persistent theme in his further works. His next major contribution was a study into the ancient Vedic intoxicant Soma, which he proposed was based on the psychoactive Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) mushroom. This was published in 1967 under the title Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. His attention then turned to the Eleusinian Mysteries, the initiation ceremony of the ancient Greek cult of Demeter and Persephone. In The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries (1978), co-authored with Albert Hoffman and Carl A. P. Ruck, it was proposed that the special drink "kykeon", a part of the ceremony, contained psychoactive ergoline alkaloids from the fungus Ergot (Claviceps spp.).
Books
- R. Forte (ed.; contributions from R. G. Wasson and others) 1997 Entheogens and the Future of Religion ISBN 1889725013
- T. J. Riedlinger (ed.) 1990 The Sacred Mushroom Seeker: Essays for R. Gordon Wasson ISBN 0892813385
- R. G. Wasson, S. Kramrisch, J. Ott and C. A. P. Ruck 1986 Pesephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion ISBN 0300052669
- R. G. Wasson 1980 The Wondrous Mushroom: Mycolatry in Mesoamerica ISBN 007068443X
- R. G. Wasson, A. Hoffman, C. A. P. Ruck 1978 The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries ISBN 0-15-625279-1 (original edition, out of print) 1998 edition: ISBN 0-915148-20-X
- R. G. Wasson 1976 Maria Sabina and Her Mazatec Mushroom Velada ISBN 015157202X
- P. T. Furst (with contributions from Wasson and others) 1972 Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens ISBN 0881334774
- R. G. Wasson 1968 Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality ISBN 0-15-683800-1
- R. G. Wasson and V. P. Wasson 1957 Mushrooms, Russia and History
