Amanita and the Christmas story

The Christmas story and Amanita mushrooms.

It's mushrooming time locally and in the Pine forests, bright red and white mushrooms have appeared everywhere. I thought I'd write a little about them here.

Amanita muscaria has a long association with humans, especially in European cultures. it is so distinctive that folks often think of it first when they think of 'toadstools’

Amanitas are a part of our Christmas iconography, traditions and that jolly fellow in red who distributes presents that end up under our Christmas trees. But there is far more to it and much of it relates to this fungus.

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Santa, as we know him, is actually the result of aggressive marketing by the Coca Cola company back in the early 20th century. The jolly fellow in red was one of their advertising characters that quickly became entrenched in popular culture. The other aspect of the story – the presents under the tree – came from a Victorian era of the (then) Royal Family gathered around their Christmas tree, giving each other presents that were beneath the tree.That's the modern ‘additions’ to the story taken care of. How does Amanita muscaria relate to Christmas then? Well, the story really starts a long time ago, in Lapland...

Amanita muscaria is quite toxic in its raw form but becomes edible when prepared properly and it contains an hallucinogen. Laplanders ate plenty and their Shamans learned that the toxic aspect of the mushroom’s chemistry was neutralized when Reindeer ate the mushroom and urinated out the other compounds.

The reindeer tripped when eating the mushroom and frolicked and jumped about. This, suggested to the hallucinating shaman and villagers that they flew. Shamans travelled by sleighs that were pulled by reindeer who may or may not have been tripping.

Laplanders driedAmanita mushrooms, hanging them on Spruce trees and their red and white colouring must have really brightened up the village. Laplanders also lived in yurts and due to lots and lots of snowfall during the Winter months, entered and exited them through an entrance in the roof - ground level doors were often snowed in.Travelling Shamans had to enter houses in this way (Santa entering the ‘chimney’ in later versions of the story). the Shaman would enter the hose and tell stories, heal and perform various spiritual activities, some of which included the imbibing of hallucinogen laced Reindeer urine. Shamans also dressed in the red and white of the Amanita mushroom when travelling.

It all adds up to a pretty, red and white picture, doesn't it?

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