Translated from our German original by AI. The German text was researched, written, and edited by the Psychedelia Foundation team and remains the authoritative version.
A new study challenges the previous assumption that traditional use of psilocybin-containing mushrooms was historically confined largely to the Americas. Researchers have now provided the first systematic evidence for the use of the mushroom species Psilocybe maluti by members of the Basotho in Lesotho and South Africa.
For the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 traditional healers and 8 other community members. Most of them (15 healers and 6 non-healers) were able to identify the recently described mushroom independently. Respondents said the mushroom is used both in initiation rituals and in the treatment of physical, mental and spiritual complaints. They also described recreational use and use as protection against magical harm.
The dosing and the combination with other plants are particularly notable. Unlike the well-known high-dose psilocybin ceremonies of Mesoamerica, Basotho healers usually use the mushroom in small amounts. It is also often combined with other psychoactive plants, most frequently with the hallucinogenic plant Boophone disticha.
In the researchers’ assessment, several indications suggest that these traditions already existed before the global popularization of psilocybin in the middle of the twentieth century. The findings thus broaden what is known about the historical and geographical spread of psychedelic practices and suggest that their cultural use is more varied than previously assumed.
The authors also emphasize that discussions of traditional psychedelic use should rest more firmly on empirically documented case studies of this kind, rather than inferring global patterns from a few well-known examples.
