These are not psilocybin mushrooms, nor are they magical in any way that I can ascertain. Of course, I only photographed them; I didn’t harvest any, nor did I attempt ingestion. I’ve heard, once, that one can eat any mushroom…once. I was only interested in photography on the day I saw these beauties. I don’t know their breed, but I’m willing to bet (and to err on the side of caution) that they are toxic: if not in their native state, then at least due to something permeating the distinctly urban soil in which I saw them growing. Mushrooms, like plants, have a habit of absorbing ground toxins. I developed an interest in psilocybin mushrooms because of their qualities. I suffer from cluster headaches (though I had fewer of them in the Czech Republic than in Chicago,) and I’ve recently learned that psilocybin mushrooms are under study for their psychoactive properties, and their interaction with various neurological conditions: most notably, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Cluster Headaches. (There is no cure for cluster headaches, and they’re often difficult to recognize as they’re still largely misunderstood [and are often ignored by medical professionals, as cluster headache suffers are often misjudged as expressing drug-seeking behavior.] and in some ways, harder to treat. Due to recent studies, however, cluster headaches are recognized as a form of neuralgia. Some experts have suggested that cluster headaches are the most painful condition known to medical science. More intense than childbirth. As one familiar with these headaches, I can attest to that. It would seem, however, that psilocybin-producing mushrooms have the ability to stop cluster headaches, and migraine headaches. Apparently, minute amounts of the substance help immensely. It’s also been clinically-proven that psilocybin toxins produce a distinctive perceptual shift that often leads one to experience meaningful and spiritually-significant psychological events. Though I've never ingested psilocybin shrooms, I have observed an odd, psychological phenomenon I've come to recognize as The Hippie Effect: sympoms of this condition are often marked by an increased appreciation of patchouli oil, leather sandals, and Gerry Garcia/The Greatful Dead. Such perceptual shifts (and behavioral artifacts) are radically different from those induced by smut fungi, and I have to say that given the choice, I’d rather have spiritually-significant hallucinations, and an intense desire for the scent of patchouli, rather than those Book Of Revelation blood-and-brimstone apocalypse-orgies so commonly associated with smut. The mushrooms depicted here are of a breed I’m unfamiliar with. I simply call them Chicago Mushrooms, though I suspect they grow everywhere. Mushroom spores have been captured in the upper reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere, and so it stands to reason that (at least some) breeds of mushroom are global in range. Spores don’t stay airborne forever, after all, and I’d be interested in tracking a few…just to see where they go. Hmmm…I wonder if there’s a study (and a paycheck) in that! As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week. I don’t know if things are slowing down for me or not, but I consider it a good sign that I was able to write more than one paragraph of text today! Of course, you’ve just read the entirety of my writing in three days…but something’s better than nothing, I suppose.