Psychoactive Reindeer Piss

Reindeer will seek out and devour the mushroom Amanita muscaria in order to trip. In their mad attempt to consume this substance they have been known to trample humans, who are themselves hunting for the mushroom. The smell alone sends them into a craze; the mushroom pheromones drag them from out of sobriety into an ecstasy; one can only imagine. Unlike psilocybin mushrooms Amanita muscaria is toxic to humans, causing severe nausea, seizures and coma; consumed raw, they can be deadly. The ruminant reindeer with their more complex digestive system is able to process these toxins while receiving the full affect of the hallucinogenic compounds ibotenic acid and muscimol. These compounds pass intact out of the body in urine. It has become a tradition in the boreal forests of the sub-arctic circle for humans to drink the piss of the tripping reindeer. The reindeer acts as a filter, passing on the psychoactive compounds of the mushroom while rendering the toxins inert. This tradition is typical of indigenous peoples in Alaska, Scandinavia, and Siberia and is a possible origin for the flying reindeer of Christmas. The piss will allegedly remain psychoactive after passing through up to five or six recipients: humans drink the reindeer piss, become intoxicated, collect their own psychoactive piss, and pass it on to the next person who wants to go there. And yet this is no mere intoxication; because these cultures are shamanic, they view Amanita muscaria as homeopathic and sacred; drinking reindeer piss is a religious experience.