Since the ’60s, the word LSD has been amongst us quite frequently, especially nowadays, with traditional therapies being replaced by psychedelic retreats and micro-dosing. But where does exactly LSD come from? Is it purely synthetic, or does it come from nature?
Believe it or not, it comes from a fungus widely known since 500 to 1500 CE, Ergot. This fungus works similarly to puffballs and carries ergot alkaloids. Funnily enough, when Albert Hofmann synthesized LSD, he wasn’t trying to synthesize a psychedelic but trying to find more ergot alkaloids that historically have been used to speed up labor and control postpartum hemorrhage and as a treatment for patients with moderate to severe migraine.
Unfortunately, things were much darker during the Medieval era. Ergot would infect rye and various kinds of cereal, and after consumption of the infected cereals, people would become ill with ergotism. Ergotism plagues were known as Saint Anthony’s Fire for their mild effects. Often, people would experience convulsions, seizures, spasms, diarrhea, paresthesia, severe itching and burning sensation (hence, its nickname St. Anthony’s fire), headaches, nausea and vomiting, and mental effects such as hallucinations, mania, and psychosis until their death.
You might think, well, that is all over now. We can’t have ergot contamination nowadays, right?
The answer to this might surprise you negatively. We still have the chance of infection of crops. The infection can expand to the poisoning of farm stocks, causing gangrene in the extremities of animals that feed in contaminated fields. Fortunately, with the control of food sold in markets, it would be nearly impossible for an outbreak similar to those during the medieval era.
But where did Ergot come from? They were using it clinically to speed up labor and control postpartum hemorrhage during a period.
Most of the Ergot would come from Portugal and the Northwest Spain. During that period, the fungus was valuable and impacted the capita of these countries. Peasants would collect the fungus by hand, and the owners of the land would take the items to an Ergot dealer that would ship the product worldwide.
Leaving us with one last question.
With the psychedelic renaissance and the movement towards legalization of psychedelics, will we get to see the cultivation and selling of Ergot available after centuries of prohibition?
