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The cashier looks at you grumpily. ‘Paying by card?’ she asks in a reproachful voice. When you nod and clumsily extricate your debit card from your wallet, she sighs deeply and presses a button on her till. Or what do you think about the woman neighbour who is always stood at your door? You play your music too loud, you talk too loud, you stomp on the stairs and could you flush the toilet less often.
Meanwhile you count to ten calmly and take a deep breath. Ignore it, you’re thinking, these people don’t know any better. They’re born in a bad mood and they’ll die the same way. But what if we told you that magic truffles - so it seems - can change your personality? You become friendlier and feel more connected. Would you believe us?
Where Magic Truffles Come From
First of all, magic truffles don’t actually exist. It’s a made-up name - the official name is sclerotia. This type is obtainable completely legally in the Netherlands. These spongy magic truffles (read: sclerotia) grow under the ground between an enormous network of fungal filaments (mycelium).
Mycelium: an underground network of fungal filaments (hyphae).
The magic truffle is a mould which grows between these fungal filaments (mycelium). Normally speaking, mushrooms grow out of the mycelium but to cultivate magic truffles the conditions for future mushrooms are purposely made unfavourable. This results in the nutrients going not to the mushroom but being stored up by the mycelium under the ground for better times - a nest-egg for a rainy day. These reserves look like tiny bulbs and are the sclerotia, or magic truffles as they’re known.
Magic truffles: the mycelium’s nest-egg for a rainy day.
Magic truffles are full to the brim with the mycelium’s nutritional reserve. One of the substances present in magic truffles is psilocybin. Psilocybin is the substance which provides the unforgettable truffle experience. Everything becomes more intense (sound, light and feeling) which can lead to fits of laughter or general well-being. A higher dosage can lead to the occurrence of visual and auditory distortions. During a trip like this you seem to suddenly see and experience everything for real for the first time.
Research by the John Hopkins University
Some time ago the Journal of Psychopharmacology (2011) published a remarkable investigation by the John Hopkins University in the USA. Scientists from this university claim that the trip experience caused by psilocybin has an effect on the user’s personality. Users will change in a positive sense; he or she will become more open to the world.
Please note: this was a small-scale investigation carried out among 52 participants. More research is needed to establish the effects with more certainty over a longer period.
Hello, Friendly, Open-Minded Person!
You become more open not through psilocybin but through the experience you get from psilocybin. Only participants who had an intense, mystical trip experience underwent a change in their character. They felt themselves more connected to other people and things; they opened themselves up. But what is open? The character trait of ‘openness’ in man comprises imagination, curiosity, feeling for the aesthetic, abstract ideas and general open-mindedness. Important elements which bit by bit contribute to your likeability factor.
You open yourself up to the outside world through an intense, mystical magic truffle trip.
The Inner Journey
To arrive at this conclusion, the participants had to come to the research laboratory in America two times. The first time they completed an extensive personality test and were then given an average or high dose of psilocybin. After that, they had to lay quietly on a sofa with their eyes closed and listen to music through headphones. This meant they were completely isolated from the outside world and visual stimuli. It allowed them to fully concentrate on the experience (read: inner journey).
Some fourteen months and a few weeks later, the same participants were invited back to the same laboratory for a second visit. There they had to again complete a personality test. And with what result? The participants who had previously had a mystical truffle experience, were still experiencing the increased openness. Consequently, the researchers concluded that the results were persistent.
Neighbour, Cup of Tea and a Magic Truffle?
So, now you know what to do about the tiresome woman neighbour. Your last resort is not the TV programme ‘Neighbours from Hell’ but magic truffles to resolve the conflict between your neighbour and you. But wait! Before you go running to your neighbour with a dose of magic truffles, there are a number of things you need to consider. We have ten tips for you to have an unforgettable magic truffle experience.