Description
Original Ape Mushroom Effects, Potency.
Original Ape Mushroom, or “APE,” for short, is a cultivated variety of Psilicybe cubensis, one of the best-known and popular “magic” mushrooms that are microdosed. As the name implies, the fruiting bodies do look rather penile, but the same can be said of many mushroom species. They are not especially envious.
Original Ape Mushroom is a pale-capped sub-variety of Penis Envy, reputedly one of the most powerful varieties of P. cubensis—and rumored to have been discovered in South America by well-known author, Terrence McKenna. It can be difficult to grow, and is therefore rare, but ape is popular among those entheogen users who can get it.
About P. cubensis, the Parent of the Original Ape Mushroom
Understanding APE begins with understanding P. cubensis, the wild fungus it grew out of—in fact, APE still is P. cubensis, rather like how the white tigers bred for circuses and zoos are still tigers, not a new species.
P.cubensis is a small, often long-stemmed mushroom with a bluish ring that is often stained black by falling spores.
The stem and cap both bruise blue. Wild-type caps are brownish, but APE caps are almost white. The species eats, and usually fruits from, the dung of large grazing animals—not from under dung (a habit other species have).
The wild type grows freely in well-watered tropical and sub-tropical areas of almost every continent.
Several look-alikes do share the same habitat, so it’s unwise for enthusiasts to go foraging on their own unless they have also developed some skill at mushroom identification.
It’s important to remember that noticing certain kinds of details is a learned skill.
The brain discards details deemed unimportant, so until a person has studied mushrooms in an ongoing way for some time (thus teaching the brain that mushroom details are important) the difference between a useful species and its toxic look-alike might literally be invisible. Expertise is important.
Many users either buy or grow their supply, making identification less of an issue.
P.cubensis is mind-altering, able to cause a range of effects, including hallucinations, mood-changes, new beliefs or ideas (sometimes classifiable as delusion, sometimes not), and anxiety, or even panic. There can also be less psychedelic effects, such as nausea or worse.
The results of taking this mushroom can vary dramatically, depending on the chemistry of the individual mushroom and on the physical sensitivity, mental state, and surroundings of the user at the time. Over-doses are possible and can be dangerous, but are never deadly.
The risk of addiction is very low; mushroom use does not cause the kind of dependency that, for example, opiates do. While P. cubensis use is not risk-free, risk can be minimized through reasonable caution.
While some people talk about all “magic” mushrooms as though they were interchangeable, each species has its own mix of psychoactive and other substances, and thus its own possible effects on the body and brain.
Amanita muscaria, for example, probably the most famous hallucinogenic mushroom besides P. cubensis, owes its effects to a completely different group of “active ingredients,” and thus works very differently in the body.
P.cubensis has a long history of both religious and recreational use. It may have medicinal value in treating certain psychiatric conditions (though all use, including for medicinal purposes, is still illegal in most jurisdictions). The species is not difficult to grow, and many cultivated varieties are available.
Effects of Using APE Mushrooms
Original Ape Mushroom-type variants are popularly considered the most powerful strains of P. cubensis, and APE is considered the most powerful of the Penis Envy variants. Its effects have been described in glowing terms as being very visual with a lot of euphoria and deep thoughts.
However, P. cubensis in general is highly variable in its potency, and the effect of eating the mushrooms can vary, too, depending on both set and setting (the mindset and the surroundings of the user at the time).
The bottom line is that mushroom variety is not always a reliable predictor of the quality of the experience.
APE can be consumed raw, cooked, or in a tea, among other methods. Reportedly, it tastes a little bitter—not bad, exactly, but it would not likely be popular fare if it were not hallucinogenic.
Once a person ingests it, however they ingest it, the effects might come on in anywhere from twenty to forty minutes, sometimes a little more—a delay that can make proper dosing a little tricky.
The “trip” can last for up to six hours, though duration, too, is variable. “Flashbacks,” in which the effects suddenly reassert themselves long after the mushrooms have left the user’s system, are possible, and are either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on one’s point of view.
