Via author, musician and bard Dr Andy Letcher:
"I'm just embarking on a new piece of research about the Liberty Cap, Psilocybe semilanceata. I hope it will be published next year. However, I need your help. If the Liberty Cap is or has been a part of your life, I'd love to hear from you, wherever you are in the world.
I want to know how you use the mushroom. I'm less interested in hearing trip reports (let's face it, there's no shortage of these online) and more interested in the context. Do you take Liberty Caps recreationally, to have a "weird trippy time with your friends", as someone put it to me? Do you go clubbing, or take them at festivals, or down the pub? Do you take them in nature or in reverential settings, such as a shamanistic or a neo-pagan ritual, for example? Do you do it alone? Do you eat while you pick? Do you microdose, or go for the full McKenna? Do you play or listen to music, and if so, what kind? Do you consume them during the day or at night?
I'm also interested in how you obtain them. If you go picking, is this a sacred act or something more prosaic? Have you ever had any run-ins with the Law or with irate farmers?
And finally, many people say that Liberty Caps connect them in some way with the natural world. Is this true for you and if so, what do you mean by nature – the city park, or the unkempt wilderness?
I'm not conducting this research scientifically, or doing any kind of rigorous survey. I'm trying to get a feel for what's going on out there, beyond the immediate context of my acquaintances. I don't think anyone has attempted this before. There's a mushroom revolution that happens every autumn, but it's going on in the shadows. I'd like to bring it into the light of day.
I can guarantee anonymity. I won't share your contact details with anyone, and if I use any reports in my writing I'll be sure to change your name. The chances are that I'll blend reports into composites. This isn't an academic piece of work I'm doing, but something (I hope!) will be more literary.
Fascinating as the other mushroom species are, I only want to hear about Liberty Caps for now, so please don't send info about wavy caps, cubensis, fly agaric etc etc.
If you'd like a little more structure/guidance, then pick one experience with Liberty Caps, and answer the following:
Where were you (roughly, I don't need the exact spot - ie the Lake District, UK)?
Were you alone or with a group (any detail helpful)?
How many did you take?
Were you indoors or out?
Was it day or night?
What was the context (recreational, party, rave, ritual, etc - again, detail helpful)?
What did you make of your experience? "
http://andy-letcher.blog...ap-your-help-needed.html[Contact email in link].