Combined Minds

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Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri

The Girlies build gingerbread houses and talk about … shrooms?

Ambar: Do you know about the weird, psychedelic history behind Christmas?

Carmen: Do I even want to? 

Ambar: So there’s actually a lot of research and information gathered from scientists and historians that back up this theory, so to speak, that hallucinogenic mushrooms had a big influence on our modern-day Christmas traditions.

Carmen: The hallucinogenic mushroom in question is the Amanita muscaria, also known as fly agaric, a red-capped mushroom with white dots that grow around trees such as birch and pine.  

Ambar: According to our research, the ancestral indigenous communities of the Arctic, specifically the Koryaks of Siberia and the Kamchadals, would hold winter solstice celebrations in which a shaman would guide a ritual that involved the ingestion of the Amanita muscaria. Funnily enough, the shamans would wear clothing that resembled the mushrooms. 

Carmen: So… Are you telling me that Santa Claus … St. Nick … his costume is based on a shaman who was tripping balls? 

Ambar: Wait, ’cause there’s more. Because the Amanita muscaria is so high in toxicity, they had to either dehydrate them by hanging them off of pine tree branches or put the mushrooms in socks and spread them near a fire in order to consume them. More so, reindeer were of great help in reducing the toxicity levels of the mushrooms as they were able to consume the mushroom without having any toxic effects. So the urine of the animals was used since they had already filtered the harmful components of the mushroom.

Carmen: OK, so I see where we got ornaments and stockings from… But can I be completely honest with you for a second? 

Ambar: Please do.

Carmen: I thought reindeer were mythical creatures… like unicorns and dragons. I didn’t realize that they were, in fact, a real animal well into my adulthood. 

Ambar: They are, in fact, very real, they just don’t fly.

Carmen: That is so lame. Anyway, continue, please. 

Ambar: So during these rituals, legend says the shamans managed to see the future of their communities. Apparently, they could somehow shift into animals and fly toward the North Star in search of knowledge that they would share with the rest of the community. At the end of the hallucinogenic journey, they would return to their group in their yurt.

Carmen: They could shift into animals? 

Ambar: Not physically. Remember, this is a hallucinogenic trip.  

Carmen: I want whatever they’re having. The last mushroom trip I had, I was convinced my boyfriend’s friend was a figment of my imagination. 

Ambar: Right on. Anyway, we know that Santa Claus enters the house through the chimney, right? In the case of the Arctic shamans, since the yurts were often snow-blocked, they would enter through an opening in the roof. And while Santa Claus brought physical gifts, the shamans brought gifts of knowledge.   

Carmen: OK. But how did we go from tripping on mushrooms to our modern-day Christmas?

Ambar: Over time and through cultural exchange and personal beliefs, the shamanic archetype changed. The traditions spread to Great Britain where the ancient traditions were combined with Germanic and Nordic myths. Eventually, Christianity related the Christmas tradition to the 4th-century Turkish bishop Saint Nicholas of Bari who also inspired the character of Santa Claus. 

Carmen: I like the other version better.