Stargazer Mushrooms 🔭 | DoubleBlind

0:00 Hi all. I'm Shelby Hartmann, DoubleBlinds co-founder and editor in chief. And today we're talking about stargazer mushrooms. before we jump into it, I just want to remind you to, like, subscribe and hit that notification button. If you never want to miss a beat from us. I have. Let's be honest. There is a lot of information swirling around regarding psychoactive mushroom strains, and we have some other videos on our YouTube about this. But basically the disclaimer I want to give is some of it's real, some of it's marketing. It's a lot like what we saw in cannabis. So you got to be discerning. And that applies to the stargazer mushroom as well. So as the story goes, the stargazer mushroom strain, or Inca stargazer is among the earliest naturally occurring

0:47 psilocybin mushrooms strains to be cultivated by modern mycologist. It's true that stargazer is a variety of psilocybe cubensis, which is the most well known psilocybin containing mushroom species, and it's known for its potency and general ease of cultivation. People often want to know the origin stories of particular psilocybin containing strains, species, etc. if you search any spore site, you'll find a similar narrative about stargazer mushrooms, which is that they were found in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, most notably around the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu. Cool. You'll also likely read that stargazers owe their popularity to Paul Stamets and James Chilton,

1:34 who first featured them in his book The Mushroom Cultivator in 1983. Though they never mentioned Stargazer specifically, creating new strains is tricky, but not impossible for mycologist. Reputable spore companies can develop new varieties by testing the compatibility of the mycelia of different preexisting strains. Stamets and Chilton describe a strain as a group of individuals in a species of fungi sharing a common genetic heritage, but differing in some observable features of no taxonomic significance. Basically, a strain is a group of mushrooms that share inherited physical characteristics but are not so different that they represent a new mushroom species.

2:19 So the question then becomes is stargazer a distinct mushroom strain? And the answer is maybe mushrooms are not universally standardized in the same way as legal plant and fungi varieties sold in the average nursery or farm store. Thanks to prohibition, the potency of various psilocybin mushroom strains hasn't been well-studied or well documented over time. But as more regions decriminalized, endeavors like Oakland Hyphae's Psilocybin Cup are changing that. So far, potency tests have revealed that strains like some cubensis strains, Penis Envy and Golden Teacher appear to win consistently. Stargazer have yet to win, but that doesn't mean that it won't someday. The potency of psilocybe cubensis strains Stargazer included

3:07 predominantly depends on environmental and growth conditions. So, like all cubes, as we call cubensis, this stargazer can likely be quite potent. It doesn't take a considerable amount of psilocybin to produce a strong and meaningful trip. Stargazers will have many similar characteristics to other psilocybe cubensis strains. Another one of the many reasons why it's challenging to speak with certainty about the origin of this particular strain. a reputable breeder or spore trader should be able to provide further information about their specific specimens, physical characteristics and growth patterns. And I'm just going to state here as a disclaimer that you should be careful about where you buy your sports from, because there's a lot of sketchy folks out there trying to sell spores on

3:53 places like Reddit. Stargazers tend to be on the small side. Their caps are between 1 and 2in up to 50mm in diameter and have a convex shape. The cap color changes from a reddish brown to golden brown to light yellow. As the mushroom matures, The remnants of the veil leave the surface of the cap dry and spotted, and the stems can reach around five inches long. They have a pale yellow color and show a partial veil. The gills start gray and darken as the mushroom matures, and the spores are a mix of dark purple and brown. It also tends to grow in large flushes or clusters. Like others psilocybe cubensis as mushrooms.

4:38 Stargazers can produce feelings of interconnectedness. Euphoria, transcending time, visual hallucinations, synesthesia, ego dissolution, and altered auditory perception. In large doses, They’re shrooms. In smaller amounts, stargazers can provide mood, elevation and things like visual tracers. But it's important to remember that the effects of psilocybin are subjective, and there really is very little data and no real rigorous data explaining what some strains are going to do versus other strains. A lot of it's just basically people on the internet saying, well, golden teachers always make me feel euphoric and penis envy have like a creepy clown energy. It's like, do they, I've experienced the creepy clown energy on penis envy, but,

5:24 you know, I'm just saying, like, you take take it all with a grain of salt. What does that mean? Creepy clown energy. It's like when things. It's like when you feel kind of like this. Like creepy crawly feeling under your skin and, like, things are, like, mush, like, kind of distorting and like, like mushrooming, like growing big and contracting and, like, Of course, psilocybin can produce uncomfortable effects, particularly when used in challenging or unsafe environments. And some of the less pleasant side effects can include nausea, elevated heart rate, fear, anxiety, or just feelings of discomfort in your body. We have a lot of videos and articles on DoubleBlind and on this YouTube channel about best practices for preparing, for, navigating and integrating a shroom experience.

6:12 But generally, I'll just say that regardless of the type of I'm in containing mushroom, you're on, that. You just got to be prepared for things to unfold in an unexpected way. You know, you do your best. You set an intention, you make sure that you're in a safe environment. You make sure that you have a buddy or someone you can call if you really need to, and then you just gotta kind of put your hands up and say, Jesus, take the wheel. first thing I want to say is that if you're interested in growing shrooms, this is actually something we teach people how to do a DoubleBlind. And we're super passionate about it. And we have a team of incredible mycologist, including the illustrious doctor K Mandrake and Virginia Hayes, who are in a discord channel and supporting folks.

6:59 And it's such a beautiful process of trying to figure out where to get mushrooms, or you're just interested in connecting more deeply with your mushrooms. This is something that's really amazing to try. And then all of the proceeds go back to supporting videos like this, and our beautiful print magazine and all the things that we do for free that we vowed to never, ever charge for because we want to help beautiful people like you on your journey with psychedelics. Cultivating and possessing psilocybin mushrooms is now decriminalized in more than 12 cities and counties in the United States, I just want to clarify that a lot of the news coverage and stuff says decriminalized, but it's really not true. Decriminalization is just that these resolutions are making the gifting, gathering and growing a psilocybin containing mushrooms a low law enforcement

7:48 priority, which basically means they're saying to law enforcement, you have better things to do than go after Joe Schmo growing golden teachers in his closet, which is absolutely true, in my opinion. Not to get political. Also, surprisingly, you can purchase psilocybin spores in almost every state and in Canada. And they will come to your doorstep. And it's completely legal. And they have tracking and everything. But I will state that in places where psilocybin containing mushrooms are not decriminalized. You're still taking a risk when you actually grow the spores. They're technically legal for microscope purposes. So if you like, want to buy a microscope and look at the spores, but you don't actually want to grow them into shrooms, who wants to do that?

8:36 Psilocybin mushrooms are still federally illegal. They are schedule one, which is the most highly restricted category on the federal Controlled Substances Act. In conclusion, finding reputable information in a world forced underground is never easy, which is why DoubleBlind exists. And figuring out the true stories behind strains like Stargazer is particularly challenging in a hushed climate. I can't tell you how many times we have interviewed a bunch of mycologist and gone to the deepest depths of the internet to figure out the origin story of a mushroom strain, only to put out what we thought was a very meticulously fact checked story on to Instagram, and to have the mycologist start fighting about whether we got it right or wrong. So the point is, it's,

9:22 you know, we do our best and I think we do a pretty good job. there's a lot of legend and lore around mushrooms. There's a lot of disagreement about how to grow them. There's a lot of disagreement about the degree to which strains even exist. And so this is just an ongoing conversation, and we'd love to hear if you have any opinions about this in the comments below. If you found this video informative, please like, subscribe and turn on those notifications. And if you want to learn more about psilocybin mushrooms, we have so many videos on this YouTube channel. We also have a whole database on the DoubleBlind website, where you can read about psilocybin mushrooms and how to grow them, and how to take them, etc. etc. etc. so we hope that you'll become a part of our community. If you're not already, and you can check all of that out at DoubleBlind mag.com.

10:07 Have a great day.