Exploring Fungi Facts: What There Is to Know - Page 3 of 8

Humans Have Used Fungi for Thousands of Years

Humankind’s relationship with fungi is also long and storied. Many mushrooms are edible and highly nutritious, while yeast is an essential ingredient in baking and brewing. Other mushroom species have acted as everything from a means of starting fires to a religious sacrament.

For example, mushrooms containing the hallucinogenic compound psilocybin were an integral part of many ancient Mesoamerican religions. The Aztecs called them Teonanacatl, or “Flesh of the Gods,” and used them to communicate with deities. Meanwhile, fly agaric mushrooms were an essential part of shamanic traditions in Northern Europe and Siberia.