On typing this out, I’m suddenly concerned about this being offensive or blatantly false. I never applied critical thought to the story before, as I’m pretty sure I was told it as a relatively young, and more relevantly gullible, man.
Is it true that this mold played a role in the “witches ride broomsticks” stereotype?
It sounds like a few different things got mashed together there. Ergot is a hallucinogenic fungus that grows on rye, and is speculated to be the cause of some of the witch panics. It’s not the same fungus found in Roquefort, but it is what they use to make LSD.
Witches flying is hypothesized to be entheogen use, since a common side effect is feelings of floating, flying, or otherwise ‘being high’.
The fungus you’re thinking of is likely ergot, because it shows up in pretty large volume in batches of rye.
In processing, it ends up as a dark purple/black dried up mass that assumes kinda a crescent shape. Mills will run a batch of rye through a color-sorter - a bunch of times consecutively - to reduce the amount of ergot in the batch before milling.
You can technically refine it into LSD, but if you screw up, you can kill people. (Morning Glories are the preferred method).
The number of 55-gallon drums of ergot I’ve disposed of, though… It’s difficult not to identify with Walter White and wonder… “what if?”
The Roquefort (French blue cheese) is made from the mold that grows on rye bread.
So even the moldy bread, in the right condition, can become a delicacy.
lactobacillus is everywhere. Truly the king of kings.
Yo, thank you to yogurt, sourdough, and various fermented beverages. Bless.
On typing this out, I’m suddenly concerned about this being offensive or blatantly false. I never applied critical thought to the story before, as I’m pretty sure I was told it as a relatively young, and more relevantly gullible, man.
Is it true that this mold played a role in the “witches ride broomsticks” stereotype?
edit: Removed redundant word.
It sounds like a few different things got mashed together there. Ergot is a hallucinogenic fungus that grows on rye, and is speculated to be the cause of some of the witch panics. It’s not the same fungus found in Roquefort, but it is what they use to make LSD.
Witches flying is hypothesized to be entheogen use, since a common side effect is feelings of floating, flying, or otherwise ‘being high’.
The fungus you’re thinking of is likely ergot, because it shows up in pretty large volume in batches of rye.
In processing, it ends up as a dark purple/black dried up mass that assumes kinda a crescent shape. Mills will run a batch of rye through a color-sorter - a bunch of times consecutively - to reduce the amount of ergot in the batch before milling.
You can technically refine it into LSD, but if you screw up, you can kill people. (Morning Glories are the preferred method).
The number of 55-gallon drums of ergot I’ve disposed of, though… It’s difficult not to identify with Walter White and wonder… “what if?”
Iirc the psychoactive compound in ergot/morning glories is LSA, which is similar, but different from LSD. LSD is a refined version of LSA.