A Texas church has claimed to have invented a new psychedelic drug used as its sacrament and has apparently given it to members of its clergy as one might give a communion wafer. But a recent chemical analysis has thrown cold water on these religious claims. The Church of Psylomethoxin, founded in late 2021, says “magic” mushrooms grown with an extract of toad venom produce the chemical psilomethoxin, which is a drug similar to both the potent psychedelic psilocybin and 5-MeO-DMT , both banned in most places on Earth.
“As far as I know, hardly anyone has ever synthesized the molecule, let alone ingested it.”
5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) occurs naturally in many plants and humans also produce traces of it; but it is best known as the primary venom ingredient of the Colorado River toad (Incilio alvario). For decades, people have extracted the milky-white goo from these amphibians that live throughout the American Southwest and vaporized it to achieve one of the most intense psychedelic experiences known to man.
Some people call 5-MeO-DMT the “God Molecule” because the experience combines a massive adrenaline rush, vomiting, and sometimes squirming with otherworldly love and pure bliss. It typically only lasts about 20 minutes, but some research suggests this is enough to relieve depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
On the other hand, psilocybin, the drug that gives a “magic” touch to certain mushrooms, can be a much more pleasant experience depending on the dose. Eating just a few grams can trigger feelings of time dilation, heightened colors, distorted visuals, and inner feelings of love, joy, and connection to the universe. The experience can last from four to six hours. It, too, can help mitigate mental illness, and humans have been eating these mushrooms for thousands of years.
Psylomethoxine, however, is an entirely different story, according to Andrew Gallimore, a neurobiologist, pharmacologist and chemist based in Tokyo, Japan who studies psychedelics.
“It’s a new and unusual molecule in that it carries the ring substituents of both 5-MeO-DMT and psilocin, so it’s sort of a hybrid of both molecules,” Gallimore told Salon in an email. “However, until it’s actually tested in humans, anything beyond that is pure conjecture. As far as I know, hardly anyone has ever synthesized the molecule (although there is a published 10-step synthesis), let alone the ‘he ingested, so we don’t even know if it’s psychoactive.”
The church says it has taken the theory and made it possible through what they call “sacred synthesis” by using phalaric herb, a plant that often contains 5-MeO-DMT, and mixing it into the substrate in which the mushrooms grow.
In other words, even if someone cooked up psilomethoxin in a lab or using mushroom mycelium cake, there is still no evidence that it would have an intoxicating effect that would introduce you to God or the DMT entities, strange creatures that many people report seeing when they take the main ingredient of ayahuasca. However, the Church of Psylomethoxin claims that they took 5-MeO-DMT and administered it to psilocybin-containing mushrooms, causing them to inhale the substance and spit out the psilomethoxin (4-HO-5-MeO-DMT), which they gave to members who pay an annual fee of $55.55.
The idea isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Alexander Shulgin, one of the most prolific psychedelic chemists in history, proposed that this might be possible based on the work of Dr. Jochen Gartz, a German mycologist and chemist. In 1988, Gartz wrote an article describing how adding chemicals to psilocybin mushrooms could influence them to generate new tryptamines, a class of drugs that includes psilocybin, 5-MeO-DMT, and psilomethoxin. Drawing from this research, Shulgin suggested that toad venom could generate new psychedelics, particularly psilomethoxin, when mixed with mushroom growing substrates.
The church says it has taken the theory and made it possible through what they call “sacred synthesis” by using phalaric herb, a plant that often contains 5-MeO-DMT, and mixing it into the substrate in which the mushrooms grow.
“[W]We believe this sacrament has been bestowed upon all of humanity for the purpose of assisting humans in ascending into fourth-density consciousness,” the church website reads. “Through our work, we hope to raise the frequency of vibration and the soul density of all our members, thus assisting humanity in its ascension into higher states of consciousness.”
The church responded to the paper in a lengthy post on its website, accusing the researchers of “attempting to capitalize on the burgeoning psychedelic renaissance.”
Naturally, a couple of researchers were skeptical of these claims. Receiving a sample from an anonymous church member, Samuel Williamson and Dr. Alexander Sherwood of the Usona Institute, a non-profit psychedelic research organization, applied analytical chemistry techniques to see what was actually inside. of the sacrament.
The sample arrived in a non-specific capsule, but when it was passed through a mass spectrometry machine, which can easily detect the shape of the molecules, no psilomethoxin was found. However, psilocybin and other naturally occurring mushroom metabolites they were found in the analysis. So while there are travel reports out there describing taking the Church’s psychedelic characteristic of Psilomethoxin, it’s very likely a placebo effect or just tripping off plain old shrooms, the authors conclude. Their results have been published on the ChemRxiv preprint server, which means they have not yet been peer-reviewed.
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With this in mind, Sherwood and Williamson wrote, “it is evident that their [the church’s] claims to produce a new compound, psilomethoxine, by incorporating 5-MeO-DMT into the substrate of cultivated plants Psilocybe mushrooms are more like ‘mushroom fiction’ than reality.”
“The lack of evidence of new compounds in the sample coupled with the implausibility of the proposed biosynthetic pathway suggests that the Church of Psilomethoxin is engaging in misleading marketing practices and may be misrepresenting the material it is distributing,” the authors added. “It is imperative for the scientific community to continue to investigate such claims and provide accurate information to the public, ensuring that the distribution and use of psychedelics are based on factual data and not unsubstantiated claims made by organizations such as the Church of Psylomethoxin “.
The church responded to the paper in a lengthy post on its website, accusing the researchers of “attempting to capitalize on the burgeoning psychedelic renaissance.” Salon has contacted the church and will update this article if a response is received.
“First, it should be noted that the Church has never, at any time, made any claim that Psylomethoxine has ever been positively identified in its sacrament,” the church wrote on its website. “Why? Because at this juncture, it is scientifically impossible to make such claims as there is no reference sample. own direct experiences with the Sacrament.”
Faith or not, it’s not difficult or too expensive to send a sample to a lab for analysis. Gallimore argued that this chemical analysis should have been done long before the church began distributing and advertising the substance.
“Feeding a molecule to a live culture in the hope that it will be taken up and converted into a desired molecule will always be somewhat unpredictable, it is possible that the molecule fails to enter the mycelial cells or, if it does, it is metabolised into a different molecule or simply demoted,” Gallimore said. “Hoping for clean absorption of 5-MeO-DMT and transformation into psilomethoxin is a bit of a gamble. It certainly could work, but there’s every chance it won’t. Without knowing exactly how the Church has approached this process, it is impossible to know whether their procedure could be optimized.”
“Church’s claim that it is ‘scientifically impossible’ to confirm the presence or absence of the psilomethoxine molecule in their sample because ‘no reference sample exists’ is frankly baffling and seems to betray a lack of understanding of how the new molecules are isolated and characterized from organic sources,” added Gallimore.
Psilomethoxin could still be synthesized by other means, but again, there is really no documented history of humans, let alone animals, taking this drug or what its effects might be. It could prove extremely toxic or have no effect. While in very rare cases some people have died from 5-MeO-DMT overdoses, deaths from psilocybin are essentially unknown. But we have absolutely no idea what psilomethoxin does to people.
“While I fully sympathize with the idea that people should be free to alter their consciousness with any molecule they choose, as long as they don’t harm anyone else in the process, people also have the right to full disclosure of the substances that groups like the Church of Psilomethoxin are providing,” Gallimore said. “I also accept that the Church has never officially made explicit claims regarding the content of their material ‘sacrament’. However, “faith” and “direct experience” of this substance are no substitute for adequate chemical analysis, especially one molecule with no history of use in humans”.
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