Mushrooms aren’t always used for their hallucinogenic effects. They are used to create music, too. Artist and composer Tarun Nayar, who creates and performs music under the moniker Modern Biology, plugged mushrooms into a synthesizer and wrote music with the electrical waves the fungi produce. To achieve this sound, he places electrodes into the mushrooms and wires them up to his soundboard, allowing electrical signals to flow through the plants and trigger a synthesizer before turning them into sounds that humans can hear. Nayar has also written music with watermelon, cacao, mango, and cactus. His raving mushrooms don’t have a method to their madness, as to be expected with nature. This unique ability to transform electrical waves from mushrooms and other objects has given Nay...
Ben Gorelick is likely the only religious leader who can also claim the title of rave promoter. As you may have already guessed, the ceremonies Gorelick leads for his community, The Sacred Tribe, are uncommon to anything you’d normally see in institutional religion. Based out of Denver, the congregation currently has around 270 members. Once a month, Gorelick reportedly hosts a psychedelic-influenced retreat where he and participating members consume psilocybin mushrooms and sink into a meditative state. One of Gorelick’s intentions with the experience is to help users augment “the relationship to self, community, and God.” According to The Denver Post, reactions among participants varied. Nonetheless, each was personal to the individual. “The level ...