"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day."
--Albert Einstein, LIFE Magazine, May 1955
Einstein loved mushrooms!!
According to interviews with his housekeeper:
“Herr Professor ... loved eggs and mushrooms very much, especially porcini mushrooms and sweet chestnuts, which he often brought back from his forest walks in Caputh. If it had been up to him, he would probably have eaten mushrooms three times a day, so much did he like to eat them."
If you're curious about Einstein's life, I recommend checking out this fascinating talk by Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Institute a few years back (or treat yourself to the full biography).
The Einstein you'll meet is a beautiful and flawed human, whose creativity and wisdom helped expand our collective understanding of the world around us.
But it was Einstein's exploration of the world within himself that led to his most elegant breakthroughs. His epiphanies lit the path before he deployed the tools of science for observation and description. He saw his own equations as a reflection of the inherent beauty of the universe, providing a glimpse of the divine. And he never stopped contemplating the marvelous structure of reality, until his passing in April 1955.
Very psychedelic indeed.
And of course, as a mushroom enthusiast, I was not surprised to learn that Herr Professor was also a fungi fanatic. What's not to love?!?
These ephemeral life forms are ideal subjects for contemplation – they thrive in an underground network of infinite connections, and appear to us in beautiful bursts of abundance, only when the conditions are right.
And they're delicious! Or medicinal. Or deadly. And everything in between.
And there was still a shroud of mystery surrounding mushrooms during Einstein's lifetime, especially in the western world.
The conventional wisdom of the time was that fungi existed as an odd subset of the plant kingdom. It wasn't until 1969 that Robert Whittaker, an American plant ecologist, enlightened the world with the understanding that mushrooms were actually their own kingdom, closer to humans than plants on the tree of life.
And while mushroom rituals span back through human history, it's safe to assume Einstein was never introduced to psilocybin mushrooms.
It wasn't until a LIFE magazine article in May 1957 that the western world met "magic mushrooms" as we know them today. The term "psychedelic" itself wasn't coined until 1956; and the word "psilocybin" first appeared in 1958, when it was synthesized and sold by Sandoz Labs.
But it's easy to imagine that Einstein would understand our current fascination with these vessels for inner exploration.
While much of the ongoing psychedelic renaissance has been fueled by their potential for healing – it's their promise for consciousness expansion that lies at the core of their magic.
When approached with intention, psychedelics can provide us with a new perspective of ourselves and our place in the universe. Sometimes they help us face our fears, and sometimes they remind us of the simple truth of unconditional love. And often they foster an awareness of the ways we're connected to everyone and everything around us.
Sometimes that's all it takes to better understand our own behaviors, and maybe even effect change towards becoming the best version of ourselves.
And while you're not likely to finish Einstein's unified field theory on your next mushroom journey, you just may glimpse the divine within, and comprehend a little more of life's mystery.
And as Einstein knew – that's enough.
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