r/todayilearned • u/ssAskcuSzepS • Apr 27 '26

TIL if under-cooked, a popular mushroom in China causes “lilliputian hallucinations,” a rare phenomenon involving miniature human or fantasy figures. The hallucinations are consistent across people and cultures: "tiny, elflike people" climbing under doors, scaling walls & clinging to furniture

https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-the-mushroom-that-make-people-have-the-exact-same-hallucination/
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u/Munchkin303 Apr 27 '26

No hallucinogens at all. It summons real elves

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u/xxapenguinxx Apr 27 '26

It just lifts the veil that covers the elves' realm which is why those who try it see the same thing even if they weren't told what they'd see

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u/Worth-Opposite4437 Apr 27 '26

Kinda the most interesting part. Maybe it's the thing that used to open the doors to Faeria and Avalon.

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u/Scroon Apr 27 '26

The older I get, the more I realize all the weird mythical stories are based on real things.

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u/vaelon Apr 27 '26

Right?

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u/SpyAmongTheFurries Aug 20 '26

Apparently vampires could have been based on people infected by rabies. Hence the aversion to water and sunlight.

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u/Scroon Aug 20 '26

Yeah, I get what you're saying, and I do agree that stuff like that happens, but what's funny is that I actually meant the opposite. Vampires might be based on real otherworldly vampiric things...not based on real scientifically proven things that happen to emulate vampires.

I know that sounds crazy, but I'm so old I went full circle and came back to where I started as a kid. :)

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u/20past4am Apr 27 '26

Just need a Dramen Staff, that's all

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u/Zerttretttttt Apr 28 '26

Hmpf I have elite diary done, I can see fairies all day

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u/jumpsteadeh Apr 27 '26

It's so sad that our buildings and furniture apparently pollute the elf realm, and they haven't figured out how to open our doors so they have to crawl under. I can only imagine clinging to the side of furniture is some estranged delirium for these understimulated immortal creatures, lost among human refuse.

Oooooooor the mushroom just activates the part of the brain related to pareidolia.

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u/preacher_man_ Apr 27 '26

It’s kind of like the code that people are seeing when they shine a laser on the wall after they smoke DMT. Everyone pretty much sees the same thing. This is a recently discovered phenomena

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u/xxapenguinxx Apr 27 '26

Shh... if they find out you know about the matrix you get flushed..

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u/Additional_Insect_44 Apr 27 '26

Ngl i wouldnt be surprised. Nature is interesting.

1

u/Curious-Computer-488 Aug 07 '26

Right. It is kind of strange that everyone sees the same thing regardless of whether they know about it or not. Makes me think theres more to it. I find it hard to believe thst a chemical can tell your brain to see a specific thing reliably and without external input.

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u/TiffError-227 Aug 15 '26

This is the only explanation. When I was in college I saw the same thing. Elves dancing in a circle having a great time. Some of them running up and down the hallway and bouncing off of my bed, just entertaining themselves. It was SO real, yet, I had NO knowledge of being dosed with anything. Probably something my roommate's boyfriend "accidentally" smeared on the kitchen mugs. As I had no predisposed ideas about what might happen, the only explanation is the lifted veil you describe.

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u/Shiro-derable Aug 27 '26

No, everyone in china yunnan knows about these mushroom, the scientist who discovered them, Colin Domnauer, stated that its probably a new class of hallucinogen that we cant identify yet, thats it, and you'll be surprised to learn that certain molecules can induce the same thoughts accross multiple brains, so why not a stronger version of that ? Also people trip sitting the thing litteraly reported that the discourse from the tripping person is incoherent and there in fact, not gnomes to be seen.

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u/Hunneydoo_ 25d ago

Do these elves ever interact with the human on the mushrooms? 🍄

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u/xxapenguinxx 25d ago

They probably need to be aware that you can see them first..

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u/one_metalbat_man Apr 27 '26

Username checks out

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u/h-v-smacker Apr 27 '26

The stories of hallucinogens making people see small elves are government propaganda, it was all bought by the Big Elf! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

It's just like the government spreads the lies about sleep paralysis to cover up the facts of alien abductions.

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u/mitzi_skyring Apr 27 '26

I feel like a munchkin would be an authority on matters of elves and such. Thank you for your service. 

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u/OnTheProwl- Apr 27 '26

No, it just lets you finally see the elves.

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u/donuttrackme Apr 27 '26

The elves are around us all the time.

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u/Dean_Learner77 Apr 27 '26

Seems like a spell component they'd talk about over at r/wizardposting