Mushroom That Causes Universal 'Little People' Hallucinations | Joe Rogan & David Paulides

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Do you Do you know that there's a specific mushroom that you when you take it, everyone sees little tiny people? I didn't know that.

[00:00:07]>> Yeah, this is a There was a recent article about this. See if you can find that, Chummy.

[00:00:12]Um there's a one very specific type of hallucinogenic mushroom where when you take it, universally, everyone experiences little tiny people.

[00:00:24]Like little like, you know, elves from ancient stories.

[00:00:29]I mean, what do you think Why why is that so common? Like, what is that?

[00:00:34]They saw them on their dishes when eating. The mushrooms that make people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans.

[00:00:40]Now, we're saying hallucinate, but we don't I mean, if everyone's seeing the same exact vision, that's very strange. Every year, doctors at a hospital in the Yunnan province of China brace themselves for an influx of people with an unusual complaint. The patients come in with strikingly odd symptom.

[00:01:01]Visions of pint-sized elf-like figures marching under doors, crawling up wells, and clinging to furniture.

[00:01:10]The hospital treats hundreds of these cases every year. All share a common culprit. Uh I don't know how to say this. Lǎomáo Lǎomáo āziàtică >> Asiatica, I know that. Asiatica? I don't know the first one. Okay, asiatica, duh.

[00:01:29]A lǎo mǎo whatever it is. Lǎn l a n m a o a uh asiatica, a type of mushroom that forms symbiotic relationships with the pine trees in nearby forests and is locally popular food known for its savory umami-packed flavor. In Yunnan, uh L. asiatica is sold in markets, it appears on restaurant menus, and is served at home during peak mushroom season between June and August, one must be careful to cook it thoroughly though, otherwise the hallucinations will set in or don't cook it at all, [ __ ] Come on, don't you want to see the elves? Why would you Why would you cook it? Um Outside of Yunnan and a couple other places, this strange mushroom is largely an enigma. There many accounts of the existence of this psychedelic mushroom and many people who looked for it, but they never found the species, says Giuliana Furci, a mycologist and the founder and executive of the Fungi Federation, a non-profit group dedicated to discovering, documenting, and conserving fungi.

[00:02:38]Uh this person Dom Domnauer Domnauer is on a quest to solve the decades-old mystery about this fungi species and identify the unknown compound responsible for its unusually similar hallucinations as well as what it can potentially teach us about the human brain.

[00:02:59]You know, the thing is like is it teaching us something about the human brain or is it allowing you to see something that's actually there all the time?

[00:03:08]What's at the bottom of that?

[00:03:09]Lilliputian? I was going to show you Oh.

[00:03:11]>> when I typed it in the Perplexity, there's at least one Ooh. The Choctaw have something.

[00:03:18]>> Yeah, says many indigenous nations have their own name for little people and the English phrase is just a loose umbrella term. Each language has specific words that usually mean something like little people, dwarves, or forest people. The Cherokee have it.

[00:03:33]>> [sighs] >> Ooh, what's that word? Yunwi Sun Sunsdiyi?

[00:03:40]Um usually translated as little people.

[00:03:43]Choctaw, um they have another crazy word, uh little people and forest-dwelling type called Kawinu Kasha or forest dweller. Chickasaw have them for little people, small supernatural beings.

[00:03:59]Yeah.

[00:04:00]There's so many of these things like corns, medicinal plants Uh-huh.

[00:04:05]Describes a little person who provides corn and medicinal plants.

[00:04:11]Well, many, many, many people who have taken mushrooms see little tiny people. See little elves.