
Manna - The Psilocybin Mushroom
Psilocybin mushrooms are the subject of this film by Simon G. Powell, author of The Psilocybin Solution and Darwin's Unfinished Business, who narrates and directs. Powell traces the fungus from its role in indigenous shamanic ritual through contemporary science, pairing footage of mushrooms growing in the wild with animated sequences that attempt to show what happens inside the brain during a psilocybin experience. Interviews with researchers and people who have taken the mushroom cover its history of use in traditional cultures and its more recent study as a possible treatment for depression and other mental health conditions. Powell frames psilocybin not simply as a hallucinogen but as a substance that alters ordinary perception in ways he argues are worth taking seriously, scientifically and personally. The film moves between natural history, neuroscience, and Powell's own case for psilocybin's therapeutic and spiritual value, aimed as much at newcomers to the subject as at people already familiar with it. A Spanish-subtitled version also circulates online.