Shurooms: The Origins of Psychedelics — From Kemet to the Cosmos

In 1957, a white American banker was credited with "discovering" the magic mushroom—a tradition Indigenous communities had maintained without interruption for millennia. SHUROOMS: The Origins of Psychedelics — From Kemet to the Cosmos names the pattern behind that erasure and sets out to correct it: extract the molecule, erase the practitioner, patent the therapy. This book restores Africa to the center of the story.

Written by Ajarn Shaman Shu (Robert S. Shumake)—an initiated Babalawo and Oluwo of the Ifa/Osain tradition, an ordained Shaiva practitioner, and an initiated Ajarn of Thai esoteric Buddhism—SHUROOMS is not written from the outside looking in. It is a synthesis of history, ethnobotany, and clinical science delivered with the spiritual authority of a consecrated practitioner across multiple lineages.

Ranging from the sacred pharmacopoeia of the Nile Valley to the Bwiti iboga ceremonies of Gabon, from Yoruba plant knowledge under Osain to the modern laboratories of Johns Hopkins and Imperial College London, this book argues that Africa is not merely a participant in the global history of psychedelic plant use—it may be its origin.

Inside you will discover:
- The 1957 'discovery' of the magic mushroom — and the erasure behind it
- The sacred pharmacopoeia of the Nile Valley
- Bwiti iboga ceremonies of Gabon
- Yoruba plant knowledge under Osain
- What modern laboratories at Johns Hopkins and Imperial College London confirm
Your next step: Osain: The Green Intelligence — the Orisha of plants and their hidden knowledge. The full path lives at OrishaUniversity.com.

About the Author
Robert S. Shumake, publishing as Ajarn Shaman Shu, has lived two lives in one — the builder and the priest — and his books are where the two meet. He rose from a Ford factory floor to become founding president and CEO of Inheritance Capital Group, a Black Enterprise-ranked private equity firm, served as honorary consul for Botswana and Tanzania, and founded Inheritance Media Group, owner of more than 300 publications produced by an AI-run newsroom. In spirit, each tradition that initiated him gave him a name: Buddhist Ajarn in the Theravada and Vajrayana lines, Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola in Ifá, and Shri Surya Narayana Swamikal in the Tamil Siddha line. He is the founder of Soul Tribes International Ministries and of Buddha Digital Temple and its universities — Orisha University, Buddha University, and Shiva University. He authored Detroit’s Proposal E, the 2021 ballot initiative that decriminalized entheogenic plants in Detroit, and is the author of more than 140 published books and 86+ DOI-registered academic publications. His philosophy: the Double Bottom Line — make a profit, and make a difference. Robertshumake.biz