Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

While many pages could be written about Bernard Lowy's (1916–1992) contributions to mycology and the ethnographic study of fungi in Central American cultures, this article instead aims to highlight an interesting interpersonal story brought to light by his correspondence. Bernard Lowy spent many years in the latter portion of his career as an ethnomycologist studying the use and prevalence of "mushroom stones" (small statues depicting mushrooms) in Mayan cultures. His correspondent in this story is R. Gordon Wasson (1898–1986), another prominent ethnomycologist who is most famous for his 1954 Life article "Seeking the Magic Mushroom," which some credit with introducing the idea of psychedelic mushrooms to American culture (Wills 2021). After meeting in 1960 when Wasson gave an annual address to the Mycological Society of America, the two began to collaborate and consult each other on their shared interest in the historical importance of fungi in indigenous cultures. However, ten years into their professional relationship a sudden disagreement threatened to separate the two mycological giants, as shown in a series of correspondence from the Hunt Institute's Bernard Lowy papers.

The disagreement starts with a claim in the first two sentences of Lowy's 1971 article "New Records of Mushroom Stones from Guatemala":

At the turn of the century, when the artifacts now known as mushroom stones first came to the attention of archaeologists, little beyond the surmise that they may in reality have represented mushrooms was then put forward. Sapper (1898) was the first to suggest this ... (Lowy 1971).

This claim was disputed initially by Wasson in correspondence on 31 March 1970, in a thought that amounts to little more than an aside. A month earlier he had written to Sigma XI in support of a grant application by Lowy; two months later Wasson would cut Lowy off in a fury, writing on 27 May 1970: "So far as I am concerned the correspondence is closed." The question at hand: what could cause such a rift between these two so quickly?

Lowy's claim, in summary, is that 19th-century explorer and antiquarian Karl Sapper was the first to specifically describe the Mayan stones as being mushroom shaped in his 1898 article "Pilzförmige Götzenbilder aus Guatemala und San Salvador" (Mushroom-shaped idols from Guatemala and San Salvador). Wasson disagrees — he instead posits that the first true description of the stones as mushrooms comes from "Mushroom-shaped images" by D. G. Brinton, published on 29 July 1898 in Science. This counterclaim is published in "The hallucinogenic mushrooms of Mexico and psilocybin: A bibliography," in a note that describes the Brinton publication as a response to "Sapper's suggestion ... that an anthropomorphic mushroom stone illustrated from El Salvador was a phallic symbol ...," and ends "Historically, this is the first known, published reference to mushroom stones as mushroom representations" (Wasson 1962). While this text was written by Wasson's colleague Steve Borheygi, the publication is under Wasson's name, and he voices his support for the claim in a later letter.

These two publications are the powder and fuse for the ticking bomb that would ultimately shatter the collaboration between Wasson and Lowy; their professional relationship of 10 years would be jeopardized by a semantic disagreement over 2 short articles from nearly 100 years before. For what it is worth, your humble author thinks that Lowy is correct in this disagreement — in his article Sapper clearly disputes the idea that the statues are phalluses and proposes the mushroom shape as a counterpoint. Regardless of who is correct, however, it is clear how this minor disagreement could grow into a full-on feud: both men are defending their publications, and thus it has become a matter of credibility and pride.

The first signs of agitation arise on 11 April 1970, when Wasson writes, "Sapper was the first to see that the mushroom stones looked like mushrooms ... but the idea that they truly represented fungi never crossed his mind, did it?", which Lowy has underlined and responded to in red pen (seemingly for his own benefit): "Yes, certainly it must have occurred to him!". Lowy would respond officially ten days later, his letter accompanied by both articles with relevant passages underlined, writing an analysis of both papers in which he begins to discredit the rest of the claims made by Brinton. However, the correspondence at this point is still cordial — Lowy's letter ends with an aside mentioning he was sorry he had missed a performance he meant to attend with Wasson.

Over further correspondence Wasson refused to assent, so Lowy sought outside help in Professor Rudolf Heberle, whom he considered an unbiased judge as the professor had no prior knowledge of the conflict or of the mushroom stones at all. He reported back to Wasson on 20 May 1970, describing the consultation and ending his letter "Consequently, I would reiterate that your opinion ... is untenable." This was the last straw for Wasson, who replied scathingly on 27 May 1970. The fury communicated cannot be done justice with anything less than presentation of the full letter (see image at right). The reply is no less incensed (see image at right).

Following this fallout, there is no correspondence for over a year. It seems there was no contact at all between the two until 12 November 1971, when Wasson suddenly broke the silence with a letter praising Lowy's recent publication in Mycologia, which ends: "I wish to apologize for that letter of mine dated May 27, 1970. It was quite inexcusable and I have regretted it from the day I mailed it. I hope you will accept my apology." Lowy accepted the apology five days later in a response letter, and the two returned to frequent communication regarding ethnomycological research. They would continue to be close colleagues from there on, citing each other's work, consulting each other on research topics, and sending each other letters over the next two decades. In 1983 Lowy spoke at the dedication of the Tina and R. Gordon Wasson Ethnomyological Collection, praising Wasson's years of research. Near the end he speaks on his personal opinion of Wasson:

I cannot adequately sum up the significance of Gordon Wasson's contributions to mycology in its broadest connotation, as well as to the arts and sciences. But I am reminded that the Japanese have honored a few of their compatriots by designating them as National Treasures. We might do well to emulate them. If we did, Gordon Wasson, I believe, would be among them.

This disagreement, fallout and subsequent rekindling of a fruitful research relationship is just one of the many stories that can be found in the Bernard Lowy papers (Archives collection no. 296). The collection was donated to us by Lowy's daughter, Dianne Maxine Lowy, according to Lowy's wishes as put forth in his will. The papers document Lowy's professional career, roughly 1949–1990, made up of eight boxes of correspondence, documentation and articles, both pre- and post-publication. Much of the correspondence referenced here can be found in Box 1, Folder 30: "Lowy–Wasson. Off to a bumpy start. 1969–1970, 17 September 1969–19 November 1971."

Works cited

Lowy, B. 1971. New records of mushroom stones from Guatemala. Mycologia 63(5): 983–93. https://doi.org/10.2307/3757901.

Sapper, C. 1898. Pilzförmige Götzenbilder aus Guatemala und San Salvador. Globus 73(20): 327.

Wasson, R. G. 1962. The hallucinogenic mushrooms of Mexico and psilocybin: A bibliography. Bot. Mus. Leafl. 20(2): 25–73. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.168536.

Wills, M. 2021. The nice married couple who inspired people to 'shroom. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-nice-married-couple-who-inspired-people-to-shroom/.

Finding Aid

A finding aid for this collection is available online.

Other Resources

For information about biographical citations for and portraits of the subject, see the Hunt Institute Archives Biographical Records database.