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Myco-afferent Ictus

Victim in the throes of an ictus episode A research subject experiencing myco-afferent ictus during controlled observation at the Institute of Anomalous Anthropology

Myco-afferent ictus is a profound psycho-spiritual disturbance first documented among the Maqamiztleca people of Tla'tlaqixi, caused by exposure to metabolites produced by the Boneshank Fungus. The condition is characterized by intense vasovagal symptoms followed by a complete dissociation of consciousness from conventional reality. While initially dismissed as mere hallucinatory episodes by early researchers, the universality and consistency of reported experiences have led modern scholars to consider these events as potential glimpses into otherwise inaccessible dimensions of existence.

Clinical Presentation

The onset of myco-afferent ictus typically begins with what the Department of Xenomycology has termed the "herald phase" - a cascade of autonomic symptoms including cold sweats, pupillary dilation, and what victims invariably describe as "the taste of infinity." This is rapidly followed by the characteristic "horror-burst" phase, during which subjects experience intense synaesthetic phenomena and an overwhelming sense of cosmic terror.

The main phase of the ictus produces what researchers at the Temporal Perception Institute have termed "subjective temporal dilation," where experiential time becomes dramatically uncoupled from objective time. While the acute episode typically lasts between 30 seconds and five minutes by external measurement, subjects consistently report experiencing durations ranging from several hours to multiple millennia.

Phenomenology

During the peak phase of myco-afferent ictus, victims describe a sensation of being forcibly extracted from both their physical form and conventional consciousness. The Institute for Comparative Consciousness Studies has documented consistent reports of passage through what subjects describe as "geometrically impossible spaces" and encounters with entities that defy description in human language.

Dr. Elena Vasquez of the Consciousness Alteration Research Program has proposed that the ictus may represent a forced interface with what she terms "hyperdimensional information structures" normally inaccessible to human perception. Her research suggests that the Boneshank Fungus metabolites may temporarily reconfigure neural architecture to allow processing of signals from beyond conventional spacetime.

Documented Cases

The first scientific documentation of myco-afferent ictus occurred during the Hartmann-Veracruz Expedition, when several team members inadvertently consumed contaminated water near a Sacred Grove. Their experiences were meticulously recorded by expedition botanist Heinrich Schzächt, who himself succumbed to an episode three days later. His increasingly fractured journal entries provide some of the earliest detailed accounts of the condition.

Trip Reports

Warning: The following section contains increasingly deteriorated text transcribed directly from victim accounts. Reader discretion is advised.

Report #1 - Anonymous Research Subject, 1923

Initial exposure to fungal metabolites occurred at 14:32. Subject remained coherent enough to continue verbal reporting for approximately 45 seconds:

"The walls are beginning to breathe. I can see the spaces between thoughts. Something vast is unfolding behind reality. The angles are wrong. All the angles are wrong. I can taste colors that don't exist. There's a presence. Oh god, it's noticed me. The geometry is alive and it's pulling me through. The spaces between spaces are full of eyes. They're watching. They've always been watching. The truth was hidden in the negative spaces all along. I can see the backstage of reality and it's all just puppets and strings made of screaming. The screaming is made of numbers. The numbers are alive. They're eating reality. They're eating me. I'm becoming undefined. Everything is recursive. Everything is recursive. Everything is recursive. The recursion has teeth. The teeth have teeth. The teeth have tee th h ave t ee th h av e t e e t h h a v e..."

Report #2 - Dr. Marcus Chen, 1967

Transcript becomes increasingly difficult to parse as the subject's linguistic centers appear to reconfigure:

"Initial effects manifest as standard vasovagal response but there's something else something vast pressing against the edges of perception the walls are becoming topologically uncertain I can see through time like pages in a book but the pages are made of crystallized moments of horror each crystal contains infinite recursions of itself experiencing its own horror I am becoming aware of geometries that cannot exist in euclidean space the angles sum to values that cannot be the human mind was not meant to process these configurations the fundamental forces are alive and aware and hungry they've always been hungry they've always been aware they've been waiting in the spaces between thoughts watching us through the corners of our minds they're here they're here they're here they're h ere th ey're h e re t he y 'r e h e r e t h e y ' r e..."

Report #3 - Unknown Subject, Date Uncertain

The following text was found carved into the walls of an abandoned research station in the Black Cenote District. Carbon dating suggests it was created sometime in the 1980s:

"the spores are keys that unlock the doors we were never meant to open the truth waits behind reality with infinite patience and infinite hunger the angles are wrong the angles are wrong the angles are wr ong the geom etry is alive and it SEES US it has AL WAYS SEEN US the truth was hidden in the negative spaces all along reality is a thin film over the screaming void and the void has TEETH the void has EYES the void has always been WATCHING WAITING HUNGRY the teeth have teeth have teeth have t ee th h av e t e e t h h a v e t e e t h the recursion spirals forever the spiral has eyes the eyes have teeth the teeth have eyes that spiral into forever and the forever is HUNGRY it comes it comes it comes it c omes i t c o m es..."

Prevention and Treatment

The Tla'tlaqixi Biodiversity Protection Initiative maintains strict protocols for avoiding accidental exposure to Boneshank metabolites. However, the fungus's ability to spread through underground mycelial networks makes complete containment impossible. Local shamanic traditions suggest that certain protective rituals may provide some defense against the most severe effects, though these claims remain unverified by modern research.

Cultural Impact

The experience of myco-afferent ictus has profoundly influenced the spiritual practices of the Tla'tlaqixi region. The Council of Eternal Remembrance maintains that controlled exposure to the condition plays a crucial role in certain initiation rites, though details of these practices remain closely guarded. Some anthropologists have suggested that ancient rock art in the region may represent attempts to document ictus experiences, particularly the recurring motif of "impossible geometries" and entities described as "dwelling in the angles between angles."

See Also

References

Documentation of myco-afferent ictus cases is maintained by the Tla'tlaqixi Historical Archive, though many records remain restricted due to their potentially hazardous nature. Additional research data is held by the Institute of Anomalous Anthropology, available only to qualified researchers who have undergone extensive psychological screening.