They became the first westerners to participate in a Mazatec sacred mushroom ritual. In the course of their investigations, they mounted expeditions to Mexico to study the religious use of mushrooms by the native population. Fascinated by the marked difference in cultural attitudes towards the fungus in Russia compared to the United States, the couple began field research which led to the writing of Mushrooms, Russia and History published in 1957. Wasson's studies in ethnomycology began during his 1927 honeymoon trip to the Catskill Mountains when his bride, Valentina Pavlovna Guercken, a pediatrician, chanced upon some edible wild mushrooms. Several of his books were self-published in illustrated, limited editions and have never been reprinted. In the course of independent research, he made contributions to the field of ethnobotany, botany and anthropology. Robert Gordon Wasson (Septem– December 23, 1986) was an author, amateur researcher and banker.
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