As far as getting them in the wild, you just have to be sure to forage where the air and soil is free from pollutants (as far as that is feasible anyway), then clean and dehydrate them.
As far as safety goes, the conventional wisdom is that you want to decarboxylate them. If I recall, there are two main active ingredients in amanitas: muscimol, and ibotenic acid. It’s believed that one of these is safe, and the other not so much. But the whole thing really isn’t very clear, and we certainly don’t have any reliable long term data on habitual use. Anyway, the process just involves simmering them in a solution of water and citric acid, which converts the unsafe substance into the safe one.
As far as getting them in the wild, you just have to be sure to forage where the air and soil is free from pollutants (as far as that is feasible anyway), then clean and dehydrate them.
As far as safety goes, the conventional wisdom is that you want to decarboxylate them. If I recall, there are two main active ingredients in amanitas: muscimol, and ibotenic acid. It’s believed that one of these is safe, and the other not so much. But the whole thing really isn’t very clear, and we certainly don’t have any reliable long term data on habitual use. Anyway, the process just involves simmering them in a solution of water and citric acid, which converts the unsafe substance into the safe one.
And of course dose is a large part of safety.