Patent Pending · CPZ
"The Soft Wood Mushroom"
"There is a genie who lives in the soft wood on the trees growing along the rivers flowing from the mountains rising in the heart of the land where the people live upon this planet the Earth that we call our home."
— Wičháša Wakȟáŋ, the Holy Man
CPZ is the proposed third category of psychotropic mushroom — distinct from psilocybin, Amanita muscaria, SSRIs and benzodiazepines. No primary serotonin or GABA pathway. A wood conk polypore growing on dead oak. Found only in Pahá Sápa.
Kingdom Fungi · Division Basidiomycota · Class Agaricomycetes · Order Polyporales · Family Polyporaceae. Closest known relative: Perenniporia fraxinophila (99.42–99.22% ITS identity, 3 basepair divergence). Theorized as a previously undescribed species.
Pahá Sápa — the Black Hills rising from the Great Plains, peaking at Black Elk Peak (7,242 ft). Held in trust by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ — the Seven Council Fires. The mushroom is called Čhaŋpȟáŋžela, the Soft Wood Mushroom.
Dense woody perennial conk on dead Quercus spp. Pore-bearing underside. Strictly lignicolous — never on manure (not Pilobolus) and never mycorrhizal.
Dopamine ↑, Norepinephrine ↑, Epinephrine ↑, Endorphins ↑, Acetylcholine ↑. Functional parallel to NDRIs (e.g. Bupropion) and cholinesterase inhibitors. Possible NMDA modulation.
Decreases delta/theta/alpha; increases beta and gamma. Improves signal-to-noise ratio of cognition — alertness, focus, neuroplasticity.
Vagal tone ↑, HRV ↑. Calm body, active mind — relaxation without sedation, alertness without anxiety.
Increases electrical/magnetic sensitivity of fascial network — heightened body awareness and nervous system coherence.
Wiwáŋyaŋg Wačípi (Sun Dance) — applied to wounds as hemostatic. Haŋbléčheyapi (Vision Quest) — brewed as tea. Inípi (Sweat Lodge) — sprinkled on hot stones, inhaled as vapor.
⚠️ Disclaimer
CPZ is an experimental therapeutic medicine. Clinical trials are necessary and ongoing. This document presents emerging, theoretical, and ethnographic perspectives — not medical advice.
