Psilocybin use among Basotho healers and non-healers in southern Africa
April 23, 2026 Eli Stark-Elster, Mamosebetsi Sethathi, B. van der Merwe et al.
Traditional use of serotonergic psychedelics has been reliably documented almost exclusively in the Americas, leading to overgeneralizations about their global prevalence. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 Basotho traditional healers and 8 non-healers in Lesotho and South Africa, 15 healers and 6 non-healers independently identified Psilocybe maluti, a recently described psilocybin-producing mushroom endemic to southern Africa. Reported uses include incorporation into a psychoactive initiation brew, treatment of physical, mental, and spiritual ailments, recreation, and magical protection. Unlike the large ritualized doses of Mesoamerican psilocybin use, Basotho healers apply small doses of P. maluti alongside other psychoactive plants, especially Boophone disticha. Multiple lines of evidence suggest these practices predate the mid-twentieth-century popularization of psilocybin, expanding the known geographic scope of traditional psilocybin use and revealing a distinct mode of psychedelic application.