On Leaning Into Our Symbiotic Relationship With Mushrooms

Summary

The website content discusses the importance and diverse roles of mushrooms in human life, emphasizing their symbiotic relationship with humans and the recent cultural shift towards embracing fungi for their therapeutic, medicinal, and consciousness-expanding properties.

Abstract

The article "On Leaning Into Our Symbiotic Relationship With Mushrooms" delves into the ubiquity and significance of fungi, particularly mushrooms, which are the visible fruiting bodies of fungus. It references Joy Keller's children's book "Fungus is Among Us!" to highlight the unique classification of fungi as neither plants nor animals and their omnipresence in the environment. The piece notes the vast number of fungal species, the magical phenomenon of fairy rings, and the role of psilocybin mushrooms in expanding human consciousness. It also touches on the growing trend of microdosing among mothers, the re-emergence of ancestral technologies like cannabis and psilocybin in the face of digital technology acceleration, and the health benefits of mushrooms, including their adaptogenic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. The pandemic is credited with sparking a renewed interest in natural health aids, challenging historical mycophobia and leading to a mushroom boom. The article encourages recognition of the therapeutic potential of fungi and plant medicine, framing access to these natural substances as a birthright and advocating for their abundant presence in nature.

Opinions

The author believes in the inherent value of fungi, particularly mushrooms, and their role in promoting physical and mental health.
There is an opinion that the medicinal value of substances like cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms has been suppressed, and their resurgence is a response to this suppression.
The author suggests that the pandemic has catalyzed a shift towards natural, holistic aids, including mushrooms, as people seek to improve their health.
The article posits that the historical fear of mushrooms (mycophobia) in Western cultures is giving way to a mushroom boom, as people recognize their health benefits and potential for mental well-being.
The author expresses that humans have co-evolved with plants and fungi, implying that these organisms are integral to human existence and well-being.
There is a call to remember the natural origins of health treatments and to acknowledge that these substances are abundant in nature, despite corporate efforts to commodify them.

On Leaning Into Our Symbiotic Relationship With Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungus, and fungus lives everywhere among us.

Photo by author, Fungus Is Among Us! children’s book written by Joy Keller, illustrated by Erica Salcedo

As Joy Keller wrote in her new release children’s book about fungus, Fungus is Among Us!, it is neither a plant or animal but a different living organism with its own classification. To this, she added, “And you can run away from it … BUT YOU CAN NEVER HIDE.” Fungus is endemic; it is everywhere and impossible to escape from.

Photo by author; children’s book written by Joy Keller, illustrated by Erica Salcedo

There are between 2.2 million to 3.8 million species of fungus, according to scientists (as cited in Keller’s Fungus is Among Us!).

Did you know that certain species of fungus sprout fairy rings of mushrooms? According to the Woodland Trust, “Fairy rings are caused by an individual fungus growing underground. The fungus sprouts lots of small threads, called mycelium, in a circular shape. A year later, the mushrooms pop up out of the ground at the edge of the circle, creating the fairy ring.” There is much folklore related to fairy rings, and they are known to have supernatural elements.

It is no coincidence that psilocybin mushrooms are within this fungi kingdom. With their fungal intelligence, these mushrooms help us connect us to our greater consciousness. They enable us to more fully connect and experience an embodied life within our own beings, with other people, and with this planet.

As I previously wrote in my article, Why Are Ancestral Technologies Re-emerging as Digital Technologies Accelerate?, “The green wave and psychedelic renaissance have emerged because the medicinal value of substances like cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, and all functional mushrooms can no longer be suppressed. Information is both free and expensive. You just need to know where to look.” We are returning to finally culturally recognize the incredible numerous therapeutic and medical applications of cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms, substances long-stigmatized and criminalized for political and corporate reasons.

American culture and many other Westernized cultures have historically been mycophobic (afraid of mushrooms), but a mushroom boom spurred by the pandemic has been born out of humanity’s search for natural, holistic aids to help promote physical and mental health. (Do a quick Google search on “mushroom boom pandemic,” and you’ll see quite a number of articles come up.) All edible mushrooms have tremendous health benefits.

Two great videos detailing the health benefits of mushrooms, which range from helping us regulate our energy as adaptogens, to having anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, to being consciousness amplifiers, are Tero Isokauppila’s talk on “The Healing Power of Mushrooms” and Martin Powell’s talk, “Why All Mushrooms Are Magic.”

The pandemic has heightened our physical and mental health crises, but it has also invoked a return to reverence of mushrooms and plant medicine. As corporations will continue to capitalize on developing, marketing, packaging, and selling treatments, it behooves us to remember that humans have co-evolved with plants and fungi and that not only is access to whatever natural substances we wish to partake in our birthright but also that these substances grow abundantly in nature.

References:

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