M is for Mushrooms

Photo by Shmuli

This week let's focus on Mushrooms...

No matter if you love them or don't, Mushrooms play a valuable role in my life in both the magical realm and the mundane.  They are apart of fairy tales and fairy rings and as a newly Vegetarian, I love to put them into many things.  They are my new "meat" and also a snack treat.

Now for my disclosure:

When eating mushrooms, make sure you know what kind you are eating....the safest kind to eat are the ones that you purchase from your local farmer's market or grocery store. 

DO NOT EAT MUSHROOMS FROM THE WILD UNLESS YOU ARE A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL!!! 

Why do I need to even write this?  Because someone somewhere might be tempted to pick mushrooms out of their backyard or forest and eat them not knowing specifically what kind they are and if they are safe to eat.  Just don't do it.

There are many various kinds of mushrooms.  Some of them are poisonous and can cause psychedelic effects.  They can also kill you!

Because of their abilities to cause "visions" it is thought that the priests and shamans wanted to keep this little known fact to themselves.  After all, who wants their followers being given the ability to talk to their God, Goddess, Great Spirit or in my personal past experience watched a friend hold a very long conversation with a tree for over an hour.  (For the record it was not me!)


Just a few bits of Correspondence:

Diety:  I was unable to find a specific God or Goddess however I am going to list the Fae here.  Also according to an article written by Patti from About.com, she writes that the Egyptian Gods consumed mushrooms.  You can read the article by clicking HERE.

Element: Earth

Planetary: Mercury and the Moon

Sabbat:  Yule

Intent: Visions, Protection, Creativity, Prosperity (as its nutritional content is high in Copper), Immortality, Strength

I am still doing research so I don't have too much information.  I hope to add to this in the future.

For further reading I would suggest picking up a copy of Magic Mushrooms in Religions and Alchemy by Clark Heinrich.