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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in mushrooms

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Hallucinogenic Mushroom Endanger ...

 

Leaf through a catalogue or stroll down an aisle in your local retail giant, and you'll have no trouble whatsoever identifying the 2025 holiday season's Theme-of-the-Year.

It's the Year of the Magic Mushroom.

Redcaps. Fly Agarics. Amanita Muscaria.

Ornaments. Plush toys. Hats.

(Plush toys? Seriously?)

Hel-lo?

 

Um, folks: they're hallucinogenic.

Um, folks: they're potentially toxic.

 

Yes, they're eye-catching.

Yes, they're colorful.

Yes, they're considered a symbol of good luck throughout the German-speaking world. (Make of that what you will.)

Yes, reindeer eat them.

Yes, shamans eat them.

Yes, their hallucinogenic alkaloids concentrate in the urine of the user.

Ho, ho, ho.

 

Agarics: drug-of-choice of Old World shamans. They grow here in the New World, too.

Though I've heard rumors of redcap use in the medicine lodges of the Anishinabe, the fact is that the Americas are home to lots and lots of kinder, gentler hallucinogens, thank you very much.

No need for urine-drinking, either.

 

(I once heard an interviewee deny that he was a shaman on the grounds that he'd never taken amanita muscaria. No more have I, but then, I don't claim to be a shaman either, unless “warlock” is how you say “shaman” in Witch.)

 

The natural world, and informed, hands-on knowledge thereof, continues to recede ever farther in our cultural rear-view mirror.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
The Rites of Autumn

I asked a friend what family wisdom he felt he'd inherited from his ancestors.

“Work hard and live frugally,” he said. “And when times are good, set aside a little something for when they're not; for hard times will certainly come.”

Well, it's October in Minnesota, and that means that hard times are certainly on the way.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

b2ap3_thumbnail_Hyphae1.jpgWe all know people who talk so much that they don’t seem to take any time to draw a breath. I seem to know a lot of people like that, but perhaps it is cultural. I live outside the New York metropolitan area. People here are - by my standards – high strung. If I want to be part of any conversation, I have to do something that was considered rude when I was growing up: I have to interrupt and talk louder than the person next to me. Not everyone I know is like that, but at least half of my friends are “talkers.” I don’t know the correlation between word count and extroversion, but I suspect its on the positive scale. Certainly the sheer noisiness of all that talking can be exhausting for a confirmed introvert like myself.

In stark contrast stands the laconic silence and one word answers of some of my mother’s childhood friends. Any attempt at conversation on my part - including asking questions - is likely to leave me feeling like I’m babbling. In neither case do I feel like I’m communicating. Talking and communicating aren’t the same thing. Communication requires some sort of mutual exchange. But sometimes I feel like there is more communication in the brief email messages my boss and I send each other, than with the people I speak with face to face.

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PaganNewsBeagle Earthy Thursday Dec 18

In today's Earthy Thursday post, the Pagan News Beagle celebrates unearthly Icelandic beauty; carbon sequestration to the rescue?; lesser-known stone circles; the wild foxes of Chukotka; the beauty of mad mushrooms.

The Nordic landscapes of Iceland take our breath away. (Note to self: add Iceland to the Beagle's bucket list!)

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PaganNewsBeagle Earthy Thursday Nov 6

In today's Earthy Thursday, we've got stories all about our wonderful planet. Sustainable turkey; good news for bats; robotic penguins; maple-syrup mushrooms; a brand new frog pops up in a surprising place.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey dinner (all due respect to vegans who forgo this option) this article describes the excellent reasons to choose a pasture-raised bird.

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PaganNewsBeagle Earthy Thursday Oct 9

It's earthy Thursday here at the Pagan News Beagle -- let's dig deep and get dirty! Today's stories include amazing mushrooms; neolithic burial -- now available!; hope for the Monarch butterfly?; living breakwaters and other new ideas in conservation and remediation; a guide to Earth's major chakras.

This slideshow includes photos of twenty five of the most amazing mushrooms I've ever seen. Wow!

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Seasonal sexy time

I know we traditionally associate Beltane with sexuality, but autumn is a lively time of year for many life forms. There are nuts dropping all over the place, the deer will be rutting soon, and the fungi are waving their genitals.

No, really.

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