Jun 25, 2012

Following The Fungus


Yesterday, on a sleepy Sunday afternoon, while the rains had broken for a short time and the sun had finally appeared, I ventured up into the hills.  I pulled over at a place that had been calling me for a while, but where I had never stopped.   Wandering along, I found a trail of mushrooms.


With all the rains this week, mushrooms popping up everywhere is not a surprise.  But finding a ring of mushrooms around a small stand of trees was a pleasant discovery.

"For centuries, the sudden and rapid eruption of circles of mushrooms from the soil led people to believe that dark or terrible forces were at work. Lightning strikes, meteorites, shooting stars, earthly vapours, and witches have all been proposed as agents of their origin. 

In France fairy rings were called sorcerers' rings and in Austria, witches' rings. A Tyrolean legend claims that the rings were burned into the ground by the fiery tail of a dragon. In Holland they were said to be the marks where the Devil rested his milk churn. In Europe, the belief that fungi were the work of evil spirits or witches persisted well into the 19th century. 

In England, as their name suggests, they were places where fairies come to dance. The mushrooms around the perimeter were seats where the sprites could rest after their exertions. People in rural England claimed to have seen fairies dancing at fairy rings as recently as the start of the twentieth century."



I stopped and pondered the mushrooms for a short time and walked into the shade of the encircled trees.  I swear I had only been there for fifteen minutes, but when I finally went back to my car, I noticed that an hour had passed.  Time is different in the hills.  I get distracted by the birds and the creak of the trees swaying with the wind.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with my standing in the middle of a ring of mushrooms...


"Fungi have been the focus of many other superstitious beliefs and traditions. In New England folklore, a fungus called the "death baby" growing in the yard is a harbinger of imminent death in the family. In the district of Norrland in Sweden there is a tradition of throwing toadstools into bonfires on midsummer's eve (June 23) to ward off evil spirits. Look into the folklore of any culture and you're almost sure to find other examples. 

Even Santa Claus has been linked to fungi. One anthropologist has suggested that his red and white outfit symbolize Fly Agaric. Siberian shamans were known to consume this mushroom, and Santa's use of the chimney is similar to a shaman custom of leaving a dwelling through its smoke hole during a festival."


Whether there were faeries around, I could not say, but I was buzzed by hummingbirds, chattered at by chipmunks and the wind whispered secrets in my ear.  Not a bad reward for following a trail of fungus.

Quotes from:   The Fungus Among Us  (A fascinating site with all kinds of mushroom lore & facts.)



9 comments:

Robin Larkspur said...

Wonderful post of your charming adventure in the woods. Your loss of time in the fairy ring is no surprise.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Interesting speculation about Santa Claus! Although the red-and-white fungus connection might come as a surprise to the Coca Cola corporation.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

how cool! i get fairie rings all the time in my gardens. i like the idea that it is where the devil sat his milk jug. haha...who knew the devil drank milk!

Jeanne said...

A charming trip you had. :0) And a wonderful post! Thanx for the link. :0)
P.S. Please send some rain our way...

mermaid gallery said...

we have fairy rings all over our lawn and i always think of them as a wonderful reminder of the mystery of our universe......and i love that santa interpretation!

jill said...

Oh I love to come across a ring of mushrooms and coming from rural England I , but from been a little girl I have always dreamt of it so I keep looking to find them.Your posts nearly always trigger somesort of nice memories for me,thank you.Love Jill xx

Chris said...

Speaking of fungus among us...do you have any herbal or otherwise remedy for toenail fungus...I know..Ugh!!
Thank-you!

Rue said...

Chris - my friend has used essential oil of lemon to great success. She merely dropped a couple drops on each affected toenail once of twice a day & it cleared right up. It's worth a try. My mother has used lemon e.o. on planters warts on her feet & the cleared up & never returned.

Be aware, of course, that if you have any broken skin, it will sting like crazy. Lemon is very acidic & very strong in e.o. form. Keep citrus oils away from cats too.

Wulf said...

The fly agaric Santa connection is interesting, if a bit far-fetched. But while it's true that the modern image of Santa Claus is largely a creation of Coca-Cola advertising, Santa's Russian counterpart, Ded Moroz, has always worn a red coat with white fur trim. (Though in recent decades he often appears instead in blue and white or even green and white.)