A Dispatch from the World of Mushroom People

A gathering of folks who are very stoked about the power of mushrooms, beyond just the psychedelic kind.

I recently attended the first day of a weekend-long festival near my home in upstate New York celebrating the all-powerful mushroom—not just the psychedelic kind, but all kinds. Held at Stone Mountain Farm in New Paltz, New York, For the Love of Fungi included workshops, demonstrations, guided forays, and vendor booths. It was organized by a mushroom foraging and education company called Mycophilic, founded by Luke Sarrantonio, who writes on his site, “The US is considered a mycophobic nation, meaning that the majority of Americans grow up learning about plants and animals but are told to ‘stay away from mushrooms, they could be dangerous.’” He’s working, through these festivals, to change that.

For the Love of Fungi is part of a much larger mycophilic wave. It’s a movement largely embodied by pioneer Paul Stamets, who has long been publicly attesting to the power of mushrooms for many purposes, psychedelic and otherwise. (In fact, he inspired a major space mycology plotline on Star Trek: Discovery, and the main scientist character, played by Anthony Rapp, is named after him.) A few medicinal mushrooms have caught on as part of the mainstream use of adaptogens, like Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, and Cordyceps, to control mood and boost immunity. I personally get most of my functional mushrooms via coffee and tea from a Seattle-based company called Wunderground.

As a result of all of this attention to mushrooms, there seems to be growing interest in amateur mycology among hobbyists, likely spurred by more mainstream discussion about psychedelics. Aubrey Carter, who writes a newsletter called Mushroom Monday and knows a ton about medicinal mushrooms, noted in his presentation that psilocybin is getting the vast majority of study funding right now, but that more mushrooms should be studied for other benefits, which makes sense. Indigenous cultures and Traditional Chinese Medicine have used mushrooms for everything from anti-bacterial properties and pain relief to possible help with heart problems and tumors, so it seems like a fruitful area to investigate more.

Here are some photos (courtesy of my photographer partner A. Jesse Jiryu Davis) from For the Love of Fungi to give you a sense of the mushroom enthusiast scene.

Doesn’t this entire aesthetic make you want to buy some tinctures? Sasha Botanica has tinctures and powders as well as some gorgeous soaps and a variety of boob mugs and planters, which you can see on display here.

Celestial Branches advocates for natural burial processes involving mushrooms. (This is an entire world unto itself, but one option is a mushroom burial suit or shroud that helps decompose the body; apparently Luke Perry was buried in one.) This is part of their broader work surrounding death, which includes Living Funeral Services, which walk participants toward a deeper understanding of their own impending death (and can profoundly shift your perspective on life), as well as Mortem Nature Walks, which encourage participants to contemplate death by observing various stages of death in nature.

Shroom Gyal is among the vendors who make clothing and accessories celebrating the mushroom. These mushroom earrings are available on Etsy.

Cellardoor Fungus sells medicinal mushroom extracts and other products out of a very groovy van.

Handmade by Sam’s Mom makes tie-dye mushroom designs.