top of page

Various medicinal and culinary mushrooms
Spiritual Medicine of the Mushroom

Mushrooms fall under the fungi kingdom, which is neither plants nor animals. In fact, the fungi kingdom is an ancient biological kingdom that shares a common ancestor with the animal kingdom, subsequently relating us humans to fungi. It is approximated that “800-900 million years ago” the animal kingdom broke off this common ancestor that we share with the fungi kingdom (Hansen, 2018). There are estimated ~1.5 million or more species of fungi across the world. Mushrooms have been used by humans for food, medicine, and even clothing for a great deal of time. The honey mushroom’s mycelium even holds the record of the largest and oldest living organism in the world—spanning 2,385 acres and estimated over 1,900 years old. 

An amanita muscaria fruiting body of mushroom on forest floor
Fruiting Body of Amanita Muscaria

 

The mushroom carries patience and remembrance. The mycelium goes through a great process in order to produce the fruiting body. The mycelium requires the perfect amount of humidity, temperature, and location to come to fruition. Without the perfect conditions, the fruiting body will not become the beautiful mushroom we all know. Just like the mushroom, we too need the perfect conditions to flourish and fruit. We need patience in remembering that the perfect conditions will come and that we too will fruit again.


The mushroom also carries a remembrance of our being microcosm within the macrocosmic universe. The mycelium network pattern closely resembles the neural network within our brains, the veins within our body, the roots/branches of a tree, the way lighting strikes, and much more.

Mycelium Growing on Decomposing Wood
Mycelium Growing on Decomposing Wood
Neural Networks of the Human Brain
Neural Networks of the Human Brain

The mushroom can symbolize cleansing through death and rebirth. Mushrooms like the oyster mushroom have actually shown to remediate oil-soaked soil into healthy soil—literally cleansing the earth and alchemizing its environment.


Oyster Mushroom Fruiting Bodies Growing on Tree
Oyster Mushroom Fruiting Bodies Growing on Tree

The mushroom can be an effective decomposer with many species that help decompose the natural physical death that occurs in our abundant world. Psychedelic mushrooms have also been known to produce healing in a way where a person goes through a cleansing of certain parts of themselves while coming into a rebirth of self. There is also this double-sided nature to the mushroom. Some mushrooms contain medicine while others contain poison—looking exactly the same to the layman’s eye. So, one must be ready to receive the patience that comes when entering into a relationship with this kingdom because it could be life or death. 


There are so many lessons to learn from mushroom medicine. Tap into mushroom medicine when you are feeling lost, impatient, stagnant, and ungrounded within what it is to be a human on this earth. The elements have to be in a specific balance of these conditions for the mushrooms to fruit:

  • Fire (heat)

  • Water (humidity)

  • Air (CO2 and oxygen)

  • Earth (space to live and fruit + right soil conditions)


The mushrooms have even more physical medicine they can bring to the body to promote healing, but we will get to that another time.


Remember in times when you feel lost the mushroom can bring us spiritual medicine of space and place. The mushroom spirit can help us balance our elements, find solace in our space, embrace cleansing, study patience, and ground ourselves in our knowing that we are a microcosm of the macrocosm. 


References


Clover, R. (2023). Mycology 101 - Cornell Small Farms. Cornell Small Farms. https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/mushrooms/mycology-101/


Hansen, K. (2018). Fungi - the Fun-Guys of the phylogenetic tree. https://www.moas.org/Fungi---The-Fun-Guys-of-the-Phylogentic-Tree-1-48.html

1 Comment


Jen K
Jen K
Jul 01, 2024

Omg yessss yes yes!!! I have taken the step to work closely with mushrooms to help heal my body!!

Like

©2023-2025 SANCTUARY FOR SPIRIT is a folk religion temple that gives education and support in the old folk and ancestral healing ways. We honor the ways of nurturing the mind, the body, and the spirit through spiritual medicine and do not give allopathic medical advice. We advise all to always consult with their personal medical doctor for medical advice. May you be blessed upon your healing journey.

bottom of page