Mushroom Magick

When the Moon is at the full,
mushrooms you can safely pull,
but when the Moon is on the wane,
wait ere you think to pluck again.

Along with oysters, mushrooms have always been considered aphrodisiacs. The aphrodisiacal effect was increased if the mushrooms were picked at the time of the full moon.

Primitive people treated mushrooms with great respect, as it was so difficult to determine whether they were safe to eat. Even experts on mushrooms need to remember the old saying, “There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.”

Many mushrooms have “magical” properties, the toxins within them seeming to provide a gateway to another world. Images of fairies, elves, and goblins inevitably have a mushroom or toadstool nearby. In Chinese Mythology, mushrooms were one of the sacred foods eaten by the Immortals; they induced bodily lightness. Further, the fly agaric mushroom was said to grow only during times of peace and prudent leadership.

• Ruler: Neptune
• Type: Vegetable
• Magickal Form: Raw, cooked

This is the “flower” of illusion and many mushrooms are actually hallucinogenic. All mushrooms hold the property of fantasy and are eaten to invoke glamour or to create illusions.

• For love they should be cooked in soups with paprika and/or fish.
• To create glamours, or illusions, eat them raw.

The hallucinogenic effect of fungi has always been known, and used by shamans and warriors preparing for battle. Native Americans used hallucinogenic mushrooms in rites to produce visions, or embark on vision quests.

Rock paintings dating back at least 2000 years ago in the Tassili Plateau in southern Algeria depict shamans, apparently dancing around, holding mushrooms in their hands, with mushrooms sprouting from their bodies.

The Hebrews considered mushrooms as sacred and only priests were allowed to eat them.

Mushrooms were considered a delicacy in Roman times, but there was always the problem of determining whether or not they were edible. Emperor Claudius had this problem solved, as he used a food taster to eat some of his food first. Unfortunately, the mushrooms his taster tried one night produced no immediate effects. Consequently, Emperor Claudius ate them, and both he and his taster died. It is widely believed that his second wife, Aggripinna, who wanted her son Nero to have the throne, deliberately poisoned her husband.

Collected from various sources