Fungi, folkways and fairy tales: mushrooms & mildews in stories, remedies & rituals, from Oberon to the Internet

Abstract

Fungi are manifest in a multiplicity of folktales and fairy tales, and in folk remedies and rituals. They appear as foods, poisons, diseases, decorations, dyes or tinder, and even in insults, compliments, graffiti and video games. These and other impacts of fungi on folkways are here concisely reviewed under categories likely to interest professional and amateur mycologists and accessible to the lay reader. The evolution of popular perceptions of fungi is sketched from Shakespearean times through contemporary European and American cultures. Provided are specific instances of how different cultures utilized or avoided fungi, responded to fungal diseases of crops or humans, or viewed fungi in the context of popular belief, superstition or religion.

An Ethnological Model for Assessing Social Evolution of Siberian Shamans

“…The third stratum of magico-religious practice reflected in Sorcerer/ Witches is also found in both pre-historical and modern associations of shamanic elements with the profile of the Russian witch. Dugan (2017) reviews evidence in Russian fairy tales of an evil wizard named Muhomor, commonly understood to mean 'Poison mushroom' (referring to the Fly-agaric) and the witch Baba Yaga, who's formulaic association with Amanita muscaria in the nineteenth-century Russian art and literature reflects a widespread motif in Eurasia.…”

History and the Climate Crisis

“…We've also used fungi in many fermentation processes, from bread making, alcohol and soy sauce to vaccines and penicillin. Fungi appear in many folklore traditions (Dugan 2008), and on occasion they have contributed to political upheaval. When the Habsburg King Charles VI died in 1740 after eating death cap mushrooms on a hunting trip, the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession led to repercussions as far afield as the American colonies and India.…”