I recently spent 16 months in the Galician forests where I found myself going through some changes emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. But that’s all for another post. Today I’d like to share some amazing pics of the various mushrooms I found during my many daily walks.
I’m still just an amateur mycologists and so I will not even attempt to name these just yet. This is a post about the beauty of nature. True gifts which, unfortunately, a lot of us tend to overlook.
We walk around with blinders on, rushing to or from one place to another. We ignore the beauty that surrounds us in favor of liquid crystal displays which enslave us. While not everyone has the option of strolling through the woods on a daily basis, there is also beauty to be found in Manhattan and Boston and San Francisco and...everywhere. You just have to take the blinders off and see the beauty in everything that nature offers us. Even if it is just a rat dragging a slice of pizza down a Brooklyn alley.
The picture above is one of my favorites. Mushrooms growing out of a fallen pinecone. Nature feeding nature. Death yielding new life. One specimen feeding another, oblivious to the cacophony of social media’s manufactured outrage of the day.
Take a minute to look around you and bear witness to what is truly important on this giant ball teeming with life as it seemingly floats in a sea of endless space and time...
The mycelium permeates the underground with its tendrils birthing new specimens of this amazing fungus which can feed your body, mind, and soul. They can end your hunger or start your journey beyond the self...depending on species and strain.
And, if you’re not careful or just reckless...they can end your life.
The two pics above are examples of the Amanita Muscaria, long known to shamans and medicine men as well as psychonauts like Terence McKenna. Oddly enough, they are also the typical mushroom depicted in cartoons and other media. The international symbol for mushrooms...and also, supposedly, quite deadly.
I have eaten these with absolutely no good nor bad effects, much to my dismay. But that was me and I tend to be reckless at times. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO THE SAME. I will eventually post a Trip Report detailing my experiences with these beautiful specimens.
I call this one above the Pancake Mushroom for obvious reasons. Looks delicious, doesn’t it? But...who knows? Perhaps it holds the key to your demise or, on the other hand, the key that’ll open the locked doors of your mind.
And so we end today’s walk through the forests of Galicia with these Blue Beauties. Such diversity of fungi that nature gives us...
I hope you enjoyed the tour. If you like what you’ve read be sure to follow me here and also check out the YouTube channel and subscribe. I will reply in kind.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzj2xeZLTgjHsyL9_3o54bA
Any questions? Ask away with a comment below.
🍄🍄🍄