Fungi and Mushrooms in Folklore

 I'm interested at looking into the use of fungi and mushroom imagery throughout folklore and fairytales. I want to see if there's any room for crossover with the more scientific based research I've done. Mushrooms make a lot of appearances in fairytale imagery and historically they've had lots of different meanings and significance to different cultures, exploring these ideas could lend me some new inspirations for my own work.

I think a good example of these potential for this crossover of science and folklore comes from Fairy Circles; the name given to a perfect circle of mushrooms that grows commonly in forests during the summertime. In British folklore these circles were the spots where fairies would dance after a rainstorm, and people were warned not to enter them as humans would fall into a hundred year sleep if they did. 

Scientifically speaking, we now know that these circles form due to the pattern of growth of the mycelium below the surface. The fairy circle is actually one singular fungal body that has grown relatively uninterrupted underground, allowing it to spread evenly and create fruiting bodies at equal distances above ground. I think these circles perfectly illustrate the themes I want to present throughout this project; they're inherently whimsical in their appearance and inspire lots of fantastical imagery and stories, and simultaneously they also help us to understand the growth patterns of mycelium from a biological standpoint.

Another fungi that features a lot in folklore is the Amanita Muscaria, also known as the Fly Agaric or Fly Amanita. It's well known for its striking red and white-speckled appearance, and has inspired a lot of imagery of fairies and gnomes perching atop or hiding underneath it. It has an almost cartoon-ish appearance that I find very charming and almost cutesy; interestingly it also contains toxins that when ingested can reduce the body's response to fear stimuli. So the Fly Amanita is disarming not only in its charming appearance but also in its toxicology.