Living in the Mycelial World

A global, cross-cultural review of ethnographic archives covering 193 societies reveals diverse mushroom-related cultural practices beyond culinary uses, including rituals, medicine, folklore, and fire-making. The analysis highlights how mushroom foraging involves human cognition but also exposes a lack of detail in descriptions of human-mushroom relations. Ethnomycology receives limited attention, largely due to Western mycophobic biases, underscoring the need for expanded research to better understand past and present human encounters with fungi.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This manuscript documents a systematic ethnomycological analysis of ethnographic archives. Focusing on texts describing human-fungi interactions, I conduct a global, cross-cultural review of mushroom use, covering 193 societies worldwide. The study reveals diverse mushroom-related cultural practices, emphasizing the significance of fungi beyond culinary value to include domains such as rituals, medicine, folklore, and fire-making. Special attention is given to exploring how mushrooms and their foraging involve human cognition. The findings also expose a lack of detail in descriptions of human-mushroom relations. Ethnomycology continues to receive limited attention, largely due to Western mycophobic biases. This highlights the need for expanded ethnomycological research to enrich our understanding of past and present human encounters with the fungal kingdom.