Witchy Wednesday, Witches and Mushrooms!




Witches and Fungi! 

I have always loved this image of a mushroom collecting lady taken in 1912 by Ernest Bloch. Of course she isn't a witch but she does look magical and seeing it again inspired me to look into mushrooms, witches and witchcraft. 
At this time of year mushrooms, toadstool and various fungi are popping up all over woodlands, in grassy fields and in people's gardens. Some are absolutely yummy cooked in butter and served on hot toasted bread. Others are inedible and others deadly! I have always had an interest in mycology and though I may not have the knowledge of a professional or even amateur mycologist I do love to go out and photograph mushrooms and all types of fungi. I never pick! I am not a forager, to be honest I prefer to leave that to professionals. I would advise being a appreciator of mushrooms is something to be admired and encouraged. Some fungi are rare and some areas in Britain, such as ancient woodland, it is illegal to pick mushrooms. Remember you also cannot forage from private land without permission of the owner. Even in public areas where mushrooms are allowed to be foraged a lot of mushrooms can be easily misidentified! As my Nan always used to say all mushrooms are edible once! So unless you know what you are doing probably wise to leave them alone. 

Franz Wacik "Witch with little mushroom men"


But getting back to the subject of witches and mushrooms I can imagine with the number of poisonous or stomach ache inducing fungi they would make a perfect ingredient in potion making especially poisons! I say imagine as I don't actually know any Witches who do black magic to ask but mushrooms have close association with Witches through folklore stories. There are even mushrooms nicknamed after witches such as Witches butter, a rare mushroom called Witches Cauldron and even a Witches hat (Hygrocybe conica) which grows quite near to were I live in England. With it's conical shaped cap which turns from a bright red to black in colour you can see why it gets it's name. 

Witches Hat, blackening wax cap or more professional known as Hygrocybe Conica.

One of my own photographs. We spotted these beautiful specimens in late October on a local walk. 

Another specimen of mushroom connected with Witches is the famous Fly Agaric (Aminata Muscara). With it's recognisable red cap and white spots and is often depicted in folk stories and in art. Often you will see fairy folk carrying, collecting, sitting on or living in these iconic toadstools.  But it also has darker connections with Witches as it is now thought to be the reason behind the image and stories of witches flying on broomsticks. 
The Fly Agaric toadstool has hallucinogenic properties. It is thought that Witches might have made potions or ointments containing Fly Agaric to induce a narcotic high making whoever took it to believe they were indeed flying. As for brooms the broom was a ordinary tool all women had in their homes especially before the introduction of vacuum cleaners. The ointment was rubbed onto the broom handle. The action of riding the broom around would enable the ointment to adsorb directly into the skin. 

Witches illustrated in Martin Le Franc’s ‘Le Champion des Dames’ (1451)


Dylan Thuras at Atlas Obscura wrote that the “broom was a symbol of female domesticity, yet the broom was also phallic, so riding on one was a symbol of female sexuality, thus femininity and domesticity gone wild.” The two women in Le Champion des Dames importantly don't appear deformed or grotesque, they are ordinary.


Possibly applying ointment was a much safer method than ingestion! But both with seriously high risks could end up taking them on a one way trip to the land beyond!!!!💀

Some of the fungi that have popped up in my garden in the past month. 

The Slavic witch, Baba Yaga, with mushrooms, from Bilibin (1900). 









    A collection of old postcard images depicting Fly Agaric's and various faery folk!

Here are some links to really interesting articles on Witches and mushrooms. 







https://www.incrediblemushrooms.com/mushrooms-folklore-mythology.html

https://www.countryliving.com/life/a39888/salem-witch-trials-ergotism/

https://hyperallergic.com/332222/first-known-depiction-witch-broomstick/


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Some folklore stories and articles about History can be quite scary and disturbing and may have some adult content. So I would always advise visiting, reading and viewing any links before showing or reading to younger children.

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