Earth Day 2020!
The Earth has a Brain. It's called Mycelium!
On the 50th anniversary of the day, which was started by US Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, humankind is facing an unprecedented challenge. As we navigate life in semi- to full- isolation due to the worldwide pandemic (otherwise known as COVID-19), Earth’s atmosphere is enjoying a bit of a break. Globally, news reports indicate thick pollution is clearing in favour of clean air, animals are reclaiming their old stomping grounds, clear water is flowing through cities, and crude oil prices are dropping quickly. Mama Earth is ready to heal.
So what does Earth Day have to do with brains? If you were to ask a friend or coworker if they have heard of “mycelium”, or even what a mycologist is for that matter, they might return you a puzzled expression. Recently, mycology - the study of mushrooms - has been popularized, in large part due to the work of Paul Stamets, a freelance entrepreneur, researcher, and bemushroomed science communicator out of Washington State, USA.
So what is this "mycelium" I'm speaking of? According to Stamets, it is a network of capillary-like fungal growths that branch from the surface of our soil deep into the Earth itself. As these branches grow out, they join one another to create a vast network that can communicate across itself using transfer of genetic, chemical, and electrochemical signals, much like your brain in terms of the cellular methods used and much like the Internet in terms of network organization. Mycelium is constantly communicating to channel resources into its environment, to decompose and recycle organic and other materials, and to generally maintain healthy surroundings; it can even do cool things like “teach” other trees how to fight off viruses, after “learning” how to do so with one tree! Throughout this process, it continues to grow and adapt much like our own human brains.
In Stamets’ book, entitled Mycelium Running, he defines it as such:
“ ...mycelium is the neurological network of nature. Interlacing mosaics of mycelium infuse habitats with information-sharing membranes. These membranes are aware, react to change, and collectively have the long-term health of the host environment in mind.”
Mycelium exists in almost every kind of geographical climate, and the mushrooms it produces boast a variety of benefits such as immune-system boosting, mental and physical healing, recycling, and more. In terms of human physiology, a lot of these benefits have yet to be proven with large-scale (i.e. truly believable) trials, but initial results are very interesting, and very promising.
I was shown the recently released documentary film, "Fantastic Fungi" by my brother, a prospective psychiatrist, whose thrilled expression when talking about mushrooms is only rivaled by that of a child ...or Stamets himself. We have discussed mushroom research in the past, with various new studies popping up all over the world. Culturally, mushrooms have had their roots - or rather, I should say, mycelia - in healing processes since the beginning of time, especially in ancient cultures such as the Indigenous Peoples of North America, the Mayans, and Ancient China. In fact, many of the cultures in which this was a common tradition have carried on using mushrooms for their beneficial properties and opened these ceremonies to others, such as the ancient Amazonian Ayahuasca ceremony. Watching this documentary, it became increasingly apparent that fungi are responsible for so many of humanity's greatest feats (penicillin, anyone?), and some anthropologists even believe mushrooms may have been the reason for humanity as it is today (for more on this, look into the flippantly-named “Stoned Ape Hypothesis” posited by Terrence McKenna).
If mushrooms are so great, why are we just learning or re-learning about this in the West? With the health-craze that is currently swarming North America (no judgement... trust me, there are worse trends to have), Lions Mane, Turkey Tail, and Reishi Mushroom Supplements are becoming just as much household names as Vitamin C. We are experiencing an increase in these supplements and extracts being used for all sorts of needs, from holistic health remedies to skincare to post-workout fuel. So if they're capable of so much good, why have we been missing out?
We have a Mr. Ronald Reagan to thank, in part. The War on Drugs in America during the 70s was problematic for various reasons, especially due to the disproportionate effect it had on people from certain sociodemographic backgrounds - to put things quite lightly. While many young people in America were experimenting with marijuana, they were also taking "magic mushrooms" (scientifically known as Psilocybe cubensis, containing the psychoactive compound Psilocybin). In comparison to many other illicit substances, "shrooms'' is not inherently addictive, and in general you cannot die from overdosing on them. They both also happen to have physical properties that cause many folk to avoid them altogether (smell, taste, texture, feel). Despite these facts, the mushrooms did play a part in inspiring youth to radically oppose war and conflict, and the administration at the time halted funding from research projects that looked into mushrooms, causing research to be quiet for a number of years. Granted, some of the people extolling the virtues of mushrooms and similar consciousness-altering compounds in the 70s were perhaps a bit overzealous, but the establishment certainly overreacted.
Some mental health research teams - notably at Johns Hopkins University - have found that substances such as psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA (when used in tested, standardized doses, in the presence of professionals in a clinical setting) have had significant benefits for mental health issues like end-of-life depression/anxiety and PTSD. Somewhat poetically, compounds arising from this planet’s underfoot almost-neural-and-maybe-even-more-complicated network are helping us understand the very similar network contained within human bodies.
Just as the mycelium must adapt to changes in its environment, so must we to ours. We can grow, connect with one another from all over the world and from afar, learn to survive in new circumstances, and be patient as the weather (likened to our own emotional disposition) changes around us.
With that, I want you to know that even on your darkest days, when you are far away from those you care for or are isolated from other beings, you are never truly alone. The Earth holds your every footstep, and her vast, incredible brain works hard beneath the surface to keep you safe.
Monique <3
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