Mystical Mushrooms: Discover the Magic & Folklore of Fantastic Fungi

Great little coffee table book !

Mushrooms show up in our pizzas, salads, and sauces, but they often don't get the respect they deserve. As saprophtyes that breakdown organic matter into nutrients, they are incredibly important for the ecological cycles in our environment. Aurora Kane gives us a very readable book that discusses the history of mushroom and fungi uses, including culinary, crafts and medicines. At the heart is a description of 43 diverse fungi from shiitake to earth star to bird's nest fungus and more. Each one gets a beautiful full page illustration, accompanied on the facing page by a description of the growth use (edible or not) and history of the fungus. For a few of the more famous ones, like morels, there are several pages of descriptions. This is a fantastic way to learn about the more common, and some uncommon, mushrooms and fungi that can be found in lawns, forests and fields.This well-illustrated book makes a great gift for those who want to learn more about mushrooms and other fungi. It does not presume any scientific background, so it is very approachable for a wide variety of people.

I enjoyed reading this book of mushroom folklore, although I read the individual mushroom accounts as a reference, only reading the species I was familiar with. I read and enjoyed the introductory information but it was a little too folksy for me in parts. I found the mystical and magical content a little too much at times. But this is a beautiful little book and I will never look at a puffball the same after reading it. Read well, was well illustrated, just not my cup of tea.

This would be a wonderful book for a fungi or cottage core lover! The illustrations are stunning, and in fact, I wish I could buy wallpaper of the inner cover. This is not meant to be a field guide, but it still offers lots of information about each particular mushroom.

Mystical Mushrooms is a beautiful book and a thoughtful rumination on the world of fungi. It’s a little bit practical - though author Aurora Kane reminds readers that this is not intended to be a field guide for finding edible mushrooms in the wild - and a little bit mystical, diving into folklore and traditions tied to different varieties.Each mushroom profile includes an illustration (gorgeously detailed!), the Latin name, edibility, manifesting/magical influence, and a description with habitat, folklore, and history. It’s not the sort of book you read from cover to cover in a single sitting, but a leisurely tome to dip into a few pages at a time as curiosity is piqued.In addition to the information about specific mushrooms, there are chapters outlining the broader histories and magical properties of mushrooms, as well as a section filled with suggested spells. Practicing witches will be enthralled with the content, but casual readers interested in the folklore and/or the history of mushrooms in this sphere will find plenty to enjoy.