November 11, 2026
MUSHROOM
On account of their apparently spontaneous generation, Porphyrius calls Mushrooms sons of the gods.
In Indo-European mythology, the Sun-hero is represented as sometimes hiding under a Mushroom. He also appears as King of the Peas, and in a Russian legend, in this capacity, gives battle to the Mushroom tribes.
In Wales, the poisonous Mushroom is called Bwyd Ellyllon, or the meat of the goblins.
In many parts of England it is believed that the changes of the moon influence the growth of Mushrooms, and in Essex there is an old saying that
There is an old belief that Mushrooms which grow near iron, copper, or other metals, are poisonous; the same idea is found in the custom of putting a piece of metal in the water used for boiling Mushrooms, in order that it should attract and detach any poison from the Mushrooms, and thus render them innocuous.
Bacon characterises Mushrooms as “venereous meat,” but Gerarde remarks that “few of them are good to be eaten, and most of them do suffocate and strangle the eater. Therefore, I give my advice unto those that love such strange and new-fangled meates, to beware of licking honey among thornes, least the sweetnesse of the one do not countervaile the sharpnesse and pricking of the other.”
The Burman, if he comes across Mushrooms at the beginning of a journey, considers it as a most fortunate omen.
Dream oracles state that Mushrooms forbode fleeting happiness; and that to dream of gathering them indicates a lack of attachment on the part of lover or consort.