Forest Russell proposes that human involvement with mushrooms—whether through mycological research, psychedelic experience, or foraging in the wild—may result in a peculiar kind of thought otherwise known as Mushroom Thinking. (The artist John Cage is a preeminent example of a mushroom thinking in action). Recent anthropological work around human/mushroom interaction highlights an “interspecies alliance” and what appears to be a cultural transmission from fungi to humans, exemplified by the common injunction to “become fungal.” This movement, often referred to as Radical Mycology, is a return to a new kind of animism in which the mushroom is a guide offering non-human wisdom to humanity. While there are many paths to Mushroom Thinking, its chief epiphany is, of course, the magic mushroom—psilocybin. These ideas will offer a springboard to a salon-style discussion.

Forest Russell is a writer and psychoanalyst-in-training in NYC. You may find many of his mushroom theories at spacewhy.org.

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