Mycogenous – a book exploring Dionysos in the fungal realm
This isn't my book. This is Dver's book. And it is something she has been working on for some time as part of her devotion to Dionysos.
"Dionysos has always come first for me – I discovered Him before I was even properly pagan, and He was the first god I came to when I started studying polytheist traditions, and has remained by far the most important god to me, sometimes almost to the point of henotheism. I think of myself as a Dionysian as much as anything; He is at the core of who I am. And yet, all these years, everything I’ve written, and only now have I finally created a book entirely dedicated to Him. Only now do I feel I have something to say, to share, to offer those looking to connect with Him. Something very special to me."
This is a different Dionysos than most people encounter. This is not the Dionysos of the revelry, of the enthused intoxication, of the excess of movement and sound and action.
"For this Dionysos is not the familiar god of the wild animal, or the verdant vine, but rather a fungal god – not just symbolically but literally. He is the Dionysos that brings life out of death, that dissolves boundaries, that opens doors, that effects transformation…all through the varied manifestations of the fungal kingdom. And no, I am not just referring to mushrooms (mind-altering or otherwise), although they are part of it. I’m also talking about the kind of fungus that rots the dead, the kind that intertwines with trees, the kind that turns grapes into wine, the kind that heals, the kind that destroys, the kind that spreads and changes everything it touches. I have taken to calling Him by the title Mycogenous Dionysos."
This is not a history book. Not an art book. Not a text book of spells and rituals. This is a devotional.
"In this book, I use a combination of prose, poetic allusion, and visual art to convey something of what I have experienced and learned, in hopes of helping the mycelium of Mycogenous Dionysos to spread. I don’t know who, if anyone, will feel called to this path, or resonate with it, or be taken wholly by it as I have, but I know I need to put it out there. I need to release the spores; it is not up to me where they land."
Mycogenous 7.5×7.5 inches, 82 pages, 80# semi-gloss paper, matte casewrap hardcover "Incorporates reproductions of several original ink and brush illustrations created for this project, as well as three tipped-in color plates of masks I made several years ago as I began delving further into this path."
Available only in Dver's Etsy shop
As always, I would appreciate any help spreading the word about this, as I do not have social media or any other way to communicate beyond this blog and my shop. While I wrote this for polytheists and especially for Dionysians, I do wonder how it might resonate with those unfamiliar with the god but drawn to fungi or spiritually connected to nature, so please feel free to disseminate beyond the pagan world.
If you would like to encounter more about Dver, her devotional practices and offerings, and her other works, her blog can be found at https://forestdoor.wordpress.com/
