In Fungi We Trust

• Aardrijkskunde
• Kunstzinnige oriëntatie
• +2
• HBO
• WO
• Studiejaar 4

In Fungi We Trust

What if fungi were the new religion?

An exploration of imagery, devotion and the fungal kingdom.

© 2026 Bottled Botanicals, Elske Bouma. bottledbotanicals.nl All rights reserved. This presentation should not be shared with others. 

Planning

10.30 - 11.00 walk-in

11.00 - 12.00 lecture with coffee/tea

12.00- 12.30 guided journal exercise to start sketching your design

12.30 - 13.00 lunch

13.00 - 15.00 workshop

15.00 - 15.30 possible overrun 

Why

1. Problem

- Old religious frameworks no longer match today’s world

- Many people feel disconnected from meaning and from the natural world around them

2. Shift

- Redirect attention from:  the invisible + stories  -> the living land, and  the making of our own stories

- Meaning through relationship, and courting our ecosystem, not dogma

3. Why fungi?

- Model of interconnectedness and transformation

- A concrete, observable metaphor for ritual and belonging

4. What it has to offer

A sense of belonging and purpose by tending and honouring the land

Religion as a human practice

1. Religions provide narratives that organize chaos.

2. Visual icons help us focus on something larger than ourselves.

3. Rituals connect people and mark moments of life.

4. Religions describe what is sacred, valuable, and protected.

Why fungi as a form of devotion?

• Fungi = magical, mysterious
• Barely represented in European written traditions
• Became linked to the devil & witches
• Symbolizes what was rejected or suppressed
• Resistance to dogma and suspicion of the natural world
• Life/death cycles: decomposition, regeneration, connection

Tassili mushroom figures - Neolithic petroglyphs and cave paintings discovered in Tassili n'Ajjer, Algeria.

Selva Pascuala - Spain (6 to 8 thousand years old)

Xōchipilli - Aztec deity

Lingzhi in Chinese culture 

Tatiana Urkachen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oFlXHUUmXg 

Did the vikings take Fly agaric before battle?

Vikings and celts?

Soma - Ritual drink from the Vedic Indo-Aryans

'No seeds, petals, roots or blossom'

Tawny colours

Similar preparation method

Urine 'filter of sunlight'

Was Jesus a mushroom?

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross 

John M. Allegro

Fungi vs. Plants

• Plants: purity, visible growth, spiritual awakening
• Fungi: underworld, hidden processes, transformation, decomposition, rebirth
• Plants emphasize growth and blooming
• Fungi emphasize what happens under the ground and out of sight
• Networks and complex systems

Why visuals help us connect

• Icons work as focal points for attention, emotion
• Humans think visually and associatively
• Everyday objects (like a favorite mug) show how meaning forms through use
• We all connect to certain symbols, colors, places, or landscapes
• What we love, we naturally want to care for
• Nature‑based images help translate abstract ideas into tangible devotion

From religion to eco-devotion

• Religion structured meaning around life, death, and community
• Many no longer believe in those stories
• Focusing on what we can observe and experience
• Fungi are not gods (they can be) but metaphors
• Invite wonder, care, and responsibility

How does your relationship with nature
change when you depict it as sacred?

Before starting the workshop