You know that old joke about how everyone treats us like mushrooms: unaware of what’s happening, separated from our neighbors, and covered in compost? We misunderstood. Those mushrooms were connected by mycelium and never alone.
Mycelium are the roots of fungus, but they have other work as well.
It is only in the last five years that I’m beginning to understand that mycelium, tiny, hairlike connected entities, are couriers of the forests, supplying the much larger trees with information and sugar. Think of them as grandmothers — providing wisdom and remedies for life along with a casserole or a batch of cookies. It is this Peacemaking, community-building purpose that has much to teach us as we struggle to understand how we might best Pass Peace.
Mycelium know their neighbors, the trees. They make sure that if two kinds of trees are dependent upon one another to thrive, that they can communicate with one another.
They care about the trees’ health and well-being. They are the conduits of nutrients and information and help foster the forest’s health. Mycelium have the ability to interpret what individual trees need and which healthy trees can share nutrients to support the weaker ones. The mycelium serves as the channels through which these needed nutrients and crucial information are delivered. And they care about each other. Metaphorically, they’re always holding hands. When Mr. Roger’s mother said “Look for the helpers,” she could have been talking about the mycelium, couldn’t she? Because mycelium are huge networks of helpers in the forests, living in community and, making Peace! We are only now beginning to understand how mycelium functions. Who knows how much more they can teach us about building communities of Peace!
I’m not a scientist, so in order to help clarify the ways forests and mycelium work together, I found this introductory explanation in an article titled How Mycelium and Mycorrhizal Networks Benefit the Forest.
Mycelium in the forest grows into large networks, these networks are called mycorrhizal networks.
Through these networks, trees in the forest exchange water and valuable nutrients with one another. They have a symbiotic relationship with the fungi, which retain some carbon and sugars for their own growth.
There’s even research to suggest that trees are able to communicate with each other through these mycorrhizal networks.
The quote below is from “Mycelium: The Source of Life”, an article written by scientist and forest ecology professor Suzanne Simard for the book Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet.
“What goes on beneath a forest floor is just as interesting — and just as important — as what goes on above it. A vibrant network of nearly microscopic threads is recycling air, soil, and water in a continuous cycle of balance and replenishment. Survival therefore depends not on the fittest, but on the collective.”
Exactly! Our communities depend upon our helping one another, sharing resources, communicating clearly. Trees and mushrooms look different from one another, one large and powerful, one small and seemingly vulnerable, yet their survival depends on their working together.
We the People are the mycelium of our communities. We hold each other up. We share food. We comfort and encourage one another and we pass vital information for each other’s and our communal survival.
And so the community grows. This is Community Building. This is Peacemaking at its finest.
The amazing part about community is that we all play different roles. There are many people who choose and thrive in supportive roles and want to spend their lives making things work and making them better. When we write the new ballads and poems about community, it is those who consistently contribute to its success whom we should praise and celebrate. Here’s to those who come together to bring the intel and support we need. We could all use a bit more Love in our lives!
Neighbor, take my hand, and together, let us grow Communities of Peace.
Salaam, Shalom, Peace, Blessed Be.