From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
Remember the warnings against a Destroying Angel? It turns out it was not a fungi.
We have all heard of the term hunters and gatherers. The latter would go out foraging for edible plants for their families, and mushrooms would have been one of the items of interest for them. For many foragers of nature’s offerings, mushrooms are an item that hold an element of mystery because even an experienced forager urged that “there are no hard and fast rules in determining which ones are edible and which are not” (p.15) in a Sault Star article in September 1979.
For instance, the ‘Destroying Angel’ or Amanita Verna is a mushroom that should not be reckoned with, apparently. After he found one at his Base Line home, Hugo Gasparetto wanted to make fungus foragers aware of its dangers and presence in our region.
This dangerous mushroom is a member of a larger family of mushrooms called Amanitas. The most notable member of this family of mushrooms is the Amanita Muscaria, which is often portrayed in images on household wares or homes of little blue characters from a popular animated production. According to an academic, however, the Amanita femme fatales have a connection with a popular title, the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Professor John Allegro, a Dead Sea Scrolls expert, wrote a book entitled The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, where he proposed a theory, albeit a controversial one. The theory proposed that “the story of Christ is a cryptic tale masking an ancient fertility cult based on the hallucinogenic properties of the Amanita mushroom” (Sault Star, September 15, 1970, p.15). Those that know of this family of fungus know that if Allegro’s theory holds any truth, the fertility cult members were taking a risk not only handling but consuming the destroying angel.
It is recommended by seasoned mushroom foragers and experts alike to proceed with caution when harvesting fungi. Pat Wilson, a seasoned forager, would encourage a thorough examination of each mushroom, including root examination. In a 1976 Sault Star article, Wilson recommended that foragers keep a field guidebook on hand and provided a list of titles that would be particularly useful for identifying mushrooms.
Wilson also shared several valuable safety tips for fungi foraging, one of which he dismissed as an old wives’ tale. According to this belief, placing a silver item, like a coin or fork, along with garlic into boiling water with mushrooms will cause the silver to turn black, signaling that the mushrooms are poisonous. Wilson discouraged foragers from following this as “some of the most deadly ones won’t turn her coin black” (p.15). It is safe to say that if you are unsure about any edible plant, including mushrooms, it would be best to dispose of it rather than take the risk of ingesting it.
Mushrooms are a polarizing edible that many enjoy harvesting, but it seems there is more to it than just bending down and picking. A thorough examination should be conducted before one chooses to indulge. Otherwise, you might expect to be like the “three or four cases of sickness from mushrooms,” reported by the Poison Control Centre in 1975 (p.15).
Do you feel the ancient fertility cult took the necessary safety precautions?
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