Fungi

This second installment of Massimo Mangialavori's Materia Medica Clinica presents remedies, old and new, from the otherworldly, overlooked kingdom of Fungi. These remedies have enough association to constitute a broad group, while being too disparate to form a homeopathic family. This fascinating menagerie of fourteen remedies is a first attempt to see the commonalities within this mostly unknown territory. Many years ago, Boericke and Allen took steps in this direction, but few have followed since-until now.

Like mystical wizards, fungi transform life into death, and the detritus of death into sustenance for life. Some can mysteriously appear overnight, and as quickly disappear. Phallus impudicus can erect its phallic tower in a day, and a puffball can instantly burst from raindrops or a kick from a passerby.

Science is currently exploding with new information about these amazing, enigmatic organisms, whose communal intertwining creates vast networks resembling neural pathways.

Every year, myriad medical applications are discovered that confirm extraordinary health benefits, a fact Chinese herbalists have known for centuries. Science has detected the psychoactive substances in varieties used by Shamans to help open our eyes to another realm. As remedies, they exhibit all these qualities and more as they begin to fill a curious corner of the homeopathic pantheon.