The Mycelial Healer: A Comprehensive Guide to the Cultivation and Traditional Uses of Medicinal Mushrooms

A groundbreaking and accessible exploration of ancestral and Indigenous medicinal uses of mushrooms and their cultivation.

Fungi are the Alpha and Omega of this planet. Through their connections to the rock, soil, air, water, plants, animals, and humans, fungi hold our ecosystems together. They carry medicinal compounds that can be isolated and studied by scientists, and they carry something less available to scientific study—something ineffable known by many Indigenous peoples. Fungi carry a vibration of connection, a way of being in the world.

This insightful and practical guide for the lay reader explores the deep, interwoven web of the mycelial network from the perspective of whole human health. In Chapter One, we discover what mushrooms tell us about how to be in right relationship with the natural world, with other people, and with the spiritual world. In the chapters that follow, we explore our direct relationship with these mushrooms, with detailed information on how to grow them in both outdoor and indoor settings. We also learn how to preserve and ingest mushrooms as food and medicine. In the book’s final chapter, we take a deeper dive into fourteen species of medicinal mushrooms to learn their stories, their way of living, and what they have revealed to science.

Medicinal Mushroom Profiles include:

Cordyceps • Amadou • Birch Polypore • Reishi • Maitake • Lion’s Mane • Chaga • Milky Cap • Shiitake • Medicinal Molds • Oyster • Psychoactive Mushrooms • Split Gill • Turkey Tail

The Mycelial Healer is for readers who have been failed by the conventional healthcare system and are turning to medicinal mushrooms for answers, as well as herbalists and mushroom cultivators inspired to take their understanding of the medicinal benefits of mushrooms to the next level.

Christopher Parker is co-founder, along with his wife Katherine, and an instructor at The Forest Farmacy. He is a self-taught mycologist who started cultivating mushrooms at young age and has continuously expanded his knowledge of mycology, botany, agriculture, permaculture and ecology, with 30 years of experience in mushroom cultivation, wild harvesting, and herbal medicine making. He is passionate about food sovereignty, resilient local food systems, and the use of fungi in innovative applications such as myco-remediation. Christopher loves being in his mycology lab where he experiments with and expands various strains of mycelium. He continues to be a teacher and mentor to many beginners and professionals who are interested in and share his passion for growing mushrooms for food, medicine, and profit. Christopher founded Asheville Fungi which provides mycological supplies—including cultures, spawn, grow kits, and tools—across the country and fresh mushrooms locally.  As a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Christopher carries knowledge of ancestral food practices and skills such as arrow making, bow building, animal processing, flint knapping, and fire by friction.

Katherine Parker is co-founder, along with her husband Christopher, and an instructor at The Forest Farmacy. She is a psychologist, a transformational coach, and transpersonal hypnotherapist engaged deeply in the evolution of human consciousness. Katherine is working to co-create a more beautiful world and be part of our collective liberation.