Between a mushroom with 23,304 different genders and fish that can change their gender at will, we find that nature is far more queer than we are taught to see. Queerness in the natural world is about more than gender and sexuality alone – queering our perception of the natural world enables us to understand greater-than-human consciousness. 

This workshop uses the hidden kingdom of fungi to guide participants in engaging the full sensorium and accessing a deeper ecological perception.

Experiences:

Reishi Tea Ceremony: We will commune with each other and the fungi by ceremonially partaking in a tea of reishi mushrooms, and sharing our ‘Companion Species’, those creatures whose lives are intertwined with our own.

Staying with the Trouble: Opening up our senses with the aid of Cordyceps, Reishi, and Lion’s Mane mushroom tinctures, we will engage sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, to access a deeper, more whole experience of the hidden kingdom of fungi. 

Queer Corporeality: We will delve into the strange and uncomfortable through mushrooms equally monstrous and beautiful - through a linguistic-meditation, we draw parallels that connect repulsive toadstools to gender non-conformity and sexual deviance. 

Multi-Species Storytelling: Holding the sensory memory of the previous experiences, we will seek to understand the mysterious and wondrous creatures that make us feel Seen, and express our personal narratives through their eyes. Opening up our narratives in the sharing circle, we will reflect on what it means to be an individual.

This workshop is queer in its essence but open to all, regardless of gender or sexuality, and aims to create a shift in our ecological consciousness together. The workshop fee includes a Queer Encounters zine, light refreshments, and reishi tea and mushroom tinctures by Nuvedo Labs.