~SHROOM SHOW – ZINE . . a few more pages

‘SHROOM SHOW – the zine’
organized by NICHOLAS MOENICH
with special contributions from . . CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY, BEN KINSLEY & JESSICA LANGLEY, ALTA BURDEN and, LILA PEARL SHAPIRO.

‘SHROOM SHOW’ – organized by NICHOLAS MOENICH
OCT 22 – NOV 19, 2016 / by appointment
HELPER, BROOKLYN

THE . . SACRED MUSHROOM.

SACRED:
connected with God / or the gods. dedicated to religious purpose & so deserving . . veneration.
religious rather than secular.
considered to be holy & deserving respect.
inspiring . . awe.

I wonder what all those many many, countless !! (there are so many of them in the surrounding ‘nabe’, blocks and blocks of them. and even many on a block. google street view – it.)
. . . Holy Roller storefronts would think of this sacred show – that has landed, quite by random, right smack dab – in their ‘mighty’ midst ?

shroom-zine-nicholas-moenich
say what ?
that looks like ancient, if not COSMIC !! diagrams, on the left.
from COSMIC, to TOLKIEN . . to Aztec !!

ps:
(that little ‘reference’ on my desktop in the background, is to PAT (McCARTHY) & his also totally totally awesome group show . . SATAN Ceramics. in which case, that is like saying ‘SICK’ . . for great.
so I decided to leave it in – thinking it was kind of profound to be writing sacred, and have the name that ‘cannot be spoken’ pop up, by random. even though it means good – in this case.
sacred/good vs evil. can’t have one, without the other, apparently.)
(just like they always said – across the board, all cultures.)

shroom-zine-title-page-nicholas-moenich
Whoa. the title page is way strange !!
a secret warning – lies before your very eyes.
that’s a TOXIC . . mushroom !! forager / beholder . . beware !!
it’s an ‘amanita’ . . . I’m gonna eat cha / a man-eatah – man-eater . . !!
it’s a poison mushroom.
‘amanita muscaria’.
see: Mushroom – wikipedia

lord, lord, lordy rollers . . how such a small thing – can take a ‘big’ man, down.
be humble. pride goes before a fall.
the fragility of mankind – in a nutshell, er .. tiny fungus.

amanita_muscaria_fly_agaric
‘AMANITA MUSCARIA’ . .
image via wikipedia

RED . . . means STOP.
RED means . . . NO.
now you know where RED as a warning – comes from.
Mother Nature beat ya to it.
well at least, if you pick it up, and eat it RAW.
funny, where a little hidden knowledge – will take ya.

because,
if you read further . . you will see:
“although classified as POISONOUS, reports of human deaths resulting from its ingestion are extremely rare. after PAR-BOILING . . it is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. ‘AMANITA MUSCARIA’ . . is noted for its HALLUCINOGENIC properties.”

is Sacred Knowledge . . only for the initiated ?
medicine men, shamans.
Nicholas Moenich . . . shaman ?
& in fact: “there has been much speculation on possible traditional (translate: first native) use.

shroomm-show-zine-nicholas-moenich
it all sounds very ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
mushrooms are also called . . TOADSTOOLS, and probably for a really good . . reason !!!

shroom-show-zine-nicholas-moenich
this page begins . . .

The MAN-child Born of a Virgin

Describing the growth of the mushroom (boletos), PLINY says: ‘the earth . . . produces first a ‘womb’ (vulva) . . . and afterwards (the mushroom) itself inside the womb, like a yolk inside the egg: and the baby mushroom is just as fond of eating its coat as is the chicken. The coat cracks when (the mushroom) first forms; presently, as it gets bigger, the coat is absorbed into the body of the footstalk (pediculi) . . . at first it is flimsier than froth , then it grows substantial like parchment, and then the mushroom . . . is born.”
from: The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross by JOHN M. ALLEGRO.

A-LLEGRO / AH LE-GROW ??
are you kidding me.
this zine is just so . . damn, o-r-g-a-n-i-c !!
such a magic text / like reading a . . written MAZE.

mushroom / much – room ???

the fizzy red . . view from my desk.
somebody should spike – the food at the WHITE HOUSE !!

PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH