Long Litt Woon - The Way Through the Woods: Of Mushrooms and Mourning

The way through the woods

LONG LITT WOON (born 1958 in Malaysia) is an anthropologist and Norwegian Mycological Associationcertified mushroom professional. She first visited Norway as a young exchange student. There she met and married Norwegian Eiolf Olsen. She currently lives in Oslo, Norway. According to Chinese naming tradition, Long is her surname and Litt Woon her first name.

BARBARA J. HAVELAND (born 1951) is a Scots-born literary translator resident in Copenhagen. She translates fiction, poetry, and drama from Norwegian and Danish to English, and has translated works by many leading Danish and Norwegian writers. Her most recent published works include new translations of The Master Builder and Little Eyolf by Henrik Ibsen and the first two volumes of Carl Frode Tillers Encircling trilogy.

Scribe Publications
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Originally published in Norwegian as Stien tilbake til livet. Om sopp og sorg by Vigmostad & Bjrke 2017

First published in English by Scribe 2019

Text copyright Long Litt Woon 2017

Translation copyright Barbara J. Haveland 2019

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publishers of this book.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this book, however neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book.

Extract from the poem Another Sun from the poetry collection En annen sol by Kolbein Falkeid Cappelen Damm AS 1989. Reproduced with permission.
Table of mushroom smells from Svampe Issue 9 (1984). Reproduced with permission.
List of psilocybin trip levels quoted from www.shroomery.org. Reproduced with permission.

The moral rights of the author and translator have been asserted.

9781911617396 (UK edition)
9781925713213 (Australian edition)
9781925693850 (e-book)

Catalogue records for this book are available from the National Library of Australia and the British Library.

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Memoria In Aeterna,

Eiolf Olsen (19552010)

Still round the boat, still

as stars when the earth is unscrewed and mankinds words,

fumbling thoughts and dreams forgotten.

I place the oars, each in its rowlock,

dip and raise them. Listen.

The little splash of drops in the ocean

cements the stillness. Slowly, towards another sun,

I turn the boat in the fog: Lifes

dense nothingness. And row,

row.

Kolbein Falkeid,

from the poem Another Sun

Contents

Mushrooms for beginners

The adrenalin rush

Mushroom picking in New Yorks Central Park

Where did you find that mushroom?

The dream

Mushroom friendships

The inspectors exam: the mushroomers rite of passage

The relentless grieving process

Widow with a small w

Which mushrooms are edible?

In limbo

Angry at the grass

April Fool

Not black and white

Flow

Traces of life

Hunting for true morels in New York

Hipster morels

The Brain Mushroom: the black sheep of the mushroom family

All senses go

The scent of apricots and other (learned?) aromas

The art of catching mice

Insider lingo

A sensory panel

Old habits and new

Gathering ones senses

The mushroom that must not be named

Professor Hiland puts psilocybins into perspective

Impartial information or incitement to mass psychedelia?

Mushroom tripping

The mathematics of loss

Soup

Mushroom bacon

Roasted mushrooms with sesame oil and soy sauce

Pt

Pickled mushrooms

Mushroom roast

Mushroom sauce

Candy Caps

Chanterelle and apricot ice-cream with candied chanterelle chunks

Dogsup

The bathroom scales

Divorce vs. death

Idiots guide to mushroom Latin

Colour and form

Odour, aroma, and size

The gift that goes on giving

Bliss

Foreword

The original working title for this book was Soppdagelse , a play on the Norwegian word for mushrooms and other fungi, sopp , and the word for discovery oppdagelse. So, this is an account of one anthropologists journey of discovery into the world of mushrooms, and of my fascination with fungi and the mushroom gatherers I met along the way. My new interest in mycology brought joy and meaning to my life at a time when everything looked very dark. There is no doubt in my mind that it was this interest in mushrooms and mushroom trails which helped me to find my way back to life after the unexpected death of my husband. Some way into writing this book, I began to wonder where and how I could weave in a line or two about him. Should I mention his death in the foreword, perhaps? I sat down and started writing what would eventually become Chapter 2 (The next best death). From that moment on, the whole concept of this book changed completely; the link between my exploration of the world of fungi and my wandering through the wilderness of grief seemed to be the most interesting story here. So this book tells of two parallel journeys: an outer one, into the realm of mushrooms, and an inner one, through the landscape of mourning.

For me, there are certain phases of the writing process which are necessarily solitary, with long hours of working alone, and others where I am dependent on feedback from excellent helpers whom I trust. My thanks, therefore, to Aud Korbl, Bente Helenesdatter Pettersen, Berit Berge, Gudleiv Forr, Hadia Tajik, Hanne Myrstad, Hanne Sogn, Klaus Hiland, Johs. Be, Jon Lidn, Jon Martinsen Strand, Jon Trygve Monsen, Lars Myrstad Kringen, Mari Finness, Nina Z. Jrstad and the Tidemannsstuen writers group, Ole Jan Borgund, Oliver Smith, Ottar Brox, Runar Kristiansen, and sta vregaard for their input. Thank you all for invaluable assistance and stimulating conversations! Many thanks also to my sources in mycology circles, to the good people at Norwegian Ethnological Research (NEG) at the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, and the Ethnographic Library, University of Oslo, for their kind and indispensable help. From the outset, the Norwegian Non-Fiction Authors and Translators Association provided a grant without which this book would not have been possible. I am also deeply grateful to Professors Leif Ryvarden and Gro Gulden for expert mycological advice.

This book is dedicated to the memory of my husband, in gratitude for all our wonderful years together.

Long Litt Woon

Rdelokken Allotments, May 2017

One mushroom,
one delight
Two mushrooms,
double delight

This is the story of a journey which started on the day when my life was turned upside down: the day when Eiolf went to work and didnt come home. He never came back. Life as I had known it was gone in that instant. The world would never be the same again.

I was devastated. The pain of my loss was all that was left of him. It tore me apart, but I had no wish to dull the agony with painkillers. I wanted to suffer every ounce of the torment, raw. It was confirmation that he had lived, that he had been my husband. I did not want that to be gone as well.

I was in free fall. I, who had always been in command and in control; I, who liked to have a firm grip on things. My lodestar was gone. I found myself in unknown territory, a reluctant wanderer in a strange land. Visibility was poor and I had neither map nor compass. Which way was up, which way was down? From which corner should I start walking? Where should I set my foot?