Mycelium Parish News

The Mycelium Parish News

Earlier this year, on a walk with James Burt, he proposed that the two of us produce a “parish newsletter”, to let our friends know what our other friends have been up to.

James and I first met on the Cerne to CERN pilgrimage. Between us and the other 69 pilgrims exist fecund networks of creative folks. But none of those folks has a full picture of what all the others have been up to.

James suggested we publish a newsletter, listing as much of the good stuff as we could track down. The result is The Mycelium Parish News. It features 2022's books, podcasts, radio, TV, exhibitions, theatre, videos, newsletters and more.  Here's James's introduction: 

WTF is a mycelium?

The mycelium refers to a network of countercultural groups and events, and it’s a term we first heard through theatre-maker Daisy Campbell. In nature, a mycelial network is the inter-connections that grow between fungi. Also known as the wood-wide web, these networks allow communication between different plants in a forest. It is a brilliant metaphor for culture: the fungal threads are often hidden underground, but when they cross, then a mushroom can appear.

Our particular mycelium includes a whole jumble of things, including arts labs, Festival 23 and the Cosmic Trigger crew, as well as various fellow travellers. Common touchstones include the KLF, Robert Anton Wilson, and Discordianism (which is either a joke disguised as a religion or a religion disguised as a joke). 

That explanation may not make you any the wiser. Regardless, this zine lists the work of many amazing people over the last year, and you will definitely find something of value inside that you didn’t know about before.

 

Somewhat wonderfully, we managed to keep the price of the magazine to £2.30, including UK postage (or £5 if you're outside the UK). So there's no excuse for not buying one now.

If you want a downloadable version, you'll have to wait; this zine was designed to be a thing, a thing to hold, to read, and to love, and to attract tea-stains.

Here are some spreads from the 44-page zine:

Introduction and editorial

Feature on The Lost Doctor

Some miscellaneous podcast appearances

Some books published this year

Some videos published this year

Advertising Shits In Your Head

The Wonderist character class

Wonderism

What is #Wonderism? It is the opposite to Terrorism. A terrorist spreads fear through society by carrying out unexpected acts of violence and outrage. A wonderist spreads joy through society by carrying out unexpected acts of love and silliness. A wonderist views optimism as a radical act of resistance (particularly in our current scary and depressing times). The wonderist's manifesto is Salena Godden's Pessimism is for Lightweights.

What would a wonderist look like in Dungeons & Dragons and other OSR games? Here is my proposal for a Wonderist character class...

The Wonderist has the same stats, abilities and limitations as a wizard or magic-user, but with the additional restriction that they cannot deliberately causes harm or distress to any living being. 

They have access to all magic-user spells with the exception of those intended to cause distress or harm. In addition, they have access to the five spells listed below. Wonderist spells require verbal, material and somatic components, but the material component can be anything, as chosen by the caster. The object chosen may affect the flavour of the spell cast.

All Wonderist spells can be cast at any level, with the level of the spell determining how many individuals, and of what type, are affected. The number affected increases threefold for each casting level allocated to the spell, with no theoretical limit.

For humans and domestic animals, the number of individuals affected are:

• Level 1: 1 individual
• Level 2: 3 individuals
• Level 3: 9 individuals
• Level 4: 27 individuals
• Level 5: 81 individuals
• ...etc

For wild animals, a casting level one higher is required (so 1 individual at level 2, 3 at level 3, 9 at level 4, etc) and for monsters the level required is two higher (1 at 3rd level...)

Cats are immune to Wonderist spells.

The Wonderist spells available are: 

Joy: affected individuals are overcome with a sense of joy.

Delight: the caster nominates a thing (object, being or concept) and those affected see that thing as though for the first time.

Agape: those affected feel love for all fellow beings. (It's pronounced agg-er-pay, and means the highest form of love)

Humour: those affected can't help but see the funny side of life (please note: their laughter is not hideous).

Oneness: those affected feel a sense of connection with the entire multiverse.

The immediate effects last for 1 hour (this duration can again be increased threefold, multiple times, by spending additional casting levels). The effects linger, however, once its strongest effects expire - somebody who has spent an hour feeling at one with the multiverse is unlikely to emerge from this experience unchanged.

The wonderist is a pacifist - they cannot do harm, or stand by while another causes harm. Of course, in a game where every other character's life seems to revolve around travelling the world, meeting interesting creatures, and killing them, being a wonderist, avoiding all conflict, and actively opposing it, presents something of a challenge. Embrace this challenge! Pessimism is for lightweights.