What Troubles Nausicaä – Caring for All Living Beings
It's our third anniversary this month! Save the date.
Dear Fellow Myconauts,
What a delight our fungi & delights evening was. It was deeply refreshing and profound. It’s remarkable how well delight and fungi go together, and the hard yet meaningful discussions that followed. Connection, care, sorrow (“adult delight” as Ross Gay calls it)… Stay tuned for more delight focused evenings in the future! There’s a book of MORE delights! What a delight!!!
“Life is the Light that Shines in the Darkness”
Our discussion about Nausicaä was so good we’re having another one. If you missed our last one, this is your chance to join us for a truly engaging conversation! We’ll be discussing the last half of the book of Nausicaä Valley of the Wind.
It’s interesting because this part of the story is written years after the film adaptation was released (the book was written by the director Hayao Miyazaki over 10+ years, the film came out after the first four years) so it is a response to the how the film was received. It took him longer to finish the story after the writing the original story (Film = roughly first two chapters, out of seven chapters in all).
The film was such a big success that it funded the creation of Studio Ghibli, one the most successful animation studios of all time, but Miyazaki felt the oversimplified message of the film did not due the story of Nausicaä justice. He witnessed the growth an environmental movement that cited his film as an example of nature = good and humanity = bad.
Hayao Miyazaki wanted to stress it’s our relationship with nature that’s vitally important. Humans are a part of nature. And technology, like AI discussed in the book, won’t save us. So, what does it look like if we worked together rooted in care for the living world inclusive of humanity? Rooted in the appreciation of beauty and wonder? Join us to find out!
Scenes from previously in the Mycoverse…
Moment of delight – Vanessa walking a gecko. Photo by Brenna Cheyney
Delight! We learned how sharing & studying delights produces even *more* delight. Photo by Brianne Agaricus
Discussion: The Return of Nausicaä (Part II)
Monday, July 8th, 7pm @ Arlington Garden, Pasadena, CA – Free by donation
We’ll be raffling off a field guide to California mushrooms!
Before our discussion, we invite you to:
Read the manga! Check out Chapters 5, 6, and 7. Don't let the size intimidate you. It's a beautifully illustrated thriller. The manga provides a richly detailed story of the world's ecology, including the myxo-myco relationships, as well as what actually happens – the film is only roughly the first two chapters of the seven in total.
Save the Date! ~**Mycoverse Third Anniversary**~
Monday, July 22nd, 7pm @ Arlington Garden, Pasadena, CA – Free by donation
Wow! It’s been three years…?! We’re working on something special for our celebration to reflect on the community we’ve cultivated over the past three years. So stay tuned
Spores Round Up
The Fungal Diversity Survey is hiring a Communications Director (work with Aaron!)
We can’t get enough of Nausicaa – a YouTube documentary on the backstory of this powerful story (half-way through, it gets to the manga)
Spread the spores,
Aaron