Give Thanks to the Wood Wide Web: A Wassail Waltz for the Fungi

Jane Lewis 2022 With thanks to Merlin Sheldrake

1. Mycelial networks under my feet,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
   Sustaining all life and the apples we eat,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
2. So waltz with the hyphae, tip and strand,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
   Unmakers and makers of the underland
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
3. Branching and forking, tangling and swarming,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
   Partnering, fusing, linking and sharing,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
4. So wassail the fungi who live down below,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web
   Stitching together the worlds that we know,
   Give thanks to the wood wide web (x3)

I was given a copy of Marlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life for Christmas in 2020 and went to hear him talk in October 2021. What a fabulous speaker and an inspiring writer – I have only dipped into the book, but am excited to really give myself the time to delve into the world of fungi. So this years wassail is for the fungi. Without fungi there would be no apples or pears or cherries. No flourishing orchards. Give thanks to the Wood Wide Web!

From Entangled Life. How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures
Merlin Sheldrake

‘More than 90% of all plant species depend on mycorrhizal fungi. They are the rule not the exception: a more fundamental part of planthood that fruit, flowers, leaves, wood or even roots. Out of this intimate partnership- complete with co-operation, conflict and competition – plants and mycorrhizal fungi enact a collective flourishing that underpins our past present and future. We are unthinkable without them, yet seldom do we think about them.’ (p.138)

‘From deep sediments on the sea floor, to the surface of deserts, to frozen valleys in Antarctica, to our guts and orifices, there are few pockets of the globe where fungi can’t be found. Tens to hundreds of species can exist in the leaves and stems of a single plant. These fungi weave themselves through the gaps between plant cells in an intimate brocade and help to defend plants against disease. No plant growth under natural conditions has been found without these fungi.’ (p.5)

‘…a variety of substances, from nutrients to signalling compounds, can pass between plants via fungal connections. In simple terms plants are socially networked by fungi. This is what is meant by the ‘Wood Wide Web’…These networks are inconceivably complicated, their implications huge and still poorly understood.’ (p.13)

Score:
Give Thanks to the Wood Wide Web
All parts:

Tune:

High:

Low:

Mid: