FAQ
mosses, mycelia, and mysticism
These are actual questions gathered from actual participants!
If you have a question that isn’t answered here, please send me a note at graham@rootdeepliving.com.
1.Tell me about the course timeline. Is it over six weeks? Do I need to be available on certain days or at certain times?
The course is completely self-timed, so the suggested timelines (week one, week two, etc. as laid out in the “Calendar of Opportunity”) are meant to create a rhythm and a bit of structure for this offering if that's something that works well for you. It might be helpful to read on to understand more about how this course works and why the timeline is so flexible.
⚈ ⚈ ⚈
2. What does this correspondence course include?
There are some tangible elements to this offering, so let’s start there. Here’s what will be delivered to your mailing address by way of the USPS*:
(1) your mosses, mycelia, and mysticism booklet/zine
At the time of this writing, I am putting the finishing touches on this book. I estimate it to be around 50 pages.
The booklet covers some particulars of mosses and mycelia, and it intentionally moves beyond identification and more basic information we might easily find elsewhere to tend curiosity about the hows and whys we encounter among mosses and mycelia. What is it like to consider moss as ancient land plants? What ripples out to us when we tend to the paths of mycelia within the trunks of trees and through the soil and beyond our understanding? The role of mysticism in this course is both a lens and a practice — a perspective for considering meaning and cultivating relationship with wonder. We are part of the medicine, so it is all with a dollop of human curiosity and embodied presence.
Looking for more specifics about the content? I'll share some snippets of the booklet on social media and on the website in the weeks leading up to this offering, so you can get some glimpses at what’s to come.
(2) weekly course guide
This comes in the form of six single-page handouts has suggestions for which portions of the zine to read, reflection prompts related to the reading material, and suggestions for exploring outside (or in moss and mushroom books or wherever you like to do your explorations). All of it's optional and encouraged! I'm hoping these might especially support participants' writing and reflection. The arc of the subject matter will ultimately depend on the final booklet publication, but I plan to follow the flow of the title through mosses, mycelia, and mysticism, devoting two weeks to centering each of these and integrating them together as we go.
*If you sign up before January 12, you should receive these by January 22.
⚈ ⚈ ⚈
There are also some still tangible but more interactive aspects to this offering. Here are the additional course components:
(3) mail correspondence
In addition to these material pieces, the course includes (at least but not limited to) six weeks of snail mail correspondence with me. I'd love to be in written conversation about the reading content from the booklet as well as the reflection prompts and your explorations and really anything that comes up in relationship to the course.
This is a really curious opportunity to me! I'm excited to explore what it's like to be thinking and processing and growing relationship with medicine, be connected with each other, and do it all by mail correspondence.
(4) optional online connection
Finally, the only online portion of the course and a completely optional way of connecting with other participants, is to share with the wider group by writing a note and letting me know specifically that you'd like me to share it on a password-guarded webpage, where other participants will have the opportunity to read and respond in the same way. If folks are really enjoying connecting with each other, I can imagine more ways we might bridge the communication barrier, but I am hoping to keep it simple and focus on mail correspondence for now.
⚈ ⚈ ⚈
3. Is all of this mail correspondence handwritten? Must I actually hand write my letters to you? Can I type them up and send them?
The short answer is no, correspondence need not be handwritten. You can absolutely type and mail your notes.
The long answer — I love handwritten notes and letters, and I hope to do quite a bit of that during this course! I also cannot imagine actually handwriting every single note (particularly the ones that go out to all the participants) for the course, being able to say everything I want to say, and still having time for sleep and food and sitting with moss! So I plan to type out or hand write and copy materials I send to you. If you want to hand write letters to me, you are more than welcome! You can also find any creative way that works for you to get what you want to say on paper and send it through the mail.
You can also type and print them. I realize these two options may be outside of some participants’ capacity in this season, and I'm happy to talk about alternatives with you if you’re feeling curious about that.
⚈ ⚈ ⚈
4. When do I need to sign up by? Is there a specific start date?
The course is open through March 31, 2023, and I am committed to snail mail communication from January 22 to March 31. This means someone could sign up before we begin and correspond for over two months or sign up mid February and still connect by mail for a full six weeks. You could also sign up mid-March and correspond a little or not at all. Our initial gathering of writers will officially begin the course January 22.
⚈ ⚈ ⚈
5. Will we be learning about habitat and growing habits and things like that or diving primarily into mysticism and lore surrounding these plant beings?
We will be engaging a bit with the ecology around and biology of mosses and mycelia, but of course these topics are vast and there's still plenty to be discovered.
This more is something that draws me towards the study of mosses and mycelia together. Both of these ways of being remind me that there is simply much, much more to consider, to be with in this world, than what is easily measurable and nameable and I want to be with that more in the world and in myself this winter… hence the integration of mysticism and the mystical experience as we rest with mosses and mycelia.
This offering is a personal exploration for each person who chooses to engage. It is as intimate and curious as you are in this season. Your course will be guided most of all by your relationship with moss and mycelium and the wild world. I am here to support and inspire and, here and there and in my own curious way, inform you.
I hope the written aspect of this course serves as a uniquely suited complement to what folks might gather and learn through reading and engaging personally with these beings, that writing might open up a bit of space for what's beneath the surface — what you know but may not have yet articulated or even thought fully — to become more known. There is space to uncover more, to find the stories and histories and experiences through others’ words and lenses, to enrich your experience, if that's where you are drawn. I will offer supplementary suggestions and there’s more where those came from if someone has a particular interest they want to explore.
6. Are the practice portions at the bottom of each weekly page reflections to write on and include in our correspondence?
Yes and more! The practice portions are sort of prompts for you to engage with in whatever ways make sense for you. Maybe you take them with you on a walk outside. Maybe you ponder them before you sleep and dream. Maybe you write about them. Maybe you send those letters to me! Or maybe you draw or paint or weave or carve or take photos with these pieces in mind. It is wholly open. If you’re here for writing like me, I think it would be lovely to sit with these as journal prompts and letter prompts. I chose these questions and thoughts in reflection on the content and my own musings because I would love to correspond with you about them.
7. I explored the class site and didn’t see anywhere to interact, I did see your lovely letter. Will this be an interactive space?
This course is very low-tech, so interacting with each other is an option but it’s still through letters. I’m hoping that prioritizing these slower shapes of communication sparks language, style, and meaning that might be harder to find in internet-rich offerings. If you’d like to correspond with the group, you can write letters with that audience in mind, send them to me, and I will snap a photo of your letter and post it on the shared webpage. If anyone has a particular interest in another channel of communication with the group, I’m happy to connect with you about how we could collaborate to make something like that happen.
8. The booklet is so beautiful. Is there a timeline for exploring this? Certain excerpts to read on certain weeks?
Ha! I’m so glad you’re finding it beautiful. I am so excited to have a landing place in this booklet to explore relationships with you, and I’m really pleasantly surprised at what has been born in gathering these pieces. With this question, you have illuminated a quirky bit of my puzzle mind. Here’s what’s up:
The Basic Information note has a Calendar of Opportunity on page two that shares dates with you. The dates are associated with six segments of thoughtful interaction with the booklet that are fleshed out in the Weekly Course Guides, identified by number (before, one, two, three, four, five, and six*). The Weekly Course Guides specifically suggest sections to read that relate to the musings, poetry, and practice prompts that are included there.
And, the truth is, all of this is optional! You can create your own timeline and interact with the course materials including musings and prompts however you’re inspired. The structure is there if it’s helpful. (I love structure. My mind loves structure.) If it’s not in service to your intentions for this gathering, you are oh so welcome to craft your own!
*The first three of these are delivered in the original package; the others follow with a separate note shortly thereafter.