The Mushroom Oracle

Recently I went to a festival in Sweden. I went all by myself, not knowing anyone there. I felt very lonely.

Even though I was dancing joyfully, there was always this undercurrent of feeling alone.

On the second day, I sat at some campfire and struck up a conversation with a woman. We talked about a lot of things, and the conversation went off in some crazy directions.

After a while, she asked me if I wanted to ask the Mushroom Oracle a question. Being curious, I said yes.

She pulled out a stack of cards. Each card had a big beautiful drawing and a list of three qualities.

The woman said that I should think of a question to ask, and then pick a random card.

I didn’t tell her my question, but I’m telling it to you now: “How do I find connection here, and how can I feel less lonely?”

I picked a card.

The card I drew was "Mycelium". The three words were Collaboration, Reciprocity, and Exchange.

I immediately tried to understand what that meant. The Oracle had answered – and after some time a solution to my question formed in my mind.

The oracle told me that to find connection, I only needed to do what I was naturally drawn to and what I felt comfortable doing.

I don’t believe in horoscopes and astrology, and yet I was delighted by this whole experience. Because you don’t have to believe in anything for it to work. I realized that the card was just directing my thoughts in a certain direction, and my mind came up with the answer all by itself.

The answer turned out to be very helpful: I found a beautiful group of people who I've spent the rest of the festival with and felt very connected.

To me, this shows that you are already capable of giving yourself the advice you need. Your mind just needs a bit of guidance.

This is an excerpt of a post on Mental Garden, a regular newsletter designed to help you become a better human through guided introspections. Read the full post and sign up now.