Born from the Ember: How a Medicinal Mushroom Lecture Led Me to the Tinder Fungus Mid-Painting

Greetings! Lovely to see you back in my alchemical corner.

Sometimes nature has its own timing for sending us inspiration. I recently experienced just such a moment.

I was in my studio, completely engrossed in the creative process. I was in the middle of painting the fire element. The strong reds, the dynamism, the heat – the image was practically burning on the canvas. In the midst of this intense, fiery creation phase, I attended a lecture on medicinal mushrooms in the evening. I sat in the audience, listening to the explanations, and suddenly a name was mentioned that struck me like lightning: The Tinder Fungus.

At that very second, I knew: This is it. This is the missing piece of the puzzle for my painting. The tinder fungus simply had to be on this canvas, right into my fire element.

When the Fire Element Gets Structure

For me as an artist, who makes the ancient knowledge of Traditional European Medicine (TEM) tangible in layers, this connection was immediately crystal clear. When we think of the element of fire, we often only think of the blazing, consuming flame. But in alchemical philosophy and TEM, it's always about balance. Fire needs a medium, a solid structure that holds the heat, directs it, and prevents it from dissipating uncontrollably.

And precisely this medium is the tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius). When you see it growing on old trees in the forest, it appears tough, woody, and almost inconspicuous. Yet our ancestors knew precisely about its hidden, fiery nature: For millennia, it was crucial for preserving embers and transporting them over long distances. It doesn't burn with a blazing flame, but smolders infinitely slowly and keeps the heat hidden. It is the guardian of the inner fire.

Medically, in TEM, it brings precisely this regulating, clearing power. Where chronic inflammations smolder in the body or fluids have stagnated due to cold and stagnation, the tinder fungus has a strong systemic effect. It cleanses, purges, and restores the system's clear, healthy structure. This is not a romantically idealized herbal illusion, but pure, clinically profound natural medicine. Even Ötzi carried it with him.

Art that Emerges from Real Life

On the canvas, I incorporated this raw, tough primal power of the fungus. It couldn't become a smooth, pleasing surface – the fire that the tinder fungus carries within it has texture, depth, and a palpable history. I don't plan my works sterilely on a drawing board. I let myself be guided by the impulses of nature and ancient healing knowledge precisely when they knock in real life – just like with this lecture. Art and TEM are inseparable for me; they flow into each other, layer by layer.

Have you ever consciously noticed the tinder fungus in the forest? And how do you deal with your own inner glow when everything stalls in everyday life?

Please feel free to write me your thoughts on this in the comments below – I look forward to exchanging ideas with you here in our alchemical corner!

All the best,
Marie-Louise