Gluckspilz, A Lucky Mushroom

The gluckspilz, or lucky mushroom, refers to the red-and-white speckled Amanita muscaria, or fly agaric.

Mushrooms are strange and uncanny organisms. The Book of Symbols explains, “Above ground, mushrooms appear suddenly, overnight, where no plant was visible before. They are oddly weightless. They seem to be plants, but they are not green. Eaten, they are sometimes gourmet treats, sometimes poison. Sometimes mushrooms cause visions. Small wonder that these little plants, the largest of the fungi, have been (and still are in some places) seen as magical — demonic or divine.”

In Germany and other parts of Europe, finding a fly agaric mushroom in the forest is thought to bring good luck — like finding a lucky penny or four-leaf clover. Similar to the glucksschwein, the gluckspilz is a common motif on holiday and new year’s cards, where it appears alongside other symbols of good fortune such as pigs, horseshoes and ladybugs. Its striking coloring lends itself perfectly to the Yule-time palette, and for this reason the gluckspilz is frequently used as an ornament for tree trimming. It also makes a great hiding place for tiny gnomes.

Mushrooms also have long been associated with the divine, and it is believed that the original recipe for ambrosia was the pressed juice of the fly agaric mushroom mixed with milk or curds. It may also have been the primary ingredient in soma, the drink of the ancient Indian gods.