Amadou was a precious resource to ancient people, allowing them to start a fire by catching sparks from flint struck against edible chalk pyrites. Bits of fungus preserved in peat have been discovered at the Mesolithic site of Star Carr in the UK, modified presumably for this purpose. Before such uses, amadou needs to be prepared by being pounded flat, and boiled or soaked in a solution of nitre.
One method of preparation starts by soaking a slice in washing soda for a week, beating it gently from time to time. Star Carr Volume 2: Studies in Technology, Subsistence and Environment, pp. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation. Rivers of Sand: Fly Fishing Michigan and the Great Lakes Region.
Useful fungi of the world: Amadou and Chaga”. Vegan-friendly fashion is actually bad for the environment”. Look up amadou in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 4 5 1 4 1 2 1 . Making ornate floor art can be a celebratory act for festivals like Diwali and a meditative practice.
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Jugnu Verma making rangoli outside her home in South Carolina. These geometric patterns, religious symbols and floral designs are drawn on the floor of one’s home, often using chalk and colorful powders, as a way to ward off evil spirits and welcome the good faith of gods and goddesses. Diwali’s message of light conquering darkness. Jugnu Verma, an artist and arts educator in Columbia, S. While making rangoli can be celebratory, it is also a daily ritual for many women in India and throughout the diaspora — a tradition that grounds them in challenging times.
She was born in Bihar, India, where her mother created a new rangoli every day outside their home, and moved to the United States when she was 27. I was far, far away from my family for the first time. She frequently felt lost and lonely. Verma often makes rangoli using edible materials such as rice flour, turmeric and lentils, so that any creatures that pass her doorstep can feast on her creation. That changed when a friend invited her to make henna tattoos and rangoli for a cultural event at the local library. Verma connect with her new community.
It’s OK if her designs are eaten by insects, trampled over by visitors, whisked away by wind or washed away by rain. That impermanence is part of the form’s beauty. This idea, of feeding as many souls as possible during the day, pervades the tradition, though the style of rangoli can vary throughout India. The kolam, in Tamil Nadu, is traditionally made with white rice flour. Each work starts with a grid of dots, which are then connected with various patterns of lines and curves. The result is a highly computational drawing.
Vijaya Nagarajan, the author of a book on the kolam and an associate professor of religious studies at the University of San Francisco. Though I’d always noticed in my own family that the ritual was done only by the women of the household, I realized through conversations with Ms. Nagarajan that it is almost universally closely tied to female experience. In conducting research for her book, Ms. Nagarajan spent time in Madurai, a city in Tamil Nadu, where she spoke with people whose gender expressions were fluid.