#plantlore

Daniel Schulke. The Green Mysteries: An Occult Herbarium. Illustrations by Benjamin Vierling. Three Hands Press. Paperback edition, 2022. 560 pages. 

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A magnificent shop update from the wonderful @amandaherzman has landed on Mushroomy! Celestial enamel pins, Fungi illustrations and washi, and the arrival of the latest and greatest Herbologist Zine Volume 4!

I remember hearing that the Plants in Stampede were engineered by splicing human DNA with a mummified basal 'angel' entity, so I tried detailing what it might have looked like, part exercise in linework, part in creative writing.

The entity known as Seraph, discovered ~2150 BC, is believed to be the first known point of true contact between humanity and the theorized 'higher dimension'.

As an entity from a different existence, neither the logic of conventional physics or evolutionary biology are able to be applied and the usage of a Latin scientific name has been forgone. Any relations to real-world earth animals or the divine entity of Hebrew myth from which this creature gets its name are presumed to be merely coincidental.

Instead, Seraph and other theorized higher plane entities seem to base their existence around the massive amounts of psychic, theoretical and potential energies that make up their dimension. Unfortunately, this has also made them impossible to study whilst alive, as any human exposed to higher plane energies for more than a few minutes has suffered massive brain damage due to mental overload.

This environment is thought to encourage the development of a mental construction comparable to the bodies of deep-sea fish under high physical pressure. Much like how cells work in earth animals, Seraph consists of innumerable barely-sentient consciousnesses brought together into one by psychic pressure. Such a makeup allows for a highly coordinated and malleable body, able to control its exact physical functions down to the atomic level.

Strangely, despite such an alien bodyplan, samples taken from deceased individuals show signs of possessing DNA.

All scientific knowledge of this creature comes from dead individuals, and although one example was able to be brought to this plane, within minutes it began to show signs of deterioration. Unable to hold its mind together under the low psychic pressures of our universe, the creature's consciousness begins to fracture and separate. Coordination and communication between each part of the body is lost, with seizure-like symptoms occurring within a mere 10 minutes of higher plane separation. Within 30 minutes, each individual consciousness has split to the point where self-awareness is lost, and by 40 minutes, any sentience has ceased.

Within an hour, the reported individual had entered a coma-like state and was unable to be revived.

Whilst the flesh of Seraph can potentially survive indefinitely, calling it 'alive' at this point is hardly accurate.

It is unknown why all deceased examples of Seraph form into the same position, arms and wings outstretched as if reaching for some divine vision.

Primary Meanings: hope, purity, innocence, rebirth, new beginnings Also symbolizes: fertility, renewal, sympathy, love, good luck, courage

Dominant Feature: small, drooping, white flowers in bunches, usually drawn with petals of three.

The Herbalist’s Primer by Anna Urbanek