Written with warmth, spirit, and whimsy, Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms enchants readers into a more engaged life with the world and themselves.

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About the Book


An enchanting nature-based guide to living more in deeper relationship with ourselves, our communities, and our planet by embodying the innate qualities of the wondrous mycelial world.

The more we start to live like mushrooms, author Madison Murphy Barney argues, the more healthy, just, and abundant our lives can become. Unlike other mushroom-focused books, Our Ancestors Want Us to Be Mushrooms isn’t a foraging guide, a scientific examination of fungi, or a glimpse into the powers of psilocybin. Rather, it is part philosophical framework and part nature-inspired reflection, weaving together the guiding attributes of mushrooms and ancestral wisdom to explore our relationship with the natural world and a call back into meaningful alignment with each other and our planet.

Through eight distinct guiding principles inspired by the traits of mushrooms, readers are invited to explore:

Beauty and delight 

Creativity and unique gifts 

Living in cycles and decomposition 

Protection 

Healing and nourishment 

Flexibility and adaptability 

Humility 

Mystery and room
for magic 

About the Author

Madison Murphy Barney is a Two-Spirit Indigenous sister, doula, author, and public health storyteller focused on community care, ancestral wisdom, and human relationships with the natural world. She writes the newsletter Our Medicine and has been featured by the BBC and at Aspen Ideas: Health. She holds a master’s degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Madison lives in Vermont, where she stewards land and practices rematriation.

"Getting to work with Madison gave me peace, support, and joy in ways I couldn’t have dreamt up. There were countless moments where I felt unsure in all three of those stages and Madison helped me seek the understanding that was right for me, explore and delight in the growing partnership with my baby, exercise self-love and compassion, and laugh. Thinking back on that time floods my heart with gratitude for Madison and her gifts."

“Prenatal talks with Madison were like having the pregnancy therapist I didn’t know I needed. During my labor, she was my calm in the center of the storm. And as a post partum doula, it was such a relief to have someone walk in my door and know exactly what to do without being asked. Having a full spectrum doula is a beautiful piece of support that I highly recommend!"

Having M on our birth team was an invaluable resource for our family during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. M was knowledgeable and supportive about our queer family structure and proactive in asking about and using the terms I preferred for my body as a non-binary birthing person and parent. M’s presence at the birth of our child was calm and grounded while remaining open, playful, present and flexible. M was able to meet me exactly where and how I needed support, whether that was with physical support through contractions, energetic tending, or loving and affirming presence. It is clear that M has a calling as a birthworker and answers that calling with skill, attunement and deep wisdom. I value M’s groundedness in her own spiritual practice around birthwork and how she made space for our family’s own ancestral practices for birth and postpartum. I was especially grateful for M’s support postpartum where she offered me, my partner and our newborn loving care in ways I didn’t even know we needed. She was such a welcome and supportive presence in our postpartum nest. I could not recommend M more!

"We absolutely loved working with Madison. She is incredibly kind and personable. She helped us plan and supported our journey with a wealth of expertise and no judgment or agenda. Madison was a hand to hold and a voice to remind me not only could I do it, but I was doing it - and I was doing it beautifully. She reminded me how strong I am."

Pre order my book

"Getting to work with Madison gave me peace, support, and joy in ways I couldn’t have dreamt up. There were countless moments where I felt unsure in all three of those stages and Madison helped me seek the understanding that was right for me, explore and delight in the growing partnership with my baby, exercise self-love and compassion, and laugh. Thinking back on that time floods my heart with gratitude for Madison and her gifts."

“Prenatal talks with Madison were like having the pregnancy therapist I didn’t know I needed. During my labor, she was my calm in the center of the storm. And as a post partum doula, it was such a relief to have someone walk in my door and know exactly what to do without being asked. Having a full spectrum doula is a beautiful piece of support that I highly recommend!"

Having M on our birth team was an invaluable resource for our family during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. M was knowledgeable and supportive about our queer family structure and proactive in asking about and using the terms I preferred for my body as a non-binary birthing person and parent. M’s presence at the birth of our child was calm and grounded while remaining open, playful, present and flexible. M was able to meet me exactly where and how I needed support, whether that was with physical support through contractions, energetic tending, or loving and affirming presence. It is clear that M has a calling as a birthworker and answers that calling with skill, attunement and deep wisdom. I value M’s groundedness in her own spiritual practice around birthwork and how she made space for our family’s own ancestral practices for birth and postpartum. I was especially grateful for M’s support postpartum where she offered me, my partner and our newborn loving care in ways I didn’t even know we needed. She was such a welcome and supportive presence in our postpartum nest. I could not recommend M more!

"We absolutely loved working with Madison. She is incredibly kind and personable. She helped us plan and supported our journey with a wealth of expertise and no judgment or agenda. Madison was a hand to hold and a voice to remind me not only could I do it, but I was doing it - and I was doing it beautifully. She reminded me how strong I am."