Skip to content
Cullen Taylor Clark

The Lost Muti

An untold story of fungi in Southern Africa

A figure from southern African rock art lies across the page above a frieze of painted figures and animals
Pitch deckWatch promo

Could South Africa not only be
the cradle of human kind,
but the cradle of spirituality too.

Join this incredible project to tell the long forgotten history of fungi in Southern Africa

A rock-art figure holding a mushroom

Time line

  1. July 2024

    Garner media hype

  2. Feb 2025

    Launch fundraiser

  3. Feb 2025

    Fieldwork continues

  4. May 2026

    Book is compiled

  5. 2026

    Global launch

    A seated rock-art figure

    We are currently here

There is a void in our literature, a gaping chasm of uncertainty - why do we turn to other nations and their history of fungi when telling the story of mushrooms & man, we look to the Incredible Civilisations of South America, Europe, & Siberia but fail to mention the cradle, the birthplace of humanity, is it because our people don’t and never have used mushrooms or more simply, is it because no one has taken the time to look. I have dedicated the last 5 years of my life to finding undeniable proof of the use of fungi by indigenous tribal people of Southern Africa. I have travelled thousands of kilometers, spoken to several hundred diviners and traditional healers, combed through early settler diaries, and even pieced together ancient long forgotten manuscripts all to better tell the story of what really happened here between Fungi & early Hunter Gatherers. Help me on this journey as we tell the story of how modern tribal people use fungi for gourmet, therapeutic & entheogenic reasons in Southern African, as well as unearth a

long forgotten secret, a hidden practice not written in books or letters, but painted on the walls of the past - and lost to the annuls of time

What the project will entail

  • The cover of The Lost Muti book: the title over a rock-art figure and a frieze of painted figures
    A first of its kind book documenting all findings & stories
  • Pages of a monograph on southern African fungi, laid out with photographs of mushrooms
    Creation of monographs on SA fungi, indigenous names, uses, recipes & more
  • A rock engraving of a figure that may depict a mushroom
    Over 300 never before documented rockart depictions of fungi have been found
  • Two slender mushrooms with pale stems on an olive background
    New species discoveries & compound fractionation will take place

Supporter Incentives

A hand holding a copy of The Lost Muti book

Access to the book before anyone else

As an free E-Book or as an autographed copy at a discounted price

Rock art on a boulder in the Southern African landscape
An open research paper with a photograph of a mushroom

This research is changing history

I was asked to participate on a landmark research paper, that would solidify the Basotho people as the first tribe documented to use psychedelic mushrooms to access altered states of consciousness.

My research was paramount in discovering that this new mushroom grows in the highlands of Lesotho, and the local diviners & healers use it for diagnosing maladies, accessing transcendental spaces & as a therapeutic for many afflictions - this is a clear indication that there is knowledge waiting to be discovered, we need only look

I know that with your help & donations we can write many more papers on new undiscovered species & their uses

read the paper here

A dried, dark bracket fungus against a sand-coloured background

Never before documented data

Throughout my travels i've recorded the most incredible information. For the longest time our academic literature has documented little to no uses of fungi in southern African tribal people - We're going to take up the mantle

Not only has this project brought to light dozens of previously unknown uses of fungi by healers & diviners, but we've also for the very first time documented Indigenous Names, recipes, Belief systems, Rituals & more

Your donation can help me and my team travel further, speak to more people, decipher early records and discover knowledge forgotten in archives & universities all around our nation

Orange rock-art figures dancing and holding objects

We were mushroom loving people

Perhaps the most extraordinary finding i've made to date is outlined in my hypothesis that our ancient ancestors that walk these lands revered fungi of all types. Perhaps they used them for food, for medicine, and to commune with the divine, to peer into the spirit world

In order to pass down their knowledge of these amazing mushroom allies our people needed to keep record, and what better place than rock that would stand the test of time. I believe i've found hundreds of depictions of potential mushroom iconography in our rock art dating back well over 11 000 years.

With your support I can travel and document these fascinating artworks in person and decipher once and for all if they do in fact depict fungi

Small gold beads, rings and nails

We revered gold & maybe mushrooms

I've found potential artifacts resembling mushrooms whilst sifting through records of the ancient site called mapungubwe

There are also illustrations by the early excavators showcasing pottery & statues that too look extraordinarily similar to known fungal varieties that grow in this area

With your help we can go through these archives that are locked away to anyone other than researchers, we can shine a light on this 949 year old civilisation and see for certain if they revered not only Rhinos, Lions & Gold - But Mushrooms too

Hands holding a copy of the book in front of a shelf of books
Cullen Taylor Clark in a white polo shirt, in black and white

Cullen Taylor Clark

My journey from youth to adulthood has been anything but linear, marked by twists and turns that could easily be mistaken for scenes in a TV drama. Some moments were bizarre, others deeply challenging, yet each one was undeniably pivotal in shaping the person I am today. Along the way, I’ve been blessed with gifts—lessons and values imparted by remarkable individuals who steered my course. To name a few: my two mothers and several maternal figures instilled in me a deep compassion for those in need. My grandmother sparked my enduring love for nature, while my grandfather’s devotion to lifelong learning left me eager to understand the world. The three father figures who shared the weight of that role shaped my vision of the man I strive to be. Together, they planted the seeds of purpose and possibility in my life. I’ve lived many lives and explored several professions, but one guiding principle has always remained constant: the desire to do good—or better yet, to be a force for good in this world. Today, I am proud to be the Co-Founder and Visionary Head of Aether Apothecary, a bioceutical API manufacturer in South Africa. We empower SMMEs to bring their natural medicine, food, beverage, or cosmetic products to life. At Aether, we are dedicated to pioneering a new fungal-based industry that delivers innovative products to market while uplifting the communities that make our work possible. Through my work, I’ve had the privilege of bringing several brands and products to fruition, with many more in the pipeline. My career has also allowed me to collaborate with leading South African universities on groundbreaking projects, from discovering new fungal species to identifying novel compounds with immense potential. I believe this journey—rooted in passion, purpose, and curiosity—positions me as the ideal person to share this incredible story. My passions are diverse, my love for fungi unwavering, my character steadfast, and my motives pure. As you join me on this journey, I hope you’ll see not just the story of what I’ve done but the vision of what we can achieve together.

The Lost Muti on Patreon: a black and white photograph of a group of dancers with the title below it
View Patreon
A frieze of rock-art figures in pale green
  • Four people stand together in front of a market stall
  • A healer in a feathered headdress and a checked shirt sits among his medicines
  • A bracket fungus growing from a tree trunk in the forest
  • A smiling woman in a red top holding a large reishi mushroom
  • A man in a blue overall tasting a mushroom
  • A woman in a headwrap in front of a bright green wall
  • A researcher looks closely at dried fungi
  • A mushroom with a pale brown cap growing in a lawn
  • A speaker presenting on a stage, with a slide on the screen behind him
  • A red mushroom with white spots in the forest undergrowth
  • A group of men and a woman gathered on a grassy hillside
  • A green, moss-covered bracket fungus on a tree
  • Two elders and a researcher standing together inside a building
  • Two men in blue overalls standing against a brick wall
  • A large purple-brown bracket mushroom on the forest floor