Shiitake Shiitake The shiitake (; Lentinula edodes) is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is cultivated and consumed in many Asian countries. It is considered a medicinal mushroom in some forms of traditional medicine. The fungus was first described scientifically as "Agaricus edodes" by Miles Joseph Berkeley in 1877. It was placed in the genus "Lentinula" by David Pegler in 1976. The fungus has acquired an extensive synonymy in its taxonomic history: The mushroom's Japanese name is composed of , for the tree "Castanopsis cuspidata" that provides the dead logs on which it is typically cultivated, and . The
What Is Theosophy? a "vulgar pseudoscientific mythology." What Is Theosophy? "What Is Theosophy?" is an editorial published in October 1879 in the Theosophical magazine "The Theosophist." It was compiled by Helena Blavatsky and included into the 2nd volume of the "Blavatsky Collected Writings." According to a doctoral thesis by Tim Rudbøg, in this "important" article Blavatsky "began conceptualizing her idea of 'Theosophy'." Blavatsky writes that, "according to lexicographers, the term "theosophia" is composed of two Greek words—"theos" "god," and "sophos" "wise." She then writes that Noah Webster defines it as "a supposed intercourse with God and superior spirits, and consequent attainment of superhuman