Allegories Gone Wild – Psychoactive Sacraments And The Mushroom Man
20 September 2009 by KA
”Religion is the dream of the human mind. But even in dreams we do not find ourselves in emptiness or in heaven, but on earth, in the realm of reality; we only see real things in the entrancing splendor of imagination and caprice, instead of in the simple daylight of reality and necessity.” – Frederick Feuerbach, The Essence Of Christianity
As an ex-stoner type, I still find myself fascinated by the constant struggles and efforts to instill an altered state in oneself. Whether it be fractal elves or magnetic helms, humanity has this ‘grass is greener on the other side’ mentality no matter how luscious the metaphorical vegetation may be.
And in my fractured ‘pilgrimage’ of the Internet, I stumbled across this little blossom, and thought to share it with you.
An entheogen ("creates god within," en εν- "in, within," theo θεος- "god, divine," -gen γενος "creates, generates"), in the strictest sense, is a psychoactive substance used in a religious or shamanic context. Historically, entheogens are derived primarily from plant sources and have been used in a variety of traditional religious contexts. With the advent of organic chemistry, there now exist many synthetic substances with similar properties. More broadly, the term entheogen is used to refer to such substances when used for their religious or spiritual effects, whether or not in a formal religious or traditional structure. This terminology is often chosen to contrast with recreational use of the same substances. These spiritual effects have been demonstrated in peer-reviewed studies, though research remains difficult due to ongoing drug prohibition. What it means by ‘spiritual effects have been demonstrated’, is that the substances in question have induced altered states. And there’s some history: R. Gordon Wasson and Giorgio Samorini have proposed several examples of the cultural use of entheogens athat are found in the archaeological record.[3][4] Evidence for the first use of entheogens may come from Tassili, Algeria, with a cave painting of a mushroom-man, dating to 8000 BP. Hemp seeds discovered by archaeologists at Pazyryk suggest early ceremonial practices by the Scythians occurred during the 5th to 2nd century BC, confirming previous historical reports by Herodotus. Interestingly enough, it turns out that psychoactives were prolific in religions throughout all the world, from India to the Americas, and even the ancient Greeks used them in their initiation rites: The Kykeon that preceded initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries is another entheogen, which was investigated (before the word was coined) by Carl Kerényi, in Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter. Other entheogens in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean include the poppy, Datura, the unidentified "lotus" eaten by the Lotus-Eaters in the Odyssey and Narkissos. And of course, our old buds, Judaism and Christianity, partook (albeit the latter denies it strenuously): According to The Living Torah, cannabis was an ingredient of holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts. The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosm (Hebrew: קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם). This is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple. Although Chris Bennett’s research in this area focuses on cannabis, he mentions evidence suggesting use of additional visionary plants such as henbane, as well. Hey, don’t bogart that oil! The Septuagint translates kaneh-bosm as calamus, and this translation has been propagated unchanged to most later translations of the old testament. However, Polish anthropologist Sula Benet published etymological arguments that the Aramaic word for hemp can be read as kannabos and appears to be a cognate to the modern word ‘cannabis’, with the root kan meaning reed or hemp and bosm meaning fragrant. Both cannabis and calamus are fragrant, reedlike plants containing psychotropic compounds. Huh – I always thought cannabis mellowed people out and made them more ‘existential’. Although philologist John Marco Allegro has suggested that the self-revelation and healing abilities attributed to the figure of Jesus may have been associated with the effects of the plant medicines [from the Aramaic: "to heal"], this evidence is dependent on pre-Septuagint interpretation of Torah and Tenach, and goes firmly against the accepted teachings of the Holy See. However Merkur contends that a minority of Christian hermits and mystics could possibly have used entheogens, in conjunction with fasting, meditation and prayer. ‘Firmly against the teachings of the Holy See’. Yeah, hard not to see that one coming. Allegro was the only non-Catholic appointed to the position of translating the Dead Sea scrolls. His extrapolations are often the object of scorn due to Allegro’s non-mainstream theory of Jesus as a mythological personification of the essence of a "psychoactive sacrament", furthermore they conflict with the position of the Catholic Church in regards to transubstantiation and the teaching involving valid matter, form, and substance—that of bread and wine, which do not contain psychoactive substances. Allegro’s book, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, relates the development of language to the development of myths, religions and cultic practices in world cultures. Allegro believed he could prove, through etymology, that the roots of Christianity, as of many other religions, lay in fertility cults; and that cult practices, such as ingesting visionary plants (or "psychedelics") to perceive the Mind of God [Avestan: Vohu Mana], persisted into the early Christian era, and to some unspecified extent into the 1200s with reoccurrences in the 1700s and mid 1900s, as he interprets the Plaincourault chapel’s fresco to be an accurate depiction of the ritual ingestion of Amanita muscaria as the Eucharist. Shorter version: it’s way easier to believe in wine=blood and bread=flesh, if you’ve imbibed enough. Allegro’s also a parallelist like myself (though maybe not a myther) The question of the extent of visionary plant use throughout the history of Christian practice has barely been considered yet by academic or independent scholars. The question of whether visionary plants were used in pre-Theodosius Christianity is distinct from evidence that indicates the extent to which visionary plants were utilized or forgotten in later Christianity, including so-called "heretical" or "quasi-" Christian groups, and the question of other groups such as elites or laity within "orthodox" Catholic practice. That’s a confusing paragraph. It’s barely been considered, but the evidence is distinct in what way? The accompanying references don’t explain it well enough. I think it’s a fair sociological evaluation (my fancy way of saying ‘guess’) that it’s a strong likelihood that plenty of Christians over the centuries have partaken of some of these items. And, for a fairly amusing capper: James Arthur asserts that the little scroll from the angel with writing on it referred to in Ezekiel 2: 8,9,10 and Ezekiel 3: 1,2,3 and Book of Revelation 10: 9,10 was the speckled cap of the Amanita muscaria mushroom. Chewing on the old magical papyrus, ey, Zeke? This comes as no surprise: history resounds with the echoes of powerful hallucinations, delusions that have wiped the world clean and scoured the perceived scourges from the public eye. The question for the future is…can our species, with this knowledge, stop accommodating the crazy, and instead of granting them great power, medicate them instead? (And I don’t mean the self-medication we’ve discussed here.) One can only hope. Till the next post, then.
20 September 2009, on 3:48 am
So…let me get this straight…I smoke pot like a chimney, and I never see anything god-like in any of my experiences. But some crazy religious nut gets high and that’s evidence for the existence of a god?
Truthfully, I would put it in the same category as clergy who use their position to abuse people, or to control them. Basically, its like this: they are some how ashamed of who they are (or what they want to smoke) so they use religion as an excuse, or justification, depending on your point of view.
I think its sad. Why can’t people get high just for the sake of getting high? Why does it have to be a *spiritual* experience?
20 September 2009, on 7:05 am
Haha.. thats actually pretty funny. And the bible does talk about herbs. Im not afraid to admit that the people who spread my religion may have been smoking. I do not do drugs, and I still believe in God. I know you clearly think this is stupid and thats ok, your allowed. I feel that I have found a truth in my heart, the truth you found is different. The only grievence I have with your posts is that you paint al Christians to by close minded drones. I resent that a bit……
20 September 2009, on 7:12 am
I just read your about commetning thing and realized that i totally fall into christian comment stereotype 1, now I resent myself a little…..
20 September 2009, on 12:09 pm
Well, that’s mighty nice of ya to allow us to think god belief is stupid and give us your permission
Well, some people get high on their own imagination!
We do think that most god-believers particularily of the fundie type are close-minded drones. Most Christians don’t give much thought to their religion or how it came to be. Few know anything about mythology of the many cultures throughout history and how one mythology is influenced by other mythologies before it. Mythologies clash and a new mythology is formed. I was just reading a book last night about the Egyptian mythology influence on the formation of Christianity and how Queen Nefertiti and her husband Pharaoh Akhenaten first brought about the idea of a monotheism and one god. Later they spread this idea to the Hebrew culture. But most Christians will not even consider reading this sort of “blasphemy” and choose to stay close-minded in their beliefs for fear of being banished by their sadistic and vengeful god.
Interesting that the Romans were meticulous record keepers and no mention of Jesus in their writings.
Interesting too, as I was reading last night, that there is zero evidence for the existence of Moses. Moses, who was raised with the Egyptians according to the Bible, is never mentioned in any writings by Egyptians of that era. There is zero evidence anywhere that Moses ever existed at all.
20 September 2009, on 12:13 pm
Was your intention to come here and witness to us? I don’t see anywhere that you have violated our comment policy so feel free to comment if you like. Your simply stating that you believe in a God is not proseltyzing. Telling us that we need to believe like you and we are going to burn in hell is against the comment policy and we do have many fundie Xians drive by just to tell us that.
20 September 2009, on 1:46 pm
Gee, you’d think the Egyptians would mention Moses, since he was supposed to be the adopted son of a Pharoah and all.
I thought there was some documentation of Jesus by the Romans. Basically, it was only his execution for insurrection, and that’s about it.
20 September 2009, on 2:00 pm
I thought there was some documentation of Jesus by the Romans. Basically, it was only his execution for insurrection, and that’s about it.
I haven’t heard that. Do you remember where you read that?
20 September 2009, on 3:05 pm
Great post, KA. I’ve believed for some years that most of the early religions are an amalgamation of dreams, substance induced hallucinations, and the rantings of the mentally ill (to make it clear–as I have stated before, I don’t think religious believers per se are mentally ill–but I do think some of the “authors” of the early proto-religions probably had schizophrenia or a similar psychosis.) Throw a few clashing tribes and civilizations together with their various oral traditions of substance and pyschosis induced etiology and you’ve got the crazy and dangerous non-sense that is modern day religion.
A few weeks ago, I had a patient who experienced a psychotic episode, engaging in ritualistic behavior and utterances. I told my co-workers that 2000 years ago we would have made her the high-priestess. My fellow atheist snickered and got what I was saying. The xtains in the group chuckled and missed the irony of it all.
And I had to laugh a bit in regards to your comment about modern day Xtains denying the influence of hallucinigenics on their religion. It practically had me rolling on the floor laughing when my fundie former boss got in a tizzy when he found the remanents of a roach in the therapy clinic. Besides the fact that I know he was a Mallomar-munching tweaker in his younger years, I witnessed he and his wife getting absolutely ripped on wine at our office xmas party. Everyone, it would seem, needs a respite from reality from time to time and for many fundies, it would seem even their Sunday delusion isn’t enough.
20 September 2009, on 3:51 pm
benjamin:
Hey benjamin, you got my permission. No doubt this’ll be the next ‘argument’ the religious put out: getting high is a search for the divine. “Did YOU get high before?” “Uh, yeah.” “Ah-HAH, you were searching fer gawd! Busted.”
Right up there w/the ‘atheism is a religion, because atheists have a set of beliefs’ nonsense.
Samantha:
The operative word in that sentence is ‘feel’. I don’t go along w/all that ‘truth is subject to perception’ fuzzy wuzzy feel good stuff.
Well, most people ARE drones to some degree, regardless of being religious or not. People tend to crave structure & routine of some sort. My experience is that most religious folks are more inclined towards droneism.
20 September 2009, on 3:54 pm
DRB:
Do share. I was engaged in conversation w/Richard Carrier a few years ago, & he brought up the fact that the Romans tended to hunt down tomb raiders/robbers w/a vengeance regardless of whose tomb it might be.
& nobody went lookin’ fer ole JC – nobody.
20 September 2009, on 5:33 pm
Yeah, KA…very interesting Post, as usual. It reminds me of a rather long Internet posted video which I just tried finding, to no avail…which, if I recall correctly was called something like: “Pharmacological Evolution”. In fact, I think I posted a link to it in 2008. It had to do with the long tradition, including that of the RC Church, with “Magic Mushrooms”. It might have been removed…for obvious reasons..?
[A bit more research might help?]
As to DRB’s reference RE the historicity of Jeebus; I highly recommend the rather extensive article (6 pages?) by Acharya S [D.M. Murdock]…
“The Origins of Christianity and the Quest for the Historical Jesus Christ”
http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins.htm
Part 2 of her article, in particular, covers the Non-Biblical Sources; (which, basically, equals NONE!)
Specifically at:
http://www.truthbeknown.com/origins2.htm
20 September 2009, on 8:55 pm
The only documentation that comes close to mentioning Jesus is in severely bad shape. Pliny the Ungar, Tacitus, and Suetonius are the only ones who discuss a person they refer to as “Christos”, which is a title anyway, not a name (the anointed one). Its not more than a few sentences anyway. Josephus’ work was proven to be a complete forgery, and new evidence suggests that a monk examining the works of Suetonius literally changed some letters in the text so it would read “Christ” as a name. So now his *evidence* is probably no longer valid.
Samantha, I’m very curious…do you drink alcohol? As a marijuana smoker myself, I have noticed a massive level of hypocrisy among people with a strong anti-drug stance. Most have no qualms about drinking to get a mild buzz (or totally blitzed) but GAWD FORBID you smoke the devil’s weed. These same people also exhibit a staggering ignorance for the realities of most drugs (alcohol included). But my favorite is the (paraphrased) quote that many cops will tell you:
“I’d rather deal with a happy stoner than a belligerent drunk any day”
Not to mention, when was the last time you heard of someone getting high and beating their wives or children? The worse thing that will happen with most stoners is they go home and VIOLENTLY attack…the fridge.
20 September 2009, on 10:39 pm
Really? Do share.
As memory serves, Suetonius was famous for his use of hyperbole (read: he liked to exaggerate a lot).
21 September 2009, on 1:11 am
KA.
I can definetly respect that, fuzzy wuzzy feeling and truth does clash at bit. I definetly agree with the fact that many Christians have no idea where rituals come from. Some people really think that Jesus was born on the 25th of December, when really it was just a Pegan holiday. Most things in Christianity are based around Pagan Holidays and rituals because conversion was the church’s main focus and it is easier to convert when it rituals are comfortable and familiar. Another ex. is using the three leaf clover as a symbol for the Christian trinity when it began as a symbol for a three part Pegan Godess.
And no, I will never tell any of you you are going to hell, or that you must become a Christian. As long as you dont tell me I must become an athiest and that nothing will happen when I die. I am a big believer in mutual respesct.
21 September 2009, on 3:29 am
Samantha:
Well, you don’t have to become anything, as to the latter, there’s no proof that anything does happen when 1 is deceased.
But not in spellcheckers, I see.
Well, I respect the individual’s right to believe in anything their little heart desires, but I also reserve the right to criticize (& sometimes utterly wreck) their beliefs. The opinion not being the person.
21 September 2009, on 12:40 pm
KA?…(and anyone interested)…
Here’s the ‘Magic Mushroom’ related video I was trying to find.
I had the title wrong; it’s “Pharmacratic Inquisition”.
Here’s one full length ‘DVD’ edition (at Google videos):
“The Pharmacratic Inquisition DVD – Official Online Edition”
[Produced by - "Gnostic Media"...this page also has the full length "Zeitgeist" film link.]
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=825942553983229569&ei=gZy3Sq2RG5q2qwKBtbH3AQ&q=Pharmacratic+Inquisition&hl=en#
For the same ‘DVD’, split into 12 parts (on YouTube):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnvEHObMMH4
Interesting stuff, I think, for your possible consideration; as is, IMHO, “Zeitgeist”…whether even PARTIALLY true or not…
it’s always your ‘cherce’?
[Yeah...those good ole (often mind numbing?) Conspiracy Theories!
Hmmm....could it be, perhaps?:
"Nobody suspects the "PharmaCRAPic Inquisition"?
[cue (Pythonesque) brass: Triple forte, Bb augmented chord!]
21 September 2009, on 2:06 pm
OK, my 2 cents worth on Jesus as a flesh-and-blood human existing in history.
Several books I have read addressed this. The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Dennis McKinsey, The Jesus Mysteries by Freke and Gandy, an Acharya S book, maybe The Greatest Story ever Sold, or maybe Suns of God.
They all agree. Jesus the man is a mythological man, just as much as our Paul Bunyan is a mythological man. The christ, as a concept exists in history, the man Jesus the Christ does not.
There is a reference in Josephus the Jewish historian which all the above authors agree was added in the 5th century.
And even if there was this unwashed street preacher named Jesus, we know nothing about him. Every thing about him in the gospels is true about some other pagan god who preceded the pagan god Jesus. (Virgin birth, walking on water, raising from the dead, etc, etc.)
And there are all the events reported in the gospels that would have been recorded in history had they really happened. A star over Bethlehem, Herod slaughtering male babies under 2, the sun standing still at the crucifixion and the hundreds of dead that crawled out of their graves and walked the streets of Jerusalem, etc, etc.
Jesus didn’t replace the pagan gods, he evolved out of them.
Stardust, what is the book about Egyptian mythology?
21 September 2009, on 2:44 pm
OT…(or maybe not?)…something I posted (slighty revised) in a comment on Austin’s Site, related to a Bible oriented Post…which I thought youse guys might find relevant…
Similar to the old familiar anti-drug, advertising, image?…may I submit…
“This is your (metaphorical, of course!) brain on religion”:
http://www.meanmyspacegraphics.com/graphics/poop.jpg
Or, you may (or may not) prefer…
“This is your brain on Theology”?:
http://www.poopbegoneoftucson.com/good_dog.jpg
Your totally “free will” choice?
Am I being a tad harsh, perhaps?
21 September 2009, on 5:12 pm
Stardust, what is the book about Egyptian mythology?
It’s a book I found called
“Don’t Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned”
by Kenneth C. Davis — HarperCollins (November 1, 2005)
While I have studied Mythology at the university I attended, and have read other books on my own, there were things in this book that I didn’t know. It’s very good, well-organized and full of interesting information.
22 September 2009, on 12:38 am
^^Hogram, I’m with you. Considering the abysmal record the bibble appears to demonstrate on other matters hystorical, and it being about the only source that makes reference to Christ, I tend towards the belief that there were a whole bunch of men around that time laying claim to the label “messiah” and a whole bunch of myths flying around, and a whole bunch of desire for a messiah. And that’s about it.
If the evidence isn’t there, he’s just another fictional legend.