Headache sufferers flout new drug law

Calls for clinical trials and rethink of legislation as patients claim that magic mushrooms can relieve excruciating condition

Patients who suffer from cluster headaches - a debilitating medical condition for which there is no cure - are flouting the government's ban on magic mushrooms because they say the psychedelic fungi are the only thing to relieve the pain of their attacks.

In the past two years scores of British cluster headache sufferers have turned to magic mushrooms, prompted by reports from the US that suggest that LSD and psilocybin - the active ingredient of magic mushrooms - may be able to control the intensity and duration of their headaches.

Although some have experimented with psychedelics before, the majority have no history of drug taking. But many say they would rather risk jail than forgo a substance that lets them lead a normal life.

Richard Ayliffe, 39, a chronic sufferer from Dudley in the West Midlands, says he has tried conventional treatments but the only thing to have brought him relief is magic mushrooms. Without them he says he would not be able to hold down a job.

"People are quite sympathetic at first but once you've let them down for the third time sympathy turns to exasperation," he says. "Magic mushrooms have enabled me to lead a normal life."

Like other members of ClusterBusters - an online forum where cluster headache sufferers swap notes and discuss alternative treatments - Ayliffe claims that taking magic mushrooms not only interrupts his cycle of headaches, but buys him longer remission periods between attacks. Some sufferers claim that since taking mushrooms they have been pain-free for up to two years.

And, because an attack can come at any time many members stockpiled mushrooms ahead of the government's ban this month.

Last week one member of the group, a 41-year-old father of two who asked to be identified only as Lee, admitted he had already taken one dose in contravention of the ban.

Under the Drugs Act 2005 possession of magic mushrooms is a class A offence punishable by a seven-year prison sentence. Previously, only psilocybin and other preparations of mushrooms, but not the fresh product itself, were controlled.

"The way I see it, either I break the law or forgo the most effective treatment I have found in nearly six years," says Lee.

Since he began taking mushrooms a year ago, he says the intensity of his headaches has shrunk by a third and the remissions between attacks have lengthened to 40 days.

"It's absolutely incredible," he says. "I can't tell you how much magic mushrooms have changed my life."

Spurred by the cases, researchers at Harvard Medical School are hoping for permission from the US food and drug administration to conduct a controlled trial.

John Halpern and his colleague Andrew Sewell have collected 60 case studies from members of ClusterBusters. With the support of the Boston-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (Maps), they plan to publish the cases in a leading journal with a view to getting FDA approval for a clinical trial next year.

Maps is already sponsoring an FDA trial of psilocybin for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.

"At this stage we are not advocating anything - we're just trying to gather information and see if we can get a sense of the appropriate dosage," says Rick Doblin, the president of Maps. "Having said that, I find the anecdotal reports pretty convincing."

Cluster headaches come in cycles and are caused by a swelling of the blood vessels in the brain. Sufferers say the pain exceeds that of passing a kidney stone or of childbirth without anaesthetic.

Some have found the pain, which typically extends over one side of the head and face, so unbearable that they have committed suicide.

For episodic sufferers, the headaches typically last several weeks then disappear. But in chronic sufferers - of whom there are an estimated 6,000 in Britain - attacks occur daily, with no more than two weeks' remission in any 12-month period. They can continue for years.

Conventional treatments include oxygen and Imitex (sumatriptan), an anti-migraine medication that constricts the flow of blood in the brain. Since only two injections can be taken in a 24-hour period, however, this is of little use for chronic sufferers.

Verapamil, a calcium channel blocker, can also be used as a prophylactic against attacks, - but to be effective it has to be taken in high doses, increasing the risk of such side effects as cardiac arrest.

Peter Goadsby, professor of neurology at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, and the world's leading expert on cluster headaches, is sceptical about the mushroom therapy.

He argues that the relief reported by some patients may be a placebo effect or owing to natural remission. But he does believe the cases warrant a proper clinical study, particularly as ergotomine - which contains lysergic acid, a precursor of LSD - has been used to treat migraines for years.

"It's possible that mushrooms have some useful effect but it's far from proven," Dr Goadsby says. "Cluster headaches are such a devastating problem that people will turn to anything that seems to work."

But one sufferer, John Hobson, 36, from Barnsley in Yorkshire, says since experimenting with mushrooms last year his night-time attacks have ceased and he no longer gets headaches early in the morning. But because of the change in the law Mr Hobson says he has decided to discontinue the therapy.

"If I could have mushrooms growing in my garden for medical use and I knew I wasn't going to get lifted by the vice squad I would most definitely do it," he says.

"I think the government should introduce an exemption for people in need."

First magic mushroom depression trial hits stumbling block

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's first clinical trial designed to explore using a hallucinogen from magic mushrooms to treat people with depression has stalled because of British and European rules on the use of illegal drugs in research.

David Nutt, president of the British Neuroscience Association and professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said he had been granted an ethical green light and funding for the trial, but regulations were blocking it.

"We live in a world of insanity in terms of regulating drugs," he told a neuroscience conference in London on Sunday.

He has previously conducted small experiments on healthy volunteers and found that psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms, has the potential to alleviate severe forms of depression in people who don't respond to other treatments.

Following these promising early results he was awarded a 550,000 pounds ($844,000) grant from the UK's Medical Research Council to conduct a full clinical trial in patients.

But psilocybin is illegal in Britain, and under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances it is classified as a Schedule 1 drug - one that has a high potential for abuse and no recognized medical use.

This, Nutt explained, means scientists need a special license to use magic mushrooms for trials in Britain, and the manufacture of a synthetic form of psilocybin for use in patients is tightly controlled by European Union regulations.

Together, this has meant he has so far been unable to find a company able to make and supply the drug for his trial, he said.

"Finding companies who could manufacture the drug and who are prepared to go through the regulatory hoops to get the license, which can take up to a year and triple the price, is proving very difficult," he said.

Nutt said regulatory authorities have a "primitive, old-fashioned attitude that Schedule 1 drugs could never have therapeutic potential", despite the fact that his research and the work done by other teams suggests such drugs may help treat some patients with psychiatric disorders.

Psilocybin - or "magic" - mushrooms grow naturally around the world and have been widely used since ancient times for religious rites and also for recreation.

Researchers in the United States have seen positive results in trials using MDMA, a pure form of the party drug ecstasy, in treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

"What we are trying to do is to tap into the reservoir of under-researched illegal drugs to see if we can find new and beneficial uses for them in people whose lives are often severely affected by illnesses such as depression," Nutt said.

The proposed trial would involve 60 patients with depression who have failed two previous treatments.

During two or three controlled sessions with a therapist, half would be given a synthetic form of psilocybin, and the other 30 a placebo. They would have guided talking therapy to explore negative thinking and issues troubling them, and doctors would follow them up for at least a year.

Nutt secured ethical approval for the trial in March.

In previous research, Nutt found that when healthy volunteers were injected with psilocybin, the drug switched off a part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex, which is known to be overactive in people with depression.

"Even in normal people, the more that part of the brain was switched off under the influence of the drug, the better they felt two weeks later. So there was a relationship between that transient switching off of the brain circuit and their subsequent mood,", he said. "This is the basis on which we want to run the trial."

Jesus, Santa, Mithra and the Magic Mushroom

"Have you ever wondered why on Christmas we cut down/carry evergreen trees inside our houses, decorate them with fancy ornaments, and place presents underneath them?

So, why do people bring Pine trees into their houses at the Winter Solstice, placing brightly colored (Red and White) packages under their boughs, as gifts to show their love for each other and as representations of the love of God and the gift of his Sons life? It is because, underneath the Pine bough is the exact location where one would find this ‘Most Sacred’ Substance, the Amanita muscaria, in the wild.”

The Amanita muscaria is the red and white magic mushroom that grows almost exclusively beneath Pine trees. One of the active substances in the hallucinogenic mushroom is DMT ¹, an entheogen naturally produced in the brain’s pineal gland.  

The pinecone shaped pineal gland is an organ that produces the same DMT found in the pine tree fungus, Amanita muscaria.

“The Pine tree is one of the well-known central relics of Christmas. Under this tree is where those who are deemed good find their reward in the form of a present. A big red and white rounded mushroom grows under the very tree we are to look under on Christmas morning to find our gift.” 

Green, red, and white as Christmas colors comes from the evergreen tree and the red and white mushrooms underneath. The word Christmas originally comes from the Egyptian KRST (oiled/anointed one) and Mes, the sacred cakes annually made/ingested by the Egyptians.

This Eucharist was originally made from Amanita muscaria or was the mushroom itself.

The tradition existed all over the ancient world, but most of the iconography/symbology recognized today comes from preChristian Northern Europe.

“The very name, ‘Christmas’ is a holiday name composed of the words, ‘Christ’ (meaning ‘one who is anointed with the Magical Substance’) and ‘Mass’ (a special religious service/ceremony of the sacramental ingestion of the Eucharist, the ‘Body of Christ’). In the Catholic tradition, this substance (Body/Soma) has been replaced by the doctrine of ‘Transubstantiation’, whereby in a magical ceremony the Priests claim the ability to transform a ‘cracker/round-wafer’ into the literal ‘Body of Christ’; i.e., a substitute or placebo.” 

 

“Although most people see Christmas as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of preChristian Northern Europe. The sacred mushroom of these people was the red and white amanita muscaria mushroom … These peoples lived in dwellings made of birch and reindeer hide, called ‘yurts.’ Somewhat similar to a teepee, the yurt's central smoke hole is often also used as an entrance.

After gathering the mushrooms from under the sacred trees where they appeared, the shamans would fill their sacks and return home. Climbing down the chimney entrances, they would share out the mushroom's gifts with those within … Santa also dresses like a mushroom gatherer. When it was time to go out and harvest the magical mushrooms, the ancient shamans would dress much like Santa, wearing red and white furtrimmed coats and long black boots.” 

 To this day Siberian shamans dress in ceremonial red and white fur trimmed jackets to gather the magic mushrooms. First they pick and place the mushrooms to partially dry on nearby pine boughs which prepares them for ingestion and makes the load lighter.

This is why we decorate our Christmas trees with ornaments and bulbs, because the gatherers would always adorn trees with drying mushrooms.

Next the shaman collects his red and white presents in a sack and proceeds to travel from house to house delivering them.

During Siberian winters, the snow piles up past the doors of their yurts (huts), so the red and white clad shaman must climb down the smoke hole (chimney) to deliver the presents in his sack. Finally the appreciative villagers string the mushrooms up or put them in stockings hung affront the fire to dry.

When they awake in the morning, their presents from under the pine tree are all dried and ready to eat.

“The amanita mushroom needs to be dried before being consumed; the drying process reduces the mushroom's toxicity while increasing its potency. The shaman would guide the group in stringing the mushrooms and hanging them around the hearth fire to dry. This tradition is echoed in the modern stringing of popcorn and other items.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003
 

“The ancient shamanic use of Amanita muscaria in Siberia is well documented. Despite governmental oppression against its use, there are still many who refuse to accept the authorized state religion, and continue the shamanic traditions in secret.

Just as the Siberian shaman (commonly dressing in red and white) would enter through the opening in the roof of a home where a ritual was to be done, Santa Claus also arrives on the roof and enters through the chimney. Just as the shamans would gather the mushrooms in bags which they would bring with them when performing a ceremony, Santa Claus also (on the Holy Day) brings presents in a bag.”

Siberian reindeer also enjoy eating amanita mushrooms and thus are often used as a lure by the deer herding natives.

Since one of the hallucinatory experiences often felt on psychedelic mushrooms is that of flying, Santa’s flying reindeer most likely derive from this.

“Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi nomadic people, as the reindeer provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the amanita mushrooms; they will seek them out, and then prance about while under their influence … The effects of the amanita mushroom usually include sensations of size distortion and flying.

The feeling of flying could account for the legends of flying reindeer, and legends of shamanic journeys included stories of winged reindeer, transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the World Tree.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

The flying reindeer, sleigh, and the entire Santa Claus mythology originates from Siberia where Saint Nicholas, the patron Saint of children, is a supplanter to the indigenous Shamans. 

“Saint Nicholas, known as the ‘Patron Saint of Children,’ is the most revered saint in Russia, second only to the apostles. He is the Russian Orthodox Church's supplanter to the native people's highly respected local Shaman. A Shaman is a holy man that is well acquainted with a form of spirituality that incorporates plant entheogens which facilitate the NDE (Near Death Experience), or ‘out of body’ experience. Saint Nicholas may not have been a shaman, yet the symbolism on, and coloring of his robes could lend to speculation.” –James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (10)
“One of the side effects of eating amanita mushrooms is that the skin and facial features take on a flushed, ruddy glow. This is why Santa is always shown with glowing red cheeks and nose. Even Santa's jolly ‘Ho, ho, ho!’ is the euphoric laugh of one who has indulged in the magic fungus.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

 Could this by why Rudolph’s nose is red? 

In an interesting play on words, another name for a large, capped mushroom is a “toadstool.” So if Santa is a mushroom, and a mushroom is a stool, when children sit on Santa’s leg, they are sitting on a “toed” stool.

"Santa's famous magical journey, where his sleigh takes him around the whole planet in a single night, is developed from the ‘heavenly chariot’ used by the gods from whom Santa and other shamanic figures are descended. The chariot of Odin, Thor and even the Egyptian god Osiris is now known as the Big Dipper, which circles around the North Star in a 24hour period. In different versions of the ancient story, the chariot was pulled by reindeer or horses. As the animals grow exhausted, their mingled spit and blood falls to the ground, forming the amanita mushrooms.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

“It is fairly common knowledge that the Weihnachtsmann (St. Nick) was an amalgamation of older Germanic/Norse gods such as Thor, Donner, Odin and Wotan. What's missing here is just as Santa flies through the skies in his sleigh, Odin (as well as the rest) rode through the sky in his chariot, which is depicted in the stars by ‘The Big Dipper’.

The Big Dipper is the chariot of Odin & Wotan, Thor, King Arthur, and even Osiris (of Egypt). The chariot that circles the North Star in a 24 hour period is thus also known as the sleigh of Santa Claus because it circles his mythological home, the North Pole. It is no surprise that Nordic/Germanic gods have connection to mushrooms in their mythology.

As Thor throws his mushroom shaped hammer to the ground, mighty thunders and lightning cracks cause the real mushroom(s) to appear. As the horses pulling Odin through the sky in his chariot become overexerted, their blood mingled spit falls to the ground and causes the Amanita mushrooms to grow at those exact points.”

–James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (1011)

Probably the first Santa was Osiris in ancient Egypt who rode his flying chariot to/from the North Pole, was born on December 25th, and celebrated by putting presents underneath an evergreen tree.

“Not only did Osiris ride the sky in a chariot, but after his death Isis found that an evergreen (Cedar) had grown overnight from a dead stump to full-sized; which was understood as a sign of Osiris' rebirth and immortality. Interestingly, the traditional birth of Osiris is the 25th of December. The 25th of December was also celebrated annually by putting presents around the Cedar tree.

This tradition is at least five thousand years old. The birth of Horus to the goddess-virgin-mother, Isis, is perhaps the eldest representation of the goddess/son mythology, yet it is impossible to know this or the real age of the Astrotheological-Virgo-giving-birth-to-the-child/god/star mythology for sure. However it is the oldest source I have found.”

–James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (11)

Santa, an anagram for Satan, dresses in red, keeps lists of naughty/nice children, and seems to steal Christmas from Jesus. But if understood in its original mushroom context, Santa’s not a conniving, omniscient, list-keeper.

He’s an Entheogen, a plant or substance which is said to “generate the God within.” The word Entheogen breaks down, En for inside, Theo for God, and Gen for generate – generate the God inside. If you have ever taken an Entheogen (i.e. Psilocybin, DMT, Peyote, Ayahuasca), then you are already aware of the spiritual or even religious experiences associated with them. As anyone who has tried them knows, and most anyone who hasn’t fiercely denies, these Entheogens put us directly in contact with that spark of the divine within ourselves.

They allow access to higher consciousness and open our third eyes; The outer material world dissolves and the “five” senses return to a state of one sense, one consciousness.

“First hand understanding is through the ingestion of the holy substances, of which there has been so much written, that this brief expose' merely scratches the surface of. It is this direct communal contact which is truly the means whereby a human being can experience his true spiritual nature.

One must take very seriously his/her own spirituality, for this is that which we truly are. As I stated in the opening sentence, ‘This experience is of extremely great value’. So much so, that I feel it necessary to the evolutionary process of each and every individual, and inevitably to all of mankind.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (26)

If you have mischief, wickedness, or secrecy in you, then entheogens will take you down into the depths of your own hell. But if you have kindness, love, and truth within you, entheogens will raise you up into the heights of that heaven. When people of a poor disposition or in a negative mood eat magic mushrooms they usually have a “bad trip” and experience frightening or depressing hallucinations.

When people of a good disposition or in a positive mood eat mushrooms they usually have a great trip and experience hours of uncontrollable laughter and a loving, close feeling with everyone around. Just like at Christmas Santa keeps lists of children who are naughty and nice, at Easter only good kids get to eat the colored eggs.

This is likely because good kids on mushrooms are hilarious and lots of fun, whereas naughty kids on mushrooms guarantee a bad trip for everyone, so they get coal at Christmas and no eggs at Easter.

“Santa Claus is an all-knowing icon that reads the hearts and intentions of everyone on the planet. Each child is told the story of the round-man (who wears red and white) and his associates; reindeer, little people and Mrs. Claus. They are also told the story of a miraculous worldwide flight in a sleigh which results in presents being delivered under a tree.

Yet when a child reaches the age of reasoning he is informed that this story is all a fabrication. This revelation is devastating upon the psyche of a young mind. It is also at this time that the child is often comforted and pacified from the shock by very strong reinforcement that the religious systems which the parents or guardians profess are indeed factual. And an attempt is made to incorporate the respective religious traditions into the holiday as the REAL meaning for the celebration.”

–James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (6)

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny have both been uprooted from their original positions. They began as mythological mushroom heroes understood in a spiritual context by both children and adults. Now their literal meaning has been suppressed, and a fake image has been corporatized by Coke, Cadbury and others.

The effect this has had is to turn mythological heroes into fantasies and lies.

It was not meant for children to discover as they are coming of age that parents, family, and friends have lied to them about Santa and the Easter Bunny. It was meant for them to discover deeper meanings behind the mythologies such as the ancient Astrotheological understanding of the heavens, the knowledge of the zodiacal precession, and seasonal cycles like solstices and equinoxes.

The whole complexity of the modern Christmas mythos is an unexplainable mess without the magic mushroom, the story is completely unintelligible.

“Some psychologists have discussed the ‘cognitive dissonance’ which occurs when children are encouraged to believe in the literal existence of Santa Claus, only to have their parents' lie revealed when they are older.

By so deceiving our children we rob them of a richer heritage …

Many people in the modern world have rejected Christmas as being too commercial, claiming that this ritual of giving is actually a celebration of materialism and greed.

Yet the true spirit of this winter festival lies not in the exchange of plastic toys, but in celebrating a gift from the earth: the fruiting top of a magical mushroom, and the revelatory experiences it can provide.

Instead of perpetuating outdated and confusing holiday myths, it might be more fulfilling to return to the original source of these seasonal celebrations.

How about getting back to basics and enjoying some magical mushrooms with your loved ones this solstice?

What better gift can a family share than a little piece of love and enlightenment?”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

The Easter egg hunt is another activity inexplicable without mushrooms. The current understanding is that the Easter bunny lays multicolored eggs in or around every house for children to hunt for and collect in Easter baskets. But since when do rabbits lay eggs? Why are they colorful/spotted eggs?

And why are they hidden for us to hunt and collect in baskets?

Of course rabbits don’t lay eggs, but in ancient myth, the spring/fertility goddess Eostre and the Germanic Ostara are both said to have saved a bird whose wings had frozen during the winter by turning it into a rabbit. Since the rabbit had once been a bird, it could still lay eggs, and that egg laying hare became our Easter bunny.

In the earlier Babylonian version Ishtar comes from the Moon in a giant egg.

“The 'Christian' festival of Easter comes from the same source. Easter comes from the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar, (Semiramis again) and it celebrated her son, Tammuz, who was, wait for it, the ‘only begotten son of the Moon goddess and Sun God’ Nimrod and Semiramis. The ‘Easter’ (Ishtar) eggs and the ‘Easter bunny’ also come from Babylon. Queen Semiramis said she came from the Moon in a giant egg and this became known as the Ishtar egg.

Tammuz was said to be very fond of rabbits and so we have the Easter bunny. Oh yes, and they also ate "sacred cakes" with a T on the top the origin of our hot cross buns. The T is a major symbol of Freemasonry because of its associations with Babylon and Tammuz. The Christian wafer used in Catholic ceremonies comes from the Egyptian taenaah – the sacrificial bread of the Moon. Christians think the bread symbolizes the 'body of Jesus' when they are really involved in a ritual about the Egyptian Moon god.”

David Icke, “Tales From Time Loop”

In the ancient Egyptian mythos, Isis is fleeing from an enemy while in the form of a phoenix when she changes into a hare to escape down a rabbit hole. Rabbits and birds have for ages been associated with spring/fertility, but less known is their association with the magic mushroom.

The red and white Amanita Muscaria has long been symbolized by the phoenix, and the brown Amanita Panthera symbolized by the hare.

“The Phoenix: From the ashes (spores) the egg appears. Then comes the upturned cap resembling a gold and red colored bird (the gills as feathers). Then the heat (sun) burns the mushroom and it dissolves, once again leaving only ashes (spores), and finally repeating the whole cycle … The Phoenix-bird mythology is another piece of mushroom folklore.

As the fetus is generated in the furnace of the uterus, so the mushroom, that ‘evil ferment of the soil’, as Nicander (second century BC) calls it, is created, a womb within a womb, as it were. Like the fabulous Phoenix, the mushroom is self generated and regenerated, bursting forth from the vulvae, only to die as quickly and then apparently miraculously to reappear, a resurrection of its own self.” James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (13 & 56)

As the baby head of an Amanita Muscaria pops out of the ground, it pushes the pine needles aside forming a tiny circular wall that looks just like a birds nest. When there are many mushrooms close together, their heads budding through the pine needles look like little eggs in a fallen nest.

Unlike bird’s eggs, however, these ones are spotted, colorful, and magical. Once the baby mushrooms are plucked out of the ground, the remaining dirt/needles look like a rabbit-hole, again repeating the bird into bunny symbolism. So families/children walked through the forests in early Spring with Easter baskets to hunt for and collect these magic mushrooms.

During the A.D. times, there has been a Germanic/Christian Easter tradition of feasting on colored eggs after a long fast at lent, but the B.C. origins of Easter celebration again come from Egypt, where the “eggs” were well-known to be not eggs, but budding baby mushrooms.

“There are a number of hieroglyphic depictions of plants (many of which are psychedelic) on walls and within texts throughout Egypt. This is to be expected, yet this goes undetected or dismissed by most who are studying Egypt and its religious writings …

The pillars that are at every temple in Egypt are shaped like giant mushrooms. These are shaped like the Amanita some are shaped like Psilocybe. Others look like tree fungus and are decorated with pictures of an incredible variety of plants.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (44 & 53)

In Egypt countless pillars are shaped like huge mushrooms with tall stems, umbrella caps, and mushroom engravings all up, down, and around them. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead they are called “the food of the gods,” or “celestial food” and “the flesh of the gods.”

In Egyptian temples there are many pictures of gods/neters feeding humans the “ankh” cross/circle symbol which is said to represent the water of life and immortality. This also suggests the mushroom as it has been called “the Elixir of Immortality” and “the Fountain of Youth.”

Pictures of winged Babylonian and Sumerian gods are shown feeding pinecones to humans. Could these be reference to the pine-cone-shaped pineal gland? At the Vatican there is suspiciously a gigantic statue of a pinecone in the Vatican “Court of the Pinecone.”

On the Pope’s staff there is also a pinecone depicted right at the height of his third-eye/pineal gland. Ancient Sumerian gods were always depicted feeding men pinecones, just as the Egyptian gods were so often depicted feeding men the “ankh.”

Because of their seedless growth/germination pattern, mushrooms were considered “virgin-births” by the ancients. They believed the mushrooms arose from dew, the divine fluid that magically appears at dawn.

They also correctly believed the Amanita to be the “fruit of the tree” and referred to them as such.

“The mushroom caps are the fruit of the larger mycelium beneath the soil which exists in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree. To ancient people, these mushrooms were literally ‘the fruit of the tree.’ Ancient peoples were amazed at how these magical mushrooms sprang from the earth without any visible seed.

They considered this "virgin birth" to have been the result of the morning dew, which was seen as the semen of the deity. The silver tinsel we drape onto our modern Christmas tree represents this divine fluid.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th, 2003

“Serpents” is an anagram for “Presents” like those found under the Christmas tree. At Christmas we string lights coiling up and around the tree, like the Serpent on the Tree of Life which gives us the light of knowledge.

A Christian also “Repents” for his sins which is curiously another anagram for Present and Serpent.

“The actual mushroom ‘plant’ is the underground ‘mycelium’ or ‘mycorrhizae’, which is directly attached to the tree roots; the mushroom itself is only the fruit-body of the mycelium. The mushroom is literally the Fruit of the Tree. They grow in a mycorrhizal (not parasitic) relationship with the tree.

Many people follow the tradition/custom of bringing a tree into the home and putting presents under it, yet have absolutely no idea why. Even people that think they know, usually have no knowledge of these mushroom connections. The true symbolic meaning transcends dogmatic etymological and historical evidence, by revealing itself in the totally obvious iconography and historically associated myths and traditions.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (13)

Here is just a partial list of the many terms/associations related to magic mushrooms. Soma was/is the Hindu plant-god and Greek for “body.” Ambrosia was Greek for “food of the gods.” The Egyptian Book of the Dead calls it “food of the gods” and “celestial food,” as well as “flesh of the gods.” It is Amrita, the Buddhist magical sacrament and Haoma, the Islamic sacrament.

It’s been called the Bread of Life and the Loaf of Bliss, the Golden Fleece, the Cosmic Egg, the Easter Egg, the Small White Stone, the Philosophers Stone, the Sword in the Stone, the Phoenix, the pillar/phallus of Osiris, the Djed pillar, the One Eyed Howler, the Eye of Horus, and the DjedEye (pronounced Jedi), The World Tree (many cultures thought the mushroom was the creator of the world), the Fly Agaric, the Fountain of Living Waters (since the mushroom is alive, 90% water, and fountainshaped), and the Hammer of Thor.

“The Mushroom itself has very interesting features that resemble, and have been related to Gold, Flesh, Blood (and blood vessels), Phallus, Vulva, Fire, Saucer, Cup, as well as a disc or orb. The mushroom has been, anthropomorphically, personified as a Man, a God, something of extraterrestrial origins, and a Plant God, SOMA, who was mediator between Mankind and the God/Gods/Goddesses, in the ancient Hindu religious books known as ‘The Vedas.’”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (59)

The psilocybin mushroom has properties similar to that of the amanita and has also been worshipped/mythologized throughout history. Unlike the amanita, fruit of the tree, psilocybin grows from the dung of a cow. In India cows are worshipped (hence “holy cow”) for many reasons, but especially for their holy shit/holy crap.

The ancient Egyptians revered Mother Hathor, the heavenly cow whose body was the firmament and who daily gave birth to HorusRa, her Golden Calf. In South East Asia the elephant is revered over other animals, like the cow in India, because magic mushrooms grow in elephant dung as well (hence Dumbo the flying elephant). Psilocybin mushrooms turn a dark blue when bruised or dried and so are usually depicted as such. This is why Pikanadt, the Hindu elephant man god, is blue and rules the realms of art and creativity.

Other Hindu gods are also blue like Vishnu who is depicted with serpents around his head looking much like a mushroom. Krishna is blue too usually shown with a cow to his side.

The Cartoon “Smurfs” are blue like psilocybin, they all wear liberty cap hats, and live in amanita muscaria houses!

There have been many mythological mushroom heroes known throughout history. Perseus was an ancient mushroom hero, founder and King of the city-state of Mycenae (Mushroom City). Perseus flew around on winged sandals making “Perseia” a magical herb, grow wherever he dropped the chape of his scabbard. Wherever Perseus dropped his cap, “myces,” mushrooms would sprout underneath. Libertus is another mushroom hero whose depiction can be found atop the US Capitol building of all places.

Libertus wears a Liberty Cap (or Phrygian Cap) which is shaped like and named after the Liberty Cap mushroom. This is where we get the idea of a “thinking cap” because when you ingest the cap you are teleported into an introspective, wondrous experience. The Phrygian/Liberty Cap was worn by Masonic revolutionaries during the French and American revolutions as well as by Perseus, Mithra, Santa, Elves, and the Smurfs.

It is also worn as a “night cap,” a double entendre which nowadays means having a alcoholic beverage before bed. The original idea of a night cap, however, was when Mithraic/Mystery school initiates would eat a large mushroom cap then lay in hot tubs and astrally project out of body.

Another mushroom hero was King Arthur of Camelot. Arthur pulled the Sword from the Stone, founded the Knights of the Round Table and made the Quest for the Holy Grail. All three of these legends actually refer to stages of the mushroom. The mushroom begins like an egg or a small white stone which pushes and wiggles upwards like a snake.

This is the Sword in the Stone stage (Sword is “Sword,” snakes/serpents, in the stone). Then the mushroom cap opens up and flattens out making a perfect circle like a round table top the Round Table stage. Lastly the edges of the mushroom upturn collecting the mushroom juices and dew, the drinkable “blood of the gods.”

This is called the Holy Grail stage and looks/acts just like a cup.

“In its infant (button) state, the muscaria resembles a small white stone. The pulling of the sword from the stone (a symbol of wielding the power), is another Arthurian legend connecting the mushroom to the myth. The quest for the Grail itself is the quest for the knowledge of the mushroom.

The Parcival myth depicts paths (traditions), which are to be explored (but not adhered to), in order to complete the quest. This quest is described in the myths as a journey into the forest (the world) and finding paths (systems) which one may follow, for a time, but ultimately one must blaze his/her own trail in order to truly reach the final goal, the Holy Grail (the discovery and usage of the mushroom).

The search for the Holy Grail is a mythology that has become, through adaptation, a part of the story of the Crucifixion. Some of the stories incorporate a cup which was used to catch some of the flowing blood of Jesus as he died on the cross. This cup, like many other relics, was thereby thought to possess magical powers.

Historically, the mushroom has been the container for the juice of the ‘elixir of immortality’, or the ‘blood of God’, in many myths.

The final shape of the muscaria, with its inverted cap, is the reason that the cup/fountain/grail symbology is used in the stories. King Arthur, as a child, gained his rightful place as King by pulling the sword from the stone.

This is symbolic for wielding the power of the mushroom. The stone is a metaphor for the mushroom, and pulling the sword from it is symbolic of being able to crack the code and possess the power of the magical plant. After Arthur took ill (in his later years) he was told that he must seek and find the Holy Grail to renew his strength and reacquire his power.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (1415)

The Kundalini serpent (explained in detail later) is said to remain coiled three and a half times around the root chakra. Once awakened the serpent energy climbs up from the root/stone and around the spine, the Tree of Life. This process is analogous to the growth of a mushroom which begins looking like a stone then wriggles upward like a snake.

The root chakra serpent energy rises to the crown chakra which is usually symbolized by an eagle or other majestic bird. You will often see spiritual symbology involving snakes fighting eagles.

This is also why Egyptian Pharaoh’s headdresses had snakes/birds coming out from the third eye point.

“Transforming out of the button/egg infantile state, the mushroom's appearance becomes more like that of a snake. Once the mushroom has fully grown, decayed, and dissolved it leaves behind a hole. This is due to it's pushing the Pine needles or earth outward, as it expands. Around the hole is a white powdery substance, actually the many spores it left behind.

This hole resembles a snake's hole, or lair, which is another reasoning for the mushroom's being symbolized as a snake. Most certainly, the depiction of the snake, in the garden of Eden, which revealed to humans secret knowledge that the fruit of the tree would make them as god, is a grand myth regarding this association.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (55)

“The prime example of the relation between the serpent and the mushroom is, of course, in the Garden of Eden story of the Old Testament. The cunning reptile prevails upon Eve and her husband to eat of the tree, whose fruit ‘made them as gods, knowing good and evil’ (Gen 3:4). The whole Eden story is mushroom based mythology, not least in the identity of the ‘tree’ as the sacred fungus, as we shall see.

Even as late as the thirteenth century some recollection of the old tradition was known among Christians, to judge from a fresco painted on the wall of a ruined church in Plaincourault in France. There the Amanita muscaria is gloriously portrayed, entwined with a serpent, whilst Eve stands by holding her belly.”

John Allegro, “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross” (48)

This is why Medusa’s serpent hair turns men to stone. This is why Mithra, the ancient mushroom hero is depicted rising from a stone entwined in snakes. Mithra, one of the 15 preChristian gods with exactly the same story as Jesus, was undeniably a mushroom god. Just as Christians take communion, Mithraic initiates ate mushroom sacraments as part of their worship.

Just as Christians line up in Church to receive the body and blood of Christ, so did initiates in the Mithraeum line up to receive the body and blood of Mithra.

“Mithra initiates would partake of a Sacred Meal in their ceremonies, invoking The Out Of Body experience. An ritually designed sacramental, Shamanistic, and communal Gnosis. The Mithraic temples of worship, known as Mithraeum, are designed like few other temples on earth. Typically inside the place of worship would be rows of bathtubs (tubs) along the two side walls, or lined in two parallel rows from the rear wall to the front of the main room. Providing places where many initiates could lie down during ceremonies.

The tubs were tools in the mechanics of producing a communal experience. The purpose being, the joining together of the minds of the participants with the universal mind. The next phase being, to exit the planet (physical realm) in a spiritual flight to the heavens (stars). This is a bold expectation to perceive, let alone one you can convince someone they have had, especially if after the ceremony they have not. Filled with salt water these tubs would become instant sensory deprivation tanks.

Much like those depicted in the movie ‘Altered States’ … The religion of Mithra centered around the initiate's ability to communally, astral-travel. Of course the out-of-body experience was facilitated through the eating of the sacred meal. After consumption, the initiates could traverse the galaxies, witnessing, as the ancient Egyptians, first hand, the reality that the spirit of the human being is not restricted to the physical universe, or the physical body for that matter.

This is the true revelation of the immortality of the soul, or at least the realization of such. This concept is so similar to the Egyptian initiatory rites that it is solid evidence some of the hidden traditions of the ancients did migrate into later incarnations of various religious orders.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (5658)

The Bible talks about sacred “Manna” that the Israelites ate in the desert. Many clues are given as to just what Manna is. The Bible says Manna was a small round edible object that appeared on the ground after dew had fallen. If the Manna was left out in the Sun too long it would breed worms and stink.

Exodus 16:14 reads,

“And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.”

Exodus 16:20 continues,

“…some of them left of it till the morning, and it bred worms, and stank.”

The small, round, edible objects which when left in the Sun rot, breed worms, and stink are none other than mushrooms.

“Manna was thought of as being produced miraculously (IE: birth without seed). This is a perfect botanical description of a mushroom. Birth without seed (miraculous) is due to spores being microscopic and not visible to the naked eye. Jesus describes the Mannas in detail in the book of John. In this story Jesus attempts to make clear; of manna, there are two different ones/kinds. He describes the manna that he is giving the disciples (last supper) as the Manna that bestows immortality.

His statement, unless you have eaten his flesh/body (Soma/Manna), and drink of his blood (Soma Juice), you have no life in you, takes on a whole new meaning in light of this discovery. The Manna is directly associated with the fruit of the Tree of Life in the 2nd chapter of the book of Revelation. It is the reward for those who overcome (the lies of the world). The ‘Fruit of the Tree’, the ‘Hidden Manna’ and the ‘Small White Stone’ are spoken of separately, but in the same context. All of these are symbols for the Amanita muscaria.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (1617)

John 6:3141 reads,

“Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, verily verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven … Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life … The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

Priests and pastors vehemently deny that “the true bread, the bread from heaven” is a mushroom, but have a difficult time explaining it as literal bread. Bread is not a small, round thing found dew-covered in the wilderness. Nor does it contain any of the mystical properties bestowed upon it.

This is undeniably a reference to the magic mushroom.

“The concept of the literal ingestion of the body of God is highly downplayed by religious scholars of today. The body (soma) being a fleshy Mushroom is much more palatable than trying to stomach cannibalism or the transformation of ordinary substances. Many questions should be asked about this cosmopolitan idea of the ‘Sacramental Substance’. Unfortunately, the religious experts shun the notion, insisting that the entire idea is nothing more than symbolic.

A symbol points at something else, not usually at another symbology. The Catholic church, in the early 1100's, decided to have the final word on this subject by establishing (under Emperor/Pope Innocent III) the ‘Doctrine of Trans-Substantiation’. This is whereby, the Priests, by their assumed holy power, claim to be able to say some magical words, and turn ordinary bread into the literal ‘Body of God'.

This event is one of the biggest evil deceptions of all time, is an undermining of the basic esoteric aspects of the religion, and is, arguably, the most horrible and damning event to ever happen to Christendom, and as such the entire human race. Jesus clearly describes the Manna that he calls his body in the book of John. Repeatedly describing the ‘Thing/Manna’ as a substance hidden from the world, but revealed to his disciples. Understanding the last supper story becomes as simplistic as it gets, if you know how to decipher the event. Adamantly; Jesus says, ‘Take and eat, This is my Body.’”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (18)

John 6:536 reads,

“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.”

Jesus says this is my body, this is my blood, and lest ye drink/eat of this you have no life in you!

These are strong words, thus it is important to realize that the substances Jesus referred to are not communion wafers and grape wine.

The amanita had long before Christianity been known as “the flesh of the gods” and “the blood of the gods” and this is what is meant.

“This is saying pretty clearly that the eating and drinking is physical. My body is flesh indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, and the added statement that when you eat, it is inside of you leaves little room for debate that this is a substance, not a phantom symbol alone. For those who choose to debate this I ask that they show me their substance because according to Jesus' words unless you eat and drink of ‘It’ you have no life in you.

By the way, do I really need to mention that this is not some strange reference to Cannibalism? I sure hope not, if you still think this, read on. Somewhere, some of this must convince you that he is not saying to take a bite out of his arm, or any other piece of his actual anatomy … In my opinion, the magical act of ‘TransSubstantiation’ has no merit. The statement that Jesus makes ‘Unless you eat and drink you have no life in you’ would seem to condemn the replacement of whatever the real thing is with a placebo (substitute).”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (2930)

Shiva the Hindu god is a hermaphrodite with one testicle, a penis, vagina, and one breast.

This is another personification of the mushroom just like Mithra. The first stage of the mushroom is considered male as it looks like a penis. Then the stem pushes the ball/uterus/breast up out of the egg. As the arms of the mushroom cap open to the sides, it’s as though the female aspect opens from the male “rib.”

Jesus, like Krishna, Dionysus, and the other mushroom gods, stands with legs together, wears a crown of thorns, and a sash on his waist while being crucified. His legs together with arms outstretched on the cross make the same “T” shape as the mushroom during its optimum Round Table stage.

The sash worn by Jesus is the ruffle found halfway up the stem of all amanitas, and Jesus’ thorny crown is the thorny mushroom top.

The reason Jesus is crucified and tells us to eat his body is that the mushroom must die for us to eat it.

“The fact that the mushrooms must be dried before consumption is another euphemism of the god needing to die, or sacrifice himself, to save mankind through atonement (atonement) … It can be argued that if you trace all of the gods back through time it may be possible to find the original.

This original resides in the myths of the gods themselves, as those aspects that remain the same. ‘Take and eat, this is my body’ is the central theme. All of the ancient god myths contain some sort of a sacramental food, and anthropomorphically this food becomes, at some point, a personification of the god itself.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (12 & 53)

Jesus dies for your sins. Sin was originally an archery term meaning “to miss the mark.” The mushroom dies so you may eat it, and the introspective experiences it brings washes away your sins. You understand how you’ve “missed the mark” in life. This is the original meaning, but the Church has perverted this idea into a guilt mechanism, scaring people with hell and trapping them in confession booths.

While on the cross, Jesus is stabbed in the rib and his blood comes out and is collected in the Holy Grail. This idea of a “side wounded savior” was a common theme among preChristian gods. The Vatican and Templars have promoted the idea that the Shroud of Turin, the Spear of Longinus/Destiny, and the Holy Grail are actual artifacts, but in fact they are all occult symbolism from ancient mushroom mythologies.

Proverbs 5:15 reads “drink water from your own cistern, drink water from your own well.”

John 7:378 says,

“Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He shall believeth on me as the scripture hath said, out of his body shall flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus is said to have turned water into wine and speaks of drinking water from him and from your own well/cistern.

What does all this mean?

“The active ingredients of the amanita mushrooms are not metabolized by the body, and so they remain active in the urine. In fact, it is safer to drink the urine of one who has consumed the mushrooms than to eat the mushrooms directly, as many of the toxic compounds are processed and eliminated on the first pass through the body. It was common practice among ancient people to recycle the potent effects of the mushroom by drinking each other's urine.

The amanita's ingredients can remain potent even after six passes through the human body. Some scholars argue that this is the origin of the phrase ‘to get pissed,’ as this urine-drinking activity preceded alcohol by thousands of years. Often the urine of tripped-out reindeer would be consumed for its psychedelic effects. This effect goes the other way too, as reindeer also enjoy the urine of a human, especially one who has consumed the mushrooms.

In fact, reindeer will seek out human urine to drink, and some [Siberian] tribesmen carry sealskin containers of their own collected piss, which they use to attract stray reindeer back into the herd.”

Dana Larsen, “The Psychedelic Secrets of Santa Claus” Cannabis Culture, Marijuana Magazine, Dec 18th , 2003

Is this why you often see stone water fountains with little boys urinating into upturned levels looking like mushrooms?

Jesus is often depicted holding up a white flag with a red cross on it, the symbol of the Knights Templar/Masons. Do the red and white flag of Jesus and clothing of the Knights Templar refer to the amanita muscaria?

John Allegro, Oxford graduate and world’s leading philologist, was commissioned to translate the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls. But after his book “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross” released and he died, the Catholic Church quickly bought the copyright and buried it; one Vatican insider quoted saying it would never again see the light of day.

It is currently sparsely available in ebook format but has been out of print for years (Meanwhile Dan Brown is shaking hands with the Pope and “Da Vinci Code” is a best selling book and movie).

“[John] Allegro linguistically linked the SOMA (Greek=Body), the Manna (Sumerian = Mushroom), (of which there are two kinds), the names Jesus, James, and John, the Fruit of the tree of Knowledge, and the symbol of the cross, to the Amanita muscaria, by stating that all of these names and terms (and others) were synonyms and wordplay for the hidden identity of the mushroom. Needless to say, he had the religious scholars doing flips. The biblical apologists instantly jumped on the bandwagon of attempting to disprove anything he said. Although he did stretch the boundaries (at least twice) of some established scholarship, the proof is in the pudding (so to speak) and most of his associations are beyond repute.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (16)

“The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in caves near Qumran in 1947, have offered a greater insight into their [Essenes] lifestyle and beliefs, despite suppression by the authorities who wish to maintain the official version of history. The scrolls were hidden from the Romans during the ill-fated Judean revolt around 70 AD. Some 500 Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts were found, which included texts from the Old Testament, among them a complete draft of the Book of Isaiah, centuries older than the one in the Bible. There were scores of documents relating to the Essene customs and organization.

The scrolls confirm that the Essenes were fanatics who followed to the letter the Levite inventions in the Old Testament texts. Anyone who didn’t do the same was their enemy and they fiercely opposed the Roman occupation … The Essenes had a detailed understanding of drugs, including the hallucinogenic variety, which were used in mystery school initiations and for entering other states of consciousness. The properties of the ‘sacred mushrooms’ or ‘Holy Plant’ were so much part of life in the secret brotherhood that the Jewish high priest wore a mushroom cap to acknowledge their importance. They had special rituals for their preparation and use.

The mushroom, too, was given son of God' connotations (what wasn’t?) and it was connected to the Sun cycle. The mushrooms were picked with great reverence before sunrise and many symbols of this ritual can be found in the Bible and far older texts. Again, the use of the sacred mushroom and other drugs, and the secret knowledge of their properties, can be traced back to the earliest days of Sumer.”

–David Icke, “The Biggest Secret” (956)

John Allegro shows how the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the etymology of various Mesopotamian languages all have mushroom and sexual puns/terms interwoven. This is due to the prominence in the preChristian world of mushroom and fertility cults. Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, the languages of the Bible, all ultimately derive from ancient Sumerian, where many original meanings had been long lost.

For instance, the gods of the Greeks and Hebrews, Zeus and Yahweh (Jehovah) have names derived from Sumerian words meaning “seed of life” and “juice of fecundity.”

The name Herod, as in King Herod, “ardeola” in Latin, serves as a wordplay on the Semitic “ardilia” which means “mushroom.” The name Jesus, in Hebrew “yehoshiia” comes from the Sumerian “JA U ShiJ A” which means “semen which saves, restores, heals.”

This is comparable to the fertility god Dionysus, whose cult emblem was an erect phallus, and whose Sumerian name “IAUNuShUSh” also means “semen, seed that saves.”

“Under that again there lie the basic conceptions of the mushroom cult. Here is the real stuff of the mystery-fertility philosophy. For example, to find their parables of the Kingdom, the writers make comparisons with objects and activities which, at the surface level of understanding, are often really absurd, besides being self-contradictory about the manner and form of the Kingdom’s coming.

The passage that likens the Kingdom to a mustard seed, for example, and then speaks of birds nesting in the branches of the grown plant (Matt 13:31f., etc.), has driven the biblical naturalists to distraction looking for a mustard ‘tree’ suitable as roosting places for the fowls of the air. They could have saved themselves the trouble since the reference, at the ‘lower’ level, is simply a play on the Semitic khardelä’, ‘mustard’ and ‘ardilã’, ‘mushroom’ …

If it seems strange to us that the writers of these stories should have used such a trivial literary device as punning so extensively, it should be remembered that they were heirs to a very long tradition of this kind of word spinning. The Old Testament is full of it, particularly where proper names are concerned, and very many more instances almost certainly lie beneath the surface, where writers are playing with dialectal forms of the words which have become lost over the centuries.

Furthermore, it is now becoming clear that many of the Old Testament traditions have reached us in a Semitic dialect which was not the one in which they were composed, so that the original wordplay which they expressed has been lost.”

John Allegro, “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross” (32)

Today in Iran (Persia) the mushroom is called “SamJrukh,” which traces back to the Sumerian “ShU Mar Ugu/Aga,” or “Crown of the Womb Favorer,” the glans/top of the fungus. The Sumerian “Bar Ia U Na,” meaning “capsule of fecundity; womb” connects to multiple names that relate the mushroom with the tiny “womb” from which the stem emerges.

Another Aramaic example is “Pleasing the Jews” which comes from the Sumerian mushroom name “MashTabBaRi” or “that which is pleasing to the Hebrews/Jews.” The Hebrew “kotereih” from the Sumerian “GUTAR” means “top of the head: penis” and is the most common Semitic word for mushroom; In Arabic it is “phutr,” in Aramaic it is “pitra,” and in the English New Testament is “Peter.”

Allegro’s examples continue on like this for over a hundred pages.

“We must be in no doubt of the effect that importing a new, mushroom element into the New Testament picture must have on our understanding of the origin and nature of Christianity … For the pseudotranslation demonstrates an intention of deceit, and since mushrooms appear nowhere in the ‘surface’ tale of Jesus, it follows that the secret reference to the cult must be the true relevance of the whole.

If the writers have gone to the trouble of concealing by ingenious literary devices, here, and as we have seen, in many cases elsewhere, secret names of the mushroom, not only must its worship have been central to the religion, but the exigencies of the time must have demanded they should be transmitted among the initiates and their successors in a way that would not bring their enemies down upon them.

It therefore follows that the “surface” details of the story, names, places, and possibly doctrinal teachings must be equally as false as the pseudo-renderings of the secret names.”

John Allegro, “The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross” (1067)

“For centuries, the impression given by religionists is that to be a moral person, one must not only forgo but disdain sexuality, viewing it as if it were a curse from the devil rather than a ‘gift from God.’ The same can be said of drugs, at least of the variety that has anything to do with altering consciousness, even if such drugs are in the form of ‘Godgiven’ plants. Hence, the picture of a religious or righteous individual is basically someone who must have (heterosexual) sex only with one person within a sanctioned marriage, if at all; to be in a constant state of procreation; and to remain as sober as ‘a judge.’

To those who think life is to be enjoyed, rather than endured, this picture represents a dull, robotic state, to say the least. The reality is that there have been times on this planet when cultures have recognized sacred sexual practices and sacramental plants not only as gifts from ‘God’ but also paths to ‘God,’ or ‘Cosmic Consciousness,’ as it were.

Indeed, sex and drugs have been considered from time immemorial as devices to create union with the divine, which is a major reason behind the negative spin put on them by religionists, who insist that only they, ‘Jesus’ or some other entity can be avenues to the divine. In actuality, it is the priest’s task to create an artificial separation between human beings and the omnipresent ‘God’”

Acharya S., “The Christ Conspiracy” (193)

Through a long process of incremental changes the Christian churches (and other Brotherhood religions) have completely changed what it means to be religious. The ancient world consisted of mushroom and fertility cults, nature worship, and an astrological/astronomical based theology (Astrotheology).

Nowadays the three things of ancient reverence which modern religions were actually based on sex, drugs, and astrology are condemned and considered sinful.

“If an all-powerful, dictatorial state religion was to succeed, it would need to destroy this concept of sacred sex and sacramental drugs from the human psyche and replace it with fear and guilt, such that those who had sex, for example, would be driven to cleanse themselves of their perceived sins by confession or other priest craft. The exploitation of humanity’s weakness regarding sex in particular worked nicely for priestly conspirators, since they could rail against it, knowing very well that people would continue to have it, such that the guilty would then be forced to return repeatedly to the Church for absolution from ‘sins.’

Despite their best efforts, however, the various religionists could not eradicate the widespread spiritual practices utilizing sex and drugs, even under penalty of death. In reality, they held these practices for themselves while hypocritically preaching their evils to the masses and exhorting abstinence from them.

As noted, along with the knowledge of astrology, the use of sex and drugs actually has formed part of the esoteric religion or ‘mysteries’ hidden from the masses by the brotherhoods and secret societies that create exoteric and vulgar religions for the masses. Indeed, these ‘sacraments’ constituted a significant part of the mysteries, as many schools and cults have used sex and drugs in their initiation rites.”

Acharya S., “The Christ Conspiracy” (193)

“I have spoken personally with High Priests and Bishops (Secret Society Initiates), who simply told me that they could not discuss anything with me because of their oaths of secrecy. In fact they were so blown away that I knew the information, that it scared the hell out of them. Entheogens, and particularly the Amanita muscaria, are a huge secret.

The initiatory rites, into this particular field, are so far up the totem pole of secret societies and religions that when you find those who know, they really freak out, that anyone else knows, because it cuts to the deepest recesses of their self perceived spirituality, and cuts to the center of their most secret God/Society given indoctrination experiences.

They have this certain look in their eyes, and unless you somehow are perceived as a threat to them, they invariably have the need to tell you that they do know what you are talking about (which is likely a violation of oath in itself), but they cannot discuss it further.”

James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind (23)