Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras

Fülszöveg

' ^„aifc. ^^ Anthropological evidence has long suggested that ^E^Pr ^ '?V psychedelic plants have played important roles in " ' T mn- " ^ indigenous communities for thousands of years, but
J' scholarship does not address their formative fg"^ ¦ knpact on Western culture.
Through careful studies of art and archeology, ' -f Mushrooms, Myth if Mithras reveals compelling evi^ dence that ritual use of psychedelic mushrooms was a powerful and closely gfuarded inspirational force in the development of early European culture. \ye discover that Nero was the first in a long line of Roman emperors to be initiated by secret "magical dinners" in which mind-altering mushrooms were used as a sourcé of spiritual • awakening. Although this sect was ofificially bánned after Roman : conversion to Christianity, aspects of its practices and teachings •went on to influence many subsequent secret societies, including the Freemasons. ' '
Mushrooms, Myth éf Mithras is a fascinating historical explora-*... Tovább

Fülszöveg

' ^„aifc. ^^ Anthropological evidence has long suggested that ^E^Pr ^ '?V psychedelic plants have played important roles in " ' T mn- " ^ indigenous communities for thousands of years, but
J' scholarship does not address their formative fg"^ ¦ knpact on Western culture.
Through careful studies of art and archeology, ' -f Mushrooms, Myth if Mithras reveals compelling evi^ dence that ritual use of psychedelic mushrooms was a powerful and closely gfuarded inspirational force in the development of early European culture. \ye discover that Nero was the first in a long line of Roman emperors to be initiated by secret "magical dinners" in which mind-altering mushrooms were used as a sourcé of spiritual • awakening. Although this sect was ofificially bánned after Roman : conversion to Christianity, aspects of its practices and teachings •went on to influence many subsequent secret societies, including the Freemasons. ' '
Mushrooms, Myth éf Mithras is a fascinating historical explora-* tion of a powerful force kept hidden for thousands of years.
"An important book—by far the most comprehensive account of this -thunderingly neglected topic that I have seen." — huston smith,^ author of The World's Religions: Our Great Wtsdom Traditions
^?"This is real renaissance scholarship. Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras is a brilliant and exciting synthesis of data gleaned from disciplines as '<¦ diverse as anthropology, botany, linguistics, astronomy, archaeol-1 i i ogy, art history, pharmacology, and classical literature. The Mstory ' ^ it distills from the material and literaiy sources is both captivating . * and compelling. It effortlessly straddles the modem academic dividfe between the sciences and the arts. The authors' multidisciplinary , approach sets a higher standard for research in the humanities." —d. c. a^hillman, author of The Chemical Muse Vissza