The Holy Mushroom

by Jan Irvin

  Plate 26. Jesus entering Jerusalem. Church of St. Martin, Vic. 12th century. Berry, France.

  Plate 27. Jesus entering Jerusalem. Epistolary of Giovanni da Gaibana, fol. 40v. 1259CE. Biblioteca Capitolare, Padova, Italy.

  As in plate 26, the mushroom tree is present, complete with striations. However, in this image the focus is not only the large mushroom tree, but what the colt is looking at with gritting teeth—a mushroom.

  Plate 28. Jesus entering Jerusalem. Perikopenbuch von St. Erentrud in Salzburg, 1140. Munich, Germany.

  As in the previous two plates, the mushroom tree is depicted. Here, as in the previous plate, the colt is seen close to or sniffing the mushroom, or in this case, the mushroom tree.

  Plate 29. Crucifixion, Psalm 51, Psalter with Old English Gloss, 1073. Arundel 60, ff.52v–53, England.

  Jesus is depicted hanging on the cross, but instead of two thieves, we see two mushroom trees. The tree on the right is complete with spots.

  Plate 30. Tree of Jesse. The Winchester Psalter, 1121–1161CE. England.

  The top of the Tree of Jesse is shown as a mushroom cap. The tree is most often depicted in mediaeval artwork as coming from either Jesse’s genital region or his forehead. The tree itself suggests the use of plants for Jesse’s vision, and grapes, used in the making of wine, are also depicted. Overall, the common theme of the Tree of Jesse seems to be similar to the Eastern philosophy of the Chakra system, which is most often depicted as the caduceus with the khundalini or ‘snake energy’ rising—by the use of intoxicating plants.

  Plate 31. The Winchester Psalter, 1121–1161CE. England.

  David and lion, above: David is pictured as a shepherd who rescues a lamb from the lion—underneath an ornate mushroom tree. Left: David stands with a crook, with two goats. Right: David rescues a lamb from the lion’s mouth. Allegro argued the lamb to be a symbol of the mushroom.

  David and Samuel (below): Samuel is seen holding the horn of anointing (psychoactive mushroom, possibly) oil which he pours over David’s head. Jesse stands in the middle, with David’s six brothers on the left.

  Plate 32. Tapestry image of St. Valburga (Walburga)—Feast Day, February 25th. Date unknown. Abbey of Eichstätt, Germany.

  The town of Walpurgis is named for St. Valburga, who was sainted on May 1, 779. Walpurgis may have originated from an ancient Viking fertility celebration. In Finland, May 1 is celebrated as Vappu, a day of feasting and drinking mead (in ancient times psychoactive ingredients were added to mead). May 1 is also connected with fertility and the coming of warmer months, as with maypole dancing. St. Valburga is depicted holding a distinct Amanita muscaria in its young, bulbous stage of development, complete with white spots—the key to the “feast” celebrations. The background is red with white floral decorations.

  Plate 33. The Last Judgement. Holkham Bible, circa 1320–1330CE. England. Add. 47682, f.42v.

  The wounded Christ sits flanked by two angels with the “instruments of the Passion”. The angel on the left stares at three distinct mushrooms that he holds in his hand; while the angel on the right holds a spear. The blessed on the left with the mushrooms are welcomed, while the damned on the right are spurned and led away by a devil. Jesus is seen with both arms up, a mushroom in his right hand and an unidentified object in his left.

  Plate 34. The Watchful Eye, 16th century. Kremlin Museum, Russia.

  A mushroom tree hovers over the head of (Jesus?), who is lying inside the vesica piscus, a symbol of rebirth and fertility. The mushroom behind the head, along with the angel, represents the power of vision – the watchful eye.

  Plate 35. Trinity of the Old Testament, 1811. Yekaterinburg, Museum of Fine Arts, Russia.

  Three chalices are shown on the table filled with a red drink with white spots, symbolic of the Amanita muscaria. In the background is pictured a mountain covered with conifer trees, the host of the mushroom.

  The detail of plate 35 reveals three red-filled, white-spotted, fly-agaric-looking chalices as seen in the bottom right of Table 1.

  Plate 36. Fire Ascension of the Prophet Elijah, 1813. Chelyabinsk Region Picture Gallery, Russia.

  By order of the LORD the prophet Elijah withdrew to the creek Cherith and lived there on the bread God’s raven brought him (1 Kings 1:1–6). Elijah is depicted on the bottom left, asleep, angel hovering over him, with his head next to a mushroom. Elijah is then shown in various stages of his ascension, or out of body experience, floating up and rising to heaven—depicted as the fiery chariot pulled by four horses. The chariot and horses recalls the myths of Odin and Santa Claus. The Raven’s bread has been argued by Edzard Klapp and Carl Ruck to be Amanita muscaria.

  The detail of Plate 36 reveals a mushroom behind Elijah’s head.

  Plate 37. Adoration of the Magi, circa. 1569–1649. Juan Bautista Maino, Spain.

  Two mushrooms are seen in the foreground in front of the stone. The chalice lies before the mushrooms. Both the stone and the chalice are metaphors for the mushroom. This image was first published by Gordon Wasson (1957).

  Plate 38. Genesis and Exodus. Abbey of Saint-Savin sur Gartempe, Poitou-Charentes Region, 11th century, France.

  Two mushroom trees are depicted (above left)—the one on the left is severely faded. There is a figure standing between the two mushroom trees, holding up two disks of the sky with figures, possibly the spirit of the lord or Jesus, peering down. A close-up of the mushroom tree on the right shows the spirit of the lord being held above it.

  Plate 39. The birth of Eve. Woodcut, 15th century, France. Artist unknown.

  Adam lies resting on a mushroom.

  Plate 40. Sacrifice of Isaac. Alesandro Allori, 1607. Florence, Italy.

  Three Amanita muscaria and three possibly Amanita pantherina or Psilocybe-looking mushrooms are shown in the bottom right. In the field on the left is a man picking plants with an older man watching over him. In front of them are two men asleep on the ground, suggesting they are under the visionary influence of the plants and fungi. The two men walking in the foreground are on the path with the mushrooms. In the upper right is another visionary scene.

  Plate 41. Archangel Michael, 13th century, Byzanz (Istanbul).

  Six mushrooms are shown under the feet of Michael, and two behind the back of the man having the visions of Michael (bottom right).

  Plate 42. Archangel Michael, date unknown. Moldova (Romania).

  Michael is depicted in red, white, and blue—the three colors of the mushrooms—complete with the annulus around his waist. Directly above, and to the right of his head are shown the outlines of two mushrooms.

  Plate 43. St. Christopher with Christ as child, 13th century. Montferrand du Perigord, France.

  On the right of the window is the patron saint of the church—Christopher. On his shoulders is a small figure whose right hand is raised in blessing and who is carrying a cross in his left hand—it is Christ as a child—portrayed as a mushroom. According to legend, St. Christopher helped people ford rivers. One day a child approached him to cross the river. Christopher took him on his shoulders, but during the crossing the child became heavier and heavier, until the Saint had to use all of his strength to fight against the current. The child then told him that he had carried Jesus and that in memory of this he should plant the dry stick that he carried on the bank and that it would bud—a metaphor for the mushroom on his shoulders (or behind the head)—as if to suggest he is under the influence of the mushroom.

  Detail of plate 43 revealing the baby Jesus in mushroom form.

  This image was brought to the attention of Prof. Carl Ruck by E. van Roon of the Netherlands.

  Consider, for a moment, what it would mean to Allegro’s argument, and to further support the above iconography, if we also had written evidence that would give us definitive proof of the mushroom’s use in Christianity. Would we not therefore have to give greater weight to the above images as evidence of the mushroom’s use? Furthermore, would we not also have to consider the dates of this ev
idence? And what of its span across Europe from Russia to the British Isles? Would not all of this serve as evidence of widespread use of the mushroom in Christianity? Would not such evidence entirely refute Wasson’s caveated 1000BCE theory? Would it not substantiate both the Plaincourault fresco as a mushroom, and Allegro’s SMC?

  I believe that we now have that evidence.

  The Epistle to the Renegade Bishops

  In an academic journal aptly titled Harvard Ukrainian Studies is an article by Professor Harvey Goldblatt of Yale University. In this article (pages 47–75) is found a rare and obscure sixteenth-century Christian text ‘The Epistle to the Renegade Bishops’ by Ivan Vysensicyj. This text was discovered in the Ukraine, but was written at the Xiropotamou monastery on the Mt. Athos peninsula, Greece. The text is discussing the forty martyrs of Sebaste, for whom the monastery was dedicated in the thirteenth century:

  (15) There are other miraculous actions which occurred to honor and celebrate the memory of the forty martyrs. These actions took place in the reign of Roman and other pious emperors, who built a holy shrine in memory of the blessed martyrs and adorned it exceedingly. When the names of the forty martyrs were pronounced by the archpriest, there began to grow from the foot of the holy table a holy mushroom with its cap in the shape of forty apples which ascended over the holy table and overshadowed the entire sanctuary. And for this most glorious miracle all present gave glory to God and to the forty martyrs. And then all the infirm found in the cloister were healed through the possibility of tasting the holy mushroom. And this miracle was pronounced throughout the entire ecumene and great multitudes were healed. Thus, each victim of the impious is an abomination before God. The abominable and unlawful Emperor Michael had sought to eliminate Orthodoxy from the holy mountain but had failed, and like Saul had had his house destroyed. Yet Mount Athos flourished as did the house of David. And the monks, who out of fear had hidden, came out and began to sob and weep. And they gathered together the dead and buried them honorably. Thus did the impious emperor with his hirelings perish and disappear forever [87.19–89.14].

  The paragraph includes the statement: “And this miracle was pronounced throughout the entire ecumene [...].” Thus, in the only Christian text so far revealed in which the holy mushroom is definitively mentioned, is also found admission that this miracle of the holy mushroom of Mt. Athos was announced to all of Christendom.

  It should also be pointed out that since the holy mushroom was recognized as such as soon as it began to grow, the pious must have had prior knowledge of the holy mushroom. We do not see them asking “what is this, a holy mushroom?” They state the holy mushroom appeared:

  there began to grow from the foot of the holy table a holy mushroom with its cap in the shape of forty apples which ascended over the holy table and overshadowed the entire sanctuary. [...] And then all the infirm found in the cloister were healed through the possibility of tasting the holy mushroom.

  There is no doubt, from the first instance, that it’s a holy mushroom.

  Therefore, I submit, against what Allegro and others scholars have argued, that this was not a “mushroom cult” of the “fringe heretical sects” at all.

  I propose that the holy mushroom had a widespread and integrated role not only in Greek Orthodox Christianity but, as the spread of iconography across Europe shows, as a fundamental part of the origins and history of Christianity as a whole.

  Judaism and Islam

  And what of Judaism and Islam? Professor Benny Shanon in Biblical Entheogens (2008) tells us:

  Rabbeinu Be’cha’yei ben Asher, a medieval Jewish scholar (1255–1340) famous for his interpretation of the Torah. Rabbeinu Be’cha’yei writes that the purest of foods were created at the very beginning of Creation in order to allow for the attainment of higher knowledge. He explicitly relates this to the biblical tree of knowledge, and comments further that such higher knowledge can also be gained through the use of drugs and medicines available at his time. In addition he notes that the Manna had such qualities as well.

  ~ Benny Shanon

  The latest textual evidence offered by Professor John Rush in Failed God (2008) reveals that the Muslim prophet Muhammad believed that manna was indeed the mushroom sent by God to Moses:

  We read in Mishkat, book xxi, chapter 1, that Muhammad said, “Mushrooms are a kind of manna which God sent to Moses so that we can see.” Some scholars translate this as some sort of eye wash for “sore eyes” (see Hughes 1994:423), but this interpretation is difficult to sustain. The word manna (mann in Arabic and man in Hebrew) in the Qur’an always references some magical substance sent from God (Surah 2:54; 2:82, 7: 160) [...] The word manna, to my knowledge, never referred to some type of simple herbal remedy. Instead manna was used to cure spiritual ailments, to convert, through the baptism of fire, the faithless nonbeliever, to make “real,” through a hallucinogenic experience, that which can only be accepted on faith.

  ~ John Rush

  This evidence refutes Merkur’s argument against Allegro and mushrooms as manna (Merkur, 2000, ch. 1 ft. 5; see also Irvin et al, 2006, pg. 148–9). Thus we may now see a clear history of the use of these substances, including the holy mushroom, throughout Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious history.

  Up to now I’ve shown sufficient evidence to prove the mushroom’s use in Judeo-Christianity. However, now that we’ve come this far, is there clinical evidence to prove that the holy mushroom, this “drug”, has the physical capability to cause such religious experiences? So many people that I’ve discussed this issue with wrongfully and automatically assume that the experiences brought on by mushrooms and other entheogens must be similar to alcohol, or that because it’s “outside us” they therefore couldn’t possibly cause a “real” religious experience. But this couldn’t be further from the truth, let alone from understanding the effects of the experience. And after all, these substances have been used religiously throughout history by indigenous cultures the world over. Native Americans’ use of Peyote is only one example.

  In May 2006 a Johns Hopkins University study on psilocybin (the active ingredient in Psilocybe species) covered this specific topic. The article by Griffiths, et al, is titled: ‘Psilocybin can occasion mystical- type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance’. It found that:

  ...when administered to volunteers under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences and which were evaluated by volunteers as having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance.

  A follow-up study by Griffiths et al, published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in July 2008 confirmed the first study’s findings. It found that:

  At the 14-month follow-up, 58% and 67%, respectively, of volunteers rated the psilocybin-occasioned experience as being among the five most personally meaningful and among the five most spiritually significant experiences of their lives; 64% indicated that the experience increased well-being or life satisfaction; 58% met criteria for having had a ‘complete’ mystical experience. Correlation and regression analyses indicated a central role of the mystical experience assessed on the session day in the high ratings of personal meaning and spiritual significance at follow-up. Of the measures of personality, affect, quality of life and spirituality assessed across the study, only a scale measuring mystical experience showed a difference from screening. When administered under supportive conditions, psilocybin occasioned experiences similar to spontaneously occurring mystical experiences that, at 14-month follow-up, were considered by volunteers to be among the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant of their lives.

  I’ve included iconographic, textual and psychological evidence, and few grounds, if any, remain for further cognitive denial. In the interim I have also shown sufficient evidence to refute Letcher (2007). I shall close with a most appropriate quote from his book (pg. 78):

  The Western rediscovery of Mexican mu
shrooming practices began, ironically, with a vigorous scholarly denial that they had ever existed.

  ~ Andy Letcher

  Conclusion

  I have given lengthy discussion to the letters between John M. Allegro and R. Gordon Wasson and discovered that Allegro had indeed technically countered Wasson’s first attack to the TLS sufficiently, even if minimally.

  I argued that Wasson was likely bitter over Allegro catching him in contradiction of himself by quoting “rightly or wrongly,” from the second edition of Dr. John Ramsbottom’s book. I’ve shown reasonable evidence to support this claim. Wasson, by his own missives, appears to be more concerned with being on top, or being the expert, rather than with discovering the truth in regard to Judeo-Christianity.

  The Wasson-Panofsky claim that the Plaincourault fresco has been sufficiently studied by art historians is unsound. To further substantiate this, I’ve provided additional reference to studies by Giorgio Samorini and Ruck et al, as well as our own study (Hoffman et al, 2006).