Michael Hoffman, May 27, 2023, expanded Feb. 9, 2025

_{Site Map}

Contents:

• Left Door
  • Left Door Panel 1 (Top): Create Eve
  • Left Door Panel 2: Present Eve (Two Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees)
  • Left Door Panel 3: Eat from Tree
  • Left Door Panel 4: Blame (Liberty Cap Mushroom-Tree)
  • Left Door Panel 5: Expulsion
  • Left Door Panel 6: Work the Land
  • Left Door Panel 7: Offerings
  • Left Door Panel 8 (bottom): Murder
• Right Door
  • Right Door Panel 1 (Top): Ascension
  • Right Door Panel 2: Empty Tomb
  • Right Door Panel 3: Crucifixion
  • Right Door Panel 4: Pilate
  • Right Door Panel 5: Present Jesus at Temple
  • Right Door Panel 6: Magi
  • Right Door Panel 7: Nativity
  • Right Door Panel 8 (Bottom): Annunciation
• Column
  • Column: Feed Multitude
  • Column Panel 19: Walk Water/ Heal: Liberty Cap Tree #4, 1 Cap
  • Column Panel 17: Tax Collector/ Bosom Abraham: Liberty Cap Tree #3, 2 Caps
  • Column Panel 14: Kneeling apostles/Transfiguration: Liberty Cap Tree #2, 3 Caps
  • Column Panel 7: Commission/ Leper: Liberty Cap Tree #1, 2 Caps
  • Column Base
• Chandelier

• Notes, Commentary, & Original Research
• {floating mushroom hem} & {mushroom hem} motifs in Bernward Doors
• Working the Land: Nursing Eve mushroom hem: {lifted garment} mushroom hem in bronze, angel left of Eve nursing
• First Known Instance of Bronze {mushroom hem} Motif [Feb. 3, 2025]
• There Are Seven Liberty Cap mushroom-trees in Bernward Door & Column
• Page 29 Entheos 1 “Conjuring Eden”: “Four times column has tassel trees, each in visionary context”
• Bernward Column Has Four Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees, Left Door Has Three; Seven Total
• Conjuring Eden 2001 Article Is Almost Comprehensive Count of Liberty Cap Trees in Bernward Door & Column
• Panels 1 & 2, Left & Right Door
• Panels 3 & 4, Left & Right Door
• Conjuring Eden Should Specify Two Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Present Eve Panel
• Why Seven Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Bernward Doors & Column is Very Significant for Debate of Mushroom Imagery in Christian Art
• Bennett’s Criticism of Brown & Others Who Call “the” mushroom-tree “tree of knowledge”
• Malformed Debate Positions Poorly Defined by Affirmers & Deniers
• Misc. Notes
• There Are Seven Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Bernward Doors and Column
• Numbering of Eden panels on Left Bernward Door
• Number of Plants on Each Panel of Left Bernward Door
• The “Isolate Each Instance” Fallacy
• Entheogen Scholarship Books
• The Letcher Argument: Official Christian Art Cannot Contain the Secret Counterculture Mushroom
• Letcher’s Generic Vague Non-Reply to my Book Review
• Entheogen Scholarship Books I Surveyed May 27, 2023
• Chris Bennett: Affirmers of Blame Panel 4 Fail to Say Eat Tree panel 3 lacks Lib Cap tree: BUT, Bennett Fails to Say “Eve Given to Adam” (panel 2 of 8) has TWO Lib Cap trees!
• There are 7 Liberty Cap Trees in Bernward Door/Column: Not 1 as in Letcher, Bennett, and Many Other Treatments
• Wikipedia Photo of Bernward Doors
• Bennett’s Treatment of the One Tree of Bernward Door: Wrong Panel, So Bernward Doesn’t Count
• Eadwine: Hands and Feet in “Do Not Eat” & “Eat” Panels
• See Also

Intro

There are seven Liberty Cap mushroom-trees total, in the left Bernward Door (three in two panels) and Bernward Column (four). As well as {mushroom hem}, {floating mushroom hem}, Liberty Cap roofs, and mushroom roof toppers.

Related, non-mushroom motifs in the Bernward Doors and Column include {cut branch} and {stand on right foot}.

Bernward features:

• Liberty Cap mushroom-trees
• {mushroom hem}
• {floating mushroom hem}
• Liberty Cap roofs
• mushroom roof toppers
• {cut branch}
• {stand on right foot}

Affirmers or deniers of mushroom imagery in Christian art who discuss Bernward door act like there’s only 1 Liberty Cap mushroom-tree, but there are actually seven: 3 in door, 4 in column.

The predictable move of the deniers is the minimalist proxy approach: out of the hundreds of mushroom imagery in Christian art, only pick 1: eg 1 in Bern door, firmly disprove your straw man, proxy, isolated instance, context-free, misrepresentation of the debate positions, do the worst argumentation possible, and pronounce yourself victorious.

Letcher Shroom p. 35-36 leads the way there.

Left Door

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardDoors.html

Left Door Panel 1 (Top): Create Eve

Features:

• God: {right foot down}
• Left plant YI.

Left Door Panel 2: Present Eve (Two Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees)

Features:

• Two Liberty Cap mushroom-trees.
• Top cap has ball & cap near figure has ball.
• The other 3 caps droop & lack ball.
• Right tree upper right cap looks like Eve’s fig leaf in Blame panel.
• God: {mushroom hem}.
• God: {right foot down}.
• YI tree on left, IY tree on right.
• {cut right trunk} and single branch.
• The branching of left of left tree is visually cut (negated) at stem.
• The branching of right of right tree is visually cut (negated) at stem.

Door Panel 2: Eve Given to Adam: Liberty Cap tree #1 & #2

present eve to adam, R tree

Left Door Panel 3: Eat from Tree

Features:

• Two tree of knowledge, two serpents, both trees of knowledge have fruit like stem & ball mushrooms.
• Adam & Eve have {right foot down}.
• Left tree branching form: YI. The I has two mushroom fruit.
• Branching serpent (wings & legs) on left, non-branching snake on right.
• Winged serpent with limbs in left tree’s branching Y brings fruit.
• Serpent left, and snake right. Winged serpent with limbs is in branching part of YI tree.
• Snake in right tree brings fruit.
• Middle tree with fruit held in front is YI branching form.

Left Door Panel 4: Blame (Liberty Cap Mushroom-Tree)

Features:

• Against Ruck / Huggins/ everyone, eve’s fig leaf doesn’t match Lib cap caps. Non-branching points at her but not clear that her fig leaf is from that branch; if it is, then where did Adam get his fig leaf or Lib cap cap?
• Winged serpent visually cuts Eve right left. Where did the snake go? In previous panel is it two points in time? First, serpent w/ limbs, then snake on right, both in a tree OR in the tree, shown twice.
• YI tree with {cut right trunk}.
• Visually cut right arm of Adam & Eve.
• Winged serpent with legs has {fire} from mouth.

Blame panel (external link)

Blame panel (WordPress Gallery)

Blame panel (Julie Brown)

Left Door Panel 5: Expulsion

Features:

• Mushroom topper on Liberty Cap roof of gate tower.
• {gate}
• Right plant: YI form.
• {mushroom hem} bottom of angel.
• {floating mushroom hem} behind angel.

Left Door Panel 6: Work the Land

Features:

• Adam {right foot down}.
• Angel: {floating mushroom hem} behind.
• Eve: {mushroom hem} at left knee.

Mushroom Hem Eve Nursing: Mushroom 9; #4 in door

Mushroom Hem Eve Nursing: Mushroom 9; #4 in door

Left Door Panel 7: Offerings

Features:

• Right plant YI form.
• Left plant IY form with I near lamb.
• Abel & Cain have {right foot down}. ie weight on right foot.

Left Door Panel 8 (Bottom): Murder

Features:

• God blessing Cain before Cain murders Abel, {right foot down}.
• When Cain murders, weight on left foot.

Right Door

Right Door Panel 1 (Top): Ascension

Features:

• Four mushroom roof toppers at {gate}.
• Christ: {right foot down}.

Right Door Panel 2: Empty Tomb

Features:

• Temple veil knot.
• Angel: slight mushroom hem.

Right Door Panel 3: Crucifixion

Features:

• Two central figures (spear, sponge): weight on L foot.

Right Door Panel 4: Pilate

Features:

• Demon behind Pilate.
• Liberty Cap cap above spear, not above a tower, on right.
• Jesus: {right foot down}.
• Jesus: two cone {mushroom hem} instances

Right Door Panel 5: Present Jesus at Temple

Features:

• mushroom roof topper, back of temple

Right Door Panel 6: Magi

Features:

• Three Liberty Cap tower roofs.

Right Door Panel 7: Nativity

Features:

• Two mushroom roof toppers.
• Possible {mushroom hem} on right.

Right Door Panel 8 (Bottom): Annunciation

Features:

• 5 mushroom toppers
• 3 Liberty Cap caps tower roofs
• Crossed torches pointed down at gate.

Column

Higher up in this page is top of column, which is the end of the story panel sequence; we start here at the end; the end of the column, at top, is Entry into Jeru; Palm Sunday. The top, final scene in the spiral is buildings of Jeru w/ lib cap roofs.

Palm Sunday palm branches

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardColumn.html

The point is difference between Bernward’s depiction of palm tree branch vs. liberty cap tree.

To contrast Liberty Cap trees vs. Palm tree, Ruck has picture before the above, showing branches of palm.

From “Conjuring Eden”, Ruck continues:

“For the Commissioning episode, the missing third branch is supplied by the haloed head of Christ, as if He himself were its Fruit! (Fig. 21)” [photo of p. 30 above]

Column: Feed Multitude

Features:

• Left: liberty cap tower roof.
• {mushroom hem}: sitting guy right knee.
• {mushroom hem}: left standing guy near right foot.
• {mushroom hem}: Jesus’ left knee.

Column Panel 19: Walk Water/ Heal: Liberty Cap tree #4, 1 cap [mushroom-tree 4 on right]

Column Panel 19: Healing the Sick: Liberty Cap tree #4

In “Conjuring Eden”, Ruck:

Ruck continues (p. 30, right column, top): “Finally, [4th] immediately next and nineteenth in the series [of panels], the Tree is again the umbrella shade, single-tasseled, for the Healing of the Sick at Gennesaret on the Sea of Galilee.¹²³ … manna …”

Ruck didn’t provide any picture of this 4th mushroom-tree in the Entheos article or in the entheomedia online gallery? They must have been as overextended as I have been because TOO MANY MUSHROOMS.

Healing Sick [mushroom-tree 4], Curse Fig Tree

Drawing: Heal [mushroom-tree 4]

Features:

• Liberty Cap mushroom-tree #4: Walk water/ healing sick, 1 cap, cut left branch
• Liberty Cap mushroom-tree + fig tree:
• {mushroom hem} knees
• The fig tree is on the right with two leaves on top.

In “ConjEden”, Ruck:

“But the very next episode, … is the Cursing of the Fig Tree.¹²² [19] 

“The tree is now only a leaf, without fruit, that is to say, its taseled top, for Chris went to the tree and found it fruitless. …” [online gallery pic 19, fig tree is on the right with two leaves on top]

Column Panel 18: Cursing of the Barren Fig Tree (two leaves on top instead of mushroom cap)

Non-drug meditation = barren.
Non-drug mysticism = barren.

Ruck, p. 30, Entheos 1, 2001, Conjuring Eden article:

“But the very next episode, … is the Cursing of the Fig Tree.¹²² [19] – fig tree is on the right, with two leaves at top.

“The tree is now only a leaf [sic; pair of leaves], without fruit, that is to say, its taseled top, for Chris went to the tree and found it fruitless.”

Brown’s dubious claim to authority (because we did field research instead of relying on pictures) collapses: if I do field work, I cannot get so good a view as some online photos eg most of the mushroom-trees in Kornbluth Photo, though one is badly cut off and very disrespected.

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/BernwardColumn_51.jpg

Column Panel 17: Tax Collector/ Bosom Abraham: Liberty Cap tree #3, 2 caps [mushroom-tree 3]

A gap appears big or non-existent depending on angle, between cut right branch and head of Abraham.

From “Conjuring Eden”:

“Next [3rd] and seventeenth is the curious episode of Zacchaeus, the tax collector.¹²¹ [18] [online gallery pic 18]

“Wanting to see Jesus but being too short, he climbed a sycamore-fig, a double-tassel tree, and was invited to entertain the Lord in his house.

Bosom Abraham; Lazarus with Abraham [mushroom-tree 3 on left]

Dogs; Liberty Cap Roofs

Features:

• Four Liberty Cap roofs

Mushroom Hem Rich Man Table

Features:

• {mushroom hem} in tablecloth.

Column Panel 14: Kneeling apostles/Transfiguration: Liberty Cap tree #2, 3 caps

Liberty Cap Roof of Tower/ Christ and the Pharisees (Below Dogs)

Features:

• 1 of the set of 4 lib cap roofs, on left.
• {mushroom hem} to right of table.
• {mushroom hem} in Christ right leg.

Kneeling, Transfiguration

Transfiguration Drawing

Column Panel 14: Transfiguration: Liberty Cap tree #2

From “Conjuring Eden”, Ruck writes: “Next [2nd] and fourteenth in the series [of panels] is the Transfiguration, a triple Tree, as the eyes of the Disciples are opened to his Divinity. [17]” [online gallery pic 17]

Column Panel 7: Commission/ Leper: Liberty Cap tree #1, 2 caps
Column

Commissioning Apostles

Heal Leper

Kornbluth Treats Tree as “Peripheral” Worthless Noise, per Huggins.

Healing Leper [mushroom-tree 1]

Column Panel 7: Commissioning Apostles & Healing Leper: Liberty Cap tree #1

External link > drawing > Commissioning/ Leper [mushroom-tree 1]

WordPress gallery > drawing > Commissioning/ Leper [mushroom-tree 1]

WordPress gallery > photo > Commissioning/ Leper [mushroom-tree 1]

WordPress gallery > my photo of Entheos > Commissioning/ Leper [mushroom-tree 1]

Ruck writes: “First [#1 of 4 Liberty Cap trees] is the Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles, which in itself is significant, seventh [panel] in the series, but the double-branched Tree, missing a limb, also serves for the adjacent previous sixth scene, the Healing of the Leper, with Christ in his role as drug-man.[16]

Cut branch points at Jesus’ halo. From Entheos Issue 1, 2001, “Conjuring Eden”, by Mark Hoffman, Carl Ruck, & Blaise Staples.

Column Base

Chandelier

Each cable hook is at a {gate} that’s not shown on the inside of the “city wall” hoop, according to article wording, vs. the big 12 towers.

I read the towers (article’s word) as horse-sized gate, I read the outside-only gates as person-sized gate.
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+gates+does+jerusalem+have – “Jerusalem’s Old City walls, built in the early 16th century by the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, have eight gates.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_of_the_Old_City_of_Jerusalem

Notes, Commentary, & Original Research

{floating mushroom hem} & {mushroom hem} motifs in Bernward Doors

7:36 pm Feb. 5, 2025 — further motifs found in Bernward doors:

https://egodeaththeory.org/2023/05/27/bernward-doors-and-column-hildesheim/#Wikipedia-Photo-of-Bernward-Doors – shows panel order, not detail.

Working the Land: Nursing Eve mushroom hem: {lifted garment} mushroom hem in bronze, angel left of Eve nursing

World’s 2nd known instance of bronze of this motif. Not sure if John Rush’s {celestial erection} is as good as my old term {lifted garment} or euph new term {phallic garment} – I don’t think it’s phallic.

The mosaic of Dionysus process, contributed in 2005~ by the Egodeath community, Dionysus behind him has mushroom hem lifted but not phallic. Same w/ Dancing Man. Need better term’y.

Angel with lifted garment mushroom hem https://www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/8122388327/in/album-72157631806284435

Time of discovery of angel lifted hem: [8:28 am Feb. 5, 2025].

wrmspirit found wonderful zoom-in crops of Bern door https://www.flickr.com/photos/28433765@N07/albums/72157631806284435/with/8122388327 – see two mushroom hems in bronze, near Eve nursing in “work the land” panel of door.

One is an anomaly, two is a pattern.

I have to study more the Liberty Cap roofs of towers on columns.

First Known Instance of Bronze {mushroom hem} Motif [Feb. 3, 2025]

Browser history confirms I first viewed BernwardDoors_122-3.jpg Feb 3.

I discovered Nursing just before Feb 3 2025 10:07 am email, I wrote:

“strangely – not that surprising – i’m the first to see this at eye level, first known instance of mushroom hem in bronze

Given how much smoke and noise around Bern door, why no one mention this obvious mushroom hem at eye level?
https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/BernwardDoors_122-3.jpg

Look forward to inspecting Bern door/col on my own, hi res – we are privileged recently — the whole thing, just like i did w Great Canterbury Psalter: not through the filter from other entheogen scholars.”

/ end of Feb 3 email

Time stamp re: nursing: [Feb. 3, 2025]; it’s possible to inspect files to get exact time I wrote about this in idea development 24 page.

Feb 9 2025 note: This crop was 2-for-1 had I immed seen floating {mushroom hem} of angel on left; took a day or two to see that.

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardDoors.html

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardColumn.html

Strangely – not that surprising – i’m the first to see this at eye level, first known instance of mushroom hem in bronze

Given how much smoke and noise around Bern door, why no one mention this obvious mushroom hem at eye level? Ans:

• Do not get fixated on Amanita and fail to see Psilo. entheogen scholars get fixated on Amanita b/c the Amanita Primacy Fallacy, and halt there, not even trying to see Psil.
• Do not get fixated on tree of knowledge and fail to see other scenes. entheogen scholars get fixated on tree of knowledge, FALL OF MAN OMG! THE ORIGINAL SIN OMG! and fail to see other scenes literally in front of face at eye level in this case.

There Are Seven Liberty Cap mushroom-trees in Bernward Door & Column

pp 29-30 of “Conjuring Eden” lists 4 tassel trees (Liberty caps) on the Bernward Column [update 9pm Feb 1 2025]:

I FOUND RUCK VERY VERY CONFUSING ABOUT CURSING FIG TREE, INSERTED BETWEEN HIS INSTANCE 3 & 4 ON P 30 OF ENTHEOS 1.

The fig tree has pair of leaves, why does Ruck say “a leaf”?

Page 29 Entheos 1 “Conjuring Eden”: “Four times column has tassel trees, each in visionary context”

NO MORE OF THIS BALONEY SINGLING OUT ISOLATING ONE OF THE 8 SO YOU CAN WRITE JUNK ARGS IN ORDER TO REACH YOUR PRE-COMMITTED CONCLUSION

“, SO DOESN’T COUNT”

• The Liberty Cap mushroom-tree is in the wrong scene: Blame, not Eat from Tree – so, DOESN’T COUNT.
• The Liberty Cap mushroom-tree on Bern door isn’t hidden, so, DOESN’T COUNT.
• The Liberty Cap mushroom-tree is only a lone isolated instance, so, DOESN’T COUNT.

An infantile game; stupid brain dead ignorance-based argumentation from deniers of mushroom imagery in Christian art, bullheaded committed skeptics — they leap on the false arg’n from Backwards Brown.

Bernward Column Has Four Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees, Left Door Has Three; Seven Total

Liberty Cap mushroom-tree + fig tree:

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/images/BernwardColumn_51.jpg
Christ healing at Gennesaret; Christ cursing the bare fig tree [on right]

Although ConjEden fails to give the count of the number of mushroom mushroom-trees in the “eve presented to adam” door panel, the text says [13] and the online gallery image 13 does show the two Liberty Cap mushroom-trees in that panel. https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm

Cursing fig tree is the tree with leaves instead of a round cap.

There are 4 Liberty Cap mushroom-trees on Bernward column, as Conjuring Eden in 2001 states.

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardColumn.html

Conjuring Eden 2001 Article Is Almost Comprehensive Count of Liberty Cap Trees in Bernward Door & Column

Bernward Doors and Column, Hildesheim: 7 Liberty Cap Trees
https://egodeaththeory.org/2023/05/27/bernward-doors-and-column-hildesheim/ —

Door: Panel 2: Create Eve: 2 Liberty Cap trees
Door: Panel 3: Eat Tree: 0 Liberty Cap trees
Door: Panel 4: Blame: 1 Liberty Cap tree

Image search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bernward+doors&udm=2
Good guide to door panels:
https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardDoors.html –

Panels 1 & 2, Left & Right Door

Panels 3 & 4, Left & Right Door

Conjuring Eden Should Specify Two Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Present Eve Panel

Copied all Bernward content from Idea Development page 24 to the present Bernward page.

Conj Eden doesn’t say specifically that there are TWO Lib Cap trees in the Create Eve panel in Bern Door. Quote, p. 29, Entheos 1:

“Moreover, elsewhere on the doors, similar tassel trees [TWO OF THEM] (with five branches) occur in the episode where the Lord introduces Adam to his new wife; [13] while for the Temptation (Fall from Grace) episode, the trees are ornamental fronds* and the fruit spherical “apples.”[14]
https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm – [13] shows the two 5-cap Liberty Cap mushroom-trees.

* Not Liberty caps – as Bennett objects, yet Bennett fails to mention that the afformentioned panel “Create Eve” has two Liberty cap trees.

The Fungi-Pareidolia of The Psychedelic Gospels
By Chris Bennett, August 5, 2021
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/08/05/__trashed/
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/17/chris-bennett-entheogen-scholarship/#Pareidolia

[13] bold square brackets = online gallery url: https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm

Why Seven Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Bernward Doors & Column is Very Significant for Debate of Mushroom Imagery in Christian Art

Feb 2, 2025

After 2 days (weeks? months, since i been working on my Bernward webpage.
https://egodeaththeory.org/2023/05/27/bernward-doors-and-column-hildesheim/

it has been challenging and sometimes frustrating trying to follow and comprehend.

Ruck’s poetic prose in 2001 ConjEden article is very hard to follow: that article has ENORMOUS scope and they go in depth but that’s NOT ENOUGH to make sense: what is the bottom line?

Ruck group failed to communicate 100%; they only hit 90% or 7/8 clarity, thus the awful treatment -extremely awful treatment of Bernward by Letcher 2006 Shroom book, AS IF there were only a single mushroom-tree in Bernward instead of seven of them.

How many Lib Cap trees did Brown consider? 1?
Ruck 2001: 7 (says “Present Eve to Adam” has trees but doesn’t say 2 or 3 (it’s 2).
Stamets 1996: 1
Gartz 1996: 1
Samo 1998 1?
Bennett 2021: 1.

Bennett’s Criticism of Brown & Others Who Call “the” mushroom-tree “tree of knowledge”

The Fungi-Pareidolia of The Psychedelic Gospels
By Chris Bennett, August 5, 2021
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/08/05/__trashed/
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/17/chris-bennett-entheogen-scholarship/#Pareidolia

Last night [feb 1? 2025] i found that Bennett makes a valid point against Brown and accuses Brown and unnamed others of intellectual dishonesty and misrepresentation of Bernward.

It’s true Brown misrepresents Fall from Grace panel as if it shows tree of knowledge, when Bennett makes a sound argument that the tree there is not the tree of knowledge but is fig tree.

Bennett’s arg isn’t as strong as he presents.

Bennett makes a largely fair point, but his analysis is incomplete and inadequate, so he’s not in a good position to make the absolutist accusations against various interpreters.

Bennett fails to acknowledge the TWO lib cap trees in the panel ABOVE the non-mushroom tree of knowledge panel; in the Eve Presented to Adam panel.

Malformed Debate Positions Poorly Defined by Affirmers & Deniers

So much of the dispute comes down to MALFORMED DEBATE POSITIONS.

Affirmers and deniers both do a poor job of defining exactly what the optimal two debate positions are, so I have to always define them myself, in page:
Deniers’ Logical Fallacies in the Pilzbaum (Mushroom Trees) Debate

In any debate about mushroom imagery in Christian art, the first step is to carefully craft and define exactly what’s being asserted and what’s not being debated.

We are NOT debating whether the artist would agree that the images cause the viewer to think mushrooms — that is a GIVEN according to art historians themselves, the moment they coined their term, pilzbaum, mushroom-trees.

Debating whether the artist is a thick dull stupid denier, “I can’t imagine how the viewer would be made to think of mushrooms by my painting” is silly game-playing.

What is ACTUALLY under debate is whether the objectively mushroom-looking features of mushroom-trees are purposeful, not whether the artist is an imbecile.

The latter tactic direction is phony avoidance, and the deniers would lose the debate by shirking and changing the subject of contention to “the artist is too stupid to know that mushroom-trees look like mushrooms.” – irrelevant and unproductive.

Shut out that time-wasting game-playing by defining the two debate positions intelligently.

In each writer’s discussion of Bernward, how many Liberty Caps do they treat/acknowledge to exist between the Door & Col? guessing:

• Samo: 1
• Bennett: 1
• Brown 2016: 1
• Brown 2019: 1
• Ruck Conj Eden: 5-7

Ruck in Conj Eden is vague re: how many are in door panel 2 “Present Eve to Adam”. Ruck says plural but not how many (two). He REALLY should have advertised loudly:

There are seven Liberty Cap mushroom-trees total, in the left Bernward Door (three in two panels) and Bernward Column (four). As well as {mushroom hem}, liberty cap roofs, and mushroom roof toppers.

Misc. Notes

https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm — supplementary images for 2001 article Conjuring Eden article

Cursing of the Fig Tree, transcript, Bernward Column, Dom, Hildesheim..[20]

move to Column > [apoc incarn]?? section:

 Apocalypse-Incarnation, Bernward Gospel, Dom treasury, Hildesheim (and details).

Door: Blame scene: Because You Have Eaten the Fruit, the Snake Will Bite Your Heel (Bernward)

Revealed ultimate source of causal agency in a block universe with embedded snake-shaped, pre-existing worldlines frozen in rock (bronze).

todo: restore image here, Plaincourault

May 27 2023 11:46 pm – applying my “cap = non-branching ” analysis of our fly-agaric fresco, Eve covers {obscene, vulnerable leg-branching [branching-claim] exposed}. {cap} is considered non-branching in YI/YO morphology of branching-message mushroom trees.

[Jan. 31, 2025 qualification of the above: a cap containing a grid of Liberty Caps, in Great Canterbury Psalter, is to be read as “branching”.]

My initial observation upon seeing a good impressively big view of that above crop on larger screen, popped out at me, the caps covering their in… my very first thought:

What thing covers their branching legs? [Blame panel]

Is the thing they’re holding simply same as these caps of these psilocybin semi-lance-shaped mushroom trees? In Present Eve scene, rightmost tree, right side, middle: that crown matches Eve’s fig leaf in … this somewhat makes hash of out of Bennett’s objection, his over-rigid separation of trees by scene. He claims in Blame scene the tree is fig tree – but cap held by Eve matches tree in different panel, Present Eve panel.

Conjuring Edge 2001 article is not cited in book Shroom (2006 UK) by Andy Letcher.

Letcher only considers the 1, isolated Bernward image, from page 15 of Paul Stamets’ book Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World 1996.

Commissioning of the apostles [16] online pic. 
https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm 
https://entheomedia.net/Edenpics2/16commish.jpg. p29

[5:44 am Dec 4 2024] I discovered a couple things:

1) Letcher in book Shroom isolates the Blame panel of Bernward, and doesn’t cite Conj Eden. But ConjEden ALSO shows a second mushroom art in Bern: p. 30, “21. Christ Commisssionting the Apostles. Jesus’ haloed head replaces mushroom cap. Bernward Column” –

2) Jesus’ halo is aimed at by CUT BRANCH. Jesus is made = cut branch. todo: do i have that pic at this site? [added it now, below: photo of Entheos page 30]. An image is mentioned but not shown at https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2023/05/27/bernward-doors-and-column-hildesheim/ – see “Letcher” at that page, and click the Image Search links there.

That’s a May 27, 2023 page (I’m listening to Egodeath Mystery Show new Ep263b = recorded on May 23, 2023, listening on Dec 4 2024).

eg: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/M2A0DA/transfiguration-of-jesus-romanesque-bronze-relief-on-the-bernward-M2A0DA.jpg – again in YET ANOTHER liberty cap image from Bernward, cut branch points at Jesus’ halo. [5:56 am Dec. 4, 2024] —

https://entheomedia.net/Edenpics2/19fig.jpg – cursing fig tree: ~~ panel

See various Bernward pics at https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm – a couple shown below. Read pp. 29-31 of Conjuring Eden – important notes about meaning of branching.

In “Conjuring Eden” pp. 29-31, Hoffman/Ruck/Staples thinks {cut branch} of pilzbaum means “indication that the person ate the mushroom”.

Actually, mainly, {cut branch} means non-branching, means psychedelic eternalism.

There Are Seven Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees in Bernward Doors and Column

From top of page https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm:

“As cited and cued in the article
Conjuring Eden: Art and the Entheogenic Vision of Paradise
Entheos: Vol. 1 Issue 1, Summer 2001.
By Carl A.P. Ruck, Blaise D. Staples, Mark Hoffman

Images 11-20
Jump to images 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50“

The image range links are for other online images for the long article.

All the Bernward images are in page eden2.htm, which contains images 11-20, of which
Bernward door = images 13-14
Bernward column = images 15-18

I added here my own WordPress gallery copies of pics from https://entheomedia.net/eden2.htm as alt to linking pngs from Entheos site.

Numbering of Eden panels on Left Bernward Door

1. God creates Eve from Adam’s right side rib.
2. God introduces Eve to Adam. 2 Liberty Cap trees.
3. Eat tree of knowledge.
4. Blame. 1 Liberty Cap tree.
5. Kick out.
6. Work land.
7. Lamb and grain offering.
8. First murder.

Number of Plants on Each Panel of Left Bernward Door

1. God creates Eve from Adam’s right side rib.
2. God introduces Eve to Adam. 2 Liberty Cap trees.
3. Eat tree of knowledge. tree of knowledge not Lib Cap; 2 other plants.
4. Blame. Liberty Cap tree, 3 other plants.
5. Kick out. 3 plants.
6. Work land. ~3 plants.
7. Abel lamb offering. Cain grain offering. 2 sky plants, 2 ground plants.
8. Cain kills Abel. 0 plants.

• Door: Panel 2: Eve Given to Adam: 2 Liberty Cap trees <– Bennett IGNORES
• Door: Panel 3: Eat Tree: 0 Liberty Cap trees <– Bennett HIGHLIGHTS

Which authors write as if door has 1 Lib Cap tree only? Everyone. Not Conj Eden, it’s almost perfect but fails to say how many are in the marry panel its 2, so … art should

Should say total is 8 – it was very hard to follow Ruck committee writing.

Who treats Bernward as if ONLY the Blame panel has a Liberty Cap – taboo special FALL OF MAN ORIGINAL SIN PSILOCYBIN converts you from enlightened eternalism-thinking Right foot (Canter. f11 eden Row 3 Middle “Do Not Eat” – then when Eat, 3 Right, they stand on a single combined foot and have wrong hand?

The “Isolate Each Instance” Fallacy

Explain away each instance by ad hoc dismissal of each instance in isolation. Act like a given art work only contains 1 instance – in all Bernward art, only discuss and acknolwedge 1 instance of mushroom imagery.

But “A single instance is an anomaly; two instances is a Pattern. – Cybermonk” Does Shroom cite ConjEden, which covers 2 or 3 instances in Bernward? The Column contains multiple liberty cap trees – add these to the Door Blame scene’s liberty cap tree, that’s at least THREE liberty cap trees =- all with cut branch – by Bernward, not one, per Letcher 2006.

Brown 2016 shows how many Bernward mushroom trees? Here’s yet ANOTHER on column: https://c8.alamy.com/comp/M2A0BA/jesus-cleansing-a-leper-romanesque-bronze-relief-on-the-bernward-column-M2A0BA.jpg

Entheogen Scholarship Books

Book: The Psychedelic Gospels, Brown 2016, p. 157 shows the full doors. See Bernward’s column, too.

url search: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bernward+bronze+doors

url search: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=bernward+bronze+column

url https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernward_Column

column and chandelier forming a mushroom: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernward_Column#/media/File%3AHildesheim-Christussaeule-Rekonstruktionszeichnung.png

further proof of no mushrooms in Christian art, because Too Many Pilzbaum: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_man_and_Lazarus#/media/File%3AMeister_des_Codex_Aureus_Epternacensis_001.jpg

The Letcher Argument: Official Christian Art Cannot Contain the Secret Counterculture Mushroom

Letcher causally assumes a wall into existence, taking for granted a wall between official art & mushroom imagery, while boasting of methodology)

Letcher’s Generic Vague Non-Reply to my Book Review

I badly need to re-read my book review of Shroom. I’ll post a new page expanding the below.

http://andy-letcher.blogspot.com/2016/06/shroom-ten-years-on.html — A generic non-reply to my harsh book review 2007.

Letcher gives totally vague bragging of his big methodology — vapid claims — he presents a circular argument arguably, and claims that “they”[???] / “et al”[???] theorize with a smaller methodology.

He makes naive facile claim that “they” use a circular argument, apparently doesn’t know all theories are circular.

According to my theory, your methodology claim is vapor, blowing smoke.

He screws up at Step 1: assume your premise.

Letcher assumes premise and accuses “them” of assuming the premise:

Letcher unthinkingly assumes the debate is “whether there was a SECRET history tradition cultural valuing of religious use of magic mushrooms[?]”.

Whoever had the bright idea to WELD some confused, wrong network of presuppositions, “secret cult”. Ans: Graves, Wasson, Allegro, Ruck. Not Stamets, not Gartz.

Who ever said we should be debating over whether or not there was a secret cult?

You’re missing the relevant points.

The goal is explain myth and motifs.

Myth and art depict psilocybin transformation from possibilism to eternalism mental worldmodel transformation in loose cog state, per my 1988 theory — not the “analogical” component (1998+), but the remaining/ original 3 components:

The theory of [analogical] psychedelic eternalism cybernetics.

In 1988, I would have said alternative words:

The “loose cognition, block universe, cybernetics” theory of ego transcendence.

Letcher’s book Shroom falsely argues that the mushroom tree in the Forbidden Fruit panel can’t mean mushrooms, because the doors are a coherent structured design by mainstream institutional Christianity, and therefore cannot be secret mushrooms inserted covertly by the underground heretical fringe sect cult of the mushroom.

Letcher’s key words extracted, compared to key words of Stamets & Gartz:
Idea development page 24:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/29/idea-development-24/#taxonomical-facsimile-of-Liberty-cap

If Letcher admitted there are multiple panels with psilocybin mushrooms, he’d use instead the prejudiced Panofsky argument: this one mushroom tree can’t mean a mushroom, because there are many.

Heads I win, tails you lose.

Letcher’s book is a reaction against Letcher’s own fanboyism of McKenna in Letcher’s 20s.

Like Hatsis is a simplistic flipping against Hatsis’s own Allegro fanboyism.

Like a low-grade atheist is a flipping against one’s own previous low-grade Christian apologetics.

Only a “disciple Allegro” (Hatsis) can so assume that his social-type opponents are “disciples of Allegro”, just like he himself was.

Hatsis remains forever still trapped in his same little Allegro bubble.

Letcher 2006 is stuck within his own little same paradigm bubble of the pop quest for a tradition history of spiritual/ religious psilocybin/ Amanita use.

Letcher’s rebuttal of that Wasson/ Allegro/ Ruck/ McKenna “secret forgotten underground” paradigm remains stuck within that paradigm. Confusion results.

A malformed pair of assumptions about interpretation options of the Bernward doors and column results.

Letcher mis-reasons that there are only two options: Either there’s “secret mushroom cult imagery hidden covertly in art”, or else, the “historical tradition of secret mushroom cult” theory is false.

Hatsis copy/pastes this exact same confusion about what ideas are thinkable.

The Theory of Psychedelic Eternalism covers these theory-elements, but in a more conscious, adept way. There was some secrecy. But that’s not a foundation emphasized in any way with a role in my theory.

The foundational emphasis of the Theory of Psychedelic Eternalism is:

Myth is depiction by analogy of the ultimate effect of psilocybin-induced loose cognition, producing mental worldmodel transformation from possibilism to eternalism.

Note the utter lack of Sociology or Anthropology theory thought-constraining paradigms in my stripped-down approach that starts NOT from a social theory of “sect cult secret suppressed counterculture underground” or Irvin’s “suggestogens”, but rather, start from cognitive theory and myth as analogy depicting that cognitive transformation – the two experiential mental models, the later one formed by loosening mental construct processing.

In 1998, I needed Mr. Jesus & Mr. Paul to corroborate my core theory about how the mind transforms in the loose cognitive binding state.

But I immediately found that Jesus & Paul didn’t exist, so I instead looked for myth to corroborate the Cybernetic Theory of Ego Transcendence, or psychedelic eternalism.

That was consistently successful.

In 2020-2023, I adjusted the “articulation” (Kuhn) of my core theory, at an interface layer (the mytheme theory), to better map mythemes and art motifs (part of the “data” per Kuhn) to the Cybernetic Theory of Ego Transcendence (psychedelic eternalism) (my 2- or 4-phase model of mental worldmodel transformation).

My 1997 mature Core theory is of how the mind transforms (the real nature of ego transcendence), from loosecog from psychedelics.

My 2023 mature Mytheme theory is of how myth describes that mental transformation from loosecog from psilocybin.

We must differentiate the theory elements: use of psilocybin; secret; use of psilocybin for inebriation; use of psilocybin for religious/ mystical/ spiritual use.

Irvin 2022 God’s Flesh rebuts the spiritual use of psilocybin in mesoamerica. Wasson lied and fabricated that type of usage, Irvin concludes based on the old texts.

Separate the sheer use of psilocybin (signalled by Amanita vivid imagery) vs. the “secrecy” premise, which is shorthand for the assumption of sociology/anthroology theory that the SOCIAL world is always structured as mainstream ignorant prohibitionists pitted against underground psilocybin/Amanita users;

secrecy (mainstream vs. counterculture)

mystical spiritual religious use of psilocybin/Amanita

sheer use eg inebriation/ for altered-state use of Psilocybin/Amanita

Cybermonk 11am Sat May 27 2023 after voice recording – I laid out entheogen scholarship books by date, and discussed the theories of Amanita & psilocybin history which Letcher 2006 variously rebuts.

Entheogen Scholarship Books I Surveyed May 27, 2023

Chris Bennett: Affirmers of Blame Panel 4 Fail to Say Eat Tree panel 3 lacks Lib Cap tree: BUT, Bennett Fails to Say “Eve Given to Adam” (panel 2 of 8) has TWO Lib Cap trees!

Letcher’s key words extracted, compared to key words of Stamets & Gartz:
Idea development page 24:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/29/idea-development-24/#taxonomical-facsimile-of-Liberty-cap

copying from idea development 24:

Jan 31 2025

There are 7 Liberty Cap Trees in Bernward Door/Column: Not 1 as in Letcher, Bennett, and Many Other Treatments

Everyone Fails to Mention Fail to Mention Additional Panel of Bern Door w/ Two Liberty Cap Trees

Stamets p. 15 PMofW doesn’t mention the Eve Given to Adam panel, containing two Liberty Cap trees.

Gartz, Samorini, Ruck[? confirm Conj Eden]

Correction: Bern Bernward door liberty cap mushroom-tree Adam Meet Eve panel & Blame panel

Wikipedia Photo of Bernward Doors

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Bernwardst%C3%BCr.jpg

Bennett’s Treatment of the One Tree of Bernward Door: Wrong Panel, So Bernward Doesn’t Count

Some critic – Bennett? check: find “bernward”: FOUND IT, an important passage,

• quotes Brown re: door.
• quotes Samo re: door.

those q’s are interesting but I’m interested in the logic of Bennett’s rebuttal.

The Fungi-Pareidolia of The Psychedelic Gospels
By Chris Bennett, August 5, 2021
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2021/08/05/__trashed/

todo: paste entire passage by Bennett: just CB’s rebuttal:

Bennett wrote:

“this panel on ‘The Door of Salvation’ with similar claims, leave out the proceeding panel, which is clearly depicting the ingestion of the temptation of the forbidden fruit, and instead use the panel that follows that one, which shows the covering themselves in fig leaves, which is what the panel being used for the suggestion of mushroom imagery, actually represents.

“In the depiction Eve is using the same material that is on the tips of the branches which are being interpreted as ‘mushrooms’ to cover herself.

“In the proceeding panel [#3, Eat Tree], we can see Eve being tempted by the serpent who holds the classic apple in his mouth, and her offering it to Adam from a tree that has no indication of mushrooms.”

“Clearly the proceeding panel,[#3, Eat Tree] with the classic forbidden apples is depicting the ingestion of the forbidden fruit.

“The panel [#4, Blame] being used by the Brown’s for the mushroom like imagery of the trees, is in no way connected to the forbidden tree of knowledge, but is instead a tree from which fig leaves were broken off and Adam and Eve covered themselves.

“and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves”.

“As the Browns took the trouble to visit St. Michaels in person, I think it remains without question, that they left out this panel [#3, Eat Tree] which shows the forbidden tree as a the classic apple tree, and the actual ingestion of the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve.”

LIKE BENNETT LEAVES OUT THE TWO-LIBERTY-CAP TREES PANEL [#2 of 8, Eve Given to Adam] ABOVE THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE PANEL.

“There is no indication the mushroom like trees are connected besides serving as a source of ‘fig leaves’ for their covering.”

Sure, Chris – go that direction, ok, let’s look at THREE panels: including the one above Chris’ crop.

Eden panels:

1. God creates Eve from Adam’s right side rib. Trees: __
2. God introduces Eve to Adam. 2 Liberty Cap trees.
3. Eat tree of knowledge. tree of knowledge not Lib Cap; 2 other plants.
4. Blame. Liberty Cap tree, 3 other plants.
5. Kick out. 3 plants.
6. Work land. ~3 plants.
7. Abel lamb offering. Cain grain offering. 2 sky plants, 2 ground plants.
8. Cain kills Abel. 0 plants.

Genesis 4:1–18 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204%3A1%E2%80%9318&version=NIV

what the F! did Chris NOT NOTICE that above the two panels that he details, there is an ADDITIONAL TWO Lib Cap trees?

Read entire passage in his article re: all points about Bern Doo Bernward door liberty cap mushroom-tree Blame panel, Bernward column four liberty cap mushroom-trees.

Eadwine: Hands and Feet in “Do Not Eat” & “Eat” Panels

[Jan. 31-Feb.1, 2025]

Do Not: God: L hand down
Do Not: Eve: R hand down, L hand up touching halo
Do Not: Adam: R hand down

Do Not: God: R foot down
Do Not: Eve: R foot down
Do Not: Adam: R foot down touching God’s R foot

Eat: Eve: L hand down
Eat: Adam: L hand down

Eat: Eve: Right foot down
Eat: Adam: L foot down

Jan 30 2025 where the heck did i put my pics of the 4 Lib Caps per Conj Eden on Bern Door early 2025??

Jeez HIDDEN SECRET scholarship:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2024/12/03/quotes-for-course-correction-of-entheogen-scholarship/#Bernward-Column-Liberty-Cap-Tree-1

A quick copy from there to here: dup content is bad, but obviously the present spot (Bernward article) is the master copy (not the idea development 24 page).

See Also

The Seven Liberty Cap Mushroom-Trees of the Bernward Doors and Column
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/02/10/the-seven-liberty-cap-mushroom-trees-of-the-bernward-doors-and-column/

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardDoors.html

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardColumn.html

https://egodeaththeory.org/2023/05/27/bernward-doors-and-column-hildesheim/

Carved Doors of Santa Sabina, Rome
https://cyberdisciple.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/carved-doors-of-santa-sabina-rome/

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardDoors.html

https://www.kornbluthphoto.com/BernwardColumn.html

Lots of content in my current active idea development page 24 that should be copied into the present article:
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/29/idea-development-24/#conj-eden-count-bernward
https://egodeaththeory.org/2025/01/29/idea-development-24/#Shroom-Page-35

Before there were links:

Dead End – No Links – fixed stars boundary of cosmic page 🌌

♄🌌

♄🚪🌌

🪐🐑🔥🗡🐉🗝🚪🪨🌌💎🚪🏆👼🔥🔥🔥