Branching-message mushroom trees: The theory of psychedelic eternalism represented in medieval art

Michael Hoffman, 1:35 a.m. Feb. 17, 2026 – draft article for the Journal of Psychedelic Studies​

Contents:

The Theory of Psychedelic Eternalism

https://egodeaththeory.org/2026/02/02/idea-development-page-33/#email-to-cyberdisciple-106-a.m.-feb.-17-2026

An interesting IDEA for the title: add “and mytheme analogy”:

Branching-message mushroom trees: The theory of psychedelic eternalism and mytheme analogy represented in medieval art

Branching-message mushroom trees: The Egodeath theory of psychedelic eternalism and mytheme analogy represented in medieval art

The phrase “and mytheme analogy” is not needed in the title, because it’s redundant with the words:

  • trees
  • represented in
  • medieval art

No net gain by adding more words.

Rules of the Hand-Shape Game

Branching: A Powerful Concept, Analogy, tech term, everyday term, and notation, to represent and relate ordinary-state possibilism & altered-state eternalism

https://egodeaththeory.org/nav/#YI-Shapes-Hands-Trees

{mushroom}, {branching}, {handedness}, and {stability} motifs

Mushroom motifs

copy from church article

Branching motifs

copy from church article

Handedness motifs

copy from church article

Stability motifs

copy from church article

Gallery

All images are from Great Canterbury Psalter; EASIER, justified. My life is dedic to maximizing my experties on expertise on Great Canterbury Psalter suppl’d w/ other images.

best thing inane Huggins did was not his garbage throwawy arg’n not worth taking seiously – Day 4 = trees WTF this is B S! Day 3 not mushroom because branches which look exact mushroom? INANE ARG! or, an inane SILENCE A SUSPCIOUS BIASED SILENCE. How can Hug say day 3 has branches yet fail to point out OBVIOUS objection that each of 2 branch exact match arg? I DON’T WAST TIME ON BAD FAITH OBVIOUS STUPID ARGS OBV FALLACIOUS.

I WILL INDIRECTLY rebut Huggins by simply writin, ‘each branch mateches mushroom”; “day 4 plants lack branches and are exact mushroom” — no Denier has mentioned this! so, ignore deniers, and imp simply mention this, shutting Deniers down.

Lame Affirmers of mushroom imagery in Christian art

Lame Deniers of mushroom imagery in Christian art

Waste of time. Teach, instead.

copy from church article

some of my annotated images, like day 1+4; day 3 markup; {hand mushroom-tree} 107 & 109

body of article has crops with markup annot

Gallery at end has full pics: like church article, top half page + bottom half page.

References

Journal of Psychedelic Studies​
https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2023/04/09/journal-of-psychedelic-studies/ – todo: assess

Barrett, Frederick; Bradstreet, Matthew; Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie; Johnson, Matthew; Griffiths, Roland. (2016). The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms. https://www.academia.edu/33760114/The_Challenging_Experience_Questionnaire_Characterization_of_challenging_experiences_with_psilocybin_mushrooms

Bricklin, Jonathan. (2016). The Illusion of Will, Self, and Time: William James’s Reluctant Guide to Enlightenment. SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology. https://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Will-Self-Time-Enlightenment/dp/143845628X/

Brinckmann, Albert. (1906). Baumstilisierungen in der mittelalterlichen Malerei (Tree Stylizations in Medieval Paintings).
https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_8AgwAAAAYAAJ/ Partial translation to English: https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/12/11/brinckmann-mushroom-trees-asymmetrical-branching/

Brown, Jerry; Brown, Julie. (2016). The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity. https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-Gospels-History-Hallucinogens-Christianity/dp/1620555026/

Brown, Jerry; Brown, Julie (2019). Entheogens in Christian art: Wasson, Allegro, and the Psychedelic Gospels. Journal of Psychedelic Studies,
Volume 3: Issue 2, pp. 142–163. https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2019.019

Brown, Jerry (2022). Christianity’s Psychedelic History: Reply to Thomas Hatsis’ Review of The Psychedelic Gospels. https://grahamhancock.com/brownj1/

Camilla, Gilberto; Gosso, Fulvio. (2007 (Vol. 1), 2016 (Vol. 2)). Allucinogeni e Cristianesimo: Evidenze nell’arte sacre (Hallucinogens and Christianity: Evidence in Sacred Art). Gilberto Camilla and Fulvio Gosso Books on Psychedelics and History of States of Consciousness

Davis, Erik. (2005). Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin IV (33 1/3). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826416586/

9: Fuller, A. (1986). James Clerk Maxwell’s Glasgow manuscripts: extracts relating to control and stability. International Journal of Control, 43:5, 1593-1612. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207178608933561

8: Hatsis, Thomas. (2013). Roasting the Salamander: Mushroom Cult Theorists vs. Critical Historical Inquiry. Includes appendixes and original title.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160218214557/http://arspsychedelia.com/uploads/3/2/1/4/3214063/roasting_the_salamander.pdf

10: Hoffman, Mark; Ruck, Carl; Staples, Blaise (2001), Conjuring Eden: Art and the Entheogenic Vision of Paradise, Entheos 1(1), pages 13-50; additional images: https://entheomedia.net/eden1.htm

8: Hoffman, Michael. (1996). The Bubble of Simulation: Subjective Experience as a Virtual Environment. Crash Collusion. http://egodeath.com/BubbleOfSimulation.htm

10: Hoffman, Michael. (1997). Self-control Cybernetics, Dissociative Cognition, & Mystic Ego Death: The Cybernetic Theory of Ego Transcendence. Principia Cybernetica website. https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/11/30/self-control-cybernetics-dissociative-cognition-mystic-ego-death/

9: Hoffman, Michael. (2006). Wasson and Allegro on the Tree of Knowledge as Amanita. Journal of Higher Criticism. http://egodeath.com/WassonEdenTree.htm

10: Hoffman, Michael. (2007). The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death. Salvia Divinorum, Issue 4. http://egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm

Hoffman, Michael. (2020a). Defining “Compelling Evidence” & “Criteria of Proof” for Mushrooms in Christian Art. Egodeaththeory.wordpress.com. https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/defining-compelling-evidence-criteria-of-proof-for-mushrooms-in-christian-art/

Hoffman, Michael. (2020b). Proof that the Canterbury Psalter’s Leg-Hanging Mushroom Tree Is Psilocybe. Egodeaththeory.wordpress.com. https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/proof-canterbury-psalters-mushroom-trees-are-psilocybe/

9: Hoffman, Michael (2023). Erwin Panofsky’s Letters to Gordon Wasson, Transcribed. Egodeaththeory.wordpress.com. https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2025/01/07/panofskys-letters-to-wasson-transcribed/

8: Hofstadter, Douglas. (1995). Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought. https://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Concepts-Creative-Analogies-Fundamental/dp/0465051545/

8: Hofstadter, Douglas; Sander. Emmanuel. (2013). Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking. https://www.amazon.com/Surfaces-Essences-Analogy-Fuel-Thinking/dp/0465018475/

7: Houot, A.M. (2019). Toward a Philosophy of Psychedelic Technology: An Exploration of Fear, Otherness, and Control.
https://www.academia.edu/38583547/Toward_a_Philosophy_of_Psychedelic_Technology_An_Exploration_of_Fear_Otherness_and_Control

7: Huggins, Ronald (2022). Dizzy, Dancing or Dying? The Misappropriation of MS. Bodl. 602, fol. 27v, as ‘Evidence’ for Psychedelic Mushrooms in Christian Art. FRAGMENTS Journal 1.1: 1-25. https://www.academia.edu/74021123/_Dizzy_Dancing_or_Dying_The_Misappropriation_of_MS_Bodl_602_fol_27v_as_Evidence_for_Psychedelic_Mushrooms_in_Christian_Art_

9: Huggins, Ronald (2024). Foraging for Psychedelic Mushrooms in the Wrong Forest: The Great Canterbury Psalter as a Medieval Test Case. Bible in the Arts, #8. 33 pages. https://www.academia.edu/118659519/Foraging_for_Psychedelic_Mushrooms_in_the_Wrong_Forest_The_Great_Canterbury_Psalter_as_a_Medieval_Test_Case; .pdf from journal: https://cms.ibep-prod.com/app/uploads/sites/18/2024/05/BiKu_2024_02_Huggins_Mushrooms-2.pdf; journal: https://www.die-bibel.de/en/bia-biku-volume-8-2024.

7: Huggins, Ronald (2025). On John M. Allegro’s Suggestion That the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the 12th Century Plaincourault Chapel Depicts an Amanita muscaria Mushroom. Religions, Issue: 11, Volume: 16.
https://doi.org/10.3390/REL16111374 https://www.academia.edu/144814668/On_John_M_Allegros_Suggestion_That_the_Tree_of_the_Knowledge_of_Good_and_Evil_in_the_12th_Century_Plaincourault_Chapel_Depicts_an_Amanita_muscaria_Mushroom

10: Irvin, Jan. (2008). The Holy Mushroom: Evidence of Mushrooms in Judeo-Christianity. https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Mushroom-Evidence-Mushrooms-Judeo-Christianity/dp/1439215170/

7: Janikian, Michelle. (2019). Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion: An Informative, Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Magic Mushrooms—From Tips and Trips to Microdosing and Psychedelic Therapy. https://www.amazon.com/Psilocybin-Mushroom-Companion-Easy-Mushrooms/dp/1646043901/

7: Johnson, Matthew. (2022). Introduction: Psychedelic Science Needs Philosophy. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences, 3. https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2022.9452

Johnson, Matthew; Richards, William; Griffiths, Roland. (2008). Human Hallucinogen Research: Guidelines for Safety. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22, 603-620. 22(6):603-20. doi: 10.1177/0269881108093587. Epub 2008 Jul 1. PMID: 18593734; PMCID: PMC3056407. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056407/

9: Johnstad, Petter. (2021). Day Trip to Hell: A Mixed Methods Study of Challenging Psychedelic Experiences, Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 5(2), 114-127. https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2021.00155

9: Kang, Chul-Goo. (2016). Origin of Stability Analysis: “On Governors” by J.C. Maxwell [Historical Perspectives]. IEEE Control Systems. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7569049

10: Lash, John. (2008). The Discovery of a Lifetime. http://metahistory.org/Discovery.php.

Mâle, Emile. (1913). Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century: A Study in Mediaeval Iconography and its Sources of Inspiration.

9: Maxwell, James. (1868). On Governors. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspl.1867.0055

7: Mayr, Otto. (1970). The Origins of Feedback Control. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origins-of-feedback-control/

8: Mayr, Otto. (1971). Maxwell and the Origins of Cybernetics. Isis 62.4: 425–444. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Maxwell-and-the-Origins-of-Cybernetics-Mayr/1e4371dfda1fd1ee630371fe6af8c4e4626f3477
https://www.google.com/search?q=Mayr+%22Maxwell+and+the+origins+of+cybernetics%22
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/350788?journalCode=isis

8: Metzner, Ralph. (1998). The Unfolding Self: Varieties of Transformative Experience. Previously published as Opening to Inner Light, 1986.

8: Minkowski, Hermann. (2021 (1908)). Spacetime: Minkowski’s Papers on Spacetime Physics. https://www.amazon.com/Spacetime-Minkowskis-Papers-Physics/dp/1989970435/

7: Minsky, Marvin. (1985). Society of Mind. https://www.amazon.com/Society-Mind-Marvin-Minsky/dp/0671657135/

9: Nigel Morgan (Honorary Professor of the History of Art, Cambridge University), Rosa Alcoy (University of Barcelona) and Klaus Reinhardt (Trier University). Molieri commentary, 296 pages, about Great Canterbury Psalter:
https://www.moleiro.com/en/biblical-books/the-great-canterbury-psalter
The Great Canterbury Psalter (Anglo-Catalan Psalter) Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, Shelf mark: Lat. 8846. Date: 13th/14th C.
Size: ± 480 x 332 mm.
The GCP repro’n is 356 pages and more than 140 miniatures embellished with gold.
190 ornamental letters upon gold ground with plants motifs.
Bound in brown leather. Leather case.
Full-color commentary volume (296 p.) by Nigel Morgan (Honorary Professor of the History of Art, Cambridge University), Rosa Alcoy (University of Barcelona) and Klaus Reinhardt (Trier University).
Unique and unrepeatable first edition, strictly limited to 987 numbered and authenticated copies.
ISBN: 978-84-96400-09-2 (gcp or commentary?)

9: Panofsky, Erwin (1952a & b). Letters to R. Gordon Wasson, May 2, 1952 & May 12, 1952. Wasson Archives, Harvard University Herbarium, Cambridge, Mass. Tina and R. Gordon Wasson Ethnomycological Collection Archives, ecb00001, series IV, drawer W3.2, folder 20. Botany Libraries, Economic Botany Library of Oakes Ames, Harvard University. Published in Brown & Brown 2019.

Ruck, Carl; Staples, Blaise. (2001). The World of Classical Myth: Gods and Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes. https://www.amazon.com/World-Classical-Myth-Goddesses-Heroines/dp/0890895759/

9: Rudy Rucker (2014 (1984)). The Fourth Dimension: Toward a Geometry of Higher Reality. https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Dimension-Geometry-Reality-Science/dp/0486779785/

7: Rush, John. (2022). Jesus, Mushrooms, and the Origin of Christianity. https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Mushrooms-Origin-Christianity-John/dp/B09VWP4CV1/

9: Giorgio Samorini (1997). The Mushroom-Tree of Plaincourault. Eleusis 8: 29-37. https://www.samorini.it/doc1/sam/sam%20plaincourault.pdf

10: Giorgio Samorini (1998). “Mushroom-Trees” in Christian Art. Eleusis new series, 1:87-108. https://www.samorini.it/doc1/sam/sam-alberifungo-1998.pdf

Sanders, James; Zijlmans, Josjan. (2021). Moving Past Mysticism in Psychedelic Science. American Chemical Society (ACS) Pharmacology & Translational Science. 2021, 4, 3, 1253–1255. Publication Date: May 4, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsptsci.1c00097

+Savitt, Steven, “Being and Becoming in Modern Physics”, section “2.1: Presentism, Possibilism, Eternalism”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2024 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2024/entries/spacetime-bebecome#PresPossEter.

+Thagaard, Paul. (1992). Conceptual Revolutions. Table of contents: https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/11/15/conceptual-revolutions/ https://www.amazon.com/Conceptual-Revolutions-Paul-Thagard/dp/0691087458/

+Watts, Alan. (1960). Zen and the Problem of Control. In This Is It. https://www.amazon.com/This-Other-Essays-Spiritual-Experience/dp/0394719042/

Wiener, Norbert. (1948). Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. https://www.amazon.com/Cybernetics-Second-Control-Communication-Machine/dp/1684931150/

Wikipedia. Control theory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_theory

Wikipedia. Cybernetics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

Wilber, Ken. (2001 (1983)). Eye to Eye. In Eye to Eye, Revised 3rd Edition. https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Quest-New-Paradigm/dp/157062741X/

+Williams, Michael. (1997). The Immovable Race: Gnostic Designation and the Theme of Stability in Late Antiquity. https://www.amazon.com/Immovable-Race-Designation-Stability-Antiquity/dp/9004075976/ Google Scholar: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Immovable_Race/RwrwgcHz1_MC

Zevit, Ziony. (2013). What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden? https://www.amazon.com/What-Really-Happened-Garden-Eden/dp/0300178697/

See Also

Unknown's avatar

Author: egodeaththeory

http://egodeath.com

Leave a comment