The Absolute High Dose, to – by Sheer Brute Force of Extreme Overdose – Bust into the Elite Club of Famous Mystics, Who Wrote that “Blah Blah…
Seemingly self-parody of a podcast guest who talks always & exclusively in terms of “the Absolute” and “high dose”, and can’t give you the time of day without reverently citing the profundities of some famous Great Mystic at length, while completely botching and ignoring the Egodeath theory.
My entire project of creating the Egodeath theory was because of quickly assessing in 1985 that these mystics are not wrong, but have nothing useful to contribute. No wonder they have a disease in their field, of burning all their writings as worthless. They are correct.
How valuable are my 5 blank books that I wrote and got rid of? My initial 5 notebooks that I wrote Oct 1985-March 1987 would be of historical interest only, of, my initial approach, which didn’t work: egoic thinking chastising itself to try harder. Spiritual self-help.
Citing “M. Hoffman” to Differentiate from “M. Hoffman”
To differentiate between Mark Hoffman, Michael Hoffman, and Michael Hoffman, I clarify by abbreviating as follows:
“M. Hoffman” –> refers to Mark Hoffman
“M. Hoffman” –> refers to Michael Hoffman
“M. Hoffman” –> refers to the other Michael Hoffman
Hope this helps.
Universal Decoding of Every Mytheme
General Decoding Guide:
The rock alter of sacrifice refers to you.
The sacrificial knife refers to you.
The bull in the tauroctony refers to you.
Sol steering the chariot in the tauroctony refers to you.
Luna refers to you.
The grain sprouting from the bull’s tail refers to you.
The two torchbearers shining light on the mind’s goings-on are you.
The snake carved in rock below the bull is you.
Mithras refers to you.
Mithras in a tree refers to you.
Mithras turning to the right to look up and back behind him to look at Sol and simultaneously insert the blade into the bull’s shoulder wounding it, refers to you.
The caduceus held by Hermes or by the torchbearer Cautopates refers to you.
The lion-headed snake-wrapped rock figure refers to you.
General Decoding Guide:
{snake} refers to transformation of the mental worldmodel from possibilism to eternalism, using description by analogy, in the mystic altered state.
{skeleton} as in Eve in the Plaincourault image, refers to transformation of the mental worldmodel from possibilism to eternalism, using description by analogy, in the mystic altered state. Brown’s explanation or decoding of {skeleton} gives this level or type of explanation.
{king} refers to transformation of the mental worldmodel from possibilism to eternalism, using description by analogy, in the mystic altered state.
{mixed wine banqueting} refers to transformation of the mental worldmodel from possibilism to eternalism, using description by analogy, in the mystic altered state.
Hope this helps.
It is called a general decoding guide. And I here deliver on that promise.
In this image from the Canterbury Psalter, the theme is:
right foot grounded = right foot/hand/limb/branch = good = enlightened = eternalism-thinking = stable personal self-control system (monopossibliity).
left foot grounded = left foot/hand/limb/branch = bad = deluded = possibilism-thinking = unstable personal self-control system (illusion of egoic control steering in a branching-possibilities tree).
I’m Calling Your Bluff — “Andy Letcher” & “Tom Hatsis” Are Clearly the Same Guy
You can’t fool me — either “Andy Letcher” is nothing but a pseudonym used by the actual person Tom Hatsis, or else “Tom Hatsis” is nothing but a psyeudonym used by the actual person Andy Letcher.
They commit the exact same fallacies in their books, when they fumblingly attempt to address the good, broad question “To what extent mushrooms in Christianity”, which they conflate like a motherf*cker with the specific, narrow, bad, invented-and-perpetuated-by-them, strawman position, “the secret Amanita cult theory”.
The only person I know of in the field of mushroom scholarship who is trying hard to spread the idea of a “secret Amanita cult theory” is one Mr. Letcher Hatsis himself, to create an easy-to-shoot-down, easy target, an obviously bad theory, to make himself look good.
Actually, much of the blame goes to Allegro, Wasson, Irvin, and Ruck. Letcher Hatsis is responding to a garbled situation in the field, a situation which has its roots in:
Allegro’s malicious intent on embarrassing and discrediting Christianity.
Wasson’s defensive reaction against Allegro, by censoring mushrooms in Christian art and doing a cover-up operation on behalf of the Pope.
Irvin’s uncritical cheerleading of Allegro, around 2010. Irvin overemphasized Amanita at the expense of Cubensis and Liberty Caps, setting up a bad situation for opportunist Letcher Hatsis to push against to make himself look good.
Ruck’s ridiculous overuse of the concept ‘secret’, which he doesn’t understand. Maybe for sensationalist marketing reasons. Letcher Hatsis is rightly pushing against this, as am I; but he is sloppy, failing to differentiate between some 5-7 distinct issues/questions, and equating ‘secret cult spread’ with the entire field, the entire set of broad, neutral, well-specified, and narrow/specific questions such as:
To what extent mushrooms in Greek & Christian religion & culture?
To what extent mushrooms in Christianity?
To what extent was the Eucharist recognized as mushrooms?
I sarcastically refer to Cubensis, Liberty Caps, and Amanita mushrooms in Greek & Christian art as “Parasols of Victory”, mocking the “Anything But Drugs” interpretation bias — a bias which has literally become a joke, making the progenitors of this obvious fallacy a laughingstock.
Inconsistently changing the claim/objective/scope. slip-n-slide
Conflating one case (Amanita) with all possible cases (Cubensis forms, Liberty Cap forms, & Amanita forms) and silently flipping back and forth between the two different scopes as if they are the same scope.
Conflating some 7 distinct questions, as if it’s a given — needing no careful definition — the position of “secret Amanita cult” theory vs. the broad entire set of distinct questions, such as 5-7 distinct questions to be broken out from the broad question, “To what extent mushrooms in Greek & Christian religion & culture?”
Letcher & Hatsis, and Allegro’s book re: Plaincourault, have a really sloppy lack of constraining WHAT SPECIFIC THEORY ARE WE PRESENTLY DEBATING; AND, IS THAT THEORY WORTH CENTERING DISCUSSION AROUND?
This problem plagues that entire school — if not the entire field! — Brinckmann/ Panofsky/ Wasson/ Letcher/ Hatsis: they can’t make up their mind what position they are arguing against; they treat all 5-7 distinct questions as being no different. Probably applies to Allegro/Irvin, too. Consider also, poor specification of issues, by Ruck and by John Rush.
A hazy untenable mess of a confusion of a “conversation” or “debate” is the result.
The Secret Theory of Secret Mushrooms in Secret Art & Secret Cults, by Secret Carl “Mr. Secret” Ruck
God f*cking dammnit Carl STOP F*CKING SAYING “SECRET” EVERY OTHER WORD!; you are just confusing yourself and the field and the opponents of the field!
I DECLARE A MORATORIUM ON THE WORD ‘SECRET’ IN ALL BOOK TITLES, CHAPTER TITLES, AND SECTION HEADINGS.
Oh look how helpful, a planned book from Hatsis, to dig himself and the field even deeper into their rut of confusion, by using the similar word ‘conspiracy’:
Video title: Psanctum Oddcast Ep 3 Chris Bennett and Brian Muraresku YouTube channel: Psychedelic Historian [= Tom Hatsis] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7yiTwLr6o – The video’s SHOW MORE notes say: “… forthcoming books … “The Sacred Mushroom Conspiracy” (spring, 2022).”
STOP SAYING ‘Secret’ or ‘Conspiracy’; YOU ARE JUST CONFUSING YOURSELVES!
Stop fusing together and conflating the plain, neutral, broad question of “To what extent mushrooms in Greek & Christian religion & culture?“, with your monomaniacal fixation on the narrow, charged, freighted, particular notion of “secret”, which you don’t even understand.
The ORIGIN of the concept ‘secret’ — the ultimate referent of the idea ‘secret’ — is the revelation in the altered state, of how the mind’s personal control system works.
Uncovering the cista mystica snake-basket engine under the hood; popping the hood of the personal control system.
The root concept of ‘secret’ does NOT refer to some secret doctrine that is told; and NOT some stupid “secret cult”.
It’s the INNER SECRET of how the mind’s personal self-control system works, including:
The control-thought inserter/injector (like a {phallus} or {penetrating blade} placed/ spread/ distributed along its {snake}-shaped worldline.
The control-thought receiver/receptacle (like a {cup} or {female} or {wound} placed/ spread/ distributed along its {snake}-shaped worldline.
Awareness in the ordinary state of consciousness; the mind of Luna, the Virgin Maiden, who has never perceived the mind’s control-thought inserter in the altered state.
Awareness in the altered state, in the loose cognitive association state, the {winged eye}; the mind of Mithras, looking back and up to Sol, the control-thought inserter.
Italian Pines a.k.a. “Mushroom Pines”
link to section of Criteria article. I sarcastically refer to Cubensis, Liberty Caps, and Amanita mushrooms in Greek & Christian art as “Italian Pines” aka “Mushroom Pines”, mocking the “Anything But Drugs” interpretation bias — a bias which has literally become a joke, making the progenitors of this obvious fallacy a laughingstock.
Article title: Defining “Compelling Evidence” & “Criteria of Proof” for Mushrooms in Christian Art Subsection title: Stylized Cubensis Clusters, Literal Liberty Caps Relevance: Mockery of the ludicrous, way-overbroad attempt to explain-away the many mushroom depictions as “the leading expert art historian” Panofsky uses Brinckmann’s thin 1906 book to do, as “the hundreds of mushrooms in Christian art are just stylized Italian pines.” https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/2020/11/13/compelling-evidence-criteria-of-proof-for-greek-bible-mushrooms/#spcllc
This joke was inspired by Hatsis’ debunking of the “Amanita is a Christmas tradition” myth. However, I advocate spreading this myth, which is spiritually true even if literally false. It’s a good myth, a true myth.
The official position of the Egodeath theory is that all Hellenistic Mystery Religions were based on Amanita.
Dionysus = Persephone = Osiris =🎄🍄🦌🦌🦌🦌🛷🎅🎁
Bringing initiates the Ho-Ho-Holy Spirit!
Here is scholarly proof that all Hellenistic Mystery Religions were based on Amanita:
Video: Mithraism with Jason Reza Jorjani YT ch: New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove At 2:20, Jason Jorjani asserts: “They also drank wine at these Mithraeum communion banquets, and the wine was laced with Amanita muscaria mushrooms, which were intended to produce a kind of out-of-body experience.” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQ0i_1eoJ8&t=135s Some say Amanita is a poor pick and that Psilocybe is more ergonomic. Those people are heretics contradicting the Prophet, John M. Allegro (don’t forget the ‘M’ — or else you are accursed).
John Rush asserted in his book: lifted garment in Christian art = the mushroom altered state.
The Student Who Passes the Exam
The leftmost student correctly lifts left foot and displays right hand. Garment is emphatically lifted, communicated with certainty by white line of upper garment lift near his right pinkie finger. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10551125c/f134.item.zoom
Gate-Guarding Angel with Flaming Sword Ejects Newbie Initiates from Eden Garden Containing the Tree of Golden Apples that Grant Immortality – Non-Initiate Psilocybin Clinic Therapist Posers Ejected
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10551125c/f11.item.zoom Red sword (fire/flaming), not blue. When the mind initially enters the loose-cognition state but with impure, possibilism-premised thinking, the mind gets kicked out through the egodeath-guarded gateway, going unstable. Only minds that have converted from possibilism-thinking to eternalism-thinking are permitted through the gate, else driven to flee in terror by sight of non-branching worldline dragon monster or high-thinking, angel-thinking mode.~~
Branching = left = instability of personal control system in altered state = foolishness.
Non-branching = right = stability of personal control system in altered state = wisdom.
Bestiary Salamander “Dancing Man”[sic]
g of mythemes.
Folio 027v (Bodleian Library, Medieval Bestiary)
Self-Stabbing Red Man in Hanging-from-Mushroom Image
Dionysus’ Triumph
Dionysus’ garment is lifted by a mushroom. The Maenad’s cloth under the tambourine is lifted by a mushroom.
Folio 49 – Billowing Holy Spirit Garment Lifting
[9:17 a.m. December 13, 2020] — Check John Rush book re: garment erection. I propose that this theme of Christian art with garment lifted, and looking back and up to the right, is equivalent to Greek art with billowing cloth.
Rush’s comment: “The Angel Gives John the Book to Eat, Douce Apocalypse, 1265-1270 CE Notice the angel represents the stalk of the mushroom-cloud from which he or she emerges, and the celestial erection in John’s cape once he eats the “book.””
Experiment to run; hypothesis: in Greek & Christian art, the billowing cloth indicating the the Holy Spirit altered state is usually to the left; to the figure’s right side.
On July 25, 2004, I posted on the world-Wide Web, in my the Egodeath Yahoo Group, that {billowing cloth/cape in Greek art} represents the ecstatic state, the “eternalism” state of consciousness; the mushroom altered state.
The post where I first wrote the word ‘billow’, confirmed by local search of all 183 .html Egodeath Yahoo Group Digest files:
Group: egodeath
Message: 3484
From: Michael Hoffman
Date: 25/07/2004
Subject: Metaphor: billowing cape behind head = relig. ecstasy
The cover of the Dover printing of Franz Cumont’s book Astrology and Religion shows yet another billowing cape behind the head. Other instances I recall are: o Mithras on the cover of Entheos Issue #3 o Villa of the Mysteries: young woman disconcerted. I think I saw another instance.
The billowing arch of the cape indicates and physically portrays the cognitive mystic altered state of religious ecstasy and divine inspiration.
I concluded this upon reflection today on this question that has been a background problem for at least a few months. Today I saw this book cover, showing yet another instance, and asked a person with an art and design background, who when asked about the meaning of the arched cap [sic, cape] symbol, proposed it indicated wind. Spirit = divine wind = breath = psyche. Ecstacy is standing beside oneself while inspired by the divine spirit. Wind blows sails forming an arched sheet. The person is being divinely sailed and blown about by the divine wind or breath, inspired.
“give the soul a god to lead it on its perilous journey through the whirlwinds of air, water, and fire to the starry heavens. “Among the dead,” says a funeral inscription, 1 “there are two companies: one moves upon the earth, the other in the ether among the choirs of stars; I belong to the latter, for I have obtained a god as my guide.” This divine escort of souls frequently retains the name of Hermes in conformity with ancient Greek mythology. An epigram belonging to the first century of our era apostrophises the deceased in these words: “Hermes of the wingèd feet, taking thee by the hand, has conducted thee to Olympus and made thee to shine among the stars.” 2 But more often the rôle of escort now devolves upon the Sun himself: We have seen 3 that at the end of paganism the royal star is figured as carrying mortals in his flying chariot. Those who had not by their piety merited the protection of the god whose duty it was to escort and introduce them, and who nevertheless ventured up to heaven [LIKE SOME HUBRISTIC BRAGGART PSILOCYBIN THERAPIST WHO DARE TITLE HIS BOOK “THE IMMORTALITY KEY” AND BRAG ], were cast headlong into the perpetually raging gulf of the warring elements which fought unceasingly around the earth.”
My first Amanita were dried, around 2001. I uploaded these to the Web around 2001-2005.
Photo by Michael Hoffman, Egodeath.com http://www.egodeath.com/images/amanitashinycappieces.jpgPhoto by Michael Hoffman, Egodeath.com http://www.egodeath.com/images/amanitacollection.jpgPhoto by Michael Hoffman, Egodeath.comPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 This patch is the first Amanitas I ever saw myself (other than dried). IMG_1758.JPGphoto — Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death, 10/10/2010Photo: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010photo — Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_3638.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_3647.JPGIMG_2697.JPG — Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death Photo: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_2558.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10/10/2010 IMG_2452.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_2149.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_1977.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_1856.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010Photo: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_1800.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_1803.JPGPhoto: Michael Hoffman, the theorist of ego death 10:10 a.m. 10/10/2010 IMG_1789.JPG
Some of the images below are lower-resolution than in my other pages at this site. Ideally, I’d add links from sections below to my dedicated articles/ webpages. Find or Search in Site Nav page: https://egodeaththeory.wordpress.com/nav/#gallery
I wish this page to have “all known” images, but that’s impossible by orders of magnitude.
That would be a massive ongoing project, including photographing countless books and articles; cropping; uploading; & tagging.
I’m going to run out of space on this server soon. I uploaded all 25 images from Samorini’s article today, and I sure don’t have time to compress the image files, as well as correctly tag them.
Dec. 7, 2024 status: John Rush’s gallery and https://clinicalanthropology.com website is down (an update of the DVD of blurry images that came with the 2011 first edition of Rush’s book).
hybrid Italian Pine/ Parasol of Victory on the right. The one “cap” on the right clearly represents a Parasol of Victory, while the other cap clearly represents an Italian Pine. It doesn’t matter anyway, since per Wasson, Samorini, and Panofsky, artists are idiots who don’t know what they’re drawing; they just stupidly follow templates that got messed up in the course of their inept recopying, so that they ended up by accident looking like mushrooms, in all cases. This is why 100% of mushrooms in Christian art are to be dismissed. I have so many quotes explaining that artists who draw mushroom trees are uncomprehending dolts, I’m going to start a WordPress page.
Copy of the above caption text:
http://www.clinicalanthropology.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/10.jpg http://www.clinicalanthropology.com/mushroom-in-christian-art/mushroom-in-christian-art-chapter-one/ “Plate 1:5 –Vienna, Austria – Moses Before the Burning Bush, Domenico Fetti, Oil on Canvas, 1613 CE We see God as the burning bush and he holds one of the symbols for the “bush” in his left hand. In the bottom frame, the hand of God comes through the cloud (cap), while the red material around his wrist is the annulus, and the white hand and wrist are the stalk of the mushroom. Notice the plants to the right of Moses, the mushroom shapes in his alb and stole, including the celestial erection.” – John Rush
Mystic Y’s, identified by Michael Hoffman.
hybrid Italian Pine/ Parasol of Victory on the right. The one “cap” on the right clearly represents a Parasol of Victory, while the other cap clearly represents an Italian Pine.
It doesn’t matter anyway, since per Wasson, Samorini, and Panofsky, artists are idiots who don’t know what they’re drawing; they just stupidly follow templates that got messed up in the course of their inept recopying, so that they ended up by accident looking like mushrooms, in all cases.
This is why 100% of mushrooms in Christian art are to be dismissed.
Esoteric Y branching. 1. Caduceus = branching vs. non-branching experiential mental worldmodels 2. Caduceus = male ruler snake & female ruler snake, frozen in rock
Y = caduceus = non-branching lower, basic “branching” Y shape, “branching possibility or non-branching monopossibility” concept, 2 heimarmene snakes, the local female ruler snake and the male veiled thought-source revealed as frozen in rock all future kingly control-thoughts preexisting, {king frozen into a rock statue, king tied by serpents to a rock bench for eternity, king frozen into the rock world}. Y = the branching vs. non-branching models/ experiential states. Y = caduceus w/ male ruler snake & female ruler snake. rock-frozen pair of ruler snakes. the local female control-thought receiver/receptacle the normally hidden male control-thought inserter/injector, along a snake rail frozen in rock, projected from every point in time.
This layout is EXCELLENT work by Samorini, bravo; literally side-by-side coverage of two distinct families — the opposite of the single-plant fallacy. The only thing better, would be 3-column: Cubensis; Liberty Cap; Amanita. We have to put AMANITA LAST, to correct the severe imbalance of coverage in the first phase of entheogen scholarship from say 1952-2009 (from Panofsky’s letter against the mycologists in 1952; to Irvin’s 3 books in 2009). The 3rd on left (Salamander) fits shape of Liberty Cap lower right — b/c hybrid combination of Amanita/ Cubensis/ Liberty Cap. 2009-1952= 57 years of Amanita Madness imbalance among entheogen scholars. — Michael Hoffman
I proved that the above mushroom shapes represent Psilocybe deliberately used for religious experiencing:
The “Hanging-over-God’s-sword” mushroom-tree image by the same team is either meaningless, or represents trained, expert, peak-state use of Psilocybe as I proved.
The same team painted all these mushroom images in this work, the Canterbury Psalter.
Therefore all 65-70 mushroom plants illustrated by this team in this Canterbury Psalter, including the three mushroom trees in the above image, represent the use of Psilocybe to induce religious experiencing.
The vine-leaf trees which are coupled with these mushroom trees, by this team of illustrators, also indicate the routine, trained, efficient use of Psilocybe, to reveal non-branching of possibilities, destroying egoic possibilism-thinking.
The Canterbury Psalter “mushroom tree/ hanging/ sword” image with the trained, self-threatening Psalter reader, depicts not puzzlement over “the shadow” like today’s braggart hubristic Psilocybin therapists (Muraresku), but the opposite: the image provably depicts a Psilocybe expert-level direct engagement with the {serpentine dragon monster}, and reconciling with eternalism; learning how to deal with the pre-existence of control-thoughts, which kills, disproves, and effectively disempowers egoic control agency.
Folio 20 Italian Pine – Hi-Res Zoom of Umbrella Pines in Tree Canopy of One of the Italian Pines a.k.a. “Umbrella Pines” (Just to Clarify) a.k.a. “Parasols of Victory” for Those Really Astute Scholars
Folio 22: Detail of Italian Pine #2 of 10. Or Parasol of Victory #2 of 10. Let the experts battle this dispute out. But DEFINITELY NOT mushrooms, Cubensis, Liberty Caps.
Exercise for the Reader: Identify this Object: Some experts say it’s an Italian Pine. Other experts have definitively identified it as a Parasol of Victory. Which of these top experts is correct?
From the Canterbury Psaltery, early 12th C. It appears in the book: Celestial Treasury: From the Music of the Spheres to the Conquest of Space Marc Lachieze-Rey & Jean-Pierre Luminet (2001), p. 178. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521800404
Dec 13 2020 9:17 a.m. — check John Rush book re: garment lifting.
I propose that this theme of Christian art with garment lifted to the right, and looking back and up to the right, is equivalent to Greek art with billowing cloth.
Experiment to run; hypothesis: in Greek & Christian art, the billowing cloth indicating the the Holy Spirit altered state is usually to the left; to the figure’s right side.
Folio 51 – Left Branching, Right Non-Branching Italian Pines – or Is It Parasols of Victory?? Only the Experts Know for Sure, But Definitely Not Mushrooms
Book: Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts http://amzn.com/0691037515 Thomas Mathews, Roger Wieck, June 1994 “For over a thousand years the pre-eminent expression of Armenian culture was the illuminated manuscript―above all, the illustrated Gospel Book. Brilliantly painted and often bound in silver and decorated with jewels, these volumes constitute the principal source of information on the history, religion, language, and art of Armenia. … Contributors to this volume include….”
Information from the book: “Fig. 23 – Eusebian Letter with Portrait of Eusebius, by the First Painter, 1300-07. Los Angeles, University of California, University Research Library, Special Collections, Armenian MS 1, p. 4 (cat. 36).”
Scan of a photocopy of the black and white rendering in the book:
Below, page 45 shows a mushroom tree in the lower right:
Information from the book: “Fig. 24 – Eusebian Letter with Portrait of Carpianos, by the First Painter, 1300-07. Los Angeles, University of California, University Research Library, Special Collections, Armenian MS 1, p. 5 (cat. 36).”
Scan of a photocopy of the black and white rendering in the book:
Matenadaran Erevan – Baptism
Christian Art: Erevan, Matenadaran: ‘Baptism’, mid-11th century. – Several Mushroom Trees
Book: Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts Thomas Mathews, Roger Wieck June 1994
Page 47 has two illustrations — one has 3 mushroom trees:
Information from the book: “Fig. 27 Baptism, mid-11th century. Erevan, Matenadaran 7736, fol. 14v.”
On Page 47, an image shows 2 mushroom trees:
Information from the book: “Fig. 28 Baptism, mid-11th century. Erevan, Matenadaran 7736, fol. 17.”
Page 93 has the illustration just in black and white, of the illustration used for the cover of Bible Review, October 2001, the giant Amanita-cap Last Supper table shown at my page: http://www.egodeath.com/entheogenpicfinds.htm — “Last Supper around an Amanita-cap table”. The mushroom is hardly perceivable in this merely black-and-white rendering — color is essential in cases such as these.
I also have a color photocopy of an Eden cycle showing the tree as generally the same type as a mushroom tree: once the ‘mushroom tree’ idea was standardized, it was sometimes expressed very subtly: not recognizable by a cap shape, but rather, by the grouping of all the leaves in some shape at the top, and with two cut-off arms — branch-stubs, leaving a bare or near-bare trunk that, as a result, indicates a mushroom stem. One color picture in this book shows birds nesting in such a loosely portrayed single-top mushroom-tree that doesn’t have cap-shaped top, but more of just a circle-top.
Water-from-Rock Ossuary (Cubensis) – Peter’s Water Miracle, from a Sarcophagus
Ossuary showing the vertical “stream of water” (stem) flowing from the “rock” (cap), with guys grabbing and chewing at the stem. A strange way to portray a rock with water flowing from it.
This scan is from the book, p. 87 —
The Clash of Gods: A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art http://amzn.com/B01JXOZ7DS Thomas F. Mathews (same as other book)
Mushroom-shaped and mandrake-shaped Eden trees, with mushroom-shaped grape clusters on the ground in between. Found at http://pharmacratic-inquisition.com/nontesters/pharmacratic/ – “Adam and Eve with serpent-entwined Psilocybe mushroom (caduceus). Italy [Abbey of Montecassino]; circa 1072 – British Library”. Mandrake is chemically similar to Henbane and Belladonna. Mandrake drawings traditionally show a human body instead of the tree trunk shown here.
Saint Eustace Window at Chartres with Many Cubensis Mushroom Trees
Emile Mâle (Dora Nussey, tr.), The Gothic Image: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century (Icon Editions Series). 1913 title of the initial English translation of the 3rd French edition: Religious Art in France of the Thirteenth Century: A Study in Medieval Iconography and Its Sources of Inspiration, http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0064300323 (Amazon shows the full text but not the images).
Page 3 shows a Chartres stained-glass window with several mushroom trees — including a plain and starkly clear literal representation of a psilocybin-shaped mushroom, shown below. This is a small portion of a very large window with many clear mushroom depictions. The book shows a sharp, black and white close-up of this portion of the window, which is representative of the other parts of the window.
The book presents black-and-white renderings of stained-glass windows.
Information from the book: “Fig. 1.– The Sky, Water, and Trees. From the Legend of St. Eustace. Window at Chartres.”
From Economist magazine, Dec 20 2003-Jan 2 2004, p. 29. This icon painting shows the mother of God (Queen of Heaven) holding the Christ child. Her headdress is an Amanita cap cap.
This is the cover of the issue:
On page 29 this icon appears:
From digital camera:
From scanner:
A close-up of Mary’s cap reveals it to be a literal Amanita cap:
From digital camera:
From scanner:
For comparison, below is a portion of a photo of a dried orange-gold (rather than red) species of Amanita, similar shape though from a different angle. In the icon, a fresh Amanita is represented, so the dots (veil remnants) are raised more.
For comparison, here is a similar icon with a mushroom-cap shaped table, but one without any clear entheogenic allusions, though it does look like the common orange-brown color of Amanita cap with off-white spots:
Bible Review current issue, October 2001. Focus: Last Supper.
When looking at the magazine cover at the newsstand, though Clark Heinrich has taught me to actively look for Amanita in iconography (http://www.promind.com/bk_stf.htm, http://www.entheomedia.org), I thought that this Eucharist scene on the cover was noteworthy because each disciple had a loaf/ plain tan cap at his place setting. Fortunately I bought the issue, and was embarrassed to plainly and immediately see that the tan loaves are off-white veil-remnant spots on the wrapped-around red edge of the table.
The table surface is golden honeycomb, a simile for honey-smelling, golden Amanita — to the taste and smell, this honeycomb is a literal representation; to the eyes, you must mentally replace the honeycomb lines by straight lines to form the usual Amanita-underside sun-halo.
I was able to recognize this pattern because I’ve been looking for not only Amanita-underside rays in Christian halos, but also for a rim, often red, with dots, representing the underturned top of the cap.
Other mushroom shape elements: the blue awning forms a thick stipe. Since the iconographically stylized table top has “poor” perspective, it is a semicircle which, combined with the blue awning, forms a perfect mushroom shape. The “poorly” drawn red container in the middle of the table forms the Holy Grail shape of the mature upturned Amanita (Heinrich, _Strange Fruit_ page 85 plate 35; Heinrich plate 5 page 54, Issue 1, Entheos journal).
In the Passover Seder meal, the significance of the food served during the Seder must be explained during the meal.
[see correction of this paragraph below] After Dan Merkur’s book _Mystery of Manna_, this would mean explaining the story of Moses poisoning the leavening in Egypt with a toxic strain of ergot (the “yeast of malice”), and forbidding the Jews to use the leavening, to walk away with booty and redemption from slavery while the Egyptians were incapacitated with ergot poisoning.
Correction: The ergot Exodus hypothesis was described in detail and published by Clark Heinrich. Dan Merkur’s book _The Mystery of Manna: The Psychedelic Sacrament of the Bible_, 2000, is packed with excellent ideas about entheogens (specifically, ergot) and the Bible, but I don’t see the ergot Exodus hypothesis there.
_Strange Fruit_, Clark Heinrich, 1994/1995, pp. 78-79 — “Could Moses have poisoned the Egyptians’ bread supply with ergot?” This book has some coverage of ergot as well as Amanita, and considers how to integrate the two possibilities.
After Clark Heinrich’s book _Strange Fruit: Alchemy, Religion and Magical Foods: The Hidden Truth_, this would mean explaining that Christ is consubstantial with Amanita, which causes a dramatic ego-death and rebirth experience when ingested after fasting. This rebirth experience amounts to transcendence of, and emancipation from, enslavement in the spacetime cosmos.
Jonathan Klawans, the author of the article “Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder” (Bible Review, October 2001, page 24), puzzles that the requirement to explain the meaning of the Seder was not introduced until 70 CE — “But the requirement may not have even been in place in the time of Jesus. … Gamaliel … lived … after the temple was destroyed in 70 C.E. … then Jesus’ symbolic explanation of the bread and wine cannot be connected with [the Seder meal explanation requirements].”
This objection is easily solved by assuming that the details of the life story of the Jesus figure were not invented until 70 C.E., or later, and back-projected to around 35 C.E., per Earl Doherty’s book _The Jesus Puzzle_ and Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy’s book _The Jesus Mysteries_. The details of the Jesus story were worked out over hundreds of years and mythically, we have every reason to read the Last Supper’s Eucharist explanation as a Seder type of explanation, simply because the story of the exodus and the story of the passion are largely isomorphic mythic and mystic allegories for psychoactives leading to ego-death and the emancipation of the spirit.
Check out the very distinct white dots against red background on this Amanita halo edge in this iconographic painting on the cover of this book. I think the Lion is Mark’s symbol. This is the first time I’ve seen a lion with an Amanita halo.
To isolate the Amanita cap, it would be good to use a circular crop tool on this picture. I don’t know the origin of the red color in this image.
In Alan Watts’ book Myth and Ritual in Christianity, page 198, he portrays such figures — “Monstrance for benediction and exposition of the sacrament” — as representing the spine and world-tree, with the heart of the sun, or the sun door, at the top. I’m continuing to build the case, or interpretive framework, that entheogens were much more prominent and widely used in Christendom.
Painted Roof in St. Michael’s Church, Hildesheim (Amanita Cap)
also called Michaeliskirche, Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany
Lot’s Wife Turned to Pillar of Salt (Cubensis Plant)
IMG_6520_CanterburyCath1180.PNG. Lot’s wife turned to pillar of salt. iirc, I found this in a book, photographed it, and uploaded this image, around 2003. While in a university art library looking for such images.
Pyschedelic[sic] Christianity : A Scholarly Debate on the Holy Mushroom Theory YouTube channel: Psychedelic Historian January 5, 2018. Hatsis vs. Brown 1:08:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PXZGiX4Qnk&t=4094s He says the mushroom trees aren’t mushrooms, it’s just a style.
He doesn’t say why the artists prefer using that particular style, of mushroom-styled trees.
Why does their style incline in the direction of mushroom trees, instead of some other stylized direction?
Why does the mushroom shape dominate in the art of Christendom?
Cyberdisciple wrote: From the description of book 2, it seems that book 1 focuses on Amanita, while book 2 focuses on liberty caps:
“Se nel primo volume l’Amanita muscaria ha avuto una attenzione particolare, in questo gli autori individuano anche la presenza, in alcune rappresentazioni proposte, della Psilocybe semilanceata.”
If in the first volume, Amanita muscaria had special attention, in this volume the authors identify also the presence, in some proposed representations, of Psilocybe semilanceata.
psilo-cybe semi-lanceata smooth-head semi-spear Liberty Caps
“In this second volume of “Hallucinogens and Christianity” Gilberto Camilla and Fulvio Gosso, they continue their research on the fungal presence in Christian sacred art and propose some of their further “discoveries”.
“If in the first volume the Amanita muscaria has received particular attention, in this the authors also identify the presence, in some proposed representations, of the semi-spear Psilocybe.
“In both works the evidence of the presence of hallucinogenic mushrooms in Christian iconography becomes numerous and it seems obvious that they are only a small part of those existing or existed.
“It can therefore be assumed that such a phenomenon, geographically and historically vast and widespread, cannot only be limited to religious representations.
“Apart from the American “school”, some German authors and a few Italian friends who have expressed interest in the topics covered in these volumes, in the academic field silence reigns supreme.”
1150s.Psalter BL Cott.Nero C.IV. folio 7 Codex made in the Abbey of St.Swithin in Winchester 1150s.Psalter.Manuscript (Cott. Nero C. IV) British Library, London.This codex, made in the Abbey of St.Swithin in Winchester, contains psalms in Latin and French. The miniature on folio 7 depicts a scene with the shepherd David (above), and Samuel anointing David as a king (below). MINIATURIST, English (active 1150s in Winchester) Saved by Vika Bershadskaya https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/79/97/1f79979a9a8726c6e6eb99ae0ca484e9.png
Article in Issue 1 (Summer 2001): Conjuring Eden: Art and the Entheogenic Vision of Paradise Hoffman, Ruck & Staples Online gallery of ancillary illustrations 38 pages, 33 illustrations, 47 ancillary online illustrations cued to text.
todo: Add to the present page, more images from the above online gallery’s other 4 pages:
Italy [Abbey of Montecassino]; circa 1072 – British Library
[7] St. Matthew enthroned, Canterbury Codex Aureus, c. 750 (Stockholm).[8] Compare St. John enthroned, Canterbury Codex Aureus.[9] Codex Aureus and mushroom details, below[10] Gospel Book of Otto III: The Sermon on the Mount, Reichenau, 1010. Folio 34, Verso, CLM. 4453, Staatsbibliothek, Munich.
Todo
Provide my improved images of some low-res images above, from other pages (my crop for this site, and/or a direct link to image at other site).
On each mushroom, indicate the correct non-mushroom identification (either Italian pine, or Assyrian Parasol of Victory (or both, just to make sure we’re safely covered).
Someone purchase the books, photograph each good picture, crop, upload, & tag each picture. The pair of Italian books: Hallucinogens and Christianity: Evidence in Sacred Art (Camilla & Gosso)
You can paste-in an image or a URL of an image, in a Web search engine such as Bing, to find other copies or croppings of the image if it’s online and crawled, to find info about it.
The Egodeath theory 
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