Early Christianity and hallucinogens

"The essence and origin of religion is the use of visionary plants to routinely trigger the intense mystic altered state....

The main origin and ongoing wellspring of religion is the use of visionary plants. These plants include Psilocybe mushrooms, Henbane, Cannabis, Opium, Peyote, Salvia divinorum, and Amanita mushrooms. "...The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death...by Michael Hoffman

To be shaken out of the ruts of ordinary perception, to be shown for a few timeless hours the outer and inner world, not as they appear to an animal obsessed with survival or to a human being obsessed with words and notions, but as they are apprehended, directly and unconditionally, by Mind at Large — this is an experience of inestimable value to everyone and especially to the intellectual....Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception (1954)

• Christianity and Mushrooms
• The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross...by John M. Allegro
• Biblical Entheogens: a Speculative Hypothesis...by Benny Shanon
  "This paper is concerned with Judaism. Merkur (1985, 2001), a psychoanalyst and student of religion, proposed that the Manna the people of Israel received from heaven during their wondering through the Sinai desert was actually an entheogen. Here I would like to put forth a hypothesis, admittedly speculative, regarding other enteogenic uses in early Hebrew religion...."...also here
• Benny Shanon Says Moses Was Tripping
  "When Moses saw the burning bush and listened to God giving the Ten Commandments he was stoned according to Benny Shanon. The Israeli professor has been exploring this angle for decades...."
  [see also I never said Moses was stoned when he saw God...by Benny Shanon]
• Entheogens Reflections on ‘Psychoactive Sacramentals'...by Benny Shanon
  "Last but not least is the story of the Tree of Knowledge. There is much to be said about this story but this is not the place for it. Here, let me confine myself to one simple, yet instructive, observation. Whatever the interpretation one gives to this story, one thing is clear--it was told in a context in which people (adult individuals, not children reading fairy tales) believed that knowledge could be obtained by the ingestion of plant material, and that this knowledge had a relationship to the Divine. As the Serpent told Adam and Eve: 'In the day ye eat [of the fruit of the tree] then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' Indeed, the biblical text goes on noting that having eaten of the fruit 'the eyes of them both were opened' (Genesis, 3.7), and that God's appraisal was that 'the man is become as one of us, to learn good and evil' (Genesis, 3.22)."
• Ayahuasca and Creativity...by Benny Shanon
  "Phenomenologically, the effects of ayahuasca are multifarious -- they include hallucinatory effects in all perceptual modalities, psychological insights, intellectual ideations, spiritual uplifting and mystical experiences. As discussed at length in the book mentioned above, many facets of these may be attributed to enhanced creativity."
• Benny Shanon
• Benny Shanon (Wikipedia)
  "Benny Shanon...is a professor of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds the Mandel Chair in cognitive psychology and education. Born in Tel Aviv, Shanon studied philosophy and linguistics at Tel Aviv University and received his doctorate in experimental psychology from Stanford University. He is best known for the Biblical entheogen hypothesis, the idea that the use of hallucinogenic drugs influenced religion."
• Dr. Benny Shanon (Bio)
• A Cognitive-Psychological Study of Ayahuasca...by Benny Shanon
• DID EARLY CHRISTIANS USE HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS? ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE....Franco Fabbro
• The Religion of Paul the Apostle...by John Ashton
  "Traditionally, Paul is treated and viewed as if he were a theologian — which is to say, it is his thoughts on religion and God which are the focus of attention. His writings are systematized and categorized and treated as though they were part of an organized theology. But Ashton tackles his subject from a different perspective, arguing that it is Paul’s mystical experiences, and his reactions to them, which should receive greater attention. "...Book Review: The Religion of Paul the Apostle, by John Ashton
• The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death...by Michael Hoffman
• Hallucinogens as Angels of Light
  An interesting contemporary experience with links to others. Read to the end for an interesting post-experience comment.
• Might the Gods be Alkaloids...by Alex Polari de Alverga
  " In reference to Wasson’s work, Levi Strauss interprets the myth of the tree of knowledge and the biblical story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit as a metaphor of man’s contact with the primordial entheogen. In other words, this act marked man’s shift from an indifferent state of nebulous clairvoyance to a state of lucid self-awareness, the consequence of which was man’s expulsion from Eden."
• Jesus Christ the Magic Mushroom (part 1)
• Jesus Christ the Magic Mushroom (part 2)

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