Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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 (34b) Bronze Apis Plaque c. 600-525 BC One of the more interesting depictions of Apis which I have dug up appears to have two mushroom characters sprouting up on both sides of him. One of them even has a mouth on it, giving it a little face (34c).  (34c) Apis Relief, Louvre Museum Osiris was originally a bull-god before he took on a more complacent fertility form. The main difference being that the latter version Osiris has no association to the bull-god anymore. On “Isis and Osiris,” Plutarch writes: “and that at Abydos are buried the rich and noble of the Egyptians, ambitious to share the burial place of Osiris’ body, whilst in Memphis is kept the Apis, the ‘Image of the soul of Osiris,’ where his body also is said to lie.” This should pretty much set in concrete that Osiris was originally a bull god. (63) Osiris is a vegetation god as well. His many epithets include “Lord of the Underworld,” “Lord of Love,” “Judge of the Dead,” “King of the Living” and “Eternal Lord.” He is the brother/husband of Isis. He is associated with the djed symbol. Depictions of him in a mushroom pose are not too difficult to find (34f, g). This “mushroom pose” has his arms rested with fists joined and elbows extended. This type of artistic secret symbolism is what really distinguished Egypt from the rest of ancient |
civilizations. Egypt was the first to truly endow the deities with character and style, and the art was used to occult the mushroom from the masses. The pose is frequently accompanied with a separation of coloring between the upper body (cap) and the lower body (stem) of the deity as in the painted wood Osiris from Thebes which has a spotted upper cap, or the deity is seated, showing a distinguished mushroom shape (35c). I doubt it was a very big secret at the time, but it’s possible the majority of slaves knew very little of it. (35c) Osiris on Shabti Box belonging to Paenrenenutet 19th Dynasty c. 1292 BC to 1189 BC L: (34f) Wood Osiris c. 715-30 BC   R: (34g) Osiris. Painted Wood From Thebes c. 1170 BC A relief from the Louvre Museum shows Isis with Osiris depicted mostly as a mushroom (97e).  (97e) Osiris and Isis, from the Louvre (63) Healing Gods, p. 53; Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris |
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