Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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 (41b) Isis, Harpocrates on Lotus and Serapis Ashmolean Museum  (41h) Isis-Termutis, Serapis Agathodaemon and Osiris Canopus. Stele of the Greco-Roman period Leiden Museum |
Taautus of Byblos, according to the Phoenician writer Sanchuniathon, was the inventor of writing and son of Misor who was bequeathed the land of Egypt by Cronus. He is translated by Philo and retold to us by Eusebios where he says, “Taautus was the first who thought of the invention of letters, and began the writing of records: and he laid the foundation, as it were, of his history, by beginning with him, whom the Egyptians called Thoyth, and the Alexandrians Thoth, translated by the Greeks into Hermes.” (71) I find it interesting that the name Taautus of Byblos, appears to be a derivation of the bull nomenclature. The deity known as Thoth (Tehuty, Djehuty, Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, Tetu) was a self-created god who created himself through either thought or the spoken word. He was a patron of writing, magic, wisdom and the moon, supposedly. Thoth was the husband of Seshat (he was also her father), who herself was a goddess of wisdom. His head was depicted as the ibis bird. He was supposed to have laid an egg from which Ra (Atum, Nefertum, or khepri) was born. (72) Mushrooms are born from eggs in the ground, in particular the A. muscaria, let us not forget. At the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, c. 1292-1189 BC, we see Thoth administering before the tree of Life, his body helping form the mushroom stem, while the Tree of Life forms the cap (33g). In another depiction, from the Luxor Temple, c. 1400 BC, his hair is particularly interesting. If you separate the hair from the bird head, you are left with just the mushroom shape (33h). This is a frequent occurrence in Egyptian art as well as we just saw with Sekhmet and we see again with Anubis from the Temple of Seti I. c. 1290-1279 BC (32f).  (33g) Tree of Life from The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, Egypt c. 1292-1189 BC (71) Eusebius of Caesarea: Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) -- Book 1 (72) The White Goddess, p. 151; https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/thoth.html |
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