Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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Priapus was one of the satyrs along with Pan who was a fertility associated deity and protector of fruit and gardens. One ancient artifact I have been able to locate c. 400 BC-200 AD, reveals his erection to be a giant mushroom (59i). (59i) Graeco-Roman Priapus c. 400 BC-200 AD Chiron and the Centaurs Centaurs are represented in art dating back to Vinca culture (5700–4500 BC or 5300–4700-4500 BC). The word “centron” means goat. Gimbutas recognizes two distinctly different styles of a bull-man and a goat-man in the terracotta figurines. Both have traditional chevrons and “M”s of the goddess incised on them. Later Greek imagery on vases from the 800-300 BC period have stylized centaurs on them and this is likely where the evolution of the pan mythology first started. (194) Penaus, a river god, residing in Thessaly, was husband to Creusa, with whom he had a son Hypseus and a daughter Stilbe. Stilbe then consorted with Apollo and bore both Lapithus and Centaurus, ancestors of thee Lapiths and Centaurs. Ixion was a Thessalian king of the ancient tribe of the Lapiths. The Lapiths eventually warred with Centaurs, their own kin, for having indulged too deeply in wine, causing them to attempt to violate Pirithous' (Ixion’s son) bride Hippodamia at their wedding party. (195) Zeus invited Ixion to join with him in a feast of the Food of the Gods, which was supposed to bring “immortality” to those who consumed it. (196) Chiron was the eldest and wisest centaur, and unlike his brethren, he was the son of Cronus and half-brother of Zeus. Zeus had slept with the nymph Philyra (“lime-tree”) and cheated on Rhea who upon catching Zeus in the act, transformed himself into a horse and the result of this offspring became his matrilinear line. According to Pseudo-Hyginus: “When Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)] was hunting Jove [Zeus] throughout the earth, assuming the form of a steed he lay with Philyra, daughter of Oceanus. By him she bore Chiron the Centaur, who is said to have been the first to invent the art of healing. After Philyra saw that she had borne a strange species, she asked Jove [Zeus] to change her into another form, and she was transformed into the tree which is called the linden.” (197) |
Chiron was the teacher and mentor to the following heroes of myth including the Argonauts Jason and Peleus, the physician Asclepius, (Aesculapius) the demi-god Aristaios (Aristaeus) and Akhilleus (Achilles) of Troy. His name is derived from the Greek word for hand (kheir) and can be connected to the word kheirourgos or “surgeon.” (198) From Pseudo-Hyginus, we read: “Inventors and their inventions . . . Chiron, son of Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)], first used herbs in the medical art of surgery.” (199) Chiron was a keeper of plant and shamanic wisdom. He had been taught by Apollo and Artemis and he was renowned for his skill in hunting, medicine, music, gymnastics, and the art of prophecy. (200) Aelian (175-235 AD), a Roman author and teacher, writes: “In Homer skill in treating the wounded and persons in need of medicine goes back as far as the third generation of pupil and master. Thus Patroklos (Patroclus), son of Menoitios (Menoetius), is taught the healing art by Akhilleus (Achilles), and Akhilleus, son of Peleus, is taught by Kheiron (Chiron), son of Kronos (Cronus). And heroes and children of the gods learnt about the nature of roots, the use of different herbs, the concocting of drugs, spells to reduce inflammations, the way to staunch blood, and everything else that they knew.” (201) On the mentoring of Asclepius and Achilles, we also have the following quote from Pseudo-Hyginus: “Chiron, son of Saturnus [Kronos (Cronus)] and Philyra, who surpassed not only the other Centauri (Centaurs), but also men in justice, and is thought to have reared Asclepius and Achilles.” (202) Robert Graves, in his book, What Food the Centaurs Ate, was the first to point out the connections between the Centaur and the mushroom. Graves believes the centaurs ate the A. muscaria. (Not that he really believes this, of course, just that he believes this is the true myth.) Graves also brings our attention to an Etruscan mirror depicting the god Ixion on his wheel, with a mushroom at the base. (203) However, Carl Ruck points out in Apples of Apollo, and I think he is correct, that this is actually the Datura Stramonium, which the Greeks call “horsemad” or hippomanes. (204) (194) ibid, p. 180 (195) Apples of Apollo, p. 15; http://www.maicar.com/GML/Ixion.html (196) ibid, p. 16 (197) ibid. p. 29; Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 138 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD (198) http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentaurosKheiron.html (199) Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 274 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD (200) Xen. Cyneg. 1; Philostr. Her. 9, Icon. ii. 2; Pind. Pyth. ix. 65 (201) Aelian, On Animals 2. 18 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd AD) (202) Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 38 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd AD; http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/KentaurosKheiron.html (203) White Goddess, p. 63 (204) Apples of Apollo, p. 25 |
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