Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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| The Cockatrice The Cockatrice was a mythical dragon with two legs and the head of a rooster. It was first described in the late 14th century. Its origin was said to arise from the mating of a male chicken with either a toad or a serpent. The cockatrice became associated with the basilisk between 1260 and 1397 AD. The appearance of the cockatrice was depicted in the medieval bestiaries covered in the next chapter. For now, it’s only important to understand this dragon with the body of a serpent and the head of a rooster implies the bird/serpent mushroom once again. We can see one of these depicted on the outside of a church (69c). In Shakespeare's play Richard III, the Duchess of York compares her son Richard to a cockatrice: O ill-dispersing wind of misery! O my accursed womb, the bed of death! A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world, Whose unavoided eye is murderous – (35)  (69c) Cockatrice Here we see not only does the cockatrice have the bird above and serpent below characteristics, it also has an evil eye. The Cumbrian village of Renwick was the host to a sighting and legend of this beast in the first decade of the 17th century. In Hutchinson’s History of the County of Cumberland, vol. I, 212, in 1794, a family is discussed, who do not pay an ecclesiastical tax because they had been exempted thanks to their ancestor having killed a cockatrice. In the book, Mysterious Britain, we get the following excerpt relating to this supposed event: “In 1733 a cockatrice terrorized Renwick when the church was being demolished. The beast was slain by John Tallantire with a rowan branch.” (36) Now, we can see the rowan branch being associated with a mythical animal, a dragon, which is associated with the mushroom. Fairy Berries In Irish fairy tales, crimson nuts, arbutus apples and quicken berries are all metaphors for the mushroom. In the last myth, it was the rowan berry. The “Land of Promise” or “Land of Youth,” (37) Tír na nÓg is said to be the magical paradise that would be akin to “Eden” where a tree of immortality resides, and food is abundant. Another name for the Irish paradise is Emain Ablach (the Isle of Apple Trees). Tir na nog is said to be the home of the Tuatha dé danann, which they reach by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across the sea. (38) Mortals who visit the “Otherworld” are referred to as echtrai (adventures) and baili (visions, ecstasies). (39) |
One of the recurring themes of the fairy world is the idea that “one should not eat the fairy food.” People are warned that if they eat the food or drink offered by the fairies, they will not be able to return to this world, and if they find a way to return somehow, they will be many years older and the people they left behind will not appear to them as they did before. One of the best-known stories that carries this tradition is that of Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep by a tree and when he wakes, many years have lapsed, and nothing is the same as it was. There are two possible explanation for how this came about. The most obvious would be the early Brahmans in India creating the “guru” class of hierarchy to keep the knowledge to themselves. This may have been passed down over time, as a warning for people to stay away from all mushrooms. One might die from poisoning, or far worse, become “aware” of the fairy queendom. The second possibility is that the idea of being “away” or “on a trip” was passed down similar to how cultures pass down memes to each successive generation. Time changes while you are on psychedelics and this is a way to say, “time will change for this person.” (40) The next “fairy tale” we cover is a popular myth with fairy berries. The parts in quotes are taken directly from the story, the rest is narrated by yours truly: The Fairy Tree of Dooros – One day the fairies of the west and the fairies of the lakes were playing a game of hurly and wore out their shoes, which leprechauns had to work all the next week to repair. The fairies feasted on the little red berries that grew on a tree which looked so much like rowan tree berries one could hardly tell the difference. The fairy berries only grow in fairyland though and if an old decrepit man ate one, he would become young again and active and a shriveling old crone would become a young fair maiden once again: “The fairies guarded the berries as carefully as a miser guards his gold, and whenever they were about to leave fairyland they had to promise in the presence of the king and queen that they would not give a single berry to mortal man, nor allow one to fall upon the earth; for if a single berry fell upon the earth a slender tree of many branches, bearing clusters of berries, would at once spring up, and mortal men might eat of them.” (35) Richard III, Act IV, Scene 1 :-: Open Source Shakespeare; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice (36) http://www.strangehistory.net/2016/06/18/the-renwick-cockatrice/ (37) Ploughing the Clouds, p. 24-25 (38) Koch, John T. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2006. pp.1671 (39) Dillon, Myles, (2003). The Celtic realms. Castle Books (40) Ploughing the Clouds, p. 32-33 |
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