Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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| “Natural Magick is taken to be nothing else, but the chief power of all the natural Sciences; which therefore they call the top and perfection of Natural Philosophy, and which is indeed the active part of the same; which by the assistance of natural forces and faculties, through their mutual & opportune application, performs those things that are above Humane Reason.” — Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa - In “The Vanity of the Arts and Sciences” (1530), translation (1676), 110 Chapter 18: The Demonic Possession of the Catholic Church The Devil is in the Details Medieval Europe in the Dark Ages was not the time or place in history where people were the happiest. The Church had quite a bit of control over the lives of the average citizen and religion, and combined with the ruler ship of the royal families, had almost complete control over the lives of just about everyone. Fear was a prime motivating factor behind the actions of most events that occurred during this time. There was fear on the part of the ever expanding church over losing sway over the people and the royal families had fear they would lose the support of the citizenry and both of them worked together to instill fear in the people of god, the devil, and everything that might happen to them along with the punishment of the state, should they fail to obey god’s word and the word of the crown. In the meantime, the church was busy building more cathedrals all over Europe with money it was stealing from the people, and filling these churches with images of the holy mushroom, hidden away, in select and secret locations, sometimes tucked away in books. The oldest known mushroom artwork in any church discovered so far that I have seen is in the Baptistry St Giovanni, Laterno Rome, c. 500 AD, at the cathedral top, where a mushroom sits in a serving cup, or chalice, surrounded by two peacocks (66a). In the Synagogue of Beit Alpha, c. 500 AD, we again see the peacocks surrounding the chalice, this time, it’s an amphora or kantharos (66f), like we’ve previously seen on Greek and Judaic coins.  |
 (66a) Baptistry St Giovanni – Laterno Rome Cathedral Top c. 500 AD  (66f) Synagogue of Beit Alpha c. 500 AD Basilica Aquileia, in Italy, c. 1030 AD, hosts an image of a bowl of mushrooms (66e).  (66e) Basilica Aquileia, Italy c. 1030 AD Saint Michael’s Church in Hildesheim was rebuilt after allied bombing in WWII. The reconstruction was completed in 1957 so the image of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with an A. muscaria in the background is a more recent enterprise (65d). It seems someone in the not too far distant past knew of the “secret.” There were also two large bronze panels which survived which depict Jesus and mushrooms as well. They are called the “Door of Salvation” and commissioned by Bishop Bernward, the 13th bishop of the Holy See of Hildesheim. These panels date from the time of the original construction of the church in 1015. I am grateful to both Julie and Jerry Brown for the incredible images they brought back from their trip there (65h). Many good images are provided in their book, The Psychedelic Gospels, which is another excellent book I recommend. (1) (1) Psychedelic Gospels, p. 155-56 |
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