This ain't just for Soapwater and her/his troupe....
AMANITA MUSCARIA & CANNABIS SATIVA: KEYS TO THE MYTH OF JESUS
The Rig-Veda, one of humanity's oldest scriptures, contains over 1,000 poems extolling the merit & virtues of 'King Soma,' who is portrayed as a lightning-born, mountain residing deity and a urine-tinged elixir of health & strength, as well as being praised as the direct means of communion with the Divine and as the supreme poetic & musical inspiration.
R. Gordon Wasson's 'SOMA: Divine Mushroom of Immortality' (1969)
identifies 'Soma' as a mixture of Amanita muscaria, a mushroom found
under conifer trees having a blood-red cap spotted with white thorn-like
crusts, and the resinous flowers of Cannabis sativa, commonly known as
'marijuana.'
Wasson notes ancient Hindu scriptures depicting urine drinking as
bestowing 'spirituality,' just as Siberian shamans drink the urine of
Amanita muscaria-fed reindeer which exhibit appropriate signs of mushroom
intoxication in order to gain insight & wisdom. This is because
'muscimol,' the psychoactive element of Amanita muscaria, remains active
in urine for up to seven re-ingestions or for use by others, which the
shamans drink as a 'holy wine,' the epitome of true 'transubstantiation.'
[Wasson's archive of research, writings & correspondence is maintained by Harvard University's Herbarium Library and can be viewed by appointment only. Contact (617) 495-2366.]
John Marco Allegro used Wasson's theory and comparative linguistics to decipher the Gospels of Jesus & the Dead Sea Scrolls, the translation team of which he was summarily dismissed from upon publishing his findings in 'The Sacred Mushroom & the Cross' (1970).
Clark Heinrich published his further research on 'entheogens' -- organic
substances which enhance feelings of the Divine residing within those who
partake -- in 'STRANGE FRUIT: Alchemy & Religion, the Hidden Truth'
(1995, Bloomsbury Press), explicating the case for the Amanita muscaria
as the interpretive key to the mythic symbolisms of the Vedas,
Torah/Talmud & Gospels of Jesus, as well as the true identity of the
'Philosopher's Stone of Alchemy' and the 'Holy Grail,' which Heinrich
suggests is simply the chalice-shaped mushroom.
['Strange Fruit' is available directly from Barnes&Noble.com.]
JESUS AS A SYMBOL OF THE MUSHROOM
Jesus is portrayed as the 'Son of God,' sent to fulfill the role of
'Messiah' or 'Anointed One' -- literally, 'one smeared with semen.' As a
mushroom the Amanita muscaria does not disseminate seeds as plants do,
but ejaculates microscopic spores which create a threadlike fungal
network at the base of conifer trees from which thunderstorms elicit more
mushrooms. Prior to knowledge of spores lightning was thought to be the
source of mushrooms and lightning was considered the firey progenitive
spears of God, hence the phallic fungi were called 'Sons of God.'
The mushroom's spore ejaculate leaves an oily film on the blood-red cap
spotted with white thorns, hence the term 'Messiah' ('Anointed One') and
allusions to thistle-entwined, bloody-browed sacrifices, such as the
miraculous 'Ram' of Abraham (Genesis 22:13) and Jesus the thorn-crowned
'Lamb of God.'
Mushrooms were also seen as 'winged' creatures, or crowned by a cloudy cap or 'halo,' each carrying a 'message' from God, the very definition of an 'Angel.' Some mushrooms were 'good' or nutritious, some were 'evil' or poisonous, but Amanita muscaria was considered 'blessed' and capable of bestowing health, strength, inspiration and the power of prognostication.
Ingestion of the Amanita muscaria can revive the deathly ill and enables people to perform unusual feats of strength. The Gnostics used the mushroom to access 'gnosis' or 'sacred knowledge' and become privy to seeing the 'Kingdom at hand.'
The experience can also result in a very deep sleep, giving the appearance that the partaker has died, only to be 'resurrected' as the effect wears off. The decaying mushroom smells like rotting flesh thus attracting flies, hence another term for the mushroom, 'fly agaric.' Flies seem to die on contact with the mushroom, but if observed for a period of about 12 hours, however, the insects experience 'resurrection' and fly away.
As John Allegro points out, the 'Cross' is merely the cuneiform symbol of the mushroom, just as the 'Asclepius,' or snake-entwined staff topped by a winged disc found on nearly all medical facilities, is also just an ancient symbol of the mushroom.
JESUS AS A SYMBOL OF MARIJUANA
Jesus is also portrayed as the offspring of a female virgin named 'Mary,'
who represents Cannabis sativa or 'hemp,' since female plants are
'cloistered,' or kept separate from male plants, in order to produce more
THC, the medicinal chemical found in the resin of Cannabis flowers which
are commonly known as 'marijuana.'
Jesus, the offspring of the 'Blessed Virgin,' performs healings astonishingly similar to the confirmed medicinal effects of THC.
HEALINGS OF JESUS DISEASES THC TREATS Blindness Glaucoma Deafness Tinnitus Lameness Arthritis Sickness Nausea; Cramps; Migraine 'Leprosy' Skin Lesions 'Demon-Possesion' Epilepsy; MultipleSclerosis
Not only does Cannabis heal people, it also restores topsoil to poor land such as the Jews were relegated to. Mark 4:3-8, the 'Parable of the Sower,' is a premier hemp reference since (a) hemp seed is the favored food of most species of bird, (b) hemp grows very quickly (having 4 seasons per year in climates as diverse as Siberia & Jamaica), and (c) hemp, unlike wheat & other crops, replicates itself 30-, 60- & 100-fold, as any good 'weed' should.
Cannabis was the basis of preindustrial civilization, providing Earth's most nutritious food for humans & animals (hemp seed), rope & canvas for tents & clothing ('canvas' being derived from the word 'Cannabis'), fuel for heating & cooking (seed oil), the means of fishing & sea travel (sails, rope for rigging & nets, sealant for boats) and wood oil & varnish (aged seed oil), part of the occupational means of a carpenter, which Mary's husband, Joseph, is portrayed as being.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE JESUS MYTH
If Jesus is just a fictional personification of psychedelic mushrooms & marijuana, what is the significance of his capital punishment at the hands of civil & religious authorities and his subsequent resurrection celebrated on Easter?
Jesus life & execution symbolize the inherent antagonisms between Earth's organic bounty of food, provisions & medicine plus the natural fact of human mortality versus the pseudo-scarcity economics of the centralized technological State & the empty assurances of human immortality by esoteric ecclesiastic Polities, which both profit from human misery & sickness as well as environmental ignorance & disregard.
By prohibiting & criminalizing the very essence of 'Jesus,' the modern State fully realizes its Biblical designation as the 'Anti-Christ,' orchestrating the monopolization of ecology & economy by corporations whose inferior substitutes for botanic resources desecrate the Earth and its inhabitants -- an 'abomination causing desolation.'
Ironically, it is very often those who designate themselves as
'Christians' who are most vocal & active in their support for measures to
persecute & imprison those who actually know 'Jesus' more intimately than
any self-righteous prohibitionist ever could, even as so-called
'Christians' read & study the Gospels of Jesus as printed on the
tissue-thin hemp paper used in the majority of modern Bibles [source:
Zondervan Books]. They reject the true 'sacrament' and settle for stale
bread & sour grapes.
Jesus' resurrection symbolizes Earth's faithful yielding of the true sacrament as well as the undying hope that humanity might learn to recognize and embrace both the natural means of living & the natural fact of dying and henceforth live abundantly, even under penalty of imprisonment, persecution and death.
In demonstrating that most sacred myths are symbolisms of psychedelic mushroom & marijuana use, Wasson, Allegro & Heinrich undermine claims of unique access to communion with the Divine as well as claims of entitlement to eternal life & bliss made by those who effectively prohibit the easiest means of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the indigent & attending the sick by criminalizing the'soma'* of Jesus, King of kings.
*['body' in Greek, Mark 14:22].