Entheogens Sacraments and Religion

8/3/2019 Entheogens Sacraments and Religion

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Etheogens,SacramentsandReligion

ByRichardJ.Williams

Introduction

InIndianmythologytheSanskritword'mela'meansa'festival'and'Khumb'meansa

'pot';aKhumbamelaor'openairspiritualfair'.AccordingtotheVedicliterature,atthe

beginningoftime,theGodsgottogetherandchurnedtheoceantoextractasubstancewhich

wouldconferimmortality.TheGodsagreedtosharethismightyelixir,butoneofthem

apparentlyabscondedwiththewholepotofHolyAmbrosia.Fleeingwiththe'Nectarofthe

Gods',over

the

course

of

twelve

days,

the

decoction

Amrita

was

spilt

onto

four

auspicious

places,namely,Prayag,Hardwar,Ujjain,andNasik.

ThemostpopularversionoftheIndianmyth'ChurningthemilkOcean'isfoundinthe

EighthCantooftheBhagavataPurana.InBuddhistmythology,Amritaisthedrinkofthegods,

whichgrantsthemimmortality.TheNinthMandalaoftheRigVedaisknownastheSoma

Mandala.According

to

Terrence

McKenna

in

his

book

"The

Food

of

Gods",

the

psilocybin

containingStrophariacubensismushroomisalikelySomacandidate.Psilocybin,theactive

psychoactivecomponentinStrophariaCubensishasastronghallucinogenicnature.Soma

(Sanskrit), orHaoma(Avestan)wasaritualdrinkofimportanceamongtheearlyIndoIranians,

andthelaterVedicandIraniancultures.ItisfrequentlymentionedintheRigVeda,which

containsmany

hymns

praising

its

energizing

or

intoxicating

qualities.

Theuseofsubstancesinritualorreligiousobservancesisapracticethatisabundantly

attestedintheshamanicworldaswellasamongsomeyogins,andamongtherishisinthe


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Vedas.WeknowthatPatanjalihimselfputssimples(ausadhi),togetherwithSamadhi,among

themeansofobtainingthesiddhis.

The

Aryan

Ur

religion

IntheRigVedathesacramentalbasisoftheVedicreligionwasthepreparationand

consumptionofadecoctionobtainedbymixingthejuiceoftheflyagaricwithother

ingredients,oneofwhichmayhavebeenhemp,orabeveragepreparedbyextractingthejuice

fromtheAmanitaMuscariafungus.This'urreligion'doesnotbeginwiththecompositionofthe

Vedas,whentheAryansarrivedinIndia,butmuchfurtherbackintime,inthelateIceAgein

Siberia.Duringthiscoldage,whenpeoplehadtolivemostofthetimedeepinsidecavesor

otherdwellings,aninwarddirectionwasgiventotheirspiritualendeavors.

Duetothisfactandwiththeaidofcertainmagicalherbsandplants,manfirstinvented

religion.WhentheAryanscamedownfromSiberiatheybroughtwiththemtheirurreligion

andanurgariticlanguagewhichbecametheVedicandPersianreligiousexpressionandlater

theIndoEuropeanlanguage,whichincludesSanskritandPersian,andthedialectsofGreek,

Finnish,German,Hindi,andUrdu.

SomaRaja,NectaroftheGods

SomainthecaseoftheVedas,andHoamainthecaseoftheIranians,thatis,thePersians.

TheseAryans,awordwhichoriginallymeant'nobletilleroftheearth',i.e.anagriculturist,

'diggingstickinhand',camefromSiberia,notbyinvasion,andnotin1500BCE,butbyaprocess

ofdiffusion,asdescribedbythefamousarchaeologistColinRenfrew,around7000BCE.The

firstAryanssettledinwhatiscalledtheSaraswatiValley.AccordingtoG.GordonWasson,


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"ThereislittledoubtthatthesubstancecalledSomainthe RigVedahasbeenidentifiedasthe

fungusAmanitaMuscaria."However,thereisevidencethatsuccessivewavesofAryan

immigrantscametoIndiainlateryearsperhapsuptoasrecentlyas2000BCE.

Theevidenceforthisiscenteredonthreeincontrovertiblefacts:

1.ThereisadirectaffinitybetweenSanskritandFinnish.TheAryanspeakerswhocomposed

theVedaswereakintothesameAryanspeakerswhomovedtowhatisnowIran,thelatter

havingcomposedtheAvesta,bothofwhichscripturescenteronthecultofthemagical

substance,Soma.AccordingtoWendyDonigerO'Flaherty,aRigVedicscholar, "thesoma

sacrificewasthefocalpointoftheVedicreligion"(O'Flaherty95).

2.ThecultoftheAmanitaMuscariahasbeentracedbymycologiststoSiberia.Thishasbeen

provedbynotonlyWassonbutalsoothereminentbotanistssuchasS.HajicekDobberstein,

theauthorofthepaper"Somasiddhasandalchemicalenlightenment: psychedelicmushrooms

inBuddhisttradition",publishedintheJournalofEthnopharmacology.TheAmanitaMuscaria

spokenofintheRigVedahasitsorigininthenorthernareaaroundFinlandandSiberia,where

thefungusstillgrowsandcanbeseeneachyear.

3.ThereisnoevidencethattheAmanitaMuscaria,thatis,theVedicSoma,growsinthe

HimalayasorinthedesertwhichcomprisedtheLandoftheFiveRivers,thatis,AryaBharata.

Basedonthesefacts,itisclearthattheAryanscamefromoutsideIndia,broughtwiththema

languageverysimilartoFinnish,apeoplewhohadanintimateknowledgeofthe'flyagaric'

whichgrowsinSiberia,butdoesnotgrowinIndia,andcomposedtheVedaswhileunderthe

influenceofapsychedelicsubstancewhentheyarrivedinmodernPakistan,afterparting


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companywiththeirPersiancousins,whostayedinIran.Fromthesepeoplewegotourlanguage

whichspreadovertheMiddleEast,India,andEurope.And,fromthesepeoplewegottheVedic

Religion,areligionwhichcenteredontheSomacult.

Asfurtherevidence,pleasenotethattheTibetanwordforcannabisis'So.Ma.Ra.Dza',

thatis,somaraja,'kingofsoma',and'bDud.rTsi',whichinTibetanmeans'drinkjuice'as

translatedfromtheSanskritandtakentoTibetbytheEightyfourMahasiddhasofVajrayana

Buddhisminthetenthcenturyofourera.ThemysterioussubstancereferredtoinBuddhist

texts,variouslydescribedas'amrita'isnoneotherthanasimilardecoctioncontainingasimilar

alkaloidascontainedinthesomafungus.

Apparently,theproperperformanceofsacrificialritualwasoftheutmostimportancein

theVedicAryanreligion.Bymeansofthesacrificeitwasbelievedthatcertainindividualscould

winthefavorofthegods.EvenbeforetheAryansenteredIndia,thesacrificehadbecomea

complexandelaborateaffair.Thesacrificeinvolvedtheslaughterofdozensandsometimes

hundredsofanimals cattle,sheep,goats,andhorses aspriestsutteredthesacredformulae

andthemysteriouschantsoftheVedichymns.

Accordingtohistorians,J.BentlyandH.Ziegler,worshipperspartookofSoma,asortof

elixirofthegods,ahallucinogenicdecoctionthatproduced"adivinesenseofpowerand

inspiration"(103).

The

hymns

are

recorded

in

the

Rig

Veda,

particularly

in

Mandala

X,

wherein

isdescribedthesacredeventasthegodsthemselvesjoinedtheparticipantsandpartookinthe

ritualeatinganddrinking.


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Bypleasingthegodswithsacrifice,song,drinkandfood(bothcoarseandsoft)theVedic

Aryanshopedtogainthesupportofnature,(andmuchmilitarysuccess),largefamilies,longlife

andabundantherdsofcattle.Thesesacrificesrequiredtheconstantattentionofaspecialclass

ofpriestswhowererequiredtoperformnolessthanfiveritualsperdayfortheaverage

commonhousehold.

TheideathatSomawasanethnogen,specificallytheredcappedAmanitaMuscaria

mushroom,asdescribedinMandalaIXandXofRigVeda,wasfirstpresentedbytheethno

mycologistsR.GordonWasson.TheAmanitagrowsinaycorrhizalrelationshipwithanumber

ofdifferenttrees,specificallythepines,firs,andaboveall,thebirches,fromwhichthe

mushroommustfeedfrom.Anexampleofthereadings(fromtheNinthMandalaofRigVeda):

FlowSoma,inamostsweetandexhilaratingstream,effusedforIndratodrink.Theall

beholdingdestroyerofRakshasashassteppeduponhisgoldsmittenbirthplace,unitedwiththe

woodencask.Bethelavishgiverofwealth,mostbounteous,thedestroyerofenemies;bestow

onustherichesoftheaffluent.Comewithfoodtothesacrificeofthemightygods,andbringus

strengthandsustenance.Totheewecome,Odropping(Soma);fortheeonlyisthisour

worshipdaybyday,ourprayersaretothee,noneother.

Amanita:Analkaloid,ofthemushroomspecies.Itscommonnameis"FlyAgaric"andit

hasbeen

described

by

mycologists

as

Pileus

Size:

(5)

7

25

(40)

cm

broad;

Shape:

convex,

becomingplanetoslightlywavyordepressedinage;Color:bloodred,orvariousshadesof

bright,scarlet,ororangered;becominglightertowardmargin;Surface:smooth,coveredwith

whitewartsorsmallpatches(remainsoftheuniversalveil);sometimeswashingoffinage;


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tacky,stickyorviscidwhenmoist;Margin:striate;atfirstappendiculate;Flesh:firmwhen

youngandbecomingsoftinage,white(yellowishbeneathcuticle);thick;Odor:faint;Taste:

pleasant.

AlkaloidsandPatanjaliYoga

MirceaEliadestatesinhisclassicbook"Yoga:ImmortalityorFreedom"thatinthe

sphereofshamanism,strictlyspeaking,"...intoxicationbydrugs(hemp,mushrooms,tobacco,

etc.)seemsnottohaveformedpartoftheoriginalpractice.For,ontheonehand,shamanic

mythsandfolklorerecordadecadenceamongtheshamansofthepresentday,whohave

becomeunabletoobtainecstasyinthefashionofthe"greatshamansoflongago";onthe

other,ithasbeenobservedthatwhereshamanismisindecompositionandthetranceis

simulated,thereisalsooverindulgenceinintoxicantsanddrugs"(338).

MirceaEliadewrotethatonlytherudimentsofclassicYogaaretobefoundinthe

Vedas,andwhileShamanismandothertechniquesofecstasyaredocumentedamongother

IndoEuropeanpeople,YogaistobefoundonlyinIndiaandinculturesinfluencedbyIndian

spirituality(102).Eliadenotes:"Possession"byspirits,althoughdocumentedinagreatmany

shamanisms,doesnotseemtohavebeenaprimaryandessentialelement.Rather,itsuggestsa

phenomenonofdegeneration;forthesupremegoaloftheshamanistoabandonhisbodyand

risetoheavenordescendintohell,nottolethimselfbe"possessed"byhisassistingspirits,by

demonsorthesoulsofthedead;theshaman'sidealistomasterthesespirits,nottolethimself

be"occupied"bythem"(320).

YogaSutraIV,1:


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"Psychicandspiritualpowers(siddhi)maybeinborn,ortheymaybegainedbytheuseof

simples,orbymantra,orbystriving,orbyMeditation".

"Simples"

mean

ecstasy

inducing

herbs,

from

which

the

elixir

of

longevity

was

extracted.

Inanycase,simplesproduceecstasyandnottheyogicSamadhi.MirceaEliadebelievesthat

these"mysticalmeans"properlybelongtothephenomenologyofecstasyandtheywereonly

reluctantlyadmittedintothesphereofclassicYoga.AccordingtoEliade,"Yetthefactthat

Patanjalihimselfreferstothemagicoecstaticvirtuesofsimplesisbothsignificantandpregnant

withconsequences;itprovesthepressureexercisedbytheecstatics,theirwilltosubstitute

theirmethodsforthedisciplinesofclassicYoga"(Eliade338339).

Workscited:

Allegro,JohnM."TheSacredMushroomandtheCross".Astudyofthenatureand

originsofChristianitywithinthefertilitycultsoftheancientNearEast.PaperJacks,GeneralPub.

1971.

Arthur,James."MushroomsandMankind:TheImpactofMushroomsonHumans".

Bentley,Jerry.H.andZiegler,HerbertF."Traditions&Encounters".Aglobalperspective

onthepast,SecondEdition.VolumeI.Fromthebeginningsto1500A.D.Chapter4 Early

SocietiesinSouthAsia,ReligionintheVedicAge.McGrawHillHigherEducation,NewYork;

2003.

O'Flaherty,WendyDoniger,Ph.D."ThePostVedicHistoryoftheSomaPlant"ibid.p.95.

Eliade,Mircea."Yoga:ImmortalityandFreedom."PrincetonU.Press,1958.

McKenna,Terrence.

"Food

of

the

Gods".

The

search

for

the

original

tree

of

knowledge,

a

radicalhistoryofplants,drugs,andhumanevolution.Bantam,1992.

Wasson,R.Gordon."Soma:TheDivineMushroomofImmortality."HarcourtBrace

Jovanovick,1968.

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