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The Immortality Key: Uncovering the Secret History of the Religion with No Name
A groundbreaking, controversial dive into the role psychedelics have played in the human experience of the Divine throughout Western history, and the answer to a 2,000 year old mystery that could shake the Church to its foundations.
The Immortality Key connects the lost, psychedelic sacrament of Greek religion to early Christianity—exposing the true origins of Western Civilization. In the tradition of unsolved historical mysteries like David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon and Douglas Preston's The Lost City of the Monkey God, Brian Muraresku’s 10-year investigation takes the reader through Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, offering unprecedented access to the hidden archives of the Louvre and the Vatican along the way.
In The Immortality Key, Muraresku explores a little-known connection between the best-kept secret in Ancient Greece and Christianity. This is the real story of the most famous human being who ever lived (Jesus) and the biggest religion the world has ever known. Today, 2.4 billion people are Christian. That's one third of the planet. But do any of them really know how it all started?
Before Jerusalem, before Rome, before Mecca—there was Eleusis: the spiritual capital of the ancient world. It promised immortality to Plato and the rest of Athens's greatest minds with a very simple formula: drink this potion, see God. Shrouded in secrecy for millennia, the Ancient Greek sacrament was buried when the newly Christianized Roman Empire obliterated Eleusis in the fourth century AD.
Renegade scholars in the 1970s claimed the Greek potion was psychedelic, just like the original Christian Eucharist that replaced it. In recent years, vindication for the disgraced theory has been quietly mounting in the laboratory. The rapidly growing field of archaeological chemistry has proven the ancient use of visionary drugs. And with a single dose of psilocybin, the psycho-pharmacologists at Johns Hopkins and NYU are now turning self-proclaimed atheists into instant believers. No one has ever found hard, scientific evidence of drugs connected to Eleusis, let alone early Christianity. Until now.
Armed with key documents never before translated into English, convincing analysis, and a captivating spirit of quest, Muraresku mines science, classical literature, biblical scholarship and art to deliver the hidden key to eternal life, bringing us to what clinical psychologist William Richards calls "the edge of an awesomely vast frontier."
Featuring a Foreword by Graham Hancock, the New York Times bestselling author of America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization.
The Immortality Key connects the lost, psychedelic sacrament of Greek religion to early Christianity—exposing the true origins of Western Civilization. In the tradition of unsolved historical mysteries like David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon and Douglas Preston's The Lost City of the Monkey God, Brian Muraresku’s 10-year investigation takes the reader through Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, offering unprecedented access to the hidden archives of the Louvre and the Vatican along the way.
In The Immortality Key, Muraresku explores a little-known connection between the best-kept secret in Ancient Greece and Christianity. This is the real story of the most famous human being who ever lived (Jesus) and the biggest religion the world has ever known. Today, 2.4 billion people are Christian. That's one third of the planet. But do any of them really know how it all started?
Before Jerusalem, before Rome, before Mecca—there was Eleusis: the spiritual capital of the ancient world. It promised immortality to Plato and the rest of Athens's greatest minds with a very simple formula: drink this potion, see God. Shrouded in secrecy for millennia, the Ancient Greek sacrament was buried when the newly Christianized Roman Empire obliterated Eleusis in the fourth century AD.
Renegade scholars in the 1970s claimed the Greek potion was psychedelic, just like the original Christian Eucharist that replaced it. In recent years, vindication for the disgraced theory has been quietly mounting in the laboratory. The rapidly growing field of archaeological chemistry has proven the ancient use of visionary drugs. And with a single dose of psilocybin, the psycho-pharmacologists at Johns Hopkins and NYU are now turning self-proclaimed atheists into instant believers. No one has ever found hard, scientific evidence of drugs connected to Eleusis, let alone early Christianity. Until now.
Armed with key documents never before translated into English, convincing analysis, and a captivating spirit of quest, Muraresku mines science, classical literature, biblical scholarship and art to deliver the hidden key to eternal life, bringing us to what clinical psychologist William Richards calls "the edge of an awesomely vast frontier."
Featuring a Foreword by Graham Hancock, the New York Times bestselling author of America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 29, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 609 reviews
October 5, 2023
That just about settles the debate, religious history is soaked in mind expanding drugs, namely, psychedelics. Many of us have had this suspicion, and the mystics have been telling us for millenia, that all of religion is ultimately phenomenologically derived - that is to say, you experience the divine first, and then you may talk about it. You cannot talk your way to God, the map is not the terrain.
I think this is the book that finally tipped the scales for me, I believe various dogmas and bureaucrats have kept us in the shadows for too long, and that the war on drugs now necessarily must come to an end. Endless suffering and misunderstandings, due to the games of power hungry leaders, hunting witches and mystics alike, and preventing humanity from achieving the spiritual growth along the path that our ancestors put us on. Women and psychedelic drugs, the two things the church have been discriminatnig against the most, turns out to be the key to the deepest secrets of our past.
Muraresku has done a phenomenal job, incredibly well researched over 12 years, and not from the comfort of his own arm chair, he put his boots on the ground. He even got access to the closed off libraries of the Vatican, in which his hypothesis finally came together. Not once, during those 12 years, did he try psychedelics himself, just to keep his integrity intact. I sure hope he gets to have that wonderful experience any time soon.
"War on drugs = war on spiritual growth, on the one thing that actually worked. The only way to experience God, is to die before you die, and the most reliable way of having that experience, is psychedelics." Brilliant!
I think this is the book that finally tipped the scales for me, I believe various dogmas and bureaucrats have kept us in the shadows for too long, and that the war on drugs now necessarily must come to an end. Endless suffering and misunderstandings, due to the games of power hungry leaders, hunting witches and mystics alike, and preventing humanity from achieving the spiritual growth along the path that our ancestors put us on. Women and psychedelic drugs, the two things the church have been discriminatnig against the most, turns out to be the key to the deepest secrets of our past.
Muraresku has done a phenomenal job, incredibly well researched over 12 years, and not from the comfort of his own arm chair, he put his boots on the ground. He even got access to the closed off libraries of the Vatican, in which his hypothesis finally came together. Not once, during those 12 years, did he try psychedelics himself, just to keep his integrity intact. I sure hope he gets to have that wonderful experience any time soon.
"War on drugs = war on spiritual growth, on the one thing that actually worked. The only way to experience God, is to die before you die, and the most reliable way of having that experience, is psychedelics." Brilliant!
October 9, 2020
Imagine a non-fiction Dan Brown book where the author actually goes to the places and does actual research. Highly reccommend the audiobook as Brian's pronunciation of the greek/latin and other languages adds so much depth to the book.
November 12, 2020
I detect a degree of confirmation bias.
October 19, 2021
It's an interesting idea but Muraresku is making some enormous leaps that defy logic. At one point he tries to suggest a link between a skull cult at Gobekli Tepe and a jawbone found at Pontos--two sites which are separated by about 9,000 years. It's insane. There is no link.
Many of his other leaps are actually plausible, but the evidence is just not there. It's annoying how he contorts the English language at every turn to make it sound like he has a strong case, when he has practically nothing. He also has not managed to disguise a hostility to Christianity, which crops up through the whole book and is offputting.
I would say half the book is filler. An long article on the topic could have done the trick and would have been fun to read.
The book contains a lot of wild speculation. The author's big prize, the "hard evidence" he touts, is chemical traces of ergot found on teeth dating to 200 BC found in Spain, in a ritual setting. From here he (somehow) gets to: Christianity was founded on psychadelics.
I did enjoy his insider description of visiting the secret Vatican archives, which I never knew existed. But overall the book was just disappointing.
Many of his other leaps are actually plausible, but the evidence is just not there. It's annoying how he contorts the English language at every turn to make it sound like he has a strong case, when he has practically nothing. He also has not managed to disguise a hostility to Christianity, which crops up through the whole book and is offputting.
I would say half the book is filler. An long article on the topic could have done the trick and would have been fun to read.
The book contains a lot of wild speculation. The author's big prize, the "hard evidence" he touts, is chemical traces of ergot found on teeth dating to 200 BC found in Spain, in a ritual setting. From here he (somehow) gets to: Christianity was founded on psychadelics.
I did enjoy his insider description of visiting the secret Vatican archives, which I never knew existed. But overall the book was just disappointing.
October 16, 2020
This book reads as though the author started with a conclusion - that the prophets and world religions were heavily influenced by hallucinogenic compounds - and then desperately reverse engineered his conclusion by making the historical pieces fit to his satisfaction. I’m not saying he’s wrong, and I’m not saying I didn’t learn a lot from this book, but if you give this book a shot I encourage you to really listen to and scrutinize some of the jumps he takes to make his narrative make sense. Some of them are particularly far fetched.
I understand the obsession with making sense of religious historical accounts, especially in modern times when such accounts read as ridiculous fairy tales. Hallucinogenic compounds like the ergotamine derivatives the author proposes make perfect sense as being gateways to spiritual enlightenment for the prophets. I’m also a firm believer that many of the periods of seemingly unprecedented industrial or agricultural growth may have been precipitated by people who were under the influence of these drugs, gaining insight and information from mysterious parallel entities that would otherwise be beyond the capacity of human intellect. Such compounds consistently make believers out of even the most secular-minded individuals, and the scientific community is finally awakening to at least exploring them from a therapeutic perspective. Nevertheless, it’s reckless to say that because something makes sense to us in modern times, it is necessarily true of our predecessors.
Good book nonetheless.
I understand the obsession with making sense of religious historical accounts, especially in modern times when such accounts read as ridiculous fairy tales. Hallucinogenic compounds like the ergotamine derivatives the author proposes make perfect sense as being gateways to spiritual enlightenment for the prophets. I’m also a firm believer that many of the periods of seemingly unprecedented industrial or agricultural growth may have been precipitated by people who were under the influence of these drugs, gaining insight and information from mysterious parallel entities that would otherwise be beyond the capacity of human intellect. Such compounds consistently make believers out of even the most secular-minded individuals, and the scientific community is finally awakening to at least exploring them from a therapeutic perspective. Nevertheless, it’s reckless to say that because something makes sense to us in modern times, it is necessarily true of our predecessors.
Good book nonetheless.
Read
November 26, 2020First, the notion that the author “has confirmation bias” towards his claim is nonsense because that is literally what the book is about and what it claims, so that’s an absurd criticism.
An extraordinary read, this. First, the author’s narration is great; his voice is pleasant which makes for easy listening.
Anywho, the premise of the book is crazy fascinating and juggles the imagination. The idea that the origins of the Christian Eucharist was a psychedelic cocktail isn’t far fetched, but the new evidence to this is pretty groundbreaking and the inference is incredible.
It’s meticulously researched, almost reads like a non-fiction Dan Brown novel (without the murder n shit) and oh, the author‘s pronunciations of Italian and Greek is fucking SPOT on.
I was bummed when I finished it as the subject matter is just so intriguing. With the increasing interest and acceptance of psychedelic substances, I hope there will be continued research to flesh this story out even more and maybe we can get a confirmation that the premise is true.
Moral: “If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.”
An extraordinary read, this. First, the author’s narration is great; his voice is pleasant which makes for easy listening.
Anywho, the premise of the book is crazy fascinating and juggles the imagination. The idea that the origins of the Christian Eucharist was a psychedelic cocktail isn’t far fetched, but the new evidence to this is pretty groundbreaking and the inference is incredible.
It’s meticulously researched, almost reads like a non-fiction Dan Brown novel (without the murder n shit) and oh, the author‘s pronunciations of Italian and Greek is fucking SPOT on.
I was bummed when I finished it as the subject matter is just so intriguing. With the increasing interest and acceptance of psychedelic substances, I hope there will be continued research to flesh this story out even more and maybe we can get a confirmation that the premise is true.
Moral: “If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.”
October 17, 2020
I want to like this book more, but Muraresku's myopic fixation on legitimizing early Christianity as some successor to ancient wisdom is too much of a stretch. While praising the "rebel" nature of the Dionysian cult and equating it with early, feminist christian cult, that he never sees the possibility of these connections being artificial- not made up, but manufactured.
The research here is on point, and the valid, in depth look into psychedelics in ancient religions is long overdue, but i just don't buy the authors conclusions on some hidden spiritual truths saved from the tyranny of Rome by Christianity.
The research here is on point, and the valid, in depth look into psychedelics in ancient religions is long overdue, but i just don't buy the authors conclusions on some hidden spiritual truths saved from the tyranny of Rome by Christianity.
October 28, 2020
This book in part left me feeling somewhat concerned and disappointed, while other parts were enlightening. First, I noticed the forward to the book was by Mr. Hancock, who has seemed to me before to lean into the realm of pseudoscience. Nonetheless, I read his entry remarks with an open mind. Then I came to a reference to a work by David Lewis-Williams, “The Mind in the Cave”. Briefly, this reference notes that Mr. Lewis-Williams’ studies show that stone age shamans entered altered states of consciousness by various means, “notably psychedelic plants and fungi”, and then record their visions on the walls of caves. This is a gross over-simplification of Mr. Lewis-Williams’ work, which has a very sparing mention of hallucinogenic substances. This sort of cherry-picking smacks of pseudoscience. It gave me a sense of foreboding as I continued.
Continuing on to the main author of the work, it was the foundations of the book that mostly gave me heartburn. Compared to other recent books I have read on the human use of psychedelics and their re-introduction, this part of the book seemed unbalanced and skewed. Psychedelics were presented as a panacea, which is needed to sweep away the stale spirituality in Western society. Persons who had shown skepticism were also caricaturized and seemed cartoonish; and skepticism itself was presented almost like a crackpot conspiracy theory. The tone of this part of the author’s presentation seemed fairly immature and reckless, despite its partial truth. Michael Pollan (“How to Change your Mind”) worried about sloppy research causing problems with regards to bringing wise psychedelic use into our society, and that worry is what I felt when I read this portion of the book. Psychedelics might need to be shown both for what they can and can’t do. Plenty of LSD really contributed to the nice vibe at the original Woodstock; but those vibes did not inspire the participants to clean up their trash when they left.
Continuing on, much of the subsequent material was interesting, fun, and engaging. Good food for thought. For me it was already a no-brainer that psychedelics had been used for millennia and contributed to our spirituality, so I had not expected any big revelations there. I can remember when I was a little kid in Catholic school getting the Eucharist….going back to my pew and thinking like I should be “coming on” to it somehow, wondering when it would take effect, and the author’s exposition threw profound light onto that for me. There were a lot of “could it be….?” questions that at times made things sound like an episode of “In Search Of…”, and the closing of the book had a large amount of words like “could…?” “will….?” to the point the book didn’t feel finished to a point.
This book does flesh out, or begin to flesh out, a piece of the puzzle in an engaging way, and as such the contribution is respectable and important. I hope that as far as the subject of bringing psychedelics more prominently back into our culture goes, the author in future works will strike more of a balanced and enlightened tone.
Continuing on to the main author of the work, it was the foundations of the book that mostly gave me heartburn. Compared to other recent books I have read on the human use of psychedelics and their re-introduction, this part of the book seemed unbalanced and skewed. Psychedelics were presented as a panacea, which is needed to sweep away the stale spirituality in Western society. Persons who had shown skepticism were also caricaturized and seemed cartoonish; and skepticism itself was presented almost like a crackpot conspiracy theory. The tone of this part of the author’s presentation seemed fairly immature and reckless, despite its partial truth. Michael Pollan (“How to Change your Mind”) worried about sloppy research causing problems with regards to bringing wise psychedelic use into our society, and that worry is what I felt when I read this portion of the book. Psychedelics might need to be shown both for what they can and can’t do. Plenty of LSD really contributed to the nice vibe at the original Woodstock; but those vibes did not inspire the participants to clean up their trash when they left.
Continuing on, much of the subsequent material was interesting, fun, and engaging. Good food for thought. For me it was already a no-brainer that psychedelics had been used for millennia and contributed to our spirituality, so I had not expected any big revelations there. I can remember when I was a little kid in Catholic school getting the Eucharist….going back to my pew and thinking like I should be “coming on” to it somehow, wondering when it would take effect, and the author’s exposition threw profound light onto that for me. There were a lot of “could it be….?” questions that at times made things sound like an episode of “In Search Of…”, and the closing of the book had a large amount of words like “could…?” “will….?” to the point the book didn’t feel finished to a point.
This book does flesh out, or begin to flesh out, a piece of the puzzle in an engaging way, and as such the contribution is respectable and important. I hope that as far as the subject of bringing psychedelics more prominently back into our culture goes, the author in future works will strike more of a balanced and enlightened tone.
February 5, 2021
I give Brian Muraresku an "A" for enthusiasm, but I gave his book 2 stars.
I was fascinated by Muraresku's discussion of the links between re-historic spiritual rituals, the Greek cult Eleusis, the Greco-Roman cult of Dionysus, and the new proto-religion now known as Christianity. The pagan continuity hypothesis at the heart of this book made sense to me. I'd never thought before about how Christianity developed as an organized religion in the centuries after Jesus' murder. I was satisfied with the evidence Muraresku presented about how it likely played out.
Muraresku's writing is sometimes very good. He can turn a phrase and turns in insightful zingers every now and again.
- "Every religion has its mystical core."
- "Once you become a mystic, there's no unseeing God."
- "... not all prehistoric drinking was a recreational event."
- "The world's first temple may have also been the world's first bar."
Other than those pleasures, this book is a mess and far too long. One question I always ask about a book: What is it about? In one sentence or phrase. I could not meet that challenge with this book much as I tried. Ask my wife.
The best I can do is describe the book's 3 themes:
1. How Christianity emerged with rituals (the Eucharist, the Catholic mass) and traits (male-only priesthood). As discontinuous innovation or continuations from Greek and Roman rituals and traits? Noting all apparent similarities.
2. The role of hallucinogenic drugs in Greek, Roman, and Christian religious traditions. And on spirituality in general. More on this later .
3. The Roman Catholic Church's inhumane and brutal campaigns to develop and enforce its orthodoxy during its first 1,500 years. Suppression of the Gnostics and their gospels, with a special hell reserved for women.
The role of drugs in the discussion threw me off. Muraresku begins by leaping from how hallucinogenic drugs help terminal cancer patients to a prediction that these drugs will spur a new reformation. Why? Tripping puts the individual in touch with the divine. No intermediaries or rituals like holy communion required. I don't buy it and I'd never read an entire book on that thesis.
The role that hallucinogenic drugs played in Greek, Roman, and proto-Christian religions warranted a footnote -- or perhaps a chapter about about mystics, offshoot sects, and heretics. Muraresku constantly brings the topic front and center.
The book was too long. Muraresku uses his years-long journey of discovery to tie together his three themes. His fellow travelers, sources, and guides were all interesting. But the journey structure forced Muraresku to write frequent reminders about earlier conclusions and evidence. These added text when all I wanted was for the book to end. A too-long afterward recounting everything I'd read was the last thing I wanted to see at the end of this tome!
I was fascinated by Muraresku's discussion of the links between re-historic spiritual rituals, the Greek cult Eleusis, the Greco-Roman cult of Dionysus, and the new proto-religion now known as Christianity. The pagan continuity hypothesis at the heart of this book made sense to me. I'd never thought before about how Christianity developed as an organized religion in the centuries after Jesus' murder. I was satisfied with the evidence Muraresku presented about how it likely played out.
Muraresku's writing is sometimes very good. He can turn a phrase and turns in insightful zingers every now and again.
- "Every religion has its mystical core."
- "Once you become a mystic, there's no unseeing God."
- "... not all prehistoric drinking was a recreational event."
- "The world's first temple may have also been the world's first bar."
Other than those pleasures, this book is a mess and far too long. One question I always ask about a book: What is it about? In one sentence or phrase. I could not meet that challenge with this book much as I tried. Ask my wife.
The best I can do is describe the book's 3 themes:
1. How Christianity emerged with rituals (the Eucharist, the Catholic mass) and traits (male-only priesthood). As discontinuous innovation or continuations from Greek and Roman rituals and traits? Noting all apparent similarities.
2. The role of hallucinogenic drugs in Greek, Roman, and Christian religious traditions. And on spirituality in general. More on this later .
3. The Roman Catholic Church's inhumane and brutal campaigns to develop and enforce its orthodoxy during its first 1,500 years. Suppression of the Gnostics and their gospels, with a special hell reserved for women.
The role of drugs in the discussion threw me off. Muraresku begins by leaping from how hallucinogenic drugs help terminal cancer patients to a prediction that these drugs will spur a new reformation. Why? Tripping puts the individual in touch with the divine. No intermediaries or rituals like holy communion required. I don't buy it and I'd never read an entire book on that thesis.
The role that hallucinogenic drugs played in Greek, Roman, and proto-Christian religions warranted a footnote -- or perhaps a chapter about about mystics, offshoot sects, and heretics. Muraresku constantly brings the topic front and center.
The book was too long. Muraresku uses his years-long journey of discovery to tie together his three themes. His fellow travelers, sources, and guides were all interesting. But the journey structure forced Muraresku to write frequent reminders about earlier conclusions and evidence. These added text when all I wanted was for the book to end. A too-long afterward recounting everything I'd read was the last thing I wanted to see at the end of this tome!
November 2, 2020
One of the or the most influential book of the 21st century.
Could we be blinded all this centuries? Intentionally blinded by the institutions that were supposedly set up to preserve our moral values and connect us with the divine?
Brian Muraresku takes you on a fascinating journey to discover how a religion with no name has influenced the cultural development of humankind since the last ice age til the dawn of christianity. The religion that was based on the concept of practicing to die before you die - by means of ingesting psychedelic substances and connecting with the divine - and praised by the likes of Socrates and Pythagoras.
The religion that was intentionally silenced by the bureaucracy of the most influential institution of western civilization - Roman Catholic church. And not only silenced, but also vilified and erased from our collective psyche. The author makes a compelling case for the war of Catholic church on heresy and witchcraft to be the roots of the war on drugs, which was later continued by US bureaucrats - all in a bloody quest against the development of endogenous spirituality without the consent of church fathers or, later, the government.
This book will open your eyes to the true history of religion. And make you reflect on the true meaning of the global psychedelic renaissance that is currently underway. All in the best tradition of a proper scientific research - strictly no woo woo.
As a bonus, the book is very well narrated by the author. Frankly, it's the first audiobook I listen to where jokes sound like actual jokes as the the author gives them just the right flavor.
Could we be blinded all this centuries? Intentionally blinded by the institutions that were supposedly set up to preserve our moral values and connect us with the divine?
Brian Muraresku takes you on a fascinating journey to discover how a religion with no name has influenced the cultural development of humankind since the last ice age til the dawn of christianity. The religion that was based on the concept of practicing to die before you die - by means of ingesting psychedelic substances and connecting with the divine - and praised by the likes of Socrates and Pythagoras.
The religion that was intentionally silenced by the bureaucracy of the most influential institution of western civilization - Roman Catholic church. And not only silenced, but also vilified and erased from our collective psyche. The author makes a compelling case for the war of Catholic church on heresy and witchcraft to be the roots of the war on drugs, which was later continued by US bureaucrats - all in a bloody quest against the development of endogenous spirituality without the consent of church fathers or, later, the government.
This book will open your eyes to the true history of religion. And make you reflect on the true meaning of the global psychedelic renaissance that is currently underway. All in the best tradition of a proper scientific research - strictly no woo woo.
As a bonus, the book is very well narrated by the author. Frankly, it's the first audiobook I listen to where jokes sound like actual jokes as the the author gives them just the right flavor.
April 23, 2022
OK, I marked it as read, but only made it halfway. This archeological travelogue through historic sites in search of scientific evidence that Jesus was a "drug" Lord reads like Eat, Pray, Love meets Geraldo Rivera's "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults".
While I enjoyed the cliff hanger chapter endings before the "break to commercial", it got a little old and tedious by page 250. Plus, since I was willing to accept the premise that the historical Jesus (assuming he existed -- big if) did indeed participate in the use of hallucinogenic plants to enhance the funeral rites common to many Greco-Jewish, proto-Christian cults of the time, it would have been no big reveal to discover actual evidence of such on page 556. (No spoiler since I didn't even check)
I really hesitate to recommend this book, not because the subject matter is uninteresting (religious cannibalism is always a grabber, i.e. literal flesh and blood), and not because there's a lack of scholarly support for the premise (there is *some* support). I hesitate because it has too much of the pseudo-academic "what if" narrative style and hyperbolic titles employed by such sensationalist writers as Graham Hancock ("Fingerprints of the Gods") (btw he wrote this book's intro) or Erich von Daniken ("Chariot of the Gods").
My intuition tells me that Muraresku spent a lot of time and capital going down this rabbit hole and came up with only enough material for a slim paper. That paper then ballooned to a 500 page book so as to justify the time and travel spent, and to recoup costs for the publisher.
It did lead me to some interesting research on early Christian history though...so there's that.
While I enjoyed the cliff hanger chapter endings before the "break to commercial", it got a little old and tedious by page 250. Plus, since I was willing to accept the premise that the historical Jesus (assuming he existed -- big if) did indeed participate in the use of hallucinogenic plants to enhance the funeral rites common to many Greco-Jewish, proto-Christian cults of the time, it would have been no big reveal to discover actual evidence of such on page 556. (No spoiler since I didn't even check)
I really hesitate to recommend this book, not because the subject matter is uninteresting (religious cannibalism is always a grabber, i.e. literal flesh and blood), and not because there's a lack of scholarly support for the premise (there is *some* support). I hesitate because it has too much of the pseudo-academic "what if" narrative style and hyperbolic titles employed by such sensationalist writers as Graham Hancock ("Fingerprints of the Gods") (btw he wrote this book's intro) or Erich von Daniken ("Chariot of the Gods").
My intuition tells me that Muraresku spent a lot of time and capital going down this rabbit hole and came up with only enough material for a slim paper. That paper then ballooned to a 500 page book so as to justify the time and travel spent, and to recoup costs for the publisher.
It did lead me to some interesting research on early Christian history though...so there's that.
January 24, 2022
At the risk of sounding like a 1950's B-horror movie title, I was a teenage drug-fiend. I was 12 or 13, I can't quite remember, when I started experimenting with pot, speed, cocaine, opium, depressants, and, of course, one of the most insidious drugs of all, alcohol. By the time I was 18, I had pumped enough chemicals in my body for a lifetime, so when I came about one judge's signature away form a term in federal prison, I quit. Cold turkey. Everything. And I've been clean since.
One thing I never tried was psychedelics. The war on drugs and the (now comical) portrayal of psychedelic's use on '70s and '80s television frankly scared me away from them. I "knew" that PCP made people think they could fly and LSD could make you crazy forever. I'd been brainwashed really good. Thanks, Nancy.
Fast forward several decades. I have a much more "measured" view of drug and alcohol use. There are plenty of people out there who can safely and responsibly use drugs and alcohol without becoming an addict, like I did. And I realize now that medications have their place and can really benefit people's lives. Then again, as an aside, I think there should be MUCH stiffer penalties for drunk driving, but that's a rant for a different time. And I avoid alcohol like the plague. I know that its no good for me and I'm not good with it.
Now I've done a fair amount of research into psychedelics, mostly being interested in micro-dosing after having listened to a couple of podcasts that touched on the subject. Pretty soon, I started seeing articles popping up here and there - my UW alumni magazine, for instance, or Discover Magazine - about the efficacy of psychedelic treatments for PTSD, in particular, and in easing the fears and worries of terminal cancer patients. It's been a bit of a revelation, so much so that I think we might be on the edge of a revolution in medicine.
I was discussing this with my oldest son this past Thanksgiving as he was visiting from grad school. He told me about a podcast interview regarding this very subject . . . well, sort of. I asked for a link and took some time to listen to Lex Fridman's interview of author Brian Muraresku about his new book The Immortality Key. After listening to that, I put the book on my Christmas wish list, and my son obliged. I raised that boy (well, he's a man now) right.
The general premise of Muraresku's thesis is this: There is a possibility, a strong possibility, backed by some thin threads of evidence, that the history of psychedelics in societal use may be the backbone of the history of religion, particularly sacramental religions like the cult of Dionysus or even Christianity.
Of course, he's crazy, right?
I don't think so.
That's not to say that I'm fully convinced. The evidence is oftentimes tentative, with much more research needing to be done. Or it's based on what I will call "negative historiography," the notion that a certain things absence from the historical record proves its existence by the very void created in the process of the intentional removal of such evidence by the winners of history; in this case, the Catholic Church.
But that's not to say I'm not fully convinced, either. I'm taking a tentative lean towards believing Muraresku's thesis, partly because he acknowledges, in the end, that this is a work-in-progress. I will say, though, that some evidentiary gaps that are "leaped" in the middle of the text, are later given some logical breathing room, some more critical looks, in the afterword.
My biggest issue with the book is connecting the dots from the Dionysian cultic use of psychedelics in the Middle East to the early Christian house churches of Anatolia. In the midst of the presentation of evidence, Muraresku's arguments sound like they apply to all of Christianity, even if he doesn't explicitly say so. But later he acknowledges that it may have been only a very small part of the initial Christian movement across the Mediterranean. The evidence is scant, but Muraresku's eagerness to get the point across makes his arguments sound like there is tacit proof that the use of psychedelics in the early Christian sacrament was a given. Over-enthusiasm sometimes clouds the argument. A little more restraint might have gone a great way in easing me into accepting the trail of evidence more readily.
Time will tell if archaeobotanical and archaeochemical analysis can fill the gaps. I sincerely hope they do. Because what Muraresku is talking about here is not a bunch of stoners sitting in the basement with a bong listening to Phish. He's talking about humans finding real meaning in the psychedelic experience. He's talking about "dying before you die," which has an absolutely profound effect on those who experience it - he goes over this extensively. He's talking about experiential religion, the type of real life events that can make real life changes in the way people view themselves, each other, nature, and reality, seeing the cosmos, the earth, and all humans anew. There is an optimism here that "the religion with no name" can bring some fundamental changes to the whole of the human race, Aldous Huxley's dream come true.
And he might just be right.
Time will tell.
One thing I never tried was psychedelics. The war on drugs and the (now comical) portrayal of psychedelic's use on '70s and '80s television frankly scared me away from them. I "knew" that PCP made people think they could fly and LSD could make you crazy forever. I'd been brainwashed really good. Thanks, Nancy.
Fast forward several decades. I have a much more "measured" view of drug and alcohol use. There are plenty of people out there who can safely and responsibly use drugs and alcohol without becoming an addict, like I did. And I realize now that medications have their place and can really benefit people's lives. Then again, as an aside, I think there should be MUCH stiffer penalties for drunk driving, but that's a rant for a different time. And I avoid alcohol like the plague. I know that its no good for me and I'm not good with it.
Now I've done a fair amount of research into psychedelics, mostly being interested in micro-dosing after having listened to a couple of podcasts that touched on the subject. Pretty soon, I started seeing articles popping up here and there - my UW alumni magazine, for instance, or Discover Magazine - about the efficacy of psychedelic treatments for PTSD, in particular, and in easing the fears and worries of terminal cancer patients. It's been a bit of a revelation, so much so that I think we might be on the edge of a revolution in medicine.
I was discussing this with my oldest son this past Thanksgiving as he was visiting from grad school. He told me about a podcast interview regarding this very subject . . . well, sort of. I asked for a link and took some time to listen to Lex Fridman's interview of author Brian Muraresku about his new book The Immortality Key. After listening to that, I put the book on my Christmas wish list, and my son obliged. I raised that boy (well, he's a man now) right.
The general premise of Muraresku's thesis is this: There is a possibility, a strong possibility, backed by some thin threads of evidence, that the history of psychedelics in societal use may be the backbone of the history of religion, particularly sacramental religions like the cult of Dionysus or even Christianity.
Of course, he's crazy, right?
I don't think so.
That's not to say that I'm fully convinced. The evidence is oftentimes tentative, with much more research needing to be done. Or it's based on what I will call "negative historiography," the notion that a certain things absence from the historical record proves its existence by the very void created in the process of the intentional removal of such evidence by the winners of history; in this case, the Catholic Church.
But that's not to say I'm not fully convinced, either. I'm taking a tentative lean towards believing Muraresku's thesis, partly because he acknowledges, in the end, that this is a work-in-progress. I will say, though, that some evidentiary gaps that are "leaped" in the middle of the text, are later given some logical breathing room, some more critical looks, in the afterword.
My biggest issue with the book is connecting the dots from the Dionysian cultic use of psychedelics in the Middle East to the early Christian house churches of Anatolia. In the midst of the presentation of evidence, Muraresku's arguments sound like they apply to all of Christianity, even if he doesn't explicitly say so. But later he acknowledges that it may have been only a very small part of the initial Christian movement across the Mediterranean. The evidence is scant, but Muraresku's eagerness to get the point across makes his arguments sound like there is tacit proof that the use of psychedelics in the early Christian sacrament was a given. Over-enthusiasm sometimes clouds the argument. A little more restraint might have gone a great way in easing me into accepting the trail of evidence more readily.
Time will tell if archaeobotanical and archaeochemical analysis can fill the gaps. I sincerely hope they do. Because what Muraresku is talking about here is not a bunch of stoners sitting in the basement with a bong listening to Phish. He's talking about humans finding real meaning in the psychedelic experience. He's talking about "dying before you die," which has an absolutely profound effect on those who experience it - he goes over this extensively. He's talking about experiential religion, the type of real life events that can make real life changes in the way people view themselves, each other, nature, and reality, seeing the cosmos, the earth, and all humans anew. There is an optimism here that "the religion with no name" can bring some fundamental changes to the whole of the human race, Aldous Huxley's dream come true.
And he might just be right.
Time will tell.
April 7, 2021
Three stars for the immense labor Muraresku put into this passion project--the scholarship read, interviews made, traveling done, putting his Classics education to work, etc.
The book's first half, the hunt for evidence of psychedelic use in the ancient Greek world, is the book's better half. From other book reviews I've read, Muraresku digging up an obscure Catalonia piece of scholarship is worth the price of admission. On a writing level, Muraresku's personal-heavy narrative works best in this half (it becomes almost insufferable in the second half).
However, the book's second half is a frustrating, cluttered, and bluntly reasoned attempt to "prove" the pagan continuity hypothesis. In this half, Muraresku engages hardly any counterfactuals; for example, the possibility that millions, can indeed, have very meaningful spiritual experience without drugs being involved. Nor does he seem to give Christianity enough credit for the way it was able to instrumentalize and ultimately overcome its Hellenistic influences. Finally, Muraresku reads Christian belief itself in a heavily reductive way through the lens of his Dionysian/Pagan continuity thesis without considering/triangulating this approach against more common readings of Christian belief.
Look, I have no doubt that many people in the ancient (and probably in the early Christian) world had hallucinogenic experiences. In some ways, it's weirdly comforting to think they did. However, and here Muraresku dodges a big question, so what?
Christianity can still be what it is, even if you grant Muraresku the historical case he tries to make. In fact, isn't the persistent success and longevity of Christianity even more impressive if you consider that all Christians aren't getting high every Sunday (even if some of them may have in the Early Church)?
And on this point, Muraresku holds way too doggedly to either/or logic--e.g. he keeps asserting that his thesis somehow "rewrites" the history of western civilization, etc--without explaining why in a convincing manner. Perhaps, in our world of John Hopkins and NYU's psilocybin studies for instance, we can have it both ways?
The book's first half, the hunt for evidence of psychedelic use in the ancient Greek world, is the book's better half. From other book reviews I've read, Muraresku digging up an obscure Catalonia piece of scholarship is worth the price of admission. On a writing level, Muraresku's personal-heavy narrative works best in this half (it becomes almost insufferable in the second half).
However, the book's second half is a frustrating, cluttered, and bluntly reasoned attempt to "prove" the pagan continuity hypothesis. In this half, Muraresku engages hardly any counterfactuals; for example, the possibility that millions, can indeed, have very meaningful spiritual experience without drugs being involved. Nor does he seem to give Christianity enough credit for the way it was able to instrumentalize and ultimately overcome its Hellenistic influences. Finally, Muraresku reads Christian belief itself in a heavily reductive way through the lens of his Dionysian/Pagan continuity thesis without considering/triangulating this approach against more common readings of Christian belief.
Look, I have no doubt that many people in the ancient (and probably in the early Christian) world had hallucinogenic experiences. In some ways, it's weirdly comforting to think they did. However, and here Muraresku dodges a big question, so what?
Christianity can still be what it is, even if you grant Muraresku the historical case he tries to make. In fact, isn't the persistent success and longevity of Christianity even more impressive if you consider that all Christians aren't getting high every Sunday (even if some of them may have in the Early Church)?
And on this point, Muraresku holds way too doggedly to either/or logic--e.g. he keeps asserting that his thesis somehow "rewrites" the history of western civilization, etc--without explaining why in a convincing manner. Perhaps, in our world of John Hopkins and NYU's psilocybin studies for instance, we can have it both ways?
March 13, 2021
Prof. Jerry B. Brown's Book Review of The Immortality Key (TIK):
TIK will entice general readers but exasperate academics, even those who may agree with its specific conclusions regarding the role of entheogens in the Eleusinian Mysteries or early Christianity. Despite its popular appeal as a New York Times Bestseller, TIK fails to make a compelling case for its grand theory of the "pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist" due to recurring overreach and historical distortion, failure to consider relevant research on shamanism and Christianity, and presentation of speculation as fact." For full Review, see: https://akjournals.com/view/journals/...
TIK will entice general readers but exasperate academics, even those who may agree with its specific conclusions regarding the role of entheogens in the Eleusinian Mysteries or early Christianity. Despite its popular appeal as a New York Times Bestseller, TIK fails to make a compelling case for its grand theory of the "pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist" due to recurring overreach and historical distortion, failure to consider relevant research on shamanism and Christianity, and presentation of speculation as fact." For full Review, see: https://akjournals.com/view/journals/...
May 18, 2021
Before reading this book I’d listened to a podcast interview between the author, Brian Muraresku, and Jaime Wheal (whose most recent book is on my playlist). In remarking on Muraresku’s book, I recall Wheal describing it as “Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code grown-up” (or words to that effect). And I must say that the comparison is apt. In this book, Muraresku provides an engaging narrative about a bit of an obsession that in 2007 from a chancing upon a magazine article that triggered his recollection of an obscure academic work he’d read during his prior life as a budding young classicist. In short, Muraresku combines an (intellectual) adventure tale—including hints of intrigue— with a travelogue around the Mediterranean and through time.
The secret— or rather secrets— that Muraresku pursues are those of ancient beverages. He and colleagues and their predecessors in this search believe that some of those beverages— beers and wines— may have been spiked with psychedelic or other psychoactive substances. And were not talking just alcohol, either. As Muraresku notes, we’re not sure which was the first human “biotechnology,” but the prize either goes to beer or bread. Both came from grains first gathered and then cultivated around 10-13 thousand years ago by humans at the dawn of civilization (agriculture and cities). But regardless of which came first, beer (or fermented grains of some sort) has been around a long time. And beer was used at one of the most famous sites of antiquity, the temple at Eleusis that hosted the Elysian mysteries, which Muraresku described as the “first spiritual capital of the West.” And what are the Elysian mysteries? What went on during this ancient Greek rite remains one of the best-kept secrets of antiquity. We really don’t know what was said or done during these rites except that these rites revolved around the Greek goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Suffice it to say that until the rites were shut down in 392 A.D. by nervous Roman authorities then ruling Greece, this place and the secret rites that occurred there had been a major phenomenon in the Greek-speaking world for about 1900 years. Among those who experienced the rite of the mysteries were Plato, Cicero, and Marcus Aurelius, to name but three, who, between them, opined about a great many topics, but they never shared what they experienced there. And in a theme that will continue throughout the book and its investigation into other rites that may have included the use of psychoactive substances, the rites were controlled by and conducted by women.
After exploring the evidence surrounding the Elysian mysteries, off-shoots of which can be seen as far as Spain, Muraresku turns his attention to the cult of Dionysus, the god of wine (and “drugs”) whose cult came into prominence with the development of viticulture in the Greek-speaking world. Again, he pursues trails linguistic and scientific to determine whether the cult of Dionysus didn’t influence the early Christian cult of Jesus. Muraresku focuses on the Gospel of John and makes a compelling argument that John’s narrative was aimed at the Greek-speaking populations in the western Mediterranean, where the cult of Dionysus flourished. Could the wine that Jesus shared at the Last Supper have been spiked? And did subsequent celebrations of that Last Supper, which became Communion in the later tradition, also feature spiked wine? In investigating these possibilities, Muraresku travels to archeological sites in southern Italy, which included long-established colonies of Greeks and Phoenicians. He looks at a well-preserved farm near Mt. Vesuvius that that included residues of the beverages that were preserved courtesy of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried (and preserved) Pompeii in 79 C.E. Scientists found intriguing residues that suggested that the wine wasn’t just wine.
And in Da Vinci Code style, Muraresku, with his confederate, a Franciscan priest, gained access to the Vatican archives and the catacombs in a sort of behind-enemy-lines motif. Muraresku describes himself as a “good Catholic boy” who attended a Jesuit high school and a Jesuit law school (Georgetown). But he realizes that his hypothesis— that the wine of Jesus and “paleo-Christians” may have been spiked— would not sit well with the Vatican. As Muraresku notes, there are two things that the Catholic hierarchy has never been fond of: drugs and women in positions of power. Nevertheless, he gained access to some fascinating documents and viewed some fascinating frescoes in the catacombs under St. Peter’s Basilica that add intriguing pieces of evidence to his attempt to prove his hypothesis.
The final portion of the book touches on several related topics, including the late medieval to early modern infatuation by the Church with “witchcraft” and what eventually became the European witch craze of the 1500s on into the 1600s (and that spread to the Americas); the suppression of drug use by the indigenous peoples of the Americas (for instance, psilocybin); and that most intriguing of early modern personages, Giordano Bruno. Bruno was a proto-scientist, magician, and precursor of Galileo. (Galileo learned about how the Vatican reacted to unwanted theories by knowing of Bruno’s demise at the stake in 1600.) We learn that Bruno haled from Campania, the area around Naples that included the ancient Greek-speaking colonies dating from the time of Parmenides and that later gained notoriety for its “witches,” and their brews that were so feared and persecuted by the Church.
Muraresku opens his narrative and gives a brief apologia for his quest by relating the experience of a cancer patient, “Dinah,” who participates in a study undertaken by NYU researchers about the efficacy of psilocybin for providing relief for someone dealing with a life-threatening disease. For Dinah, a self-described atheist, her experience with the hallucinogen was life-altering. She has beaten the odds for survival after her cancer diagnosis, but she still lives, in a sense, under a death sentence (as do we all). But she reports that her outlook on life and death has changed because of her experience with the drug. And her experience is not unique. Continuing research at NYU, Johns Hopkins, and other institutions, as well as research (mostly surreptitious) outside the sanction of the academy, have produced similar results. Muraresku posits that these experiences allow individuals to “die before that die,” the counsel of the ancient Greeks who practiced rituals to gain this advantage, an advantage sought by Christians as well. Based on these researches and influential individual experimenters that were prominent before the War on Drugs was declared, such as Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Gordon Wasson (the ethnobotanist who reported on his use of psilocybin in a 1957 Life magazine article), Muraresku suggests that the use of psychedelics could prove a boon to those with psychological injuries and to further spiritual explorations. And here’s where I need to raise some concerns and questions.
Testimonials from users are useful and important, no question. But current subjects of medically guided experiments are tightly monitored, and (I assume) steps are taken to avoid a bad trip. Perhaps it's a trick of an aging memory or the result of anti-drug propaganda, but I recall that some folks suffered bad trips, some even fatal. How can we— or can we at all— avoid bad trips by users who escape any guidance? Or to put it more bluntly— and to risk the ire of one of the gods of contemporary culture— should these drugs be available to the uninitiated, or should these drugs be limited to those who have undertaken the requisite physical, learning, and ethical preparation that would make these drug trips safe for the user and the user’s society; i.e., an elite? We don’t want to foster a new class of lotus-eaters or a new herd of Circe’s pigs. I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I think it crucial to ask them. Muraresku, who choose to avoid any use of substances during the twelve years he spent in pursuit of his quest, suggests steps can and should be taken to make “the God pill” available and valuable to a potential user. He writes:
There are real-world benefits to all this supernatural mumbo jumbo. That “science of awe” with its increase in “pro-social behaviors such as kindness, self-sacrifice, co-operation and resource-sharing.” [Quoting Alan Watts.] After all, it’s not about altered states, but altered traits, as Huston Smith once summarized the value of psychedelics. If we took the God Pill, would we really all become better people? Would we love more and hate less? Would it make any difference? Only to the extent that the initial experience was sacred. And stayed sacred. Stayed meaningful. The Mysteries had a way of ritually ensuring the odds of that transformation from the mortal to the immortal: various stages of initiation, intense psychological preparation, a community of mentors, integration back into everyday life.
Muraresku, Brian C. The Immortality Key (p. 390). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Muraresku’s plan for making the “God pill” a social benefit strikes the right note, but it doesn’t seem plausible in practice. How many persons are willing to undertake any spiritual or practical discipline? Few indeed. This potential shortcut to spiritual enlightenment is certainly more attractive than years of meditation and other more traditional (and arduous) forms of spiritual initiation But if these drugs can be abused, and what drugs can’t be— and aren’t— abused— then we have a tough choice to make. No one will want to leave such as a decision to any government bureaucracy, ecclesiastical hierarchy, or any other authority not recognized in advance by the individual as rightfully holding such awesome power. A tough sell. Thus, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t regulate access to something as potent as “the God pill.” And consider that any spiritual technology that has the potential to bring us closer to the angels will almost certainly have the power to bring us closer to the devil.
Another issue that Muraresku doesn’t address: what is the ontological status of drug-induced revelations? The same could be asked of any other technique that induces visions (or hallucinations, if you prefer— the choice of terms anticipates the answer). How do we, if at all, separate the wheat from the chaff? Does the relief and insight that Muraresku reports that the NYU test subject “Dinah” experienced only the reality of a pleasant dream, or is it a genuine insight into ultimate reality? And how would we know? Of course, if better dreams, better fantasies, only bring about better behavior, it’s still worthwhile pursuing such a remedy, just as taking an aspirin for a headache can make us a better companion. (Older readers: remember those television ads for aspirin back in the day?)
One final point of criticism (venial sins of omission and not commission), Muraresku suggests that the use of spiked wine in the paleo-Christian community aided its spread, which was, in fact, no small miracle. But there are many theories, many plausible explanations, about how and why Christianity spread so effectively even before it gained the imprimatur of the state and the power of the sword. Muraresku is certainly aware of these theories, but he doesn’t address them. Jesus is portrayed in John’s Gospel in significantly different ways than he is by the Synoptic Gospels, Paul, and others in the New Testament canon. (The Gnostics, as Muraresku notes, tend to follow the Johannine path and on the whole support Muraresku’s theory. And to be fair, Muraresku would not claim these theories as his own, he serves more as the investigator and advocate than the originator of these claims.) The political-social implications of Jesus’ message and the community bonds that formed around could have been enough to bring about the miracle of the spread and triumph of Christianity.
Although I’m sure that he’s a credit to our profession (law), it’s too bad that Muraresku concluded that a career path as a classicist wouldn’t suit him. And although he reports that his field of practice is “international law” (I’d guess international transactions in particular), he certainly learned how to present a strong case. He has the trappings of a fine advocate in the courtroom if he wants a career change. And because of all this, I’ll pass judgment on his argument according to legal standards. Has he proven his case? Certainly not beyond a reasonable doubt, and not by clear and convincing evidence. But the defense hasn’t put on its case, so one can’t pass any final judgment in any event. Plus, his toughest case will involve the Catholic Church. Good luck getting the Vatican into the courtroom of public opinion. They possess much of the evidence! However, in my role as an imaginary magistrate, I will rule that Muraresku’s case meets that standard of probable cause and that his case should come to a full trial (by academic fire). It’s an intriguing argument well-presented, and despite the qualms I expressed above, it could prove a ground-breaking case that would benefit humankind, which needs as much spiritual insight as it can get in the challenging times we face. I encourage him to pursue it.
The secret— or rather secrets— that Muraresku pursues are those of ancient beverages. He and colleagues and their predecessors in this search believe that some of those beverages— beers and wines— may have been spiked with psychedelic or other psychoactive substances. And were not talking just alcohol, either. As Muraresku notes, we’re not sure which was the first human “biotechnology,” but the prize either goes to beer or bread. Both came from grains first gathered and then cultivated around 10-13 thousand years ago by humans at the dawn of civilization (agriculture and cities). But regardless of which came first, beer (or fermented grains of some sort) has been around a long time. And beer was used at one of the most famous sites of antiquity, the temple at Eleusis that hosted the Elysian mysteries, which Muraresku described as the “first spiritual capital of the West.” And what are the Elysian mysteries? What went on during this ancient Greek rite remains one of the best-kept secrets of antiquity. We really don’t know what was said or done during these rites except that these rites revolved around the Greek goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Suffice it to say that until the rites were shut down in 392 A.D. by nervous Roman authorities then ruling Greece, this place and the secret rites that occurred there had been a major phenomenon in the Greek-speaking world for about 1900 years. Among those who experienced the rite of the mysteries were Plato, Cicero, and Marcus Aurelius, to name but three, who, between them, opined about a great many topics, but they never shared what they experienced there. And in a theme that will continue throughout the book and its investigation into other rites that may have included the use of psychoactive substances, the rites were controlled by and conducted by women.
After exploring the evidence surrounding the Elysian mysteries, off-shoots of which can be seen as far as Spain, Muraresku turns his attention to the cult of Dionysus, the god of wine (and “drugs”) whose cult came into prominence with the development of viticulture in the Greek-speaking world. Again, he pursues trails linguistic and scientific to determine whether the cult of Dionysus didn’t influence the early Christian cult of Jesus. Muraresku focuses on the Gospel of John and makes a compelling argument that John’s narrative was aimed at the Greek-speaking populations in the western Mediterranean, where the cult of Dionysus flourished. Could the wine that Jesus shared at the Last Supper have been spiked? And did subsequent celebrations of that Last Supper, which became Communion in the later tradition, also feature spiked wine? In investigating these possibilities, Muraresku travels to archeological sites in southern Italy, which included long-established colonies of Greeks and Phoenicians. He looks at a well-preserved farm near Mt. Vesuvius that that included residues of the beverages that were preserved courtesy of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that buried (and preserved) Pompeii in 79 C.E. Scientists found intriguing residues that suggested that the wine wasn’t just wine.
And in Da Vinci Code style, Muraresku, with his confederate, a Franciscan priest, gained access to the Vatican archives and the catacombs in a sort of behind-enemy-lines motif. Muraresku describes himself as a “good Catholic boy” who attended a Jesuit high school and a Jesuit law school (Georgetown). But he realizes that his hypothesis— that the wine of Jesus and “paleo-Christians” may have been spiked— would not sit well with the Vatican. As Muraresku notes, there are two things that the Catholic hierarchy has never been fond of: drugs and women in positions of power. Nevertheless, he gained access to some fascinating documents and viewed some fascinating frescoes in the catacombs under St. Peter’s Basilica that add intriguing pieces of evidence to his attempt to prove his hypothesis.
The final portion of the book touches on several related topics, including the late medieval to early modern infatuation by the Church with “witchcraft” and what eventually became the European witch craze of the 1500s on into the 1600s (and that spread to the Americas); the suppression of drug use by the indigenous peoples of the Americas (for instance, psilocybin); and that most intriguing of early modern personages, Giordano Bruno. Bruno was a proto-scientist, magician, and precursor of Galileo. (Galileo learned about how the Vatican reacted to unwanted theories by knowing of Bruno’s demise at the stake in 1600.) We learn that Bruno haled from Campania, the area around Naples that included the ancient Greek-speaking colonies dating from the time of Parmenides and that later gained notoriety for its “witches,” and their brews that were so feared and persecuted by the Church.
Muraresku opens his narrative and gives a brief apologia for his quest by relating the experience of a cancer patient, “Dinah,” who participates in a study undertaken by NYU researchers about the efficacy of psilocybin for providing relief for someone dealing with a life-threatening disease. For Dinah, a self-described atheist, her experience with the hallucinogen was life-altering. She has beaten the odds for survival after her cancer diagnosis, but she still lives, in a sense, under a death sentence (as do we all). But she reports that her outlook on life and death has changed because of her experience with the drug. And her experience is not unique. Continuing research at NYU, Johns Hopkins, and other institutions, as well as research (mostly surreptitious) outside the sanction of the academy, have produced similar results. Muraresku posits that these experiences allow individuals to “die before that die,” the counsel of the ancient Greeks who practiced rituals to gain this advantage, an advantage sought by Christians as well. Based on these researches and influential individual experimenters that were prominent before the War on Drugs was declared, such as Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Gordon Wasson (the ethnobotanist who reported on his use of psilocybin in a 1957 Life magazine article), Muraresku suggests that the use of psychedelics could prove a boon to those with psychological injuries and to further spiritual explorations. And here’s where I need to raise some concerns and questions.
Testimonials from users are useful and important, no question. But current subjects of medically guided experiments are tightly monitored, and (I assume) steps are taken to avoid a bad trip. Perhaps it's a trick of an aging memory or the result of anti-drug propaganda, but I recall that some folks suffered bad trips, some even fatal. How can we— or can we at all— avoid bad trips by users who escape any guidance? Or to put it more bluntly— and to risk the ire of one of the gods of contemporary culture— should these drugs be available to the uninitiated, or should these drugs be limited to those who have undertaken the requisite physical, learning, and ethical preparation that would make these drug trips safe for the user and the user’s society; i.e., an elite? We don’t want to foster a new class of lotus-eaters or a new herd of Circe’s pigs. I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I think it crucial to ask them. Muraresku, who choose to avoid any use of substances during the twelve years he spent in pursuit of his quest, suggests steps can and should be taken to make “the God pill” available and valuable to a potential user. He writes:
There are real-world benefits to all this supernatural mumbo jumbo. That “science of awe” with its increase in “pro-social behaviors such as kindness, self-sacrifice, co-operation and resource-sharing.” [Quoting Alan Watts.] After all, it’s not about altered states, but altered traits, as Huston Smith once summarized the value of psychedelics. If we took the God Pill, would we really all become better people? Would we love more and hate less? Would it make any difference? Only to the extent that the initial experience was sacred. And stayed sacred. Stayed meaningful. The Mysteries had a way of ritually ensuring the odds of that transformation from the mortal to the immortal: various stages of initiation, intense psychological preparation, a community of mentors, integration back into everyday life.
Muraresku, Brian C. The Immortality Key (p. 390). St. Martin's Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Muraresku’s plan for making the “God pill” a social benefit strikes the right note, but it doesn’t seem plausible in practice. How many persons are willing to undertake any spiritual or practical discipline? Few indeed. This potential shortcut to spiritual enlightenment is certainly more attractive than years of meditation and other more traditional (and arduous) forms of spiritual initiation But if these drugs can be abused, and what drugs can’t be— and aren’t— abused— then we have a tough choice to make. No one will want to leave such as a decision to any government bureaucracy, ecclesiastical hierarchy, or any other authority not recognized in advance by the individual as rightfully holding such awesome power. A tough sell. Thus, we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t regulate access to something as potent as “the God pill.” And consider that any spiritual technology that has the potential to bring us closer to the angels will almost certainly have the power to bring us closer to the devil.
Another issue that Muraresku doesn’t address: what is the ontological status of drug-induced revelations? The same could be asked of any other technique that induces visions (or hallucinations, if you prefer— the choice of terms anticipates the answer). How do we, if at all, separate the wheat from the chaff? Does the relief and insight that Muraresku reports that the NYU test subject “Dinah” experienced only the reality of a pleasant dream, or is it a genuine insight into ultimate reality? And how would we know? Of course, if better dreams, better fantasies, only bring about better behavior, it’s still worthwhile pursuing such a remedy, just as taking an aspirin for a headache can make us a better companion. (Older readers: remember those television ads for aspirin back in the day?)
One final point of criticism (venial sins of omission and not commission), Muraresku suggests that the use of spiked wine in the paleo-Christian community aided its spread, which was, in fact, no small miracle. But there are many theories, many plausible explanations, about how and why Christianity spread so effectively even before it gained the imprimatur of the state and the power of the sword. Muraresku is certainly aware of these theories, but he doesn’t address them. Jesus is portrayed in John’s Gospel in significantly different ways than he is by the Synoptic Gospels, Paul, and others in the New Testament canon. (The Gnostics, as Muraresku notes, tend to follow the Johannine path and on the whole support Muraresku’s theory. And to be fair, Muraresku would not claim these theories as his own, he serves more as the investigator and advocate than the originator of these claims.) The political-social implications of Jesus’ message and the community bonds that formed around could have been enough to bring about the miracle of the spread and triumph of Christianity.
Although I’m sure that he’s a credit to our profession (law), it’s too bad that Muraresku concluded that a career path as a classicist wouldn’t suit him. And although he reports that his field of practice is “international law” (I’d guess international transactions in particular), he certainly learned how to present a strong case. He has the trappings of a fine advocate in the courtroom if he wants a career change. And because of all this, I’ll pass judgment on his argument according to legal standards. Has he proven his case? Certainly not beyond a reasonable doubt, and not by clear and convincing evidence. But the defense hasn’t put on its case, so one can’t pass any final judgment in any event. Plus, his toughest case will involve the Catholic Church. Good luck getting the Vatican into the courtroom of public opinion. They possess much of the evidence! However, in my role as an imaginary magistrate, I will rule that Muraresku’s case meets that standard of probable cause and that his case should come to a full trial (by academic fire). It’s an intriguing argument well-presented, and despite the qualms I expressed above, it could prove a ground-breaking case that would benefit humankind, which needs as much spiritual insight as it can get in the challenging times we face. I encourage him to pursue it.
November 22, 2020
Not too bad.
I was initially worried; the foreword and opening chapter led me to think the book would contain only a swath of new age spiritualism, which does not interest me. However, that was not the case. The book, instead, focused more on ancient to medieval history and anthropology around the Mediterranean. The information ranged from interesting Trivial Pursuit factoids, to legitimately fascinating dives into ancient cultural rituals.
The main things that took me out of the book were the author's frequent digressions to describe his personal "quest" to uncover the content. To me, these passages were dull and felt like unnecessary padding.
By the end, I was not quite convinced by his psychedelic Eucharist theories, but the book certainly presents several "well, maybe?" ideas.
I was initially worried; the foreword and opening chapter led me to think the book would contain only a swath of new age spiritualism, which does not interest me. However, that was not the case. The book, instead, focused more on ancient to medieval history and anthropology around the Mediterranean. The information ranged from interesting Trivial Pursuit factoids, to legitimately fascinating dives into ancient cultural rituals.
The main things that took me out of the book were the author's frequent digressions to describe his personal "quest" to uncover the content. To me, these passages were dull and felt like unnecessary padding.
By the end, I was not quite convinced by his psychedelic Eucharist theories, but the book certainly presents several "well, maybe?" ideas.
October 11, 2020
Outstanding!
My favourite book of 2020. The author Brian takes you along on his 12 year journey to discover the mysteries of the religion with no name, and its one hell of a journey. Cannot recommended this book enough and to Brian thank you for this gem and your hard work and dedication.
My favourite book of 2020. The author Brian takes you along on his 12 year journey to discover the mysteries of the religion with no name, and its one hell of a journey. Cannot recommended this book enough and to Brian thank you for this gem and your hard work and dedication.
June 26, 2021
This author's journey has more questions than answers, but I'm grateful that he asked, that he searched unrelentingly, and that he wrote it down! I thoroughly enjoyed it and welcomed all of the questions and the implications if Muraresku's hypothesis turns out to be right. I don't think even Muraresku would consider ANY of his research conclusive. He is continuing a conversation that is long overdue. Great fodder for discussion with almost no one in my social circle, so I will continue to have schizophrenic conversations with myself until someone I know reads this book. Please read it. Some one. Anyone?!!
May 16, 2021
Was really looking forward to this, but as an audiobook it was just really hard to follow with loads of memoir-like dialogue that I didn’t care about. I found a nice summary of the findings in this Vice article which would’ve saved me 13 hours lol https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqej...
October 15, 2020
Excellent read...I have the Audible edition and it is read by the author...very entertaining and enlightening. It really comes down to who was getting stoned at Church and who wasn't. Gnosis comes from the Plants!
January 25, 2022
-I am so glad i read this book now. I think i finally learned some things.
-love and knowledge mean less than what sex is in charge and whether you are on drugs
-The other assumption this makes is people believed in religions more in the past because they had drugs so they could see things. Go tell those people who speak in tongues they don't believe.
-We can spend our lives half thinking about things, really important things.
-What if all the catholics and those greeks all took some kind of drugs and got enlightened?
-Why do we want these things to be true? If it was true then what is he saying? That we could find that drug and then we could all take it and we would be happy? Were they happier back then? Why are there no new popular religions based on mushrooms or ayahuasca.
-So this guy wants to be the new Dan Brown only just like Dan Brown he isn't really a deep enough thinker to really even ask any good questions.
-If he really believed in the power of psychedelics why isn't he taking any? It isn't illegal in many situations. Does he really believe the old CIA trope that LSD will change you irreparably if you ever take it, unlike every other drug that ever existed.
-He is guilty of the most egregious of scientific errors right off the bat. He already knows what what the answer is and is trying to prove his point.
-He ends up with a cannibalistic drug cult run by women who eventually lose control all of it to men.
-He thinks drugs were always some forbidden thing. Like the romans must have been anti-drug.
-It is like the author is the one who has been most affected by the modern obsession with blaming and banning substances. Perhaps he should have tried some psychedelics at some point so he would know what he is talking about. Has there ever been a huge religion based on drugs?
-The only drug I have ever heard of that would remove your fear of death is ketamine. John C. Lilly used to say that ketamine removed your fear of death.
-This drug the early catholics took did the same thing as the mysteries but was easy to get and take. And also no one ever wrote down what it was and it was all totally forgotten and was never talked about. Somehow the way to make it or the substance itself was outlawed without that fact ever being recorded.
-This guy is conflating the weird right wing obsession with drugs as a way to change the world with the actual power of religions to change the world.
-The moonies are not doing drugs, the Scientologists and Mormons are not doing drugs. I can get some psychedelics in the mail without too much trouble. Tons more people are taking psychedelics these days but what is it changing.
-I think much more mysterious is how did the south americans discover ayahuasca which requires two ingredients for either to work. Like they raised corn from something you couldn't eat to something you could over many years. why would they do that?
-This guy is also one of those guys who essentially looks at everything through a single western lens which he thinks is shared by everyone.
-Does it look like the early christians discovered anything? Do they seem more enlightened? Did they write anything about it? Have they ever found any other substances at all in any of these early churches let alone the same psychoactive substance in a bunch of the churches.
-If there were numerous kinds of psychoactive wines or beers why can't we find any. Everyones looking.
-He is basically saying instead of community and love the basis of religion is drugs. So soon you you will be able to just take your spirituality in a pill.
-What drugs did the Buddhists use to become so wise?
-Look the US wins war WW2, Productivity soars, the population gets rich, everyone goes to college, people in power get worried about controlling the population now that people are getting educated. The government lets the right wing crack down on the liberals. The right wing puritanical weirdos in the CIA think drugs can be used to control people. Drugs were part of the then current liberal lifestyle. Drugs can be outlawed so they are. This current war on drugs continues to this day. The war on drugs is a powerful lobby entrenched within the people of power and they are able to control much of the media and demonize these substances. These substances gain an antigovernmental forbidden aura. People begin thinking drugs are the answer to everything but the government doesn't want them to know the truth.
-In secrets lies hope. There is some simple answer, there is something else. Even if all we do is sit home and watch tv we could suddenly come to know some secret truth that would change everything.
-In drugs lies hope. There is some substance out here that will solve all our problems even our own mortality. All we need to to do is consume it. In consumption lies transcendence.
-If you start with media themes you end with media themes. Is the media gonna save you. Are you just waiting for them to broadcast that one message that will save you? Is this book gonna save you? Is it gonna be an argument that saves you? Is there a place to go to, someone to meet, something to buy, something to learn, something to do one thing to take?
-People used to get off killing animals. Perhaps we should bring that back Animal sacrifice is a thing that happened all over the world for many many cultures. Animal sacrifice was part of many religions. Do we really think that killing animals did anything good for those people?
-The most important thing is why do you want this book to be true? What does it prove for you?
-They had poppies back then? they have always had poppies all over the place. No society was destroyed by this. Outlawing it only made it worth huge amounts of money.
-What about China? Are there no psychoactive substances in China?
-Ritual, secret ritual, these things are powerful. Think of the Masons and the oddfellows or any religion ever. People can be organized powerfully by ritual. Is there a special Mason drug?
-No one is taking any drugs today that would serve the purposes of the early christians. It would have to be something like LSD,DMT, Ayahuasca or mushrooms if it was going to be a drug that changes the way you see the world. There would have to be a secret plant or a secret chemical knowledge that no one has ever seen.
-Going through a severe flu can give you altered consciousness too.
-What about choking during sex I hear that is pretty fun. Does that altered state make you believe in god. Does it make you think the world is different than it was before.
-The part where they say people died taking the eucharist. If he wants to take it literally poisoned or bad food would be more likely to kill people than some drug everyone had been taking for years. The Alcohol would have sterilized the drinks so it would likely not be that.
-When the women were supposedly in charge is there any evidence that things were somehow better. Was everybody(who also apparently thought the end of the world was coming) just happy campers.
-You can go do the drugs now. Better drugs. Much better more extreme drugs. People are saying they are having spiritual experiences on them. Just what is the point this guy is making.
-Everybody in america grows up thinking this conspiracy theory. I did. Once you do mushrooms you wonder. But if you really think about it it doesn't really add possibilities to you personally. It only ends up being a story about those in power having secret knowledge that they have always been hiding from us.
-This idiot walks around thinking he knows something that none of these other people know. He teaches the people working at the museums all his new knowledge.
-This guy says he thinks the church covered up the actual church yet he still goes to church. This guy think hallucinations bring you closer to god but then he never takes any hallucinogens.
-When a weird idea like this comes up 70 or 80 years ago and nothing else has really ever come to light since then to really prove it you have to wonder.
-When you have to go back and retranslate things to make them mean something no one has ever thought they meant you have to wonder. Especially when you are a person who is looking for proof of what you already know.
-Somehow there is some information in the vatican that if known it would destroy it. Of course the current "secret archive" librarian is totally happy letting him look at whatever he wants.
-Apparently all the times people have looked for the drug stuff(and they have) throughout history and then published it Yet still no one has ever found a hallucinogen or any recipes for drugs that would cause them.
-No one is abusing any of the drugs he is talking about yet there a tons of others that they do. I think this is the best proof that he is full of it.
-He is trying to link the ill defined gnostics with the ill defined witches all of whom have completely lost all their most important knowledge apparently.
-the reality TV vibe becomes extremely cloying.
-Ok so all the cathers were witches.
-apparently there was a frog that gave hallucinations but it doesn't exist anymore.
-Given the logic of this book you will either end up less logical(if you accept it) or disappointed by the whole idea to begin with.
-Near the end of the book he sums up all of his "evidence" and begins to talk like he proved something. It is infuriating.
-love and knowledge mean less than what sex is in charge and whether you are on drugs
-The other assumption this makes is people believed in religions more in the past because they had drugs so they could see things. Go tell those people who speak in tongues they don't believe.
-We can spend our lives half thinking about things, really important things.
-What if all the catholics and those greeks all took some kind of drugs and got enlightened?
-Why do we want these things to be true? If it was true then what is he saying? That we could find that drug and then we could all take it and we would be happy? Were they happier back then? Why are there no new popular religions based on mushrooms or ayahuasca.
-So this guy wants to be the new Dan Brown only just like Dan Brown he isn't really a deep enough thinker to really even ask any good questions.
-If he really believed in the power of psychedelics why isn't he taking any? It isn't illegal in many situations. Does he really believe the old CIA trope that LSD will change you irreparably if you ever take it, unlike every other drug that ever existed.
-He is guilty of the most egregious of scientific errors right off the bat. He already knows what what the answer is and is trying to prove his point.
-He ends up with a cannibalistic drug cult run by women who eventually lose control all of it to men.
-He thinks drugs were always some forbidden thing. Like the romans must have been anti-drug.
-It is like the author is the one who has been most affected by the modern obsession with blaming and banning substances. Perhaps he should have tried some psychedelics at some point so he would know what he is talking about. Has there ever been a huge religion based on drugs?
-The only drug I have ever heard of that would remove your fear of death is ketamine. John C. Lilly used to say that ketamine removed your fear of death.
-This drug the early catholics took did the same thing as the mysteries but was easy to get and take. And also no one ever wrote down what it was and it was all totally forgotten and was never talked about. Somehow the way to make it or the substance itself was outlawed without that fact ever being recorded.
-This guy is conflating the weird right wing obsession with drugs as a way to change the world with the actual power of religions to change the world.
-The moonies are not doing drugs, the Scientologists and Mormons are not doing drugs. I can get some psychedelics in the mail without too much trouble. Tons more people are taking psychedelics these days but what is it changing.
-I think much more mysterious is how did the south americans discover ayahuasca which requires two ingredients for either to work. Like they raised corn from something you couldn't eat to something you could over many years. why would they do that?
-This guy is also one of those guys who essentially looks at everything through a single western lens which he thinks is shared by everyone.
-Does it look like the early christians discovered anything? Do they seem more enlightened? Did they write anything about it? Have they ever found any other substances at all in any of these early churches let alone the same psychoactive substance in a bunch of the churches.
-If there were numerous kinds of psychoactive wines or beers why can't we find any. Everyones looking.
-He is basically saying instead of community and love the basis of religion is drugs. So soon you you will be able to just take your spirituality in a pill.
-What drugs did the Buddhists use to become so wise?
-Look the US wins war WW2, Productivity soars, the population gets rich, everyone goes to college, people in power get worried about controlling the population now that people are getting educated. The government lets the right wing crack down on the liberals. The right wing puritanical weirdos in the CIA think drugs can be used to control people. Drugs were part of the then current liberal lifestyle. Drugs can be outlawed so they are. This current war on drugs continues to this day. The war on drugs is a powerful lobby entrenched within the people of power and they are able to control much of the media and demonize these substances. These substances gain an antigovernmental forbidden aura. People begin thinking drugs are the answer to everything but the government doesn't want them to know the truth.
-In secrets lies hope. There is some simple answer, there is something else. Even if all we do is sit home and watch tv we could suddenly come to know some secret truth that would change everything.
-In drugs lies hope. There is some substance out here that will solve all our problems even our own mortality. All we need to to do is consume it. In consumption lies transcendence.
-If you start with media themes you end with media themes. Is the media gonna save you. Are you just waiting for them to broadcast that one message that will save you? Is this book gonna save you? Is it gonna be an argument that saves you? Is there a place to go to, someone to meet, something to buy, something to learn, something to do one thing to take?
-People used to get off killing animals. Perhaps we should bring that back Animal sacrifice is a thing that happened all over the world for many many cultures. Animal sacrifice was part of many religions. Do we really think that killing animals did anything good for those people?
-The most important thing is why do you want this book to be true? What does it prove for you?
-They had poppies back then? they have always had poppies all over the place. No society was destroyed by this. Outlawing it only made it worth huge amounts of money.
-What about China? Are there no psychoactive substances in China?
-Ritual, secret ritual, these things are powerful. Think of the Masons and the oddfellows or any religion ever. People can be organized powerfully by ritual. Is there a special Mason drug?
-No one is taking any drugs today that would serve the purposes of the early christians. It would have to be something like LSD,DMT, Ayahuasca or mushrooms if it was going to be a drug that changes the way you see the world. There would have to be a secret plant or a secret chemical knowledge that no one has ever seen.
-Going through a severe flu can give you altered consciousness too.
-What about choking during sex I hear that is pretty fun. Does that altered state make you believe in god. Does it make you think the world is different than it was before.
-The part where they say people died taking the eucharist. If he wants to take it literally poisoned or bad food would be more likely to kill people than some drug everyone had been taking for years. The Alcohol would have sterilized the drinks so it would likely not be that.
-When the women were supposedly in charge is there any evidence that things were somehow better. Was everybody(who also apparently thought the end of the world was coming) just happy campers.
-You can go do the drugs now. Better drugs. Much better more extreme drugs. People are saying they are having spiritual experiences on them. Just what is the point this guy is making.
-Everybody in america grows up thinking this conspiracy theory. I did. Once you do mushrooms you wonder. But if you really think about it it doesn't really add possibilities to you personally. It only ends up being a story about those in power having secret knowledge that they have always been hiding from us.
-This idiot walks around thinking he knows something that none of these other people know. He teaches the people working at the museums all his new knowledge.
-This guy says he thinks the church covered up the actual church yet he still goes to church. This guy think hallucinations bring you closer to god but then he never takes any hallucinogens.
-When a weird idea like this comes up 70 or 80 years ago and nothing else has really ever come to light since then to really prove it you have to wonder.
-When you have to go back and retranslate things to make them mean something no one has ever thought they meant you have to wonder. Especially when you are a person who is looking for proof of what you already know.
-Somehow there is some information in the vatican that if known it would destroy it. Of course the current "secret archive" librarian is totally happy letting him look at whatever he wants.
-Apparently all the times people have looked for the drug stuff(and they have) throughout history and then published it Yet still no one has ever found a hallucinogen or any recipes for drugs that would cause them.
-No one is abusing any of the drugs he is talking about yet there a tons of others that they do. I think this is the best proof that he is full of it.
-He is trying to link the ill defined gnostics with the ill defined witches all of whom have completely lost all their most important knowledge apparently.
-the reality TV vibe becomes extremely cloying.
-Ok so all the cathers were witches.
-apparently there was a frog that gave hallucinations but it doesn't exist anymore.
-Given the logic of this book you will either end up less logical(if you accept it) or disappointed by the whole idea to begin with.
-Near the end of the book he sums up all of his "evidence" and begins to talk like he proved something. It is infuriating.
May 10, 2021
I dont know enough to be critical of this book, but it feels like its reaching, but I could be wrong.
In the Gospel of John, it talks about wine a lot more than in the other Gospels. The author thinks there is something to this that Greek speakers at the time would have understood that we don't. He thinks there is a clear connection between the portrayal of Jesus and the cult of Dionysus, and he shows many parallels between the gospel of John and older Greek writings.
But it wasn't just regular wine, he argues. He compares contemporary research on psychedelics with descriptions of ancient religous rituals among the Greeks, Egyptians and peoples of the near East and argues that beer and wine of the time were often laced with psychedelics that created mystical experiences. This lineage was passed down through the Greeks to certain early Christian groups, but eventually stamped out of the church and those who supported it were seen as heretics or witches.
This book is very well researched and makes some really revolutionary claims. I will be interested to see the extent to which future research puts his work to the test.
In the Gospel of John, it talks about wine a lot more than in the other Gospels. The author thinks there is something to this that Greek speakers at the time would have understood that we don't. He thinks there is a clear connection between the portrayal of Jesus and the cult of Dionysus, and he shows many parallels between the gospel of John and older Greek writings.
But it wasn't just regular wine, he argues. He compares contemporary research on psychedelics with descriptions of ancient religous rituals among the Greeks, Egyptians and peoples of the near East and argues that beer and wine of the time were often laced with psychedelics that created mystical experiences. This lineage was passed down through the Greeks to certain early Christian groups, but eventually stamped out of the church and those who supported it were seen as heretics or witches.
This book is very well researched and makes some really revolutionary claims. I will be interested to see the extent to which future research puts his work to the test.
January 25, 2021
“If you die before you die, you won’t die when you die.”
“People of reason may have to concede that modern science has its limits. Not everything of value can be weighted and measured. People of faith may have to admit that we can no longer afford legend over history, or obedience over curiosity. In a rapidly accelerating world, ‘big religion’ has failed to keep up with a younger generation that prefers fact over fiction. But ‘big science’ and ‘big technology’ may be going too fast, distracting us from the ancient search for meaning that defined the original religion of western civilization.”
“People of reason may have to concede that modern science has its limits. Not everything of value can be weighted and measured. People of faith may have to admit that we can no longer afford legend over history, or obedience over curiosity. In a rapidly accelerating world, ‘big religion’ has failed to keep up with a younger generation that prefers fact over fiction. But ‘big science’ and ‘big technology’ may be going too fast, distracting us from the ancient search for meaning that defined the original religion of western civilization.”
July 6, 2021
Is the theophagic Christian transubstantiation the legacy of a long since forgotten Paleolithic cult that used a psychedelic brew, or potion, to bestow genuine beatific visions upon people during ceremonial revelry? This book aims to examine that hypothesis and, if you agree with the author’s conclusion, all but proves it to be the case: the circumstantial evidence is all there and it is only the smoking gun or, rather, the psychedelic sacrament that is missing.
The book is divided into two parts with the first exploring the archaeological, archaeobotanical and literary evidence of this psychedelic brew, with a particular focus on the Eleusinian Mysteries and it’s brew (‘kukeon’), and the second detailing the evidence for this brew being the Eucharist of the original, paleo-Christians. The book is tied together by the author’s belief in the ‘pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist’ - that the Eucharist derived from a sacred ancient ceremony which evolved into a profane bucolic pagan ritual, as Rome began to crack down on the Mysteries, and ended up being part of an attenuated state-sponsored religion.
It feels as though over half of this book is a commentary recounting the author’s travels to places and discussions with people who helped him construct his hypothesis. It reads more like an autobiographical account of his inquiry than a work of genuine, trans-disciplinary scholarship. In fact, it reads like an exercise in fluff writing, as others have noted. Even worse, where any critical analysis does occur he rounds off each and every examination by repeating the same rhetorical questions, which comes across as an easily recognisable attempt to convince the reader that he has evinced some clear but, for some reason, overlooked connections. Nevertheless, two things this book does convincingly portray are, firstly, the extent of the knowledge and richness of tradition that existed in and around the ancient Mediterranean and, secondly, the potential veracity of the pagan continuity hypothesis - the idea that Christianity was built upon earlier pagan beliefs - even if it falls short regarding the existence of a psychedelic Eucharist.
Undoubtedly, the worst part of this book is the bare-faced deception and denial of scholarship he engages in so that he might lend further credence to his theory, especially with respect to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) Urheimat. Though he acknowledges the Kurgan hypothesis, he frames the discussion of the linguistic and geographical evidence of a hallucinogenic sacrament around Renfrew’s Anatolian hypothesis and openly states it to be correct, despite the fact virtually every piece of scholarly work on the topic since the influential works of David Anthony - see: ‘The Horse, the Wheel, and Language’ (2007) and, particularly, his article with Don Ringe, ‘The Indo-European Homeland from Linguistic and Archaeological Perspectives’ (2015) - has found in favour of Marija Gimbutas’ Kurgan hypothesis and that the homeland of the (Proto-)Indo-Europeans was in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. As the author himself puts it: ‘everything hangs on the homeland’. However, he gets the homeland wrong and, instead, chooses to hitch his wagon to a theory that has been out of fashion for at least a decade.
Moreover, just as with the PIE homeland, he makes another commitment to a theory that the relevant experts have found wanting when in Chapter 5 he throws his weight behind the idea ‘the Agricultural Revolution was, in fact, the Beer Revolution’ and that crops were grown for fermentation not baking. For the life of me, I cannot understand why he would not follow the empirical evidence and openly admit that it shows that baked bread-like products have been found in Jordan that predate the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution by 2,000 years, at least. Furthermore, he also claims the oldest ‘evidence of beer consumption in all of Europe’ was in Spain in 3470 BC but, having decided I should probably fact check him, it turns out the earliest evidence is found in Switzerland and dates to 4000 BC.
Given he spends a significant proportion of the latter chapters of the book accusing the Catholic Church and Papacy of a conspiratorial cover-up, you would have thought he would at least be open and truthful with the evidence. To drive home the point: he laments the Roman Senate’s dedication to upholding the socio-cultural patriarchy through the purging of women from their central role in, what he calls, ‘the Greek and Gnostic Mysteries’ only to then criticise them on the basis the priests and church leaders believed men to be the more rational, reasoned and spiritual of the sexes when this is, in fact, a fundamental principle of the Gnostic worldview, which held the feminine to be the syzygy of the masculine. Carl Jung, himself a Gnostic acolyte, elucidated this when in his ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’ he explained how ‘Logos’ was the ruling masculine principle whereas ‘Eros’ was the ruling feminine principle. This is at best an unallowable ignorance or at worst an unacceptable deception.
No doubt an interesting theory and one I had been looking forward to reading - hence the two stars instead of one - but this book simply has too many errors to be considered credible or convincing. Having chosen to employ a quotation stating that religion is what happens when “live doctrine fossilises into dogmatism”, it took only a couple of pages before he was tacitly praising the founding of the International Church of Cannabis and pleased at the prospect of psychedelic churches being an inevitability. Sadly, this, occurring in Chapter One, sets the stage for a book replete with painfully obvious confirmation bias, occasional cognitive dissonance and a plethora of factual errors.
The book is divided into two parts with the first exploring the archaeological, archaeobotanical and literary evidence of this psychedelic brew, with a particular focus on the Eleusinian Mysteries and it’s brew (‘kukeon’), and the second detailing the evidence for this brew being the Eucharist of the original, paleo-Christians. The book is tied together by the author’s belief in the ‘pagan continuity hypothesis with a psychedelic twist’ - that the Eucharist derived from a sacred ancient ceremony which evolved into a profane bucolic pagan ritual, as Rome began to crack down on the Mysteries, and ended up being part of an attenuated state-sponsored religion.
It feels as though over half of this book is a commentary recounting the author’s travels to places and discussions with people who helped him construct his hypothesis. It reads more like an autobiographical account of his inquiry than a work of genuine, trans-disciplinary scholarship. In fact, it reads like an exercise in fluff writing, as others have noted. Even worse, where any critical analysis does occur he rounds off each and every examination by repeating the same rhetorical questions, which comes across as an easily recognisable attempt to convince the reader that he has evinced some clear but, for some reason, overlooked connections. Nevertheless, two things this book does convincingly portray are, firstly, the extent of the knowledge and richness of tradition that existed in and around the ancient Mediterranean and, secondly, the potential veracity of the pagan continuity hypothesis - the idea that Christianity was built upon earlier pagan beliefs - even if it falls short regarding the existence of a psychedelic Eucharist.
Undoubtedly, the worst part of this book is the bare-faced deception and denial of scholarship he engages in so that he might lend further credence to his theory, especially with respect to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) Urheimat. Though he acknowledges the Kurgan hypothesis, he frames the discussion of the linguistic and geographical evidence of a hallucinogenic sacrament around Renfrew’s Anatolian hypothesis and openly states it to be correct, despite the fact virtually every piece of scholarly work on the topic since the influential works of David Anthony - see: ‘The Horse, the Wheel, and Language’ (2007) and, particularly, his article with Don Ringe, ‘The Indo-European Homeland from Linguistic and Archaeological Perspectives’ (2015) - has found in favour of Marija Gimbutas’ Kurgan hypothesis and that the homeland of the (Proto-)Indo-Europeans was in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. As the author himself puts it: ‘everything hangs on the homeland’. However, he gets the homeland wrong and, instead, chooses to hitch his wagon to a theory that has been out of fashion for at least a decade.
Moreover, just as with the PIE homeland, he makes another commitment to a theory that the relevant experts have found wanting when in Chapter 5 he throws his weight behind the idea ‘the Agricultural Revolution was, in fact, the Beer Revolution’ and that crops were grown for fermentation not baking. For the life of me, I cannot understand why he would not follow the empirical evidence and openly admit that it shows that baked bread-like products have been found in Jordan that predate the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution by 2,000 years, at least. Furthermore, he also claims the oldest ‘evidence of beer consumption in all of Europe’ was in Spain in 3470 BC but, having decided I should probably fact check him, it turns out the earliest evidence is found in Switzerland and dates to 4000 BC.
Given he spends a significant proportion of the latter chapters of the book accusing the Catholic Church and Papacy of a conspiratorial cover-up, you would have thought he would at least be open and truthful with the evidence. To drive home the point: he laments the Roman Senate’s dedication to upholding the socio-cultural patriarchy through the purging of women from their central role in, what he calls, ‘the Greek and Gnostic Mysteries’ only to then criticise them on the basis the priests and church leaders believed men to be the more rational, reasoned and spiritual of the sexes when this is, in fact, a fundamental principle of the Gnostic worldview, which held the feminine to be the syzygy of the masculine. Carl Jung, himself a Gnostic acolyte, elucidated this when in his ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’ he explained how ‘Logos’ was the ruling masculine principle whereas ‘Eros’ was the ruling feminine principle. This is at best an unallowable ignorance or at worst an unacceptable deception.
No doubt an interesting theory and one I had been looking forward to reading - hence the two stars instead of one - but this book simply has too many errors to be considered credible or convincing. Having chosen to employ a quotation stating that religion is what happens when “live doctrine fossilises into dogmatism”, it took only a couple of pages before he was tacitly praising the founding of the International Church of Cannabis and pleased at the prospect of psychedelic churches being an inevitability. Sadly, this, occurring in Chapter One, sets the stage for a book replete with painfully obvious confirmation bias, occasional cognitive dissonance and a plethora of factual errors.
December 29, 2020
The Immortality Key is a well-researched book with bold conclusions. The issue is its tone.
Religions, like almost all human constructs, evolve. Any religion's any manifestation at any time and place is likely to be far different from another version at a different place or time. Nobody is shocked or tried to claim otherwise that Christianity of the earliest believers is utterly different from the one practiced by all protestant churches. Similarly, it should not be a surprise if it is entirely different from the current beliefs of the Catholics, the Orthodox, or any other segments.
The author does well in trying to unearth the form of religion before the arrival of Catholicism. The author's claims around the role played by hallucinogens are over-hyped. The author is right that what we call wine today was not the wine in Christianity's early days. He is likely equally right that various cults that shaped Christian beliefs used many stimulants to experience out of body feelings. Many Christ-followers must have used the same during the pre-Roman days. While it is important to know this conclusively, if possible, from archeological analysis, it has little bearing on how drugs should or should not be viewed by political or ecclesiastical authorities of our time. Even if some Churches of the first millennium actively suppressed what came before, it is neither good nor bad necessarily; it is a flow of history.
To a degree, one can make the same argument about the claims on roles played by women. Yet, it is more useful to learn that females were not consigned to the lesser roles in religions from day one.
Most importantly, what might have existed pre-Catholicism was not one religion with no name but numerous different local rites and rituals over a vast stretch of land. Many of them must have had a varying influence on several types of practices that emerged with the earliest Christians before large authorities emerged to define the best practices rigidly.
Once again, the author makes some bold claims. His portrayal of history is vivid and exciting. Whether his research is valid or too biased is for other researchers to judge in coming decades. The book should be read for the claims made and the research behind them, but not necessarily for the discussed implications.
Religions, like almost all human constructs, evolve. Any religion's any manifestation at any time and place is likely to be far different from another version at a different place or time. Nobody is shocked or tried to claim otherwise that Christianity of the earliest believers is utterly different from the one practiced by all protestant churches. Similarly, it should not be a surprise if it is entirely different from the current beliefs of the Catholics, the Orthodox, or any other segments.
The author does well in trying to unearth the form of religion before the arrival of Catholicism. The author's claims around the role played by hallucinogens are over-hyped. The author is right that what we call wine today was not the wine in Christianity's early days. He is likely equally right that various cults that shaped Christian beliefs used many stimulants to experience out of body feelings. Many Christ-followers must have used the same during the pre-Roman days. While it is important to know this conclusively, if possible, from archeological analysis, it has little bearing on how drugs should or should not be viewed by political or ecclesiastical authorities of our time. Even if some Churches of the first millennium actively suppressed what came before, it is neither good nor bad necessarily; it is a flow of history.
To a degree, one can make the same argument about the claims on roles played by women. Yet, it is more useful to learn that females were not consigned to the lesser roles in religions from day one.
Most importantly, what might have existed pre-Catholicism was not one religion with no name but numerous different local rites and rituals over a vast stretch of land. Many of them must have had a varying influence on several types of practices that emerged with the earliest Christians before large authorities emerged to define the best practices rigidly.
Once again, the author makes some bold claims. His portrayal of history is vivid and exciting. Whether his research is valid or too biased is for other researchers to judge in coming decades. The book should be read for the claims made and the research behind them, but not necessarily for the discussed implications.
December 22, 2021
Where to start with this book? The biggest problem is with the book is not scholarship, but literary. This book somehow occupies the genres of memoir, dissertation, and journalism and fails at all simply by not honing in on one thing. If the author set out a less agenda driven approach to show the religious link to psychedelics this would have been a success. Even if the book was solely on psychedelics in the early church, this would have been a success. Instead the author clearly has some narrative in his head he’s trying to confirm about how paganism combined with psychedelics formed the very foundations of Christianity. Big claims require big evidence and the evidence is lacking.
Most of the book is filler of his personal experiences researching rather than just leading with the argument and evidence. Moreover, the author white washes Christianity with its overemphasis on its Hellenistic influences, rather than its Jewish roots. Sure Christianity was born in a context and not immune to pagan influence, but to down play to Jewish roots is a disservice to the subject.
Most of the book is filler of his personal experiences researching rather than just leading with the argument and evidence. Moreover, the author white washes Christianity with its overemphasis on its Hellenistic influences, rather than its Jewish roots. Sure Christianity was born in a context and not immune to pagan influence, but to down play to Jewish roots is a disservice to the subject.
April 30, 2021
This book was dense with info. It mostly felt like a research paper, with lots of facts thrown in, theories thrown around. And the book also repeated itself a lot. I felt it could have been half as long. But I did learn a lot, and it definitely piqued my interest in further studying the origins of the original Eucharist. I want the readers digest version of this book with Cliffs Notes.
December 21, 2020
Absolutely fantastic. A landmark book for a modern understanding of the Greek Mysteries, the first Christians, and the important spiritual role drugs have played throughout all human history. Can’t recommend enough.
June 20, 2021
"The Catholic church started the war on drugs"
February 22, 2022
I first found out about Brian Muraresku through an Episode on Joe Rogan’s podcast. I normally wouldn’t have found it, but I think someone recommended this episode to me. It was mind-boggling, and reading this book about a year or so later was even more fascinating.
Muraresku’s main thesis is that there is / was a secret psychedelic religion which predates Christianity and was then adopted into the earliest forms of Christianity. What exactly does this mean? Well it means that psychedelic substances, with their abilities to produce altered states of mind, and in many cases an experience of ego-death, were used in different rituals to produce supernatural experiences. This kind of makes sense if you think about it: In almost all religions, organized or more primitive, there are rites and practices that are, in varying degrees, able to produce altered states of mind in the devotees. Some examples for this are fasting, sensory deprivation, glossolalia, ritual dances, ritual chants and so on. Add to this list the ingestion of mind-altering substances and you will see the connection.
Some of the oldest traces of substances being used with this goal in mind are found by the author in the so-called Mysteries of Eleusis. This is an ancient Greek cult which existed from around 1500 BC to 381 AD. In the main rite of this cult, its participants drank a potion, descended to the underworld and were then reborn as children of Demeter. The last two parts, as you may have guessed, happened only in the mind of the participants under the influence of the potion which most likely contained ergot, a fungus that grows on wheat and barley and which contains a chemical that is close to LSD. This ritual helped the participants feel they could “die with a better hope”, as Cicero put it. Cicero was initiated there, and so were Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, Plutarch and Marcus Aurelius.
In the second part of the book the author defends the Pagan continuity hypothesis. What this thesis says is that the earliest Christians took many different ideas and rites from the pagan cultures. One of these rites which were adopted, according to the author, is the ingestion of psychedelic substances in order to experience a spiritual rebirth. Supposedly this happened in the form of the Eucharist.
While this thesis may sound very outlandish and even blasphemous to devout Christians, it is not unwarranted, as the author shows in this book. After all this would plausibly explain the success of the Christian faith in the first centuries, in a culture that was thoroughly pagan.
There is currently somewhat of a psychedelic revival, and the effects of psychedelics are studied more and more in a serious and scientific way at some of the most influential medical research labs in the world. Everything points to the fact that they are able to produce genuine religious experiences and an astonishing number of the participants of these studies describe such experiences as one of the most meaningful of their life. A change in perspective and an increase in empathy is something that many participants mention as a direct consequence of the psychedelic trip.
Muraresku himself has remained what is sometimes called a psychedelic virgin, in order to be able to study the subject as objectively as possible. His findings are fascinating to say the least, and the way he presents them in this book, by interweaving his own story of studying the subject, meeting with experts, finding new evidence and his elucidating of the ancient world and the myths of those times is superb.
Muraresku’s main thesis is that there is / was a secret psychedelic religion which predates Christianity and was then adopted into the earliest forms of Christianity. What exactly does this mean? Well it means that psychedelic substances, with their abilities to produce altered states of mind, and in many cases an experience of ego-death, were used in different rituals to produce supernatural experiences. This kind of makes sense if you think about it: In almost all religions, organized or more primitive, there are rites and practices that are, in varying degrees, able to produce altered states of mind in the devotees. Some examples for this are fasting, sensory deprivation, glossolalia, ritual dances, ritual chants and so on. Add to this list the ingestion of mind-altering substances and you will see the connection.
Some of the oldest traces of substances being used with this goal in mind are found by the author in the so-called Mysteries of Eleusis. This is an ancient Greek cult which existed from around 1500 BC to 381 AD. In the main rite of this cult, its participants drank a potion, descended to the underworld and were then reborn as children of Demeter. The last two parts, as you may have guessed, happened only in the mind of the participants under the influence of the potion which most likely contained ergot, a fungus that grows on wheat and barley and which contains a chemical that is close to LSD. This ritual helped the participants feel they could “die with a better hope”, as Cicero put it. Cicero was initiated there, and so were Socrates, Plato, Sophocles, Plutarch and Marcus Aurelius.
In the second part of the book the author defends the Pagan continuity hypothesis. What this thesis says is that the earliest Christians took many different ideas and rites from the pagan cultures. One of these rites which were adopted, according to the author, is the ingestion of psychedelic substances in order to experience a spiritual rebirth. Supposedly this happened in the form of the Eucharist.
While this thesis may sound very outlandish and even blasphemous to devout Christians, it is not unwarranted, as the author shows in this book. After all this would plausibly explain the success of the Christian faith in the first centuries, in a culture that was thoroughly pagan.
There is currently somewhat of a psychedelic revival, and the effects of psychedelics are studied more and more in a serious and scientific way at some of the most influential medical research labs in the world. Everything points to the fact that they are able to produce genuine religious experiences and an astonishing number of the participants of these studies describe such experiences as one of the most meaningful of their life. A change in perspective and an increase in empathy is something that many participants mention as a direct consequence of the psychedelic trip.
Muraresku himself has remained what is sometimes called a psychedelic virgin, in order to be able to study the subject as objectively as possible. His findings are fascinating to say the least, and the way he presents them in this book, by interweaving his own story of studying the subject, meeting with experts, finding new evidence and his elucidating of the ancient world and the myths of those times is superb.
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