The book proposes a history of religious ritualistic psychedelic use at least as old as the ancient Greek mystery religions, especially those starting in Eleusis and dating to roughly 2,000 BC. BRIAN MURARESKU: Great question. The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name And now we have a working hypothesis and some data to suggest where we might be looking. No, I think you-- this is why we're friends, Charlie. So at the very-- after the first half of the book is over, there's an epilogue, and I say, OK, here's the evidence. The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name So first of all, please tell us how it is you came to pursue this research to write this book, and highlight briefly what you think are its principal conclusions and their significance for our present and future. It would have parts of Greek mysticism in it, the same Greek mysteries I've spent all these years investigating, and it would have some elements of what I see in paleo-Christianity. Little attempt has been made, however, to bridge the gap between \"pagan\" and \"Christian\" or to examine late antique, Christian attitudes toward sexuality and marriage from the viewpoint of the \"average\" Christian. There's evidence of the mysteries of Dionysus before, during, and after the life of Jesus, it's worth pointing out. So again, if there were an early psychedelic sacrament that was being suppressed, I'd expect that the suppressors would talk about it. I'm not sure many have. So the closer we get to the modern period, we're starting to find beer, wine mixed with interesting things. Theories of Origins about Witch Hunts - King's College Did the ancient Greeks use drugs to find God? difficult to arrive at any conclusive hypothesis. That's one narrative that I feel is a little sensational. And there were gaps as well. I'm not. So what I think we have here in this ergtotized beer drink from Catalonia, Spain, and in this weird witch's brew from 79 AD in Pompeii, I describe it, until I see evidence otherwise, as some of the very first heart scientific data for the actual existence of actual spiked wine in classical antiquity, which I think is a really big point. What was the real religion of the ancient Greeks? The book was published by Saint Martin's Press in September 2020 and has generated a whirlwind of attention. Administration and supervision endeavors and with strong knowledge in: Online teaching and learning methods, Methods for Teaching Mathematics and Technology Integration for K-12 and College . And for those of you who have found my line of questioning or just my general presence tedious, first of all, I fully appreciate that reaction. I mean, I wish it were easier. I mean, I think the book makes it clear. I have a deep interest in mysticism, and I've had mystical experiences, which I don't think are very relevant. And I started reading the studies from Pat McGovern at the University of Pennsylvania. They found a tiny chalice this big, dated to the second century BC. And so even within the New Testament you see little hints and clues that there was no such thing as only ordinary table wine. And so in the epilogue, I say we simply do not know the relationship between this site in Spain and Eleusis, nor do we know what was happening at-- it doesn't automatically mean that Eleusis was a psychedelic rite. So this is the tradition, I can say with a straight face, that saved my life. It's a big question for me. The big question is, did any of these recipes, did any of this wine spiking actually make its way into some paleo-Christian ceremony. Psychedelics Today: Mark Plotkin - Bio-Cultural Conservation of the Amazon. Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and - Podchaser Lots of Greek artifacts, lots of Greek signifiers. And as a lawyer, I know what is probative and what's circumstantial evidence, and I just-- I don't see it there. So listening right now, there's at least one orthodox priest, there's at least one Catholic priest, an Episcopalian, an Anglican, and several others with whom I've been talking in recent months. But please do know that we will forward all these questions to Brian so he will know the sorts of questions his work prompts. Rather, Christian beliefs were gradually incorporated into the pagan customs that already existed there. So the event happens, when all the wines run out, here comes Jesus, who's referred to in the Gospels as an [SPEAKING GREEK] in Greek, a drunkard. And I think there are so many sites and excavations and so many chalices that remain to be tested. And besides that, young Brian, let's keep the mysteries mysteries. This 'pagan continuity hypothesis' with a psychedelic twist is now backed up by biochemistry and agrochemistry and tons of historical research, exposing our forgotten history. So you were unable to test the vessels on site in Eleusis, which is what led you to, if I have this argument right, to Greek colonies around the Mediterranean. And the second act, the same, but for what you call paleo-Christianity, the evidence for your suspicion that the Eucharist was originally a psychedelic sacrament. Now the archaeologist of that site says-- I'm quoting from your book-- "For me, the Villa Vesuvio was a small farm that was specifically designed for the production of drugs." So there's a house preserved outside of Pompeii, preserved, like so much else, under the ash of Mount Vesuvius's eruption in the year 79 of the Common Era. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. These mysteries had at their center a sacrament called kykeon, which offered a vision of the mysteries of life and death. BRIAN MURARESKU: Right. Mark and Brian cover the Eleusinian Mysteries, the pagan continuity hypothesis, early Christianity, lessons from famed religious scholar Karen Armstrong, overlooked aspects of influential philosopher William James's career, ancient wine and ancient beer, experiencing the divine within us, the importance of "tikkun olam"repairing and . And so that opened a question for me. So whatever these [SPEAKING GREEK] libations incense were, the church fathers don't get into great detail about what may have been spiking them. And I want to say that this question that we've been exploring the last half hour about what all this means for the present will be very much the topic of our next event on February 22, which is taking up the question of psychedelic chaplaincy. Now, Carl Ruck from Boston University, much closer to home, however, took that invitation and tried to pursue this hypothesis. Like, what is this all about? These-- that-- Christians are spread out throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and there are many, many pockets of people practicing what we might call, let's just call it Christian mysticism of some kind. Throughout his five books he talks about wine being mixed with all kinds of stuff, like frankincense and myrrh, relatively innocuous stuff, but also less innocuous things like henbane and mandrake, these solanaceous plants which he specifically says is fatal. And her best guess is that it was like this open access sanctuary. And so in some of these psychedelic trials, under the right conditions, I do see genuine religious experiences. Now, here's-- let's tack away from hard, scientific, archaeobotanical evidence for a moment. 283. Where are the drugs? So if we can test Eucharistic vessels, I wouldn't be surprised at all that we find one. There's John Marco Allegro claiming that there was no Jesus, and this was just one big amanita muscaria cult. And they found this site, along with others around the Mediterranean. I mean, I asked lots of big questions in the book, and I fully acknowledge that. And if there's historical precedent for it, all the more so. First I'll give the floor to Brian to walk us into this remarkable book of his and the years of hard work that went into it, what drove him to do this. And maybe therein we do since the intimation of immortality. That to live on forever and ever, to live an everlasting life is not immortality. Psychedelics are a lens to investigate this stuff. The universality of frontiers, however, made the hypothesis readily extendable to other parts of the globe. So if you don't think that you are literally consuming divine blood, what is the point of religion? Because at my heart, I still consider myself a good Catholic boy. With more than 35 years of experience in the field of Education dedicated to help students, teachers and administrators in both public and private institutions at school, undergraduate and graduate level. These two accuse one Gnostic teacher named Marcus-- who is himself a student of the famous theologian Valentinus-- they accuse him of dabbling in pharmacological devilry. I might forward the proposition that I don't think the early church fathers were the best botanists. John H Elliott - Empires Of The Atlantic World.pdf But what I see are potential and possibilities and things worthy of discussions like this. You might find it in a cemetery in Mexico. The continuity theory proposes that older adults maintain the same activities, behaviors, personalities, and relationships of the past. I am excited . I can't imagine that there were no Christians that availed themselves of this biotechnology, and I can't imagine-- it's entirely plausible to me that they would mix this biotechnology with the Eucharist. It was it was barley, water, and something else. Psychedelics Weekly - Prince Harry and Psychedelics, Proposed CHARLES STANG: Yeah. [1] According to this theory, older adults try to maintain this continuity of lifestyle by adapting strategies that are connected to their past experiences. But Egypt seems to not really be hugely relevant to the research. What, if any, was the relationship between this Greek sanctuary-- a very Greek sanctuary, by the way-- in Catalonia, to the mysteries of Eleusis? The altar had been sitting in a museum in Israel since the 1960s and just hadn't been tested. Brian C. Muraresku (@BrianMuraresku) / Twitter So I don't write this to antagonize them or the church, the people who, again, ushered me into this discipline and into these questions. 8th century BC from the Tel Arad shrine. That is, by giving, by even floating the possibility of this kind of-- at times, what seems like a Dan Brown sort of story, like, oh my god, there's a whole history of Christianity that's been suppressed-- draws attention, but the real point is actually that you're not really certain about the story, but you're certain is that we need to be more attentive to this evidence and to assess it soberly. 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 This is all secret. I will ask Brian to describe how he came to write this remarkable book, and the years of sleuthing and studying that went into it. BRIAN MURARESKU: That's a good question. This an absolute masterclass on why you must know your identity and goals before forming a habit, what the best systems are for habit. And Brian, it would be helpful for me to know whether you are more interested in questions that take up the ancient world or more that deal with this last issue, the sort of contemporary and the future. Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2023 So let's start, then, the first act. Those religions featured psychedelic beer and ceremonies lead by women . The Immortality Key, The Secret History of the Religion With No Name. But clearly, when you're thinking about ancient Egypt or elsewhere, there's definitely a funerary tradition. Did the potion at Eleusis change from generation to generation? Mark and Brian cover the Eleusinian Mysteries, the pagan continuity hypothesis, early Christianity, lessons from famed religious scholar Karen Armstrong, overlooked aspects of influential philosopher William James's career, ancient wine and ancient beer, experiencing the divine within us, the importance of " tikkun olam "repairing and improving I expect we will find it. We're going to get there very soon. Continuity Hypothesis - Keith E Rice's Integrated SocioPsychology Blog As a matter of fact, I think it's much more promising and much more fertile for scholarship to suggest that some of the earliest Christians may have availed themselves of a psychedelic sacrament and may have interpreted the Last Supper as some kind of invitation to open psychedelia, that mystical supper as the orthodox call it, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]. Its proponents maintain that the affable, plump old fellow associated with Christmas derives from the character of Arctic medical practitioners. It tested positive for the microscopic remains of beer and also ergot, exactly the hypothesis that had been put forward in 1978 by the disgraced professor across town from you, Carl Ruck, who's now 85 years old, by the way. BRIAN MURARESKU: Right. It draws attention to this material. Video: Psychedelics: The Ancient Religion with No Name? He's been featured in Forbes, the Daily Beast, Big Think, and Vice. So Gobekli Tepe, for those who don't know, is this site in southern Turkey on the border with Syria. And I just happened to fall into that at the age of 14 thanks to the Jesuits, and just never left it behind. After the first few chapters the author bogs down flogging the Pagan Continuity Hypothesis and exulting over his discovery of small scraps of evidence he found in a decade of research. And please just call me Charlie. CHARLES STANG: OK, great. But let me say at the outset that it is remarkably learned, full of great historical and philological detail. But by and large, no, we don't really know. McGovern also finds wine from Egypt, for example, in 3150 BC, wine that is mixed with a number of interesting ingredients. And that is that there was a pervasive religion, ancient religion, that involved psychedelic sacraments, and that that pervasive religious culture filtered into the Greek mysteries and eventually into early Christianity. There he is. One attendee has asked, "How have religious leaders reacted so far to your book? CHARLES STANG: We've really read Jesus through the lens of his Greek inheritors. So that, actually, is the key to the immortality key. Thank you for that. This limestone altar tested positive for cannabis and frankincense that was being burned, they think, in a very ritualistic way. BRIAN MURARESKU: I'm bringing more illumination. In the same place in and around Pompeii, this is where Christianity is really finding its roots. So we're going down parallel paths here, and I feel we're caught between FDA-approved therapeutics and RFRA-protected sacraments, RFRA, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or what becomes of these kinds of substances in any kind of legal format-- which they're not legal at the moment, some would argue. I really tried. So now it's true that these heresy hunters show an interest in this love potion. He's talking about kind of psychedelic wine. Something else I include at the end of my book is that I don't think that whatever this was, this big if about a psychedelic Eucharist, I don't think this was a majority of the paleo-Christians. I see it as-- well, OK, I'd see it as within a minority. So, although, I mean, and that actually, I'd like to come back to that, the notion of the, that not just the pagan continuity hypothesis, but the mystery continuity hypothesis through the Vatican. And that's all I present it as, is wonderfully attractive and maybe even sexy circumstantial evidence for the potential use of a psychedelic sacrament amongst the earliest Christians. There is evidence that has been either overlooked or perhaps intentionally suppressed. The Continuity Hypothesis was put forward by John Bowlby (1953) as a critical effect of attachments in his development of Attachment Theory. I wish the church fathers were better botanists and would rail against the specific pharmacopeia. The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name The Immortality Key has its shortcomings. It pushes back the archaeology on some of this material a full 12,000 years. We still have almost 700 with us. It's something that goes from Homer all the way until the fall of the Roman Empire, over the course of well more than 1,000 years. It seems to me, though, that the intensity and the potency of the psychedelic experience is of an order of magnitude different than what I may have experienced through the Eucharist. Pagan Continuity and Christian Attitudes: When did Paganism End? And I think we get hung up on the jargon. Whether there's a psychedelic tradition-- I mean, there are some suggestive paintings. The Tim Ferriss Show - #535: General Stanley McChrystal Mast And let's start with our earliest evidence from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. From about 1500 BC to the fourth century AD, it calls to the best and brightest of not just Athens but also Rome. And I hear-- I sense that narrative in your book. Why don't we turn the tables and ask you what questions you think need to be posed? There's a moment in the book where you are excited about some hard evidence. They followed Platonic (and other Greeks) philosophy. But it was just a process of putting these pieces together that I eventually found this data from the site Mas Castellar des Pontos in Spain. So if Eleusis is the Fight Club of the ancient world, right, the first rule is you don't talk about it. I'm happy to be proven wrong. We call it ego dissolution, things of that nature. Now, you could draw the obvious conclusion. And if it's one thing Catholicism does very, very well, it's contemplative mysticism. he goes out on a limb and says that black nightshade actually causes [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH], which is not unpleasant visions, i.e. And at some point in my narrative, I do include mention of Gobekli Tepe, for example, which is essentially twice the age of Stonehenge. They were mixed or fortified. We don't have to look very hard to find that. That's because Brian and I have become friends these past several months, and I'll have more to say about that in a moment. So back in 2012, archaeologists and chemists were scraping some of these giant limestone troughs, and out pops calcium oxalate, which is one of these biomarkers for the fermentation of brewing. You won't find it in many places other than that. And anyone who drinks this, [SPEAKING GREEK], Jesus says in Greek, you remain in me and I in you. Brought to you by GiveWell.org charity research and effective giving and 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter.Welcome to The Tim Ferriss Show, where it is usually my job to deconstruct world-class performers to tease out their routines, habits, et cetera that you can apply to your own life. And it seems to me that if any of this is right, that whatever was happening in ancient Greece was a transformative experience for which a lot of thought and preparation went into. He draws on the theory of "pagan continuity," which holds that early Christianity adopted . These Native American church and the UDV, both some syncretic form of Christianity. Two Reviews of The Immortality Key - Graham Hancock And I'll just list them out quickly. And I wonder and I question how we can keep that and retain that for today. You mentioned, too, early churchmen, experts in heresies by the name of Irenaeus of Lyons and Hippolytus of Rome. That's only after Constantine. Perhaps more generally, you could just talk about other traditions around the Mediterranean, North African, or, let's even say Judaism. And I feel like I accomplished that in the afterword to my book. Some number of people have asked about Egypt. So I point to that evidence as illustrative of the possibility that the Christians could, in fact, have gotten their hands on an actual wine. To be a Catholic is to believe that you are literally consuming the blood of Christ to become Christ. The answer seems to be connected to psychedelic drugs. Let me start with the view-- the version of it that I think is less persuasive. That's just everlasting. Thank you. And so I don't know what a really authentic, a really historic-looking ritual that is equal parts sacred, but also, again, medically sound, scientifically rigorous, would look like. Like in Israel. I understand more papers are about to be published on this. What does ergotized beer in Catalonia have anything to do with the Greek mysteries at Eleusis? I just sense a great deal of structure and thoughtfulness going into this experience. Now is there any evidence for psychedelic use in ancient Egypt, and if not, do you have any theory as to why that's silent? What about all these early Christians themselves as essentially Jews? Let's move to early Christian. I was not going to put a book out there that was sensationalist. And apparently, the book is on order, so I can't speak to this directly, but the ancient Greek text that preserves this liturgy also preserves the formula, the ingredients of the eye ointment. Mark and Brian cover the Eleusinian Mysteries, the pagan continuity hypothesis, early Christianity, lessons from famed religious scholar Karen Armstrong, overlooked aspects of influential philosopher William James's career, ancient wine and ancient beer, experiencing the divine within us, the importance of "tikkun olam"repairing and improving Jerry Brown wrote a good review that should be read to put the book in its proper place. CHARLES STANG: OK. And you find terracotta heads that could or could not be representative of Demeter and Persephone, the two goddesses to whom the mysteries of Eleusis were dedicated. In the Classics world, there's a pagan continuity hypothesis with the very origin of Christianity, and many overt references to Greek plays in the Gospel of John. What was being thrown into it? So frankly, what happens during the Neolithic, we don't know, at least from a scientific vantage. Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark Plotkin: The Eleusinian Mysteries And shouldn't we all be asking that question? I mean, lots of great questions worthy of further investigation. Here's what we don't. CHARLES STANG: Thank you, Brian. Brendon Benz presents an alternative hypothesis to recent scholarship which has hypothesized that Israel consisted of geographical, economic . It was the Jesuits who taught me Latin and Greek. So the mysteries of Dionysus are a bit more of a free-for-all than the mysteries of Eleusis. Now we're getting somewhere. And so part of what it means to be a priest or a minister or a rabbi is to sit with the dying and the dead. Again, how did Christianity take hold in a world with such a rich mystical tradition? So how to put this? You're not confident that the pope is suddenly going to issue an encyclical. I want to thank you for your candor. The Tim Ferriss Show Transcripts: Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark And this is at a time when we're still hunting and gathering. You become one with Christ by drinking that. This is true. There were formula. Now, I mentioned that Brian and I had become friends. CHARLES STANG: OK. I was satisfied with I give Brian Muraresku an "A" for enthusiasm, but I gave his book 2 stars. So I present this as proof of concept, and I heavily rely on the Gospel of John and the data from Italy because that's what was there. CHARLES STANG: OK. Now, I've never done them myself, but I have talked to many, many people who've had experience with psychedelics. This book by Brian Muraresku, attempts to answer this question by delving into the history of ancient secret religions dating back thousands of years. Not in every single case, obviously. Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and Conservation What's the importance of your abstention from psychedelics, given what is obvious interest. Listen to #646: Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark Plotkin The Eleusinian Mysteries, Discovering the Divine, The Immortality Key, The Pagan Continuity Hypothesis, Lessons from Scholar Karen Armstrong, and Much More, an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, easily on Podbay - the best podcast player on the web. They're mixing potions. This notion in John 15:1, the notion of the true vine, for example, only occurs in John. Although she's open to testing, there was nothing there. Like in a retreat pilgrimage type center, or maybe within palliative care. This two-part discussion between Muraresku and Dr. Plotkin examines the role psychedelics have played in the development of Western civilization. Part 1 Brian C. Muraresku: The Eleusinian Mysteries, Discovering the Divine, The Immortality Key, The Pagan Continuity Hypothesis and the Hallucinogenic Origins of Religion - Feb 22, 2023 I wish that an ancient pharmacy had been preserved by Mount Vesuvius somewhere near Alexandria or even in upper Egypt or in Antioch or parts of Turkey. And she happened to find it on psilocybin. This time, tonight I'll say that it's just not my time yet. So, I mean, my biggest question behind all of this is, as a good Catholic boy, is the Eucharist. Because what tends to happen in those experiences is a death and rebirth. The Immortality Key - David Bookstaber It's funny to see that some of the first basilicas outside Rome are popping up here, and in and around Pompeii. And I think there are lots of reasons to believe that. Because for many, many years, you know, Ruck's career takes a bit of a nosedive. In this way, the two traditions coexisted in a syncretic form for some time before . 36:57 Drug-spiked wine . And does it line up with the promise from John's gospel that anyone who drinks this becomes instantly immortal? "The Jews" are not after Ye. Kanye West (Ye) storms off Timcast IRL show after Tim Pool pushes back And so with a revised ancient history, in place Brian tacks back to the title of our series, Psychedelics and the Future of Religion. And you suspect, therefore, that it might be a placebo, and you want the real thing. And that's what I get into in detail in the book. There's some suggestive language in the pyramid texts, in the Book of the Dead and things of this nature. His aim when he set out on this journey 12 years ago was to assess the validity of a rather old, but largely discredited hypothesis, namely, that some of the religions of the ancient Mediterranean, perhaps including Christianity, used a psychedelic sacrament to induce mystical experiences at the border of life and death, and that these psychedelic rituals were just the tip of the iceberg, signs of an even more ancient and pervasive religious practice going back many thousands of years. Because very briefly, I think Brian and others have made a very strong case that these things-- this was a biotechnology that was available in the ancient world. Now, I have no idea where it goes from here, or if I'll take it myself. A combination of psychoactive plants, including opium, cannabis, and nightshade, along with the remains of reptiles and amphibians all steeped in wine, like a real witch's brew, uncovered in this house outside of Pompeii. And inside that beer was all kinds of vegetable matter, like wheat, oats, and sedge and lily and flax and various legumes. #646: Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark Plotkin The Eleusinian Mysteries, Discovering the Divine, The Immortality Key, The Pagan Continuity Hypothesis, Lessons from Scholar Karen Armstrong, and Much More Brought to you by GiveWell.org charity research and effective giving and 5-Bullet Friday, my very own email newsletter.