This week, Graham Hancock appeared alongside his self-described protege, author Brian Muraresku, on The Joe Rogan Experience to discuss spirituality, archaeology, and psychedelic topics. Truthfully, I don’t really have a lot to complain about in the general thesis that ancient people were aware of and used mind-altering substances, or that such substances may have impacted their experiences of the divine. However, I feel like Muraresku overstates the case, particularly when he argues that scholarship has forbidden any discussion of the subject since a damnatio memoriae pronounced on the 1978 book The Road to Eleusis and its argument about psychedelics in Greece. For decades, dozens of books have covered the subject, so it is not a forbidden topic, or at least hasn’t been in thirty years. Muraresku, a lawyer (his resume is included in the John Podesta Wikileaks email dump) and author of The Immortality Key (St. Martin’s Press, 2020), argues that early Christians used psychedelic substances which influenced their experiences of the divine. He ties this to other ancient mystery rites, including the Eleusinian Mysteries. He laments that “we are not taught” about the Eleusinian Mysteries in high school mythology classes before claiming that the mystery of Eleusis involved imbibing psychedelic potions. The latter point is not all that controversial; the use of substances in ancient Greek religion has been studied for decades, but the former point is strange. First, I was taught about Eleusis in my high school Classics courses, but second, what schools still teach Classics? A declining number. Classics have been in decline in American schools for half a century—more, if you count the decline of Greek from the middle nineteenth century—and the decentralized nature of American schooling means that it’s impossible to generalize from one’s personal experience without actual data. He argues that the Greeks lacked a vision of the afterlife—“You just disappear into Hades to do God knows what”—and therefore needed the Mysteries to imagine a better afterlife. That’s not true. Homer records an elaborate vision of the afterlife and its unsatisfying milieu in the Odyssey, at the dawn of Greek culture. What the Greeks hoped to avoid was standing-room-only general admission to the moaning holding pen of Hades, for Eleusis promised a path to a better quality of afterlife. But he overstates the importance of imbibing the mixed drink kykeon to the Mysteries, since kykeon wasn’t limited to them. It’s mentioned in Homer, discussed in the Homeric hymns, and was a common drink of peasants. The Mysteries were a collective experience, not an individual one. However, Muraresku and Hancock believe kykeon was a psychedelic drink on the strength an argument in The Road to Eleusis that its barley contained ergot, a claim with only some ambiguous evidence to support it. I’ll stop here and say that Muraresku and Hancock openly lie about a Classical text to try to make their point. They argue that the kykeon was a closely guarded secret (remember: it was a standard peasant drink) and that the Athenian aristocrat Alcibiades was condemned for drinking it recreationally, outside the sacred space. That is false. In his Life of Alcibiades 19, Plutarch makes very clear that Alcibiades was sentenced to death for blasphemy for a parody performance, not drinking a very common, low-status peasant drink: During this time Androcles, the popular leader, produced sundry aliens and slaves who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating other sacred images, and of making a parody of the mysteries of Eleusis in a drunken revel. They said that one Theodorus played the part of the Herald, Pulytion that of the Torch-bearer, and Alcibiades that of the High Priest, and that the rest of his companions were there in the rôle of initiates, and were dubbed Mystae. Such indeed was the purport of the impeachment which Thessalus, the son of Cimon, brought in to the assembly, impeaching Alcibiades for impiety towards the Eleusinian goddesses. (Loeb translation) Plutarch goes on for pages about how Alcibiades’ enemies whipped up enmity against him and got him brought to trial, but the gist of it is that his trial was for blaspheming the gods with his parody of the Mysteries. Drinking peasant drinks wasn’t the issue.
Hancock argues that psychedelics provide a direct experience of immortality and the foundation of religion, arguing that only psychedelics give access to that realm. He blasts his “critics” for failing to accept the moral teachings of the entities one meets while on psychedelics. I don’t want to press the issue too much, but the altered states of consciousness unlocked that way are not exclusive to psychedelics. Altered states of consciousness can occur in many different ways, and there is no need to specifically argue that magic mushrooms and the like are the only way reach that state. That might have been Hancock’s path, but it is not the only one. Hancock even cites David Lewis-Williams’s work on the subject of prehistoric altered states of consciousness but ignores Lewis-Williams’s argument that any path to altering consciousness can reach the same end. Anyway, much of the discussion repeats Hancock’s usual thoughts about liberalizing drug laws, disapproval of politicians, and other social issues. Muraresku tries to make a case that early Christians spiked their wine with psychedelics, and some of his evidence is suggestive, though not conclusive. He make other claims that are less secure. He argues that a terra cotta bas relief of Triptolemus from a fourth-century BCE temple at Mas Castellar in Girona, Spain is evidence of clandestine psychedelic Eleusinian Mysteries blasphemously performed outside of Greece. As should be evident from his appearance in dozens of pieces of Greek literature, such as Apollodorus (1.5.2) and a whole (lost) play Sophocles once wrote about him, his life was no secret. He is frequently depicted in Greek vase art all over the Mediterranean, so an image of him is no evidence of Mysteries, only myth. The Triptolemus fragment was found alongside ritual cups and a bust of Demeter. A vase contained evidence of beer, yeast, and ergot. As should be obvious, not all worship of Demeter is an Eleusinian Mystery, and kykeon isn’t the mystery itself. The mystery itself involved a myth of death and rebirth involving a sheaf of wheat. It’s also not entirely pleasant to find that in his book, Muraresku claims that the Mysteries—and the Spanish chapel—are survivals of the “skull cult” of Göbekli Tepe, a 10,000-year survival for which no evidence exists but which is popular among fringe types. Hancock and Rogan have a long rant about academics being engaged in a “propaganda war” against drugs, and they’re not wrong that social pressure and government policies had restricted exploration of ancient use of substances. In the last 40 minutes or so, Hancock gets to his more familiar complaints about ancient history and his argument for a lost, Atlantis-like Ice Age civilization. This involves him and Rogan complaining about oppressive academics and repeating all his usual claims, no matter how many times they’ve been debunked. It’s worth noting that Hancock claims that one time while on drugs he saw flying saucers and Grey space aliens and worried that he would be abducted by the aliens. Rogan claims to have similarly met jesters who flipped him off, a gesture he considered a profound message. Hancock argues that such beings are not imaginary but rather are interdimensional beings that we can contact through our consciousness. Against that view, I will ask this: Why do these beings sit around waiting for us to show up so they can deliver bizarre monologues and obscene gestures? Is that what you would do if some weirdo popped into your house? Do they just stop work, or drop their knitting, whenever a human pops by? One might argue that if the other realm were truly real, the beings ought to be indifferent or frightened or even confused as often as they are pompous pontificators. Muraresku ends the interview by announcing he is looking to launch a reality TV series searching for ancient psychedelic drugs and will begin pitching it soon. Hancock ends by praising Michael Shermer for announcing he would reassess his views of Hancock in light of evidence for a Younger Dryas comet impact. Shermer referred to evidence that a comet hit the Earth in 10,500 BCE, a subject on which I remain agnostic if skeptical, but Hancock and Rogan imply that Shermer meant that he would now accept the existence of Atlantis. This isn’t the case, and the existence of a comet impact has no direct relevance to the question of whether Atlantis existed.
44 Comments
It's a fact
10/1/2020 03:05:50 pm
It's a fact that Christianity - and indeed the Bible itself - is founded on psychedelics. This can be very easily demonstrated.
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Kent
10/1/2020 09:07:07 pm
I'd be interested in seeing those "first century Christian texts".
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HEY KENT
10/5/2020 09:32:17 am
Justin Martyr was the first ever Christian to mention the existence of written Gospels around 130AD. Do you know any Christian before Justin Martyr ?
orang
10/2/2020 05:54:29 pm
"... the crucifixion is mentioned in first century Christian texts"
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Yon
10/2/2020 06:39:57 pm
Ha ok...
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Problem
10/1/2020 03:09:10 pm
The problem with disclosing the identity of the psychedelic drug that the Bible and Christianity is based upon is that it would open a toxic can of beans where New Agers would have a field day synthesising and mixing that information with all sorts of goofball ideas. It would create a whole new genre of New Age hysterics and gobbledygook.
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Kent
10/2/2020 01:40:03 am
How would New Agers synthesize what would be today be considered underage girls and killing people to take their houses? This has riled me to the point where I need to lay down in a bed of soothing acacia.
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HEY KENT
10/6/2020 03:51:00 pm
New Agers can see the kitchen sink everywhere. The kitchen sink exists everywhere. Syncretism is part of their MO., Everything is connected and there are no coincidences.
cesarassiCesar
10/1/2020 03:30:24 pm
“And I caught sight of mighty Heracles (that is to say, his shade; for he himself rejoices in the feats of deathless gods)”.
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Doc Rock
10/1/2020 05:38:33 pm
Non-drug induced altered states of consciousness generally take much more time and effort and doesn't sound as sexy. Talking about dropping wacky substances and quickly seeing and hearing funny things sells more books and certainly peaks Rogan's interest.
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E.P. Grondine
10/2/2020 10:05:22 am
Hi Doc -
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Kent
10/2/2020 02:25:33 pm
No one cares about heroin for pain relief. There is no shortage of opiates.
E.P. Grondine
10/3/2020 11:22:00 am
Hi Kent -
Kent
10/3/2020 05:38:59 pm
Fifty years ago? Don't care. "Tiny type" is the main complaint of your reviewers on Amazon. Reviewers of the paper edition. I'm playing along with the delusion that there's an electronic edition. You can say "Adobe founts" until the cows come home but it doesn't make you sound any smarter. Just the opposite in fact.
Patrick Leary
10/1/2020 10:53:22 pm
Someone like Elisa Guerra-Doce has forgotten more about ancient drug use than the pseudoscientists will ever know.
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Kent
10/2/2020 02:16:58 pm
Because of her drug use?
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Bezalel
10/2/2020 12:40:46 am
Anyone who spends sufficient time and effort studying and practicing the mysteries (Egypt, Greece, Christian, Middle eastern, eastern, modern freemasonry, etc) learns that it is not about any afterlife, but about the here and now
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Kent
10/2/2020 07:14:02 am
"policies had restricted"
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max
10/2/2020 09:07:19 am
Aliens: just another effort to make humans the centre of the universe again.
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E.P. Grondine
10/2/2020 09:39:12 am
Hi Jason -
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Doc rock
10/3/2020 08:25:02 am
Even if there was a YDI it is a different issue from Hancock's fantasy civilization. I only have a loose grasp of the legitimate literature on YDIH, but I believe that the most recently published stuff that came out earlier this year, I think, is not exactly supportive of it. That means Hancock won't bring it up except to casually dismiss it as part of the conspiracy to suppress the truth.
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Kent
10/3/2020 05:47:21 pm
When someone who asserts the existence of herds of 7 foot tall Indians asserts a Younger Dryas Impact, I consider the source and view it askance with a jaundiced eye. Also like you said, actual research.
E.P. Grondine
10/4/2020 11:32:14 am
Hi Doc -
Nerd11135
10/2/2020 07:57:18 pm
[Muraresku, a lawyer (his resume is included in the John Podesta Wikileaks email dump) ]
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Kal
10/3/2020 09:45:44 pm
Hancock is actually nuttier than he seemed on the old shows.
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10/4/2020 10:02:07 am
I am usually reluctant to post here because it feels as though you are all talking about Mars...while I am focused on Venus. I turned away from Graham Hancock books and theories long ago, at the first hint he was using drugs to gain his "insights". Being a practicing Christian/Buddhist, I dont approve. The fifth tenant of Buddhism forbids alcohol specifically and all mind-altering drugs indirectly in the belief that they take one away from the truth, not closer to it. Obviously drug usage was well-known in the ancient world..Didn't Socratese himself drink the Hemlock tea as a form of death-- by choice? But it is a long stretch to assume the entire Bible is based on drug experiences. I would be the first to argue that point! A glass of water can be half-empty, or half-full depending upon its context. Ancient writings are the samed- accurate interpretation depends upon a lot of missing factors. I'll leave you with this link to article on Buddhism and use of alcohol and drugs...just dont do it. https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/2015/07/the-fifth-precept-and-the-power-of-renunciation/#:~:text=Abstaining%20from%20intoxicating%20drinks%20and%20drugs%E2%80%94the%20fifth%20ethical,misconduct%2C%20and%20lying%20all%20directly%20involve%20other%20people.
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Kent
10/4/2020 02:42:56 pm
On my planet Buddhism has no tenants and Christian/Buddhist is a dog taking cat for a walk.
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Jim
10/5/2020 10:46:01 pm
"On my planet Buddhism has no tenants"
Drugs & Buddhism
10/5/2020 07:03:26 am
For drugs and Buddhism, check out books by Allan Hunt Badiner, Michael Crowley and Ann Shulgin, Douglas Osto for starters.
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Elmore Pumares
10/4/2020 10:12:33 am
Quite a tragedy that classics are not an important part of "higher" learning any longer, and have not been for some time. Victor Davis Hanson wrote about this in his excellent "Who Killed Homer?: The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom".
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Fringe Writers
10/5/2020 06:59:46 am
The fringe writers are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, You just cannot get more fringe than those examples of [second century] historical fiction. Show what exists in first century Christian texts that corroborate the material in the epistles of Paul, the epistle of Peter and the Early Church Fathers - their sacred text was the Old Testament.
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10/5/2020 10:04:00 am
"During this time Androcles, the popular leader, produced sundry aliens and slaves who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating other sacred images..."
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Larry storch
10/6/2020 11:52:55 am
Victor Davis Hanson is a extremist Neocon lunatic who crazily supported the Iraq invasion and occupation and who continued to be an apologist for the disaster even after his new hero Trump managed to figure out that Iraq was a total debacle. You might as well cite a flat-earther as an expert on a question of cosmology.
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Elmore Pumares
10/6/2020 04:56:31 pm
You may have a point... Politics aside, Hanson wrote an excellent book. With respect to the Iraq war, he "posited that preemptive war, so reviled by many today as immoral, is certainly not unknown in history; a preemptive conflict is judged to be just or unjust based on its context and its success. He cited the historical prevalence of preemptive wars: the Athenian expeditions against Sparta; the American attack on the Barbary pirates; and the American invasion of Mexico. Even in recent memory, the United States has engaged in preemptive warfare, by attacking Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. Few of these wars, if any, are today considered unjust, despite their preemptive nature". ....I read somewhere "separate text from context and all that remains is a con".....
Non-induced altered states of mind
10/5/2020 05:57:26 am
Saying that Christianity is based on mind-expanding drug is nothing to do with selling books or sounding sexy. The celebration of the Mass existed during the first century long before the existence of Gospels and the belief in a Jesus Christ that had arms, legs a torso and a head.
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Bezalel
10/9/2020 08:19:51 am
"Show one first century Christian text where the crucifixion of Christ is mentioned depicted as a historical execution..."
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Kent
10/9/2020 08:39:39 pm
So, by implication no Jews or Muslims either? Gotcha.
Clarification
10/10/2020 04:31:12 am
There was no historical Jesus Christ before the crucifixion. Never mind after the crucifixion. The crucifixion and Jesus Christ was originally something else before it was turned into a historical event during the second century.
Bezalel
10/12/2020 12:14:25 am
Kent:
Kent
10/13/2020 07:38:51 am
Jews believe Exodus was real, they believe science fiction spoke to Moses and take a look at the Talmud when you get a chance. 10/7/2020 03:18:35 pm
Thought I'd share this as I just came across it in my mail today. Not particularly in depth, but the incident it starts with brought back some (unpleasant) memories for me. My Sicilian grandparents regularly took me mushroom hunting in the woody areas, but having just moved to a new residential development with manicured lawns and stray pets I mistook a single nondescript white mushroom bordering my garden for standard fare and cooked it up in my breakfast omelet. A few hours later I rushed to the Emergency room and was having my stomach pumped. Found out it was a relatively new phenomenon of a species that only appeared in closely manicured grassy areas that small pets wander over. Who knew? My family still brings that one up when the subject turns to identifying plants.
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Anthony G.
10/8/2020 10:30:07 am
Demeter/Athena = Planet Mercury
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Kent
10/9/2020 08:08:43 am
Said the teacher's voice from the Peanuts cartoons. "Mercury rising from the top of the sun"??? Document, document, document.
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