The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity

by Jerry B. Brown, Julie M. Brown M.A.

Reveals evidence of visionary plants in Christianity and the life of Jesus found in medieval art and biblical scripture--hidden in plain sight for centuries• Follows the authors’ anthropological adventure discovering sacred mushroom images in European and Middle Eastern churches, including Roslyn Chapel and Chartres• Provides color photos showing how R. Gordon Wasson’s psychedelic theory of religion clearly extends to Christianity and reveals why Wasson suppressed this information due to his secret relationship with the Vatican• Examines the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels to show that visionary plants were the catalyst for Jesus’s awakening to his divinity and immortalityThroughout medieval Christianity, religious works of art emerged to illustrate the teachings of the Bible for the largely illiterate population. What, then, is the significance of the psychoactive mushrooms hiding in plain sight in the artwork and icons of many European and Middle-Eastern churches? Does Christianity have a psychedelic history?Providing stunning visual evidence from their anthropological journey throughout Europe and the Middle East, including visits to Roslyn Chapel and Chartres Cathedral, authors Julie and Jerry Brown document the role of visionary plants in Christianity. They retrace the pioneering research of R. Gordon Wasson, the famous “sacred mushroom seeker,” on psychedelics in ancient Greece and India, and among the present-day reindeer herders of Siberia and the Mazatecs of Mexico. Challenging Wasson’s legacy, the authors reveal his secret relationship with the Vatican that led to Wasson’s refusal to pursue his hallucinogen theory into the hallowed halls of Christianity.Examining the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels, the authors provide scriptural support to show that sacred mushrooms were the inspiration for Jesus’ revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven and that he was initiated into these mystical practices in Egypt during the Missing Years. They contend that the Trees of Knowledge and of Immortality in Eden were sacred mushrooms.Uncovering the role played by visionary plants in the origins of Judeo-Christianity, the authors invite us to rethink what we know about the life of Jesus and to consider a controversial theory that challenges us to explore these sacred pathways to the divine.

Genres: History, Religion, Psychology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Drugs, Christianity

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2016

About the author

I am an anthropologist, author and activist. From 1972-2014, I served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where I designed and taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.” This course examines the use of entheogenic (God-generated-within) plants by tribal and classical cultures, including Ancient India and Greece, and by the modern mind-explorers, the psychonauts of the twentieth century.

My current book, The Psychedelic Gospels, grew out of a discovery I made at Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, while doing research for this course.

In addition to coauthoring The Psychedelic Gospels, I am also co-author of “Sacred Plants and the Gnostic Church: Speculations on Entheogen-Use in Early Christian Ritual,” Journal of Ancient History," May 2014.

As an activist and educator I have worked to promote positive social change. In the 1960s, I coordinated Cesar Chavez’s grape boycott on behalf of farm workers. In the 1980s, I worked with Business Executives for National Security to prevent nuclear war. Currently, I direct the World Business Academy’s Safe Energy Project, calling for the rapid transition to 100% renewable energy in ten years.

I am co-author of Profiles in Power: The Antinuclear Movement and the Dawn of the Solar Age (1997) and Freedom from Mid-East Oil (2007). I received a B.A. degree in Philosophy and Religion from Antioch College and a doctorate degree in Anthropology from Cornell University.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the epitome of buy the ticket, take the ride.

Look. You are reading a book looking for proof of psychedelics in early Christianity. You have to just take some things for granted. Suspend your disbelief. Because these are the kind of slightly spacey, very kooky people who say things like

“It was through entheogens that we [the authors] first came to experience God as the divine intelligence that permeates the universe.”

“Our findings do not deny the importance of religious sacraments but suggest that they should encompass all of God’s creations, including psychoactive plants.”

That said, the idea, generally speaking, is not at all insane. Frankly, I’d be surprised if there weren’t a history of drug use in Christianity (other than the obvious alcohol). Most religions do involve drugs at some point.

Maybe that means religious are born from figments of the imagination while high. Maybe the sense of connection people feel with the divine is just the feeling of being high.

Or maybe the divine gave us these keys to access understanding.

Up to you entirely.

But don’t worry about that right now. Just read the book with openness to any answers. Don’t approach it with an overly academic or critical mind. It will be a pointless read if you do.

Though initially, their theory seems pretty insane and it seems like they’re just reading way, way into things and seeing mushrooms in clothing wrinkles or foreheads (on par with seeing the Virgin Mary in a piece of burned toast or something), as the book goes on, you start to come around. There really do seem to be quite an unusual amount of mushroom motifs in medieval and ancient Christian art. Maybe that doesn’t mean anything at all, or maybe it means psilocybin mushrooms, which are native throughout the world, played a role in early Christianity (as they certainly have in many other world religions).

I gotta say, though, the most bone-sweet people capable of the deepest love, in my experience, are people who have used drugs. Maybe it’s because openness to new experiences and goodness are related. Or maybe it’s because the use of drugs have opened their hearts a bit and given them more compassion and understanding for others, more conviction in the connectedness of the living. But in any case, Jerry and Julie Brown are warm, compassionate individuals with deep, obvious wells of love and affection for one another, very likeable.

[Charlotte]

I loved it, this book confirmed what I already knew from my own experience. I have always felt hallucinogenics were somehow woven into religious practice, especially communion. I have had several experiences myself while using mushrooms and/or cannabis. Mr. Brown and Julie have written a carefully detailed manual of their travels and explorations into this subject. I believe every word is what they saw and experienced. Jesus anointed with an oil called 250 shekels of q’aneh-bosm, and was combined with cinnamon and other sacred oils for anointing. It is/was a holy oil. It was widely used in his day. The authors do not try to convince of truth, they present the facts as they found them in their travels. Read it and discover for yourself whether you think they are making it up or if if could hold truths - do not believe anything another person tells you - prove them wrong by finding out for yourself. I was unable to prove these folks wrong.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one surprised me. The authors aren'ttrying to prove anything or change history, they're giving you a gentle opportunity to open your mind and have a different perspective on your own assumptions, and the assumptions of scholars. It was an unpretentious, pleasurable read in simple language. In my opinion, it presents potential “alternative truths” in a way that doesn’t give me a knee-jerk reaction, but as a soft reminder that long-held assumptions and beliefs are not necessarily historical “truth” or fact. Some truths will never be known…

This book reads like a jaunty adventure in art and the sharing of heartfelt experiences. It reminded me to go to the museum, that I miss looking at, reacting to, immersing myself in art and artefacts. It got me to read about a subject I previously rolled my eyes at, and successfully got me to “Hmmm… Maybe!”

I accidentally spilled water on my copy and must replace it for my friend. I confess I would have never bought it for myself, but a part of me is secretly happy that I now will be able to look further into the extensive citations and do some more exploring on the subject of mushrooms, of which I know very little, but which is becoming increasingly trendy.

3.5 stars rounded up for being a great gateway book.

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful insightful scholarly exploration of entheogenic use in the early Christian church. Very thought provoking. It's is obvious from the evidence presented that there was a mushroom cult within Christanity . Indeed Christianity sprang up using mushrooms.

[Steve Cran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psychadelic Gospels

A raging argument in the the religious scholar community is the debate about the role of ehtneogens or psychadelic drugs on the development of Christianity and other religions. Most religious leaders will try to deny the role of psychodelics in the religions development while someone more open minded might say there is quite a bit of eveidence pointing to the use of hallicinogens.
Starting off with the research of R.Gordon Wasson the author Doctor Jerry Brown and his wife Juliie go traveling to differnt destinations around the world to show the evidence of psychadelics in religious art work. Going through th world relgiions the authors discuss Soma in the classic Rigveda. It appeaers to be a hallucinogenic drink. It is drink that conveys wisdom. It also offers immortatlity. What made up this drink? Some artistic renditions show a mushroom lie fly agaric or Amanita Muscaria. This mushroom was also used by the siberian shaman. There art depicts its use. In fact the Santa Clause legend comes from this. The shaman would have reindeer pull his sled and from an opening in the yurt he would climb through and enter the house. THe Ancient greeks with thier rituals to demeter and the rights of Eleusisis. THe would take egort which grew on Barley and this took them to the underworld and gave them immortality. The art work depicts wheat stocks which is what Ergot grew off of.
R. Gordon Wasson, who was an assitant banker for JP Morgan , was the ametuer scientist who spear headed this movement and he wrote several books on it. His big claim claim to fame was meeting Maria Sabina and the exposure led to tourists combin the hills of Oaxaca looking for a psychadelic experience. This disrupted life for her and it caused enough commotion to/hve here son killed.
Mr. Gordon Wasson never dared to venture that psychadelics played a part in the developement of Christianity. Someone name John Allegro would make that claim and would ultimately be discredited for it. R. Gordon Wasson worked with the vatican and his role was to suppress this theory or information.
The authors Jerry and Julie Brown explored the churches of Europe and examined the art work in Frocault Church, Saint Martins and a few others. The illustration and carving clearly depict serveral mushroom like ilustrations. Juding from this it is easy to say that ethneogens played more than a small role in the developement of Christianity. After all they did play a role inthe developement of the other religions.
The Nag Hammadi Scriptures offer a zen like Christianity. Jesus lived in Egypt for a long time and he must have learned from the Egyptian mysteries. His deth and resurrection weere not literal but rather ppart of an ancient spiritual practice where the Shaman ventures tothe other side in search of gnosis. The Egyptians also used ethneogens.
MANY people have used psychaedelics including steve Job and other scientists. Time is coming to reexamine our relgions and philosophies and look for different interpreations.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, not a surprising read given my previous books, but definitely a good one. The question the books tries to answer is the following: what if Jesus experienced divinity and immortality by ingesting visionary plants? The authors, an intellectual couple, vowed to devote themselves to enter this quest for compelling evidence of entheogens in early Christianity. For what it’s worth, I believe the case to be compelling, not only because of the evidence adduced, but also because of the other books too.

Why is this a plausible theory? Because more than four hundred cultures worldwide had religious practices that induced an altered state of consciousness in order to meet the, or become, divine; because modern day tripping on hallucinogenic substances is experientially identical to what Jesus proclaimed heaven would be like; because there was a profusion of drug-taking mystery cults around the time and region of Jesus’ teachings; because there’s a lot of early Christian allusion to psychedelics in what remains of their art and various heretical texts that run counter to the sober orthodox interpretation. There is abundant evidence in favor of this theory even though it’s been completely overlooked by mainstream culture; but then again, of course it has since the orthodox is what suppressed the heretical stream in the first place!

The Browns start by looking at the pagan elements still present in our current Christian culture. Santa is a recreation of a Siberian mushroom hunter and the whole period of Christmas revolves around a pagan holiday. Santa is a Reindeer shaman; reindeer have a passion for mushrooms on which they inebriate themselves and, spiritually, flying reindeer serve as guides for shamans as they transport them through the spirit world; many cultures have a belief in a sacred Cosmic tree, which connects the Underworld, the Upperworld, and the Middle Earth, and this has morphed into our Christmas tree; we put a star on the top of the tree because the North Star was sacred and served some sacred purpose or other; Santa himself is none other than a shaman, who used to dress in a red and white-trimmed jacket when gathering sacred mushrooms, enter the yurt (teepee-like dwelling) through the hole at the top because snowdrifts would sometimes obscure the entrance, and carry his gifts in a sack which he then placed on a sleigh.

Next, they turn to the Elusinian mysteries, which began as a local cult of Demeter in Eleusis and which eventually turned into a pan-Hellenic institution under the aegis of the Roman Empire, practiced for nearly 2,000 years until it was dissolved as heretical by the Christians. Both Siberian shamans and Greek initiates shared a common Eucharist and theology; they both used entheogenic substances as a sacred sacrament to bring about the flight of the soul and transcendence of mortality, melting the division between earth and sky. Why would the Christians destroy the very thing which inspired Jesus? Because the later orthodox Christians weren’t aware of what had originally transpired; the Gnostics were aware, but they were also brandished with the traitor label.

- The actual evidence is then amassed, as they crisscross Europe in search of visual depictions of entheogens in Christian art; and they don’t just find evidence in far-flung places that have little relevance to modern Christianity but in places that are well-known and celebrated.
- The Chapel of Plaincourault in Merigny contains a fresco of the Temptation scene, painted circa 1291, in which a tree is drawn in the shape of an enormous man-sized mushroom, with four smaller mushrooms spouting at the base, all red and covered with white spots, identifying them as Amanita Muscaria mushrooms, a common hallucinogen.
- Along the nave of the Abbey of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, five miles west of Plaincourault, runs a series of elaborate frescoes depicting the Old Testament; in scene three, God is creating the sun and the moon and under them both is an umbrella-shaped psilocybin mushroom.
- The Church of Saint-Martin in Nohant-Vic; in ‘Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem’ there are 5 psilocybin mushrooms below Jesus, and in the ‘Last Supper’ there are no lamb or wine goblets on the table, only bowls and round objects which are identified as mushroom caps.
- The Canterbury Psalter is an illuminated manuscript whose opening folios depict the history of the world according to Scripture; numerous mushrooms dot the first hundred pages, including a picture showing God as the creator of plants, or more specifically, as the creator of sacred mushrooms. Throughout the psalter, there are also numerous images of Jesus in association with mushrooms.
- Chartres Cathedral contains 176 stained-glass windows, with many panels showing Bible scenes. There are mushrooms visible in many scenes, such as the Assumption and the parable of the Good Samaritan, and in the window depicting the Passion and the Resurrection. There were at least 13 stories showing mushroom images, including some relating to the life of Christ.
- Saint Michael’s Church in Hildesheim; started by Bishop Bernwald in the early 11th century, this bishop applied his talents as an architect, metallurgist, and mathematician to enshrine the sacramental mushroom in his two masterpieces; a massive bronze door and column, creating an entheogenic Bible in bronze. On the door of salvation, Bernward portrayed the tree in the Fall of Man as a mushroom tree, taking care to identify the psychoactive species.
- The presence of psychedelic images in the high holy places of England, France, and Germany suggests that the use of entheogens was widespread among the Catholic religious elite. Whereas mushroom images were used to instruct initiates, they remained indecipherable to the majority of the faithful. Secrecy doesn’t necessarily imply suppression but in this context reflects the clandestine manner in which holy rites were practiced by indigenous and classical cultures through the ages.
- The Basilica of Aquileia, dating back to 330 AD, contains colourful mosaics depicting psychoactive mushrooms and edible snails in close proximity. The romans would let the snails eat the mushrooms before eating the snails, this way countering any negative side-effects of directly consuming the drugs.
- One cave church found in Goreme, Turkey, is Karanlik Kilise (the Dark Church); in the upper register of the sixth bay is a painting of the crucifixion with a man to the right of Christ holding up a stick and a mushroom, as it’s red with white speckles. It was originally thought to be a sponge.
- In the Sumbullu Church, there’s a fresco of Jesus entering Jerusalem with what appear to be four large Amanita Muscaria growing in the foreground under the legs of the ass he’s riding.
- In the Yilanli Church, there are two tall archangels painted on the walls near an image of Jesus, each holding what appears to be a large mushroom by the stem.
- The Gnostic gospels strongly suggest the presence of entheogens.

Lastly, I will end on the unsavoury character of Gordon Wasson; while I am thankful he brought to light the work he did on entheogens (I wouldn’t be writing this now without his work), his unscrupulous dealings with Maria Sabina and John Allegro leave much to be desired. Concerning the latter, his reluctance to turn his analytical gaze towards the early Catholic Church and his callous dismissal of Allegro’s work turn on his being bankrolled by the Vatican itself. He had clear financial motives for not exploring entheogens in Christian art; the Pope literally payed him to cover up the evidence, or at least, refuse to pursue it any further. He had a clear conflict of interest in the matter; it is as if it were suddenly revealed that the foremost climate change denier of our day had for decades been on the payroll of ExxonMobil. (This is actually the case with a lot of deniers lol)

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star for research methodology, 5 stars for being completely bonkers and entertaining. There’s a quote at the start of the book that states that once you start looking for mushrooms in ancient Christian art you will see them everywhere, and I don’t think the authors proved that in quite the way they meant to.

The authors mention watching The Da Vinci Code at the outset of their writing, and it is following this that they begin to find mushroom symbology everywhere and in everything. They seem to think of themselves as Dan Brown characters and become paranoid about a Greek tour guide who, according to the narrative, tries to stop their research.

The book is full of classic rock band quotes, longing descriptions of the authors’ past drug trips, and (for some reason) endless descriptions of what the authors had for breakfast while touring Europe. The writing style is a completely non-academic mess. All in all, a fun and weird book that you might pick up some strange fun facts from. Just make sure that you double check that they’re legit by looking at other sources.

[Datura Bombs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't say I was always convinced by the ideas presented here, but I can say I was always entertained by them. It's a creative take on biblical studies, to say the least!

[Tyler Yeager · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was admittedly a bit skeptical of this book when it was recommended to me. I’ve never been one who cared to learn about psychedelics and the book gave me big DaVinci Code code vibes. While it does walk that line at times it is overall a rather enjoyable and insightful read.

The general plot of the book is that the authors, a professor of anthropology and a psychotherapist, discover a marking at Rosslyn Chapel that appears to be a mushroom. This and the publications and ideas of R. Gordon Wasson, amongst others, set them on a journey to discover if mushrooms and other hallucinogenic plants played a role in the formation of mankind’s earliest religions and, chiefly, Christianity.

Honestly it sounds like an incredible read but it does have some issues. Mainly that the authors tend to shoe horn their own bias into places. It becomes very apparent that the subject of their travel is not to discover if entheogenic plants played a role in the creation but religion but, rather, how many times can they shove Amanita Muscaria into their narrative. Talking about an Indian diety/plant god? Amanita muscaria. Sure it could be any number of other hallucinogens but nope.. amanita muscaria.
See an 12th century fresco with some weirdly shaped trees? Nah son, those are Amanita muscaria and could be nothing else. Is that a man holding a baby? Absolutely not! It is 100% Amanita muscaria in a suit. Okay… maybe that last one is a bit over the top but you get my point.
Now the authors do occasionally bring up how some of what they are interpreting as Amanita could be something else, like a pine tree, but then they quickly dismiss it by pointing out the similarities it has with Amanita and how unlike a pine tree it looks while paying zero attention to the fact that sometimes art in the Middle Ages was just weird. Seriously, look up medieval images of cats or just animals in general. I wouldn’t be surprised if I mistook a medieval cat for an Eldritch horror.

However, That’s not to say that there isn’t some proof to their ideas. The statue of St. George very plainly has mushrooms. The mosaic in Aquileia very plainly depicts Amanita and snails so some of their research is backed up a bit.

Another issue I have is that the authors take the appearance of mushrooms in medieval art as being the gospel truth that hallucinogens MUST have played a role in early Christian events nearly 1000 years earlier. They say this while also pointing out that some of the canonical gospels were recorded as early as 70 years after the crucifixion and were subject to incorrect and misremembered information being handed down. I’d imagine that the sources from 70 years after were be more reliable than 1000 years after. So then, why do I think that so much of that period’s art work contains what appear to be hallucinogenic plants? Well the authors touch on it a bit but never go full in. Early Christianity sort of mixed and melded with a lot of pagan beliefs as it spread around much of the known world. The Catholic church would even use similarities in pagan deities and their saints to help ease conversion into the faith but creating a weird mix. These original pagans beliefs often used hallucinogenic plants to commune with their spirits and it’s not outside the realm of possibilities to think that these practices continued with their new found beliefs.

The authors actually do a great job at explaining how these depictions seemingly vanish after the Catholic church decided to begin their Inquisition and various witch hunts to root out and eliminate all beliefs that didn’t match up exactly with what they had.


Now I do think that the authors do a great job at keeping the reader interested. At no point did I not feel engaged and want to know more. Each turn of the page gave me more and more information that I was unaware about and proved to be a fountain of knowledge. Their overall story telling provides an incredible story on art history while also establishing that early people very could have, and I believe probably, used hallucinogenic plants to experience some level of divinity or spiritual awakening. Hell it’s even shown by the mosaics that they were used in some capacity by the early church.

Overall I give it a 4/5. It’s interesting and engaging. It made me look up places and art pieces to get a sense of what they were looking at. Their time in France and chapters 8-12 were by far the best in terms of storytelling and actually providing some amount of evidence to back up their claims. I’d simply say as you read, try to look beyond the blatant bias for Amanita. Unless you’re a big fan of Amanita muscaria then by all means read away and have a blast.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book...wants to be good. I'm just simply not convinced. Actually, here is what the book convinced me of: A few medieval painters were interested in stylizing trees of life and last-supper imagery into amanita muscaria mushrooms. Beyond that, It wasn't very educative, informative, or thought-provoking. I was especially disappointed, because I began reading the book already believing the author's conclusions, but wanting to be blown away by actual evidence. Or maybe even some speculation on what place mushrooms could have actually held in early Christian circles. No such luck. Just a novel-like travel-log.

[Lisa DeWaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very interesting book. The author is very passionate about the subject and has done a lot of great research along with wonderful visuals to support it. It's a subject I've honestly never considered before, so it gave me a lot to think about and there is definitely evidence of mushrooms in the artwork. I'm not sure that I am fully convinced that psychedelic mushrooms are the root cause of the miracles performed by Jesus, but that's more of a personal opinion and belief. It's a very well written book and an extremely interesting subject and I'd recommend giving it a try.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jesus the Magic Alchemist?
Mushroom Love, Chat with God--

[Joel Sprechman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well done and interesting investigation at how psychedelic's played a role in Christianity. I particularly enjoyed the photographs of early churches. Coincidence that mushrooms🍄 were there.

Was this some vitamin D for dinner, or a sacrament to dance with God?

As a Spiritual Jew I've always wondered about Moses burning bush. One of biggest complaints as a child was "Where's the burning bush now"? Well, now there's evidence that there were psychedelic plants in that region. Makes logical sense!

I once met a Jewish Pastor who was spreading the gospel of Jesus and Christianity in his Messianic Jewish Christian Church. I asked him how could someone who grew up so Jewish turn 180 degrees into a Christian. He mentioned he had grown up in the Jesus Movement in the 60s and 70s, and one day with his roommate took LSD where he found Jesus and later converted. Fascinating!

The scientific research of psychedelics was essentially censored for decades and now the most recent research is compelling into what they offer humanity. Now I've been part of a few clinical trials and am hopeful for what is being published. Like the one between Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinians.

The intersection of psychedelics, religion and spirituality is an interesting one and I find it fascinating that in some states, cities and countries some psychedelics are legal and have been used by indigenous families and tribes for thousands of years. I've interviewed people who found great healing and even cures of normally lifelong diseases through certain psychedelics. Considering western medicine is known for managing(often poorly) and surgical interventions for diseases I think giving psychedelics a deeper look could benefit a lot of people. Especially considering all diseases have once again clocked a new PR(personal record) with it's rising rates, globally.

With Christianity being the largest religion, with 2.5B followers, and with psychedelics seemingly part of the religion for eons, it's maybe time more religious leaders give this a hard look. If empathy can be a catalyst for global change, I can attest that psychedelics do affect empathy and last I checked the world could benefit from more of it :)

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perception-altering information presented light-heartedly in a journey/blog style to casually ramp up the reader's interest in a controversial subject.

Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. But the kingdom is inside of you. And it is outside of you. "When you become acquainted with yourselves, then you will be recognized. And you will understand that it is you who are children of the living father. But if you do not become acquainted with yourselves, then you are in poverty, and it is you who are the poverty."

Meditate and seek to improve the quality of your consciousness :)

[G · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting read! The couple’s passion and enthusiasm for their project is simply contagious. Well-researched, informative and it kept me engaged through their story-telling. Even though I am quite well read when it comes to entheogens I still found some new information, especially about Gordon Wasson, which I didn’t expect. Of course, you have to keep an open mind and take some of their findings with a grain of salt, but there definitely is something to entheogenic theory of early christianity, no doubt. My favourite part was their journey through France, the evidence found there is compelling to say the least

[The Cholo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Psychedelic Gospels

Not what I expected. I think this guy wrote this book to brag about his trips and maybe a tax write off.

For being a book that claims to cover the secret history of psychedelics in Christianity, it read like a travel log of this dude’s travels around the world and a blotter of his entheogenic trips. I do appreciate the light he shed on Wasson and his indiscriminate treatment of Maria Sabina, but a lot of this is just repeating what Wasson and others have said. Simply put, there’s too much of the author and not enough of what was promised.

[Gilian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the connection between psychedelics and religion. The book contains various beautiful pieces of art found in churches. There is certainly a link between psychedelics and religion that has to be studied more intensively. There is a review about John Allegro's claims made in "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross" which is also interesting if you've read that book. Overall, I'm happy I bought the book and I can recommend it to everyone that is interested in religion, drugs and society and psychedelic drugs in particular. You can find a selection of the artworks and some videos about the authors on the site https://psychedelicgospels.com/.

[Charley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book, written so well that it’s filled with information, lots of details, but still so readable. Read this book after readingj John Allegro’s book, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, also outstanding. Together they open up a fountain of information and interpretation. Recommended!

[Serina Arlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendously interesting! Should be main-stream knowledge.

[Evan Dower · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find it particularly convincing, but maybe...

Also, the dialog was very phony, and there were sections that didn't seem to serve any purpose.

[Robert Gryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read, the truth is out there 🙏🏼🍄🧙🏼‍♂️

[Brystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly enthralling story about a couple's journey exploring the mysterious relationship between psychedelic plants and early Christianity. I read the book in a matter of days!

[JJ W · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t get through the first chapter. Seemed like a “take mushrooms, see mushrooms everywhere” kind of book

[Kashif Sohail]

Interesting research . Though I think it can not be answered definitively.

[Carlota Portugal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muito abaixo das minhas expectativas... :/

[Isham Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly intriguing material, but the breezy informal style doesn't quite work.

[The Sacred Skeptic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book just opened up a rabbit hole for me. I highly suggest reading this book....especially to the ones who suffer from religious trauma like myself.

[Lisa Alfaro · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Well meaning but far from compelling. I did learn some interesting tidbits.

[Tim Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting - you have to wonder why there are over 200 instances of hallucinatory mushrooms in Christian art spread across the world.

[Hiraeth Harrison माधव-प्रेम दास · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely groundbreaking. You just have to read it for yourself