Mushrooms and Mankind: The Impact of Mushrooms on Human Consciousness and Religion

by James Arthur

For thousands of years on our planet, humanity has been involved in a symbiotic relationship with plants. Not only have plants supplied mankind with a never-ending food source, the necessary nourishment for our bodies, and life itself, but they have also served us in another way: an extremely important and intricate one, yet an often overlooked one. This book uncovers the natural link between man, consciousness, and God.

This discovery may at first seem abstract, wishful thinking, or even impossible; yet as evidence presented on these pages unfolds, you may find that its understanding does not require as much of a leap of faith as you might think. It is a bold claim, but if the pioneering reseach in this book turns out to be true, this may be one of the most significant discoveries in the entire field of religious knowledge ever to happen in the history of mankind.

Should people use the knowledge found in this work, it would allow many on this planet to put their differences aside and join in the understanding that each and every one of us may now experience that which has been, until this time, hidden away in the recesses of our spiritual history. We may at last be able to open ourselves to an entirely new and valuable consciousness.

Genres: Spirituality, Drugs, Anthropology, Religion, Psychology, History

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2000

Reviews

[Roy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Profound meaning behind the mushroom shaped clouds of atomic bombs, or delusions of reference? You decide.

[Lily]

I don't like writing bad reviews... But this book was not all I had hoped and dreamed.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re looking for solid evidence and fact based arguments this isn’t the book for you. Anyone who makes an argument starting with or ending with the word ‘obviously’ is lacking in support for their theory. But, it’s still interesting to see the potential connections between christianity, buddhism, hinduism, and other early mythologies. If you want a more scientific/academic review of the Amanita Muscaria and early Christian/Jewish myth you should look into Allegro’s work.

[Ugis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting ideas and research about mushrooms, especially "Amanita Muscaria". The book should have been edited better before publishing. The language and the composition made it a difficult read. [reading time: 3h48m]

[Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

"...suffice it to say that there is theoretically pretty sound evidence that the events may be guiding us as a race into something extraordinary..." - 😐

[Kwasi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks

[Thimón Sahuleka · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Note: This review is incomplete and unfinished. I finished the review but lost the final draft and it posted the unfinished version. A lot of spelling errors etc. It is more or less how I feel about the book though.)


Overall the information contained in this book is very interesting and a welcome addition to my collection. I must say, however, some of the arguments in the book make a stronger case then others which sometimes makes it very hard as to what to decide what of the info to truly take in and what interpret as less likely. I truly feel the writer suffers from a strong conformation bias in favor of psychedelics desperately wanting to represent them as vital to the unfolding of history.

Dont get me wrong. I completely agree with the writer in that psychedelics are an integral part of our historic and future development, but the writer wants to convince you so bad that he's willing to go into completely ambiguous grey area's and announce them to be the absolute truth just because they fit the lense of possibly being related to psychedelics.
Overall its a good book and i think the argument made in it are important to be discussed seriously, but the writers conformation bias truly hurt the authority of the book which i could see putting people who are not yet convinced on the importance of psychedelics off.

Despite all of this it is important to note one thing.
Gordon Wasson himself told the author around the late 70's that James Arthur himself was one of the leading authorities on the field of etnomycology. Even though his interpretations might move into grey areas from time to time, they are still worth serious concideration allbeit with a grain of salt.

This book serves mostly as a compilation book of others peoples work. Its a nice overview and compilation of the basics of ethnomycology and can serve as such as long as the aforementioned points are taken into careful concideration.

Overall i give the book a 7.5

(SIDENOTE: I didn't include this in the main review because it does not influence the info in the book but this book was without a doubt the most terribly edited book I have ever read in my life. Everything feels as if it is jammed on the page and still doesn't fit. It would truly benefit from better editing as this really hurts the readers experience and how easy you take up the information.)

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there is some value to the content, it reads akin to your friend's older brother coming back from college after first trying mushrooms, and telling you all about them after chugging a case of monster energy drinks, while simultaneously trying to assemble their own mushroom based DaVinci Code.

With that grain of salt, for those that are able to suspend their disbelief it does make for a very interesting tapestry- err story. I'd be willing to bet conspiracy theorists would love it, but some of the "conclusions" and "facts" seem to be fairly big leaps. With that said, still fairly entertaining for what it is

[Pierre A Renaud]

http://www.metahistory.org/psychonaut...