Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy - Clark Heinrich

Mushrooms have long been used to alter mental states, but it has also been though that they can be used to help connect with the divine. In this rejection that stones of alchemy and elixirs of life were mere legend, Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy provides a case for the fly agaric mushroom and the role it played in the history of world religions. Working under the assumption that this so-called "magic mushroom" was the mysterious food and drink of the gods, this book draws parallels between Vedic, Hindu, and Judeo-Christian mythologies to illustrate how a mushroom cult crossed cultural boundaries  while also showing how this powerful psychedelic was meant to bring people into direct contact with the divine. This book, while both strange and insightful, helps to shed new light into the religious history of humanity and how it relates to this psychoactive mushroom.