They were mixed or fortified. We have plays like the Bacchi from Euripides, where we can piece together some of this. Here's the proof of concept. The fact that the Vatican sits in Rome today is not an accident, I think, is the shortest way to answer that. CHARLES STANG: My name is Charles Stang, and I'm the director of the Center for the Study of World Religions here at Harvard Divinity School. CHARLES STANG: Thank you, Brian. So somewhere between 1% and 49%. 18.3C: Continuity Theory. Now, I don't put too much weight into that. And so how far should this investigation go? CHARLES STANG: So it may be worth mentioning, for those who are attending who haven't read the book, that you asked, who I can't remember her name, the woman who is in charge of the Eleusis site, whether some of the ritual vessels could be tested, only to discover-- tested for the remains of whatever they held, only to learn that those vessels had been cleaned and that no more vessels were going to be unearthed. And I answer it differently every single time. And what does this earliest history tell us about the earliest evidence for an ancient psychedelic religion? What's different about the Dionysian mysteries, and what evidence, direct or indirect, do we have about the wine of Dionysus being psychedelic? And the one thing that unites both of those worlds in this research called the pagan continuity hypothesis, the one thing we can bet on is the sacred language of Greek. [2] I understand the appeal of that. 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. He's joining us from Uruguay, where he has wisely chosen to spend his pandemic isolation. To this day I remain a psychedelic virgin quite proudly, and I spent the past 12 years, ever since that moment in 2007, researching what Houston Smith, perhaps one of the most influential religious historians of the 20th century, would call the best kept secret in history. Now, Carl Ruck from Boston University, much closer to home, however, took that invitation and tried to pursue this hypothesis. So, I mean, my biggest question behind all of this is, as a good Catholic boy, is the Eucharist. I include that line for a reason. #646: Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark Plotkin The Eleusinian I'm not. And I've listened to the volunteers who've gone through these experiences. But I think there's a decent scientific foothold to begin that work. So if we can test Eucharistic vessels, I wouldn't be surprised at all that we find one. Thank you for that. They did not. And I started reading the studies from Pat McGovern at the University of Pennsylvania. Read more about The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku Making Sense by Sam Harris When there's a clear tonal distinction, and an existing precedent for Christian modification to Pagan works, I don't see why you're resistant to the idea, and I'm curious . I understand more papers are about to be published on this. CHARLES STANG: We've really read Jesus through the lens of his Greek inheritors. Interesting. But unfortunately, it doesn't connect it to Christianity. Now, let's get started, Brian. From about 1500 BC to the fourth century AD, it calls to the best and brightest of not just Athens but also Rome. #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 from The Tim Ferriss Show on Podchaser, aired Wednesday, 28th December 2022. And what you're referring to is-- and how I begin the book is this beautiful Greek phrase, [SPEAKING GREEK]. Then there's what were the earliest Christians doing with the Eucharist. #646: Brian C. Muraresku with Dr. Mark Plotkin The - Chartable But the point being, the religion of brewing seems to pop up at the very beginning of civilization itself, or the very beginning of monumental engineering at this world's first sanctuary. Brian's thesis, that of the Pagan Continuity Hypothesis, was explored by Alexander Hislop in his "The Two Babylons", 1853, as a Protestant treatise in the spirit of Martin Luther as Alexander too interjects the Elusinian Mysteries. But things that sound intensely powerful. First, I will provide definitions for the terms "pagan", "Christian", If your history is even remotely correct, that would have ushered in a very different church, if Valentinus's own student Marcus and the Marcosians were involved in psychedelic rituals, then that was an early road not taken, let's say. The Immortality Key: Book Overview (Brian Muraresku) Books about pagan continuity hypothesis? But this clearly involved some kind of technical know-how and the ability to concoct these things that, in order to keep them safe and efficacious, would not have been very widespread, I don't think. BRIAN MURARESKU: That's a good question. I don't think we have found it. If they've been doing this, as you suggest, for 2,000 years, nearly, what makes you think that a few ancient historians are going to turn that aircraft carrier around? To become truly immortal, Campbell talks about entering into a sense of eternity, which is the infinite present here and now. Its proponents maintain that the affable, plump old fellow associated with Christmas derives from the character of Arctic medical practitioners. Maybe part of me is skeptical, right? Phil's Picks | Phoenix Books To be a Catholic is to believe that you are literally consuming the blood of Christ to become Christ. Psychedelics Today: Mark Plotkin - Bio-Cultural Conservation of the Amazon. I see something that's happening to people. BRIAN MURARESKU: I would say I've definitely experienced the power of the Christ and the Holy Spirit. So in my mind, it was the first real hard scientific data to support this hypothesis, which, as you alluded to at the beginning, only raises more questions. And why, if you're right that the church has succeeded in suppressing a psychedelic sacrament and has been peddling instead, what you call a placebo, and that it has exercised a monstrous campaign of persecution against plant medicine and the women who have kept its knowledge alive, why are you still attached to this tradition? The Religion has a Name: "Shamanism" - AKJournals So, you know, I specifically wanted to avoid heavily relying on the 52 books of the [INAUDIBLE] corpus or heavily relying too much on the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the evidence that's come from Egypt. 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. Brought to you by Wealthfront high-yield savings account, Peloton Row premium rower for an efficient workout, and You Need A Budget cult-favorite money management app.. Rick Rubin is a nine-time GRAMMY-winning producer, one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world, and the most successful producer in any genre, according to Rolling Stone. We know from the literature hundreds of years beforehand that in Elis, for example, in the Western Peloponnese, on the same Epiphany-type timeline, January 5, January 6, the priests would walk into the temple of Dionysus, leave three basins of water, the next morning they're miraculously transformed into wine. And there were gaps as well. So don't feel like you have to go into great depth at this point. He's the god of wine. Several theories address the issue of the origin of the Romanians.The Romanian language descends from the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken in the Roman provinces north of the "Jireek Line" (a proposed notional line separating the predominantly Latin-speaking territories from the Greek-speaking lands in Southeastern Europe) in Late Antiquity.The theory of Daco-Roman continuity argues that the . Theories of Origins about Witch Hunts - King's College 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. And I'm not even sure what that piece looks like or how big it is. Maybe for those facing the end of life. I know that that's a loaded phrase. And Hofmann famously discovers-- or synthesizes LSD from ergot in 1938. Things like fasting and sleep deprivation and tattooing and scarification and, et cetera, et cetera. And you're right. Books about pagan continuity hypothesis? 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. David Wakefield - President - Wakefield Enterprises, LLC | LinkedIn BRIAN MURARESKU: I look forward to it, Charlie. I expect we will find it. Others find it in different ways, but the common denominator seems to be one of these really well-curated near-death experiences. CHARLES STANG: OK, that is the big question. But in any case, Ruck had his career, well, savaged, in some sense, by the reaction to his daring to take this hypothesis seriously, this question seriously. I wonder if you're familiar with Wouter Hanegraaff at the University of Amsterdam. And to be quite honest, I'd never studied the ancient Greeks in Spain. Which, if you think about it, is a very elegant idea. So if you were a mystic and you were into Demeter and Persephone and Dionysus and you were into these strange Greek mystery cults, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better place to spend your time than [SPEAKING GREEK], southern Italy, which in some cases was more Greek than Greek. Plants of the Gods: Hallucinogens, Healing, Culture and - Podchaser I appreciate this. And I think that we would behoove ourselves to incorporate, resuscitate, maybe, some of those techniques that seem to have been employed by the Greeks at Eleusis or by the Dionysians or some of these earliest Christians. It's arguably not the case in the third century. And there you also found mortars that were tested and also tested positive for evidence of brewing. BRIAN MURARESKU: Dr. Stang, an erudite introduction as ever. Before I set forth the outline of this thesis, three topics must be discussed in order to establish a basic understanding of the religious terminology, Constantine's reign, and the contemporary sources. So what have you learned about the Eleusinian mysteries in particular since Ruck took this up, and what has convinced you that Ruck's hypothesis holds water? To assess this hypothesis and, perhaps, to push it further, has required years of dogged and, at times, discouraging works in archives and archaeology. And let's start with our earliest evidence from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. 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. An actual spiked wine. The mysteries of Dionysus, a bit weirder, a bit more off the grid. 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." The same Rome that circumstantially shows up, and south of Rome, where Constantine would build his basilicas in Naples and Capua later on. Rather, Christian beliefs were gradually incorporated into the pagan customs that already existed there. I mean, this really goes to my deep skepticism. Psychedelics Weekly - Prince Harry and Psychedelics, Proposed Let's move to early Christian. CHARLES STANG: Wonderful. That also only occurs in John, another epithet of Dionysus. 55 This is very likely as it seems that the process had already started in the 4th century. I want to thank you for your candor. Now, it doesn't have to be the Holy Grail that was there at the Last Supper, but when you think about the sacrament of wine that is at the center of the world's biggest religion of 2.5 billion people, the thing that Pope Francis says is essential for salvation, I mean, how can we orient our lives around something for which there is little to no physical data? And so in my afterword, I present this as a blip on the archaeochemical radar. Two Reviews of The Immortality Key - Graham Hancock And Dennis, amongst others, calls that a signature Dionysian miracle. The idea of the truth shall set you free, right, [SPEAKING GREEK], in 8:32. This notion in John 15:1, the notion of the true vine, for example, only occurs in John. There's evidence of the mysteries of Dionysus before, during, and after the life of Jesus, it's worth pointing out. 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]. Brian C. Muraresku - Priory Of Sion PDF Thesis-The Religion of Constantine I - University Of Ottawa I mean, something of symbolic significance, something monumental. We have an hour and a half together and I hope there will be time for Q&A and discussion. BRIAN MURARESKU: I'm asked this question, I would say, in pretty much every interview I've done since late September. 1,672. We have some inscriptions. And so I do see an avenue, like I kind of obliquely mentioned, but I do think there's an avenue within organized religion and for people who dedicate their lives as religious professionals to ministry to perhaps take a look at this in places where it might work. And my favorite line of the book is, "The lawyer in me won't sleep until that one chalice, that one container, that one vessel comes to light in an unquestionable Christian context.". Now, Brian managed to write this book while holding down a full time practice in international law based in Washington DC. If the Dionysian one is psychedelic, does it really make its way into some kind of psychedelic Christianity? And the truth is that this is a project that goes well beyond ancient history, because Brian is convinced that what he has uncovered has profound implications for the future of religion, and specifically, the future of his own religion, Roman Catholicism. Jerry Brown wrote a good review that should be read to put the book in its proper place. These were Greek-- I've seen them referred to as Greek Vikings by Peter Kingsley, Vikings who came from Ionia. So you lean on the good work of Harvard's own Arthur Darby Nock, and more recently, the work of Dennis McDonald at Claremont School of Theology, to suggest that the author of the Gospel of John deliberately paints Jesus and his Eucharist in the colors of Dionysus. They're mixing potions. Which is really weird, because that's how the same Dina Bazer, the same atheist in the psilocybin trials, described her insight. And that's the mysteries of Dionysus. I mean, in the absence of the actual data, that's my biggest question. Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. CHARLES STANG: You know, Valentinus was almost elected bishop of Rome. Please materialize. Even a little bit before Gobekli Tepe, there was another site unearthed relatively recently in Israel, at the Rakefet cave. And the big question is, what is this thing doing there in the middle of nowhere? The most influential religious historian of the twentieth century, Huston Smith, once referred to it as the "best-kept secret" in history. We're going to get there very soon. First act is your evidence for psychedelics among the so-called pagan religions in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. 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 then that's the word that Euripides uses, by the way. So whatever these [SPEAKING GREEK] libations incense were, the church fathers don't get into great detail about what may have been spiking them. One, on mainland Greece from the Mycenaean period, 16th century BC, and the other about 800 years later in modern day Turkey, another ritual potion that seemed to have suggested some kind of concoction of beer, wine, and mead that was used to usher the king into the afterlife. That's our next event, and will be at least two more events to follow. At Cambridge University he worked in developmental biolo. Are they rolling their eyes, or are you getting sort of secretive knowing nods of agreement? Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. It was one of the early write-ups of the psilocybin studies coming out of Johns Hopkins. He was wronged by individuals, allegedly. I would love to see these licensed, regulated, retreat centers be done in a way that is medically sound and scientifically rigorous. It's funny to see that some of the first basilicas outside Rome are popping up here, and in and around Pompeii. Do you think that the Christians as a nascent cult adapted a highly effective psycho technology that was rattling .