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A comprehensive look at the long tradition of psychedelic magic and religion in Western Civilization.
List of contents
Foreword by Stephen Gray
Acknowledgments
Onward
1 Generating Divinity The Theogens
PART I
Psychedelic Mystery Traditions in Prehistory and Early History
2 The First Mystery A Question of Shadows
3 Cosmic Graell Mystery of the Sacred Feminine
4 Celebrations of the Living Fire Psychedelics and the Sacred Marriage
5 Thessalian Roots Psychedelic Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome
PART II
Psychedelic Mystery Traditions in Ancient Christianity
6 The Fire-Like Cup Psychedelics, Apocalyptic Mysticism, and the Birth of Heaven
7 Disciples of Their Own Minds Gnosticism and Primitive Christian Psychedelia
8 Patrons of the Serpent Psychedelics and the Holy Doctrine
PART III
Psychedelic Mystery Traditions in Renaissance Witchcraft and Magic
9 Wyld and Wyrd Fairy Ointments and Goddesses Worship
10 One Constant Story Psychedelia in Medieval and Renaissance Ceremonial Magic And Upward The Psychedelic Renaissance
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Thomas Hatsis is a historian of psychedelia, witchcraft, magic, pagan religions, alternative Christianities, and the cultural intersection of those areas, who holds a master’s degree in history from Queens College. The author of
The Witches’ Ointment and
Psychedelic Mystery Traditions, he runs psychedelichistorian.com, a site dedicated to promoting the latest and best information pertaining to the Psychedelic Renaissance. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Summary
A comprehensive look at the long tradition of psychedelic magic and religion in Western Civilization.
Unbeknownst--or unacknowledged--by many, there is a long tradition of psychedelic magic and religion in Western civilization. As Thomas Hatsis reveals, the discovery of the power of psychedelics and entheogens can be traced to the very first prehistoric expressions of human creativity, with a continuing lineage of psychedelic mystery traditions from antiquity through the Renaissance to the Victorian era and beyond.
Describing how, when, and why different peoples in the Western world utilized sacred psychedelic plants, Hatsis examines the full range of magical and spiritual practices that include the ingestion of substances to achieve altered states. He discusses how psychedelics facilitated divinatory dream states for our ancient Neolithic ancestors and helped them find shamanic portals to the spirit world. Exploring the mystery religions that adopted psychedelics into their occult rites, he examines the role of entheogens in the Mysteries of Eleusis in Greece, the worship of Isis in Egypt, and the psychedelic wines and spirits that accompanied the Dionysian mysteries.
From ancient priestesses and Christian gnostics, to alchemists, wise-women, and Victorian magicians, Hatsis shows how psychedelic practices have been an integral part of the human experience since Neolithic times.
Additional text
“Thomas Hatsis leads us on a fascinating journey into the spiritual magic of elixirs--into the realm of the gods, daemons, witches, and mystery schools. This rigorously researched book is for magicians, adepts, and devotees of psychedelic magic.”
