Mushroom Mythologies

There have been many mythological mushroom heroes known throughout history. Perseus was an ancient mushroom hero, founder and King of the city-state of Mycenae (Mushroom City). Perseus flew around on winged sandals making “Perseia” a magical herb, grow wherever he dropped the chape of his scabbard. Wherever Perseus dropped his cap, “myces,” mushrooms would sprout underneath. Libertus is another mushroom hero whose depiction can be found atop the US Capitol building of all places. Libertus wears a Liberty Cap (or Phrygian Cap) which is shaped like and named after the Liberty Cap mushroom. This is where we get the idea of a “thinking cap” because when you ingest the cap you are teleported into an introspective, wondrous experience. The Phrygian/Liberty Cap was worn by Masonic revolutionaries during the French and American revolutions as well as by Perseus, Mithra, Santa, Elves, and the Smurfs. It is also worn as a “night cap,” a double entendre which nowadays means having an alcoholic beverage before bed. The original idea of a night cap, however, was when Mithraic/Mystery school initiates would eat a large mushroom cap then lay in hot tubs and astrally project out of body.

Another mushroom hero was King Arthur of Camelot. Arthur pulled the Sword from the Stone, founded the Knights of the Round Table and made the Quest for the Holy Grail. All three of these legends actually refer to stages of the mushroom. The mushroom begins like an egg or a small white stone which pushes and wiggles upwards like a snake. This is the Sword in the Stone stage (Sword is “S-word,” snakes/serpents, in the stone). Then the mushroom cap opens up and flattens out making a perfect circle like a round table top - the Round Table stage. Lastly the edges of the mushroom upturn collecting the mushroom juices and dew, the drinkable “blood of the gods.” This is called the Holy Grail stage and looks/acts just like a cup.

“In its infant (button) state, the muscaria resembles a small white stone. The pulling of the sword from the stone (a symbol of wielding the power), is another Arthurian legend connecting the mushroom to the myth. The quest for the Grail itself is the quest for the knowledge of the mushroom. The Parcival myth depicts paths (traditions), which are to be explored (but not adhered to), in order to complete the quest. This quest is described in the myths as a journey into the forest (the world) and finding paths (systems) which one may follow, for a time, but ultimately one must blaze his/her own trail in order to truly reach the final goal, the Holy Grail (the discovery and usage of the mushroom). The search for the Holy Grail is a mythology that has become, through adaptation, a part of the story of the Crucifixion. Some of the stories incorporate a cup which was used to catch some of the flowing blood of Jesus as he died on the cross. This cup, like many other relics, was thereby thought to possess magical powers. Historically, the mushroom has been the container for the juice of the ‘elixir of immortality’, or the ‘blood of God’, in many myths. The final shape of the muscaria, with its inverted cap, is the reason that the cup/fountain/grail symbology is used in the stories. King Arthur, as a child, gained his rightful place as King by pulling the sword from the stone. This is symbolic for wielding the power of the mushroom. The stone is a metaphor for the mushroom, and pulling the sword from it is symbolic of being able to crack the code and possess the power of the magical plant. After Arthur took ill (in his later years) he was told that he must seek and find the Holy Grail to renew his strength and re-acquire his power.” -James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (14-15)

The Kundalini serpent (explained in detail later) is said to remain coiled three and a half times around the root chakra. Once awakened the serpent energy climbs up from the root/stone and around the spine, the Tree of Life. This process is analogous to the growth of a mushroom which begins looking like a stone then wriggles upward like a snake. The root chakra serpent energy rises to the crown chakra which is usually symbolized by an eagle or other majestic bird. You will often see spiritual symbology involving snakes fighting eagles. This is also why Egyptian Pharaoh’s head-dresses had snakes/birds coming out from the third-eye point.

“Transforming out of the button/egg infantile state, the mushroom's appearance becomes more like that of a snake. Once the mushroom has fully grown, decayed, and dissolved it leaves behind a hole. This is due to it's pushing the Pine needles or earth outward, as it expands. Around the hole is a white powdery substance, actually the many spores it left behind. This hole resembles a snake's hole, or lair, which is another reasoning for the mushroom's being symbolized as a snake. Most certainly, the depiction of the snake, in the garden of Eden, which revealed to humans secret knowledge that the fruit of the tree would make them as god, is a grand myth regarding this association.” -James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (55)

“The prime example of the relation between the serpent and the mushroom is, of course, in the Garden of Eden story of the Old Testament. The cunning reptile prevails upon Eve and her husband to eat of the tree, whose fruit ‘made them as gods, knowing good and evil’ (Gen 3:4). The whole Eden story is mushroom-based mythology, not least in the identity of the ‘tree’ as the sacred fungus, as we shall see. Even as late as the thirteenth-century some recollection of the old tradition was known among Christians, to judge from a fresco painted on the wall of a ruined church in Plaincourault in France. There the Amanita muscaria is gloriously portrayed, entwined with a serpent, whilst Eve stands by holding her belly.” -John Allegro, “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross” (48)

This is why Medusa’s serpent hair turns men to stone. This is why Mithra, the ancient mushroom hero is depicted rising from a stone entwined in snakes. Mithra, one of the 15 pre-Christian gods with exactly the same story as Jesus, was undeniably a mushroom god. Just as Christians take communion, Mithraic initiates ate mushroom sacraments as part of their worship. Just as Christians line up in Church to receive the body and blood of Christ, so did initiates in the Mithraeum line up to receive the body and blood of Mithra.

“Mithra initiates would partake of a Sacred Meal in their ceremonies, invoking The Out Of Body experience. A ritually designed sacramental, Shamanistic, and communal Gnosis. The Mithraic temples of worship, known as Mithraeum, are designed like few other temples on earth. Typically inside the place of worship would be rows of bathtubs (tubs) along the two side walls, or lined in two parallel rows from the rear wall to the front of the main room. Providing places where many initiates could lie down during ceremonies. The tubs were tools in the mechanics of producing a communal experience. The purpose being, the joining together of the minds of the participants with the universal mind. The next phase being, to exit the planet (physical realm) in a spiritual flight to the heavens (stars). This is a bold expectation to perceive, let alone one you can convince someone they have had, especially if after the ceremony they have not. Filled with salt water these tubs would become instant sensory-deprivation-tanks. Much like those depicted in the movie ‘Altered States’ … The religion of Mithra centered around the initiate's ability to communally, astral-travel. Of course the out-of-body experience was facilitated through the eating of the sacred meal. After consumption, the initiates could traverse the galaxies, witnessing, as the ancient Egyptians, first hand, the reality that the spirit of the human being is not restricted to the physical universe, or the physical body for that matter. This is the true revelation of the immortality of the soul, or at least the realization of such. This concept is so similar to the Egyptian initiatory rites that it is solid evidence some of the hidden traditions of the ancients did migrate into later incarnations of various religious orders.” -James Arthur, “Mushrooms and Mankind” (56-58)

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