nemo
Jedi
Roughly a year ago I saw the following documentary:
The Pharmacratic Inquisition on googlevideo.
I enjoyed it enough to buy the accompanying book Astrotheoloy & Shamanism (Unveiling the Law of Duality in Christianity and Other Religions)
by Jan Irvin + Andrew Rutajit. Two things have to be noted though. One, the authors are not academic historians but laymen in their own search
for truth. Second, in their case that in involves the historical exploration of the use of entheogens through time and very likely the experimential
use of same (which, admittetly is somewhat contrary to this site). It`s been heavily influenced by John Marco Allegro, author of The Sacred
Mushroom And The Cross (1970). Allegro, a linguist, was part of the translator team of the Dead Sea Scrolls and his heredical book (in the eyes
of the church) pretty much ended his academic career.
In light of informations later found on the SOTT pages, I`d like to distance myself somewhat from the path the two authors are wandering upon.
I`d still like to share some of their findings regarding Santa Claus and Christmas, if only for your entertainment.
I assume much of their findings to be faulty - but then again - lack of knowledge on these matters prevent me from making a final judgement.
I leave that to the more learned forumites, who are hereby invited to debunk the following (dis)-informations.
The Pharmacratic Inquisition on googlevideo.
I enjoyed it enough to buy the accompanying book Astrotheoloy & Shamanism (Unveiling the Law of Duality in Christianity and Other Religions)
by Jan Irvin + Andrew Rutajit. Two things have to be noted though. One, the authors are not academic historians but laymen in their own search
for truth. Second, in their case that in involves the historical exploration of the use of entheogens through time and very likely the experimential
use of same (which, admittetly is somewhat contrary to this site). It`s been heavily influenced by John Marco Allegro, author of The Sacred
Mushroom And The Cross (1970). Allegro, a linguist, was part of the translator team of the Dead Sea Scrolls and his heredical book (in the eyes
of the church) pretty much ended his academic career.
In light of informations later found on the SOTT pages, I`d like to distance myself somewhat from the path the two authors are wandering upon.
I`d still like to share some of their findings regarding Santa Claus and Christmas, if only for your entertainment.
I assume much of their findings to be faulty - but then again - lack of knowledge on these matters prevent me from making a final judgement.
I leave that to the more learned forumites, who are hereby invited to debunk the following (dis)-informations.
Here they quote Paul Devereux, The Long Trip: A Prehistory of Psychedelia, 1997:Jan Irvin & Andrew Rutajit said:It seems as though an important Christmas tradition is to never question the origin of the traditions themselves.
Why do we bring a tree into our house to celebrate xmas (abreveations by nemo)? If it is a christian holiday, then, where in the bible does it say to
bring a tree into our house?. In addition, why does it have to be a pine or other coniferous tree? Why do we decorate it? Why are the xmas colors red,
white and green? Why do we put red and white presents UNDER the tree? Why do we hang stockings on the hearth of the fireplace? Who is this Santa
character and why does he do the strange things that he does? Did a man in a red and white suit EVER crawl down someone`s chimney with a sack
full of goodies?
And finally, on the Christmas Tree:According to Rogan Taylor, perhaps the most amusing hint of amanita-based shamanism may well be enshrined, perhaps by accident,
in the popular contemporary image of Santa Claus. The figure of father Christmas evolved over centuries out of pagan traditions, but the modern
image of Santa owes most to the elements cobbled together in the 1820ies by Professor Clement Clark Moore of Albany, New York, along with
illustrators Thomas Nast and Moritz von Schwind, both of Germanic descent. Taylor feels that some traditional elements got drawn into their vision,
perhaps from the professor`s wide reading, or from the illustrator`s Old World links - or both. He points out that Santa`s robe of red, edged with
white, contains the colors of Amanita Muscaria, and that the idea of Santa clambering down the chimney evokes the entry via the smoke hole into
Siberian yurts during winter. Moreover, the reeindeers that pull the sleigh can be seen as a link to the reeindeer-herder tribes who took the magic
mushrooms. And the magic flight of Santa Claus through the midwinter night sky is a superb expression of the basis of all shamanism - ecstasy,
or the flight of the spirit.
Jan Irvin & Andrew Rutajit said:The xmas tree is not just a symbol for eternal life, which is what many christian children are told. It is literally the
Tree of Knowledge from the garden of Eden. Metaphorically, Jesus "comes from the trees" by saying that his father was a carpenter. The Amanita is
a fruit of this Tree of Knowledge/Life because neither the A. muscaria nor the Amanita pantherina can grow without a tree as their host. The A. muscaria
mushrooms flourish under pine trees and other coniferous trees such as spruce, larch, cedar and fir. Also, they flourish under betula trees such as the Birch.
These trees remain undisturbed summer and winter. The A. pantherina prefers to grow under quercus trees like the Oak. The major differences between
these two are that A. pantherina is smaller, blackish in color, is 4X more potent than its muscaria cousin, and prefers oak trees. These mushrooms are quite
literally the fruit of the tree because of the mycorrhizal partnership that they have with the roots of these particular types of trees. Just as Mother Nature
needs trees to grow apples, she also needs trees to grow these sacred Amanita mushrooms ...This is why the worship of these trees is so profound in
ancient mythology.
The mushrooms are dried in the sun before the shaman returns home with them. One way to do this is to find a tree in a central location and hang the
mushrooms on the tree and let them dry out in the boughs or the branches of the tree while the shaman continues to hunt for more mushrooms.After a period,
all these mushrooms hanging in the tree resemble a decorated Christmas tree. It appears as though the pine tree is bearing fruit. It can even look as though
candles have been placed throughout the tree, with the red cap representing the flame and the stripe, the candle itself. Today...most who celebrate xmas.....
continue to use the symbolism of the musahrooms in many ways. In the Middle Ages, when Alchemy was at its peak, mystery plays often featured decorated trees.
Tradition tells us to put wings on top of our xmas tree by placing an angel on the top. The xmas tree is the microcosmic representation of the world tree or a
representation in the microcosm of the world tree - the axis of the world (among other things). Tradition also tells us to entwine this tree with ribbons...Entwining
the xmas tree like this shows that the snake is climbing the columns to the wings at the top. The xmas tree is the caduceus, symbolizing the very drugs
(mushrooms) that grow underneath it. Again, it is as above, so below.