Mushroom of the MonthMarch 2009 Mushrooms occur in every piece of Christian art. They are found in the mosaics and wall paintings of the earliest Christian images, and later in manuscripts, stained glass, tapestries, and sculpture. They are obvious; I have verification from priests and icon artists. What they mean, however, is still guarded. In my opinion the mushroom is generic for numerous plants, fungi, and potions used by the various cults to commune with the Teacher of Righteousness at the time of our mythic hero Jesus. The mushroom motif has few boundaries but surprising analogues above and beyond the one legged fungi most popularly displayed as either Amanita muscaria (red, gold, often with spots), or Psilocybin (either blue or brown), although there are exceptions. The holy mushroom also comes in the form of mushroom-trees, tree-mushrooms, mushroom-rocks, blood-mushrooms, mushroom-stoles, footstools, cushions, doves, and fish. Two general analogues, surprisingly, are the nimbus or halo and the cross, with the nimbus a symbol for the experience of the divine, while the cross converts flesh into spirit, or death and rebirth. They are both transmuters in their own way. In short, the original mystery connected to the earliest Christian cult was the identity of and communion with Jesus, the Teacher of Righteousness, as uncovered by John Allegro (The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, 1970) those many years ago. The nimbus represents the emotional or mental experience of one’s death and rebirth, while the cross represents the physical transmutation and resurrection in that special place, that spiritual geography far, far away. These rites were initiation ceremonies using guided imaginary, not unlike encounter groups of today, or cult indoctrination, as in Scientology, with the addition of mind-altering substances. These are powerful rites; this is serious business. The dynamics of these early groups and how some evolved into what today we call Catholicism is considered in detail in The Mushroom in Christian Art, to be released early 2010. For a general overview of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the part mind-altering substances played in their development, refer to Rush, J. Failed God: Fractured Myth in a Fragile World, 2008. The sequel, The Mushroom in Christian Art, goes into this neglected issue through a detailed analysis of over 220 images spanning a time period of over 1,500 years. There can be no doubt about the identity of Jesus. The Christian Myth The Christian myth can be summed up in the Apostle’s Creed: 1. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. 4. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 5. He descended into hell. An the third day he rose again 6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 8. I believe in the Holy Spirit, 9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, 10. the forgiveness of sins, 11. the resurrection of the body, 12. and life everlasting. This is metaphor, in back of which lies the Christian mystery. This is not to be accepted as historical fact, any more than an icon is to be accepted as historical fact. It is to be accepted on faith. Most people read Christian art as pictures, as snap shots representing historical events, but that is not what Christian art is about. An icon is a representation of something that cannot be represented; icons are spiritual renderings of another world, a spiritual geography; what you see is not what you get. A cross is not a cross, a book is not a book, an angel is not an angel, and a mushroom is not a mushroom. This being the case the Apostle’s Creed is likewise an icon, a mega-icon because it encapsulates all others. Again, this is not history; it is an elaborate, artistic, spiritual attempt to explain and pay homage to the mushroom experience. At the center of the Christian fabric resides the mushroom experience, and appreciating this opens to an entirely different interpretation of Christian roots and what today we call Christianity. But first, we need to establish a mushroom typology beginning with the most obvious and leading to the most abstract rendering of the mystery. The following image and description is from, The Mushroom in Christian Art (2010: 138-139).
Baptistery St. Giovanni, Laterano Rome c 500 (Plate 2: 4) This mosaic (top left and right) comes from Baptistery St. Giovanni, Laterano Rome , and is dedicated most appropriately to St. John the Baptist and his shadow, St. John the Evangelist. First mentioned in 313 CE, it was the residence of popes and bishops until the papal seat was moved to Avingon by Pope Clement V (1305-1314 CE). The basilica was sacked by the Vandals and rebuilt by Pope Gregory around 590 CE Other restorations occurred in the seventh and eighth centuries. The Bapisttry, we are told by Church historians, was ordered by Constantine suggesting that the structure was built around 313 CE Constantine may, in fact, have built churches for the Christians who came to his cause, but not because he converted to Christianity. Building Churches creates obligations, political obligations. In any case, this may be one of the first official Christian baptismal structures. The Holy Font is large enough for initiates to stand in water to their knees while water is poured over their heads. This would be considered a partial emersion, but still very impressive. The mosaic (Plate 2: 4, top left and right) is found in the ceiling above the font and clearly shows the Amanita muscaria in the center of each chalice or vase (eight in number) representing everlasting life. When Gabriel announces to Mary she is with child she is often portrayed with vase and protruding lily. The birds flanking the Amanita are of both male and female of the species. The Amanita is the axis mundi, the world tree, the center from which all things come and into which all things go. When things come forth they split into paired opposites. That center, that which is everything and nothing at the same instant, is referred to as God, Aten, Atman, Amun, energy, singularity, and so on. Here that energy is represented as the Amanita muscaria emerging and separating from the veil symbolized by the chalice (upper and lower). The center likewise represents ultimate knowledge which can never be known until or unless it splits into paired opposites. Knowledge is revealed through comparison of one thing to another; this is called relativity. These ancient people used Amanita muscaria and other forms of manna to formulate this idea, which Einstein clarified with mathematics. We will see the mushroom (cross) in the chalice (Plate 2: 4, bottom right) again as the determinative for Gethsamane (“olive press”). But there is more. This image of birds flanking the world axis is found in Egyptian myth where Osiris, the axis, represents primordial life (the djed pillar or backbone of life). In this ancient drawing (Plate 2: 4, bottom center) Osiris is depicted as Khepri the beetle, who, like the scarab beetle, climbs out of the ground but unseen until he does so. Osiris is the primordial mound, or mushroom encased in the djed pillar, which, as a Lebanese Cedar, enclosed his coffin when pitched upon a beach in Lebanon (see Rush, J. The Twelve Gates. 2007). Emerging from the underworld, Khepri (Osiris, Re, Jesus), is flanked by his two Queens, Isis (Virgin Mary) and Nephthys (Mary Magdalene), in the form of birds (see The Twelve Gates, reverse of Plate Five). Nephthys and Isis are paired opposites connecting the spiritual female energy. That is, Nephthys represents the male/female union – the carnal female union with the god, while Isis represents male/female devotion, love, healing, and spiritual non-carnal union. They cling to the mound, the penis, crying, wailing, and waiting to reunite with the resurrected god Re as the new born sun, for they also represent life in the female condition. In short, the mound, at least for the ancient Egyptians, could not simply represent the male energy; the female energy is always present. Artemis the singularity, Mistress of the Animals (Shaman), is depicted in the bottom left image with deer in her left hand (a symbol of the moon) and a lion in her right, a symbol of the sun. All these images are related to transmutation, of going from one state to another in the never ending paired opposites in the field of time. Copyright © 2009 John A. Rush April 2009 The plate below is an example of transfiguration which comes from Matthew 17: 1-8: And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, save Jesus only. The original Transfiguration, however, was not that of Jesus, but of individual priests or bishops (for example Apollinarius, Ravenna, Italy, c. 320-390 CE) who consumed the holy mushroom and transfigured with God. This more than suggests that originally Jesus was an experience and not a living, breathing human being, at least to some of the priests and bishops of that time period. Combine this with the fact that there are no faces of Jesus until the fourth century raises
Cretan Icon, c. 1550 CE, now in a private collection. One of the Eastern schools (Greek, Russian, etc.) it displays what I call the hard look as they are contrasted with white; this is a very stern dreamworld. a serious question: When was Matthew written in the form that comes down to us today? Perhaps major elements were added after 325 CE and the Council of Nicaea, with the transfiguration removed from the Gospel’s author (Matthew, Mark, Luke, Mary Magdalene, etc.) and replaced with Jesus? This is one reason the Nag Hammadi (Gnostic Gospels) were an unwelcome addition to the light of day. Above we see Jesus on top of a mountain with Peter, James, and John overwhelmed by the blinding light emanating from Jesus’ body (the black lines). This rendition of the Transfiguration comes from the Eastern School in Crete, dates to the mid-sixteenth century, and is in a private collection. There are many mushroom-shapes in this image, the major one’s being in Jesus’ stole and in the stoles of Moses (top left) and James (bottom left). Elijah holds the mushroom in his hand in the form of the book, one of the original determinatives for Jesus. Notice how Elijah’s cape or stole hangs down in a suspicious fashion. The casual observer would miss these shapes, rare in secular art, because, if you don’t know where to look or what to look for, these mushroom-shapes are invisible. This is why I refer to the mushroom as the visible, invisible icon (within an icon). The mushroom-shapes are undeniable and not simply “puffs” of air or artistic whim. They are in the images from the beginning, commissioned by the religious clerics, and remain for a period of over 1500 years right up to this day. It is the icon artist who has kept the mystery of Christianity intact, not the priests or pope who can change things. As Forest (Praying with Icons, 2008: 9) comments: It may be that one beneficial consequence of the iconoclast movement was that makers of icons searched for better ways to represent in paint the hidden, spiritual reality rather than merely the physical aspects of the person presented. (emphasis added) The hidden, spiritual reality in this case is the mystery, Jesus, hidden in the clothing often appearing at the end of a stole or the hems of capes or albs. In the next few months, I will introduce the reader to some of the many mushroom motifs woven into the art, including mushroom-trees, tree-mushrooms, mushroom shoes, mushroom blood, mushroom-doves, and many others. Oh, yes, happy Easter. The story of resurrection and renewal is a natural hope in an uncertain world, and to read Easter as historical fact is to miss the point. To aid in your spiritual quest, in May I will show you what the honky-pokey is all about. Copyright © John A. Rush 2009 May 2009
by John A. Rush The Hokey-Pokey We have all heard the hokey-pokey, a silly little song and dance designed to amuse old and young. It is probably a play on ritual in general. That is it say, whether you are signing the Stations of the Cross, genuflecting, or praying that Allah won’t torment you in hell, it all amounts to ritual designed to bind one to the group. A portion of the lyrics goes as follows:
Christ in Majesty, in his own way, is doing the hokey-pokey; he is half in and half out and, of course, he is what it’s all about. This particular image comes from the mid-Eleventh Century France and clearly shows Jesus existing in the now as well as that celestial geography far, far away. Besides his dance, however, there are lots of mushroom shapes. Let’s take a closer look.  Christ in Majesty, Sacramentary, Saint-Denis, mid-Eleventh Century,  Jesus in Majesty is the resurrected god in that celestial place, just as the dead Pharaoh in ancient Egypt resurrects as the sun god Re and travels the heavens maintaining life through daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles. But unlike Re, he wants you to join him on the celestial barque that comes and goes as does life and death. Jesus is beckoning you to follow him through his path to salvation. Non-believers “shall be condemned.” (Mark 16: 16 – Jesus would never have said such a silly thing; see John 3: 17.) The early priests, however, realized that it wasn’t enough to believe in Jesus; the priest, through initiation, had to become one with Jesus. How is that done? Through the consumption of his flesh (manna, body, bread) or blood (wine, manna soaked in water) you enter into his kingdom. In John 6: 52-56 we read:
This passage in St. John is not to be
taken literally, for to do so would represent cannibalism. Jesus, without doubt,
is the mushroom, and it is through the mushroom experience that one obtains
everlasting life. The celestial world is open only to a special few in the
Christian tradition. In times past, however, a personal experience with one’s
patron deity was encouraged.
May 1st: The Feast of Bel
So, here we have Jesus in Majesty
doing the hokey-pokey, engaged in the ritual of being in this world one moment
and in a celestial geography the next. May, in the Catholic tradition, is the
month of our Lady; in the Saxon tradition this is the month of Easter. Easter is a fertility goddess and her symbol
is the prolific hare; this is what the Easter bunny represents. Like all gods
and goddesses in the Greek, Celtic, and Roman myths, they are both of and not
of this world. They live in that special spiritual geography but can manifest
in various forms and bring aid, or misery, to humans. The Easter egg hunt is
also of interest in that when the Amanita
muscaria mushroom emerges from the ground it looks like an egg.
Beltane in the Celtic Tradition, one
of the four major festivals, is celebrated on May 1st. This is the half-way mark between the Spring
Equinox and Sumer Solstice. “May 1st” is most likely the first full moon
closest to this astronomical reckoning. Beltane translates as “fire of Bel”
referring to the sun as the days grow longer. Bonfires are still lit in areas
of Ireland and Scotland celebrating Beltane. They are also lit during the
festival of Samhain (summer’s end) on October 31, designed to warm the dead
ancestors and encourage the sun’s return.
Some researchers suggest that the festival of Beltane was one of fertility and accompanied by burning Cannabis from the fall harvest in closed structures and breathing the smoke, as well as copulating in the freshly plowed fields to insure human and plant fertility. We are told that the Celts made pilgrimages to sacred wells where prayers and offerings were made to specific goddesses like Melusina, the goddess connected to transmutation and use of Amanita muscaria. In Germanic countries we encounter Maypole dancing, a fertility ritual, reminiscent of the axis mundi or ben-ben stone of the ancient Egyptians, which manifests from the primal abyss and splits into paired opposites (see Mushroom of the Month, March). This is the same image as Jesus on the cross at Golgotha, the primal mound, flanked by the repentant and unrepentant criminals, the paired opposites. Copyright © John A. Rush 2009
June 2009 It is only fitting to dedicate the June mushroom to John the Baptist whose birth date, through celestial decree, is June 24. Here we see John the Baptist removing his clothes representing a change in status, or the transmutation of social forms, from inside society to outside. John is an apostate; he will reveal the secret, the mystery, the Teacher of Righteousness. His is truly the mushroom man. Again, his status changes, from an Essene priest to apostate. Notice the mushroom nimbus above John’s head, his naked flesh upon which he will place the camel hair coat, and the path into the wilderness. We see on the right the clothes he removed before entering the wilderness, piled in such a manner as to suggest Amanita muscaria. He morphed from mushroom to human form. This suggests that John the Baptist and Jesus are on the same botanical and historical footing; they are both the mushroom and, more than likely, mythic figures. John, like Mary, brings the mushroom (Jesus), while Jesus brings his experience through muscimol, the mushroom’s major mind-altering component.
I’ve often wondered if the Baptist’s camel hair coat was originally the leopard skin, for it was the leopard skinned chief who initiated resurrection by touching the mouth of the dead pharaoh with an adz-like instrument in the shape of the big dipper. This brought the pharaoh to spiritual life by opening his mouth so he could speak the chants and reassemble his body in preparation for that endless round of life and death.
July 2009
Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. The stories all point to Mary as the favorite of Jesus for he kisses her on the mouth, which is what we see in the image below (Plate 2: 17, The Mushroom in Christian Art). This is one of two miniatures possibly brought to England by St. Augustine and part of the manuscript from St. Augustine’s Abby, housed in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Remember that it was St. Augustine who said that curiosity was one of the worst temptations, and one should not attempt to understand that which is beyond human comprehension, a very different sentiment than that of the Gnostics. This is one reason, among many, the Catholics and various Gnostic sects were quite antagonistic toward one another. The illustration dates to the sixth century and shows clear reference to the mushroom. At center top we see Jesus with the sacrament in his hand and in front of each apostle the sacrament as well. Notice the hole in the center of  each “loaf” indicating that it is the underside of the mushroom, which indents in the center when the stalk is removed. This hole is synonymous with the holes in the hands, side, and feet of Jesus, symbolic of “entering into” Jesus.
So, what is the foot washing all about, and why does Peter question Jesus’ motives? This has been variously interpreted as Jesus showing humility and servitude to something higher than him or serving others. Although honorable, I see this act in a slightly different manner. Jesus has a mushroom clearly depicted arising from his back, on top of which is a four branched candelabra. This is the axis mundi, the world center, out of which everything comes and into which everything goes, with the four candles representing the four points of the compass. He will cleanse all sin, and all will see the light and understand (Pistis Sophia). Once you understand the other side (“know thy self”), and that the here and now is simply a vehicle to that other place, you become without fear and desire (abandon worldly things), “I and the father are one,” and you live a life as did Jesus. The mushroom (Jesus) washes away sin through knowledge and recognition of a world beyond. Sin, therefore, is a product of ignorance, a position found in Buddhism, that is, illumination defeats ignorance. Washing one’s feet means washing away sin, and it is dirt, most obviously accumulated on the feet (or hands), that stands as a symbol for ignorance or sin, the most accepted meaning. This act could also represent the purging effect of the mushroom when the cap is consumed or when you “enter into” Jesus and are purified of your ignorance. The esoteric point of the story has to do with respect for others. But I think there is another message, that is, purification before illumination. Peter is being purified by the mushroom (perhaps the nausea that precedes the experience of the divine?), for Jesus provides both purification (foot washing) and illumination (the candle holder). Also note the mushroom-shape in Jesus’ cape as he bends down to wash Peter’s feet. The frame, top right, is the “Rebuking in the Garden of Gethsemane,” where the apostles, we are told (exoteric meaning), fall asleep and Jesus can’t understand why they aren’t supportive in his hour of need. This cannot possibly be the meaning of this icon. The rebuking has to do with being impure or in the wrong mental set when approaching the mushroom personified as Jesus or God. This is one of the main points of Pistis Sophia, which in part is an elaborate purification right most likely connected to higher order cult initiation, with the Gospel of Thomas representing perhaps first order initiation, with parables more easily decoded (see, The Mushroom in Christian Art for the larger discussion). He opens you to the other side and is about to go to his death and become your spiritual life force. In short, you are going to commune with the body of Jesus (the light, the “stream of illumination,” a probable reference to urine drinking), he is going to die (his flesh will be consumed), so honor him by being pure of mind, and have your thoughts focused on him, not the evil light from below. Staying focused while on mind-altering substance can be difficult, and this is why there has to be ritual process and guide(s) directing the experience. If you want the experience with Jesus you have to be prepared because sometime he only comes once. And being prepared means focusing on some aspect of Jesus, any aspect (any level of illumination above your own), and he will reveal himself to you. Some people never meet Jesus because they focus on what they want Jesus to do for them—health, wealth, and progeny. You will never get to Jesus by asking the deity to pay attention to your animal nature; Jesus makes this quite clear in Pistis Sophia. The Church, however, has reserved that personal contact with Jesus, with God, to itself. At the top of the same frame we see Jesus bowing before a hand-mushroom, a common motif. Note how the cloud is in the shape of a mushroom cap and the hand is the stem. In the frame beneath we see Jesus kissing Mary Madeleine. This is an interesting scene because it represents Jesus as a sentient, living, breathing human being with an attachment to a woman, in this case, Mary Madeleine. Notice the position of Mary’s hands—this is not an erotic kiss, but a kiss goodbye, a shock. There are other possible meanings, for example, this is the kiss of life through Jesus’ death by impregnating Mary with knowledge for it is knowledge and illumination that issue from Jesus’ lips. We also see (bottom left) the mushroom at the end of a vine, suggesting the vine in Christian art might have initially represented the mycelium of a mushroom or the root of the tree. But notice how one of the tendrils of the vine is positioned between Jesus’ legs, suggesting perhaps that Jesus is the fruit of the “vine” (womb) and is about to be picked (identified than sacrificed) inferred by the Judas kiss, the kiss of death. Also note how Jesus’ cape forms the mushroom cap, and the bottom portion of his alb, the stock. Perhaps the Judas kiss represents locating the correct mushroom, for some species of Amanita are deadly, or at the very least can give you a hard time, like being blind for several days, as was mythic Paul on the road to Damascus. Certainly the sacrament, the object growing from Jesus’ back, the mushroom dangling from Jesus’ cape, and the hand coming from a mushroom-shaped cloud could have other interpretations. Nonetheless, they are mushroom motifs.
Coming in March 2010:The Mushroom in Christian Artby John A. Rush
In 2001, the author and his wife entered St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice and encountered Jesus surrounded by mushrooms with the Amanita muscaria mushroom cap in his hand (see cover, Failed God). During that trip to Europe the author took hundreds of photos in cathedrals and basilicas and on close examination mushrooms in one form or another are prominent themes. One of the reasons the mushrooms have gone unnoticed is that the images are at a distance and can only be seen up close in most cases. Turning to illuminated manuscripts produced from the sixth-century onwards, the author likewise found mushrooms on page after page. What do these images mean, why are they in the art, and why have the art historians neglected to mention them? These are some of the questions Rush asks along with offering a new interpretations of the icons and consequently a new interpretation of Christianity and the development of Western Civilization. There can be no doubt about the importance of mind-altering substance in the development and continuation of the Catholic Church. As outline in Failed God, Christianity as well as Judaism and Islam are based on mushroom worship and a shamanic tradition extending deep into prehistoric times. Chapter One introduces the reader to the mushroom and its many disguises; it is the visible/invisible icon. Chapter Two examines the art from the approximately 250 CE (Current Era) to 1000 CE, showing the development of the icon and explaining why there are no pictures of Jesus until the fourth-century, although images of saints abound before that time. Chapter Three includes art from 1100 CE to approximately 1550 CE, showing the complexity and sophistication of the mushroom art. Chapter Four considers the time span from 1550 CE to the present including images from cathedrals throughout the Americas and the mushrooms contained within. Chapter Five presents a review and a close look at art guilds and associations and how these images, spanning a period from 550 CE to the present, were commissioned and overseen by the Catholic Church. Chapter Six is about the life history of Jesus, as told in storybook fashion, wherein the reader can develop a spiritual relationship with Jesus once the storyline is abandoned as historical fact. Product Details
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