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Failed God
Fractured Myth in a Fragile World


by John A. Rush
© 2008



Mushroom of the Month


March 2009
by John A. Rush

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).

  
C:\Documents and Settings\John Rush\My Documents\My Pictures\Artimis as Potnia Theron, Florence Italy c. 570-560 BCE.jpg      mush3     mush4

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
by John A. Rush

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

Jesus mushroom

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:

You put your right foot in,

You put your right foot out,

You put your right foot in and shake it all about.

You do the hokey-pokey, and you turn yourself around,

That’s what it’s all about

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,
Bibliotheque Nationale de France.



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:

52. The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

 53. Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.

54. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

55.  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56.  He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.

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
by John A. Rush

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.

Mushroom4

    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.

    John the Baptist, according to some scholars, is a replay of the Sumerian god, Ea, and his transmutation later to Oannes of the Mesopotamian tradition. Ea is a subterranean, fresh water god who brings wisdom to human-kind, while Oannes crawls out of the Persian Gulf, or the Red Sea, and imparts wisdom, leavening each evening and returning the next day.  Oannes has two heads, one reptilian, the other human (this is Melusina in the Celtic tradition, Snake in the Garden of Eden, and the fish).  After imparting lots of technical information, he “cut himself off” from humanity, slithered into the sea, never to be seen again.  He transmutes into John the Baptist the bringer of illumination, not of the technical sort, but spiritual through an experience with God. The Baptist is cut off from humanity when he lost his head to the executioner’s axe.

 

July 2009
by John A. Rush


Mary Magdalene’s celestial birth date is July 22.  Who was Mary Magdalene? Mary, as the story goes, was one of Jesus’ first apostles for she could see and hear and excelled at Gnosis or decoding the parables and applying them to herself. The fact that Jesus put his message in code, through parables to get people to think, is important in our understanding of Christian art, for hiding the message, the mystery, is central to this tradition.

Mary Magdalene’s presence is symbolically reasonable in a dualistic world; she represents the female energy just as Jesus represents the male, the male and female terrestrial manifestations of God. In this sense they are synonymous with Adam and Eve. Mother Mary also represents the female energy during Jesus’ baby, juvenile years, and at his death and resurrection. There are several sources referencing Mary Magdalene and include the biblical Gospels (150-325 CE), The Gospel of Mary from the Nag Hammadi Library (c. 350 CE), Pistis Sophia (c.  550 CE), and The Golden Legend (c. 1265 CE).  Mary represents the illuminated one, who hears and sees, and this brings her into conflict with Peter and other apostles, which, in Pistis Sophia, is neutralized by showing Peter that his hate and anger is of the same dimension as that of Self-willed, who hated Sophia because she desired to go into the light, and plotted to steal her power.  I have more to say about Pistis Sophia in, The Mushroom in Christian Art. In The Golden Legend,she is portrayed as royalty and carries on with Jesus’ ministry. She heals the sick, brings people back to life, dies, and is interred in France; her bones were sported as relics at the Abby of Vézelay, Bourgogne, France. As the story goes, a monk by the name of Baudillon (c. 900 CE) had in his possession of relics the remains of Mary Magdalene. It seems that Monk Baudillon was an antique dealer of sorts because apparently he had lots of bones.  There is no record of where these came from and no verification was possible beyond the word of the monk. I bet there is a vault, somewhere in the Vatican, which looks like a forensic anthropology lab, with drawers of bones of particular saints, mythic and otherwise, ready to be mailed out when a church is newly consecrated or otherwise in need of tangible trinkets for people to fuss over. In 1058 CE either Pope Stephen IX or Nicholas II determined, through celestial prognostication, that the relics were genuine and history was created by divine decree.  Remember that monks brewed beer and visited the spirit world via numerous pathways, so do not be surprised if Monk Baudillon actually believed these to be the bones of Mary Magdalene who had been dead, whereabouts unknown, for over nine-hundred years.  There is a whole study in itself here, perhaps, of how people kept the bones of their favorite admired people and passed them around. Maybe this explains (humorously considered) why the earliest Christians didn’t have cemeteries—perhaps they didn’t need them, instead handing out the bones to close friends and associates, like the way we keep rings, books, photographs, and so, in memory of our parents and friends today.   

Parts of the story in The Golden Legend worked their way into the research that predated Brown’s, Da Vinci Code. Any child from Jesus through Mary Magdalene would have to be a mushroom, making Mary, like Jesus’ mother, the root of a pine tree. Some renditions paint Mary Magdalene as a repentant ex-prostitute or good time girl, but this is pure imagination standing in the story as evil while Jesus represents the good, but evil converted by Jesus. But of course if Jesus was having sex with her in exchange for illumination and loaves and fishes (he is her drug connection), at the very least she is a “kept” woman.  But that is not the intent of Mary in the storyline; this is not a history lesson. She is there to make several points: First, those who seek the truth and ask questions (“Seek and ye shall find”) will reach illumination, certainly not a sentiment shared by the early Catholic community; second, hatred toward those who do seek illumination is a sin. Mary Magdalene is synonymous with Sophia in the Gnostic myth, and Sophia’s sin was being tricked into following the light from below rather than the light-stream from above. Sophia makes up for her sin by begging, pleading, singing, rationalizing, and so on, over and over again.  Through repeated supplication, whilst revealing her understanding that she is part of the First Principle and that all the spheres, triangles, far and near, up and down, Powers, and Authorities, Eons, and so on are within her,  she is once again back in God’s (Jesus, the First Mystery) good graces. In the biblical renderings we aren’t quite sure why there is antagonism toward Mary Magdalene accept for male dominance and her connection to the anointing oil she used on Jesus, for essentially she anointed the anointed one (recall the image of John baptizing Jesus).  In John 12: 1-8 we read:

Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead.

So they made him a supper there: and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him.

Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.

But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should betray him, saith,

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred shillings, and given to the poor?

 Now this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put therein.

 Jesus therefore said, Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying.

 For the poor ye have always with you; but me ye have not always.  

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

July mushroom

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. 

In the center frame we see Jesus washing feet.  In John 13:4-7 we read:


He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

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.

 

August 2009
by John A. Rush

August, in the Catholic tradition, is the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Who was Mary, and what is the immaculate Heart all about? Mary, of course, was supposedly impregnated by God and thus a virgin, or by Joseph and thus human. But the detailed storyline for Mary wasn’t worked out until after 325 and closer to 600CE, and is based on the Mother Goddess image most likely coming from ancient Egypt. Moreover, because it was the original saints, emerging from the various Christian, Gnostic, and other traditions, who were the conduits between heaven and earth, there was no need for Mary. Jesus, for many, was an experience, not a human presence, and having a mother did not fit the story line.

The story of Mary is to be read literally by faithful Christians, along with her physical heart,

augmushroom

which, we are told, represents internal happiness and joy. This, of course, is a large contradiction because most of the images of Mary are miles away from happiness and joy.  The traditional interpretation, that is, reading the image as a lesson in history and psychology, does not even come close to the meaning behind the image.  Icons are not to be read as history, although the clergy encourages people to do so. 

In the above icon we see the Virgin as Inviolate Mountain, from Solvychegodsk, Russia, late sixteenth century, alongside the Western interpretation (on right). The ladder held by the Virgin is a device of transportation (a movement from one place to another), while the “burning bush” under Jesus’ forearm is the means of transformation (Amanita muscaria). Also note that the Cherubim to the right of Mary sports a clear mushroom with stalk in its stole. That which resides under Jesus’ forearm, the burning bush, was converted to the Sacred or Immaculate Heart sometime after the twelfth century and then the image was romanticized in the early nineteenth century. In the Eastern Traditions (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc.) much of the image’s original symbolic values have been retained.

The ladder, burning bush, and cave all relate to the transmutation of body and spirit, with the ladder representing the passage to heaven (borrowed from the ancient Egyptians), or going from one place to another.  The cave is a geography of transmutation, representing a change of beliefs or mind-set, while the burning bush represents God or the conduit to God. Recall that God was encountered as a burning bush by Moses, which is most reasonably a reference to the initial effects of Amanita muscaria. When mind-altering substances enter the equation the traditional interpretation (the history lesson) cannot be maintained.

Notice the angel is holding three devices of transmutation, one being the reed that holds the sponge, and the others, the lance and cross. The sponge, an analog for the mushroom, was, as the story goes, brought to the mouth of Jesus who either refused or accepted it depending on the version you read.  The lance, of course, pierced the side of Jesus, offering the “entrance” inspected by St. Thomas, and the cross transmutes flesh into spirit. The above image, then, refers to transmutation and change both emotional and physical and has nothing to do with the historical existence of Mary or Jesus.

The Sacred Heart, on the other hand, is a reference to Jesus and is represented in a slightly different manner.  For Mary the heart has a flame issuing from the top with a gold chain around the upper portion of the heart. For Jesus, we see a cross issuing from the top or within the flame, which is another version of the mushroom-chalice motif, the symbol for Gethsemane. In the case of Jesus, the heart is entwined in thorns.

The heart, originally at least, was the burning bush, which morphed into a red, hand-held immature fruit (Baby Jesus), and then was converted into the heart sometime after the twelfth century. Mary is the throne upon which Baby Jesus sits, just as Isis is the throne upon which Horus, the Spirit of Light or Holy Ghost, sits. Jesus is the fruit (Amanita muscaria) of Mary’s womb, who represents the root of the pine (sometimes oak or birch) tree. The Cedar of Lebanon is a botanical reference for Jesus and Mary.

Jesus

 

September 2009
by John A. Rush

This is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows and the month of many famous saints including St. Ingrid (September 2), Saint John Chrysostom (September 13), Saint Catherine of Genoa (September 15), Saint Andrew (September 20), to name a few. September 29, however, is reserved for Saints Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael, and all three play significant parts in delivering prophecy, defending heaven, and performing miracle healing and protecting from demonic attacks.  Esoterically they represent a major conduit between heaven and earth, maintenance of heavenly integrity/power, and physical/healing, which only comes by way of God.



Gabriel


In Daniel 6: 16-27 we read:

And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end.

 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright.

And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end.

The ram which thou sawest, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia.

And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power.

 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do his pleasure; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.

 And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

 And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth to many days to come.

 And I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king's business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.

     The date for the writing of the Book of Daniel is disputed. Biblical scholars claim it was written while mythic Daniel and about 10,000 Israelites were in exile in Babylon, in which case it would have been written around 586 BCE Other scholars, however, place the date of writing between 560 BCE (when many were allowed to return to Palestine) and 200 BCE The apocalyptic nature of the passage is more suggestive of a time period closer to 200 BCE
     The purpose of Gabriel, in the above vision, is to interpret Daniel’s dream. Daniel, unlike Joseph in Genesis, is not so much of an interpreter, but a dreamer who perhaps presents the dreams to others for their interpretation in a similar fashion as Jesus and his parables. In any case, the prophecy rendered had to do with events that had already occurred.  Prophecies in the Old Testament were literary devices or elements in a storyline designed to prove or validate that someone was able to predict the future and thus in contact with God.  In today’s world we think of prophecy as future prediction of events that have not occurred.  And, of course, prophecy is always cloaked in poetry and cryptic metaphors, never direct, and always subject to interpretation. This allows modern day interpreters to imagine that, for example, Nostradamus was referring to events in our own time, or that imbedded in the Bible is a code accurately predicting future events. If this was designed prophecy, a warning of terrible events, you would think that God or Nostradamus would be more explicit. But no, that’s too reasonable, and we are not dealing with logic and reason, perhaps entertainment, in this pursuit of placing order in one’s life.  Again, In the Old Testament, the events in the prophecy had already occurred, and the events were turned into a storyline centered on a wise, gifted, deserving, or chosen person who had contact with supernatural beings, and through these agencies was informed of future events—which he couldn’t interpret.

     In Daniel 9: 20-27 we read:

 And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Jehovah my God for the holy mountain of my God;

 yea, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

 And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee wisdom and understanding.

 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.

 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate. 

    
We are told this had to do with the desolation of Jerusalem, which would last 70 weeks/years. This has shades of Joseph in Genesis predicting good (7 years) and bad times (7 years) for Pharaoh.  Gabriel, as we recognize in the Old Testament, does not bring good news and some scholars believe that Gabriel is actually Samael, the Angel of Death or the Grim Reaper, and it is this personality, drafted into the Qur’an as Gabriel, who meets Muhammad in the cave.  Gabriel in the Qur’an is not Gabriel of the Christian tradition; Gabriel in the Islamic tradition is a demon sent by Il Liah (Allah), the Moon God of War, to enslave the Arab people and everyone else.
     In Luke 1: 18-28 we read:

And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.

 And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried in the temple.

And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb.

And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.

And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,

Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

 And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.

  In the above passages Gabriel brings good news, in the first instance the birth of John the Baptist, and in the second, Jesus. All other references to Gabriel were added over the centuries to enhance the storyline. Gabriel, for example, becomes the angel guarding the gates to the Garden of Eden least those who are unworthy trespass on this hallowed ground. Because an angel in the Jewish tradition guards heaven, as the logic goes, it must be Gabriel. In the Christian tradition heaven’s mightiest defender is Michael, but Gabriel and Michael guard different things. Gabriel guards the Trees of Knowledge and Life from the unworthy, while Michael guards heaven from demonic intrusion.
    In the image above (The Annunciation, Andrei Rublev, Dormition Cathedral, Vladimir, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery, 1408 CE) we see Gabriel informing Mary that she will have a child, Jesus. There are numerous mushroom-shapes with stalks in Gabriel’s cape, Mother Mary is seated on an Amanita mushroom cap, and there are several mushrooms (with stalks) in her cape as well.

Michael

     Michael, as mentioned, is considered heaven’s mightiest defender.  In Jude 1:9 we read, “But Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.” In Revelation 12: 7 we read:  “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels. And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.”  
     The passage from Jude most likely relates to the deposition of Moses body after he angered God by bringing forth water and was murdered, so we are told, by God because of this indiscretion.  He was not

taken to the Promised Land because of fears his grave would be a station of worship, which would be contrary to the Second Commandment.  In any case, Moses is based on Akhenaten in the Egyptian tradition so obviously we can’t have a body for our mythic hero, Moses (see Rush, Failed God, 2008), any more than we can have a body for Mickey Mouse. My impression of the Book of Jude is similar to that of some of the Gnostic texts. That is to say, Jude seems to be the ramblings of someone on Cannabis (or other mind-altering substance) or mentally challenged. The passage from Revelation represents the more common depiction of Michael.      
    Above we see Michael weighing souls, an image borrowed from the ancient Egyptian tradition were
Anubis acts as a guide to the scales for weighting the heart against the feather. But, in the Egyptian tradition the heart has to weigh less than a feather, while in the Christian tradition the heart needs to be heavy in goodness and light in wickedness and sinning. This Polyptych of the Last Judgment (Rogier vfan der Weyden, Beaune, Hotel-Dieu, 1445-50 CE) reveals several mushrooms with stalks.  The most obvious are in the cape of the angel, top left, but the horn in combination with the cape might represent the stalk and cap respectively.
    

Raphael

Raphael is mentioned in the Book of Tobit adopted by Catholic and Orthodox traditions.  He is characterized as healer and patron saint to apothecaries, physicians, the blind, insane or mentally ill, and sick people in general. He acts as a guide for Tobias, saving him from demons, showing him how to cure his father’s blindness with the liver of a fish, and so on.  Raphael is usually accompanied by Tobias along with a fish or fish head representing life.
       Specific names for angels (except Gabriel) are omitted from the Old Testament most likely because they borrowed most of these entities (“heavenly helpers”) from the Zoroastrians who borrowed them from Hinduism. By not attaching names they could avoid specific connections to the Zoroastrians. These archangels or heavenly helpers were not specifically part of the Babylonian tradition. The Zoroastrians had a dualistic/moralistic system (a good god vs. evil god) and this fit better with the Israelite brand of polytheism at the time.  Keep in mind that the Israelites did not take a clear monotheistic position until after 586 BCE In the image below we see Raphael holding magic medicine in his right hand.  What might this be? It looks like a mushroom to me. Also notice the fleur-de-lys at the top of his healing staff, another mushroom motif.


October / November 2009
by John A. Rush

Samhain (summer’s end) is an important ritual in the Celtic tradition. Contemporary cultures in the West celebrate this holiday on October 31, but originally it was celebrated over a several day period. We know little about the actual rituals but the ritual complex, called Samhain, comes down to us as Halloween a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, so we are told. Halloween, might, however, be a contraction of All Hollow’s and Samhain (Sah-wan). Contemporary celebrations involve dressing up in disturbing images of the dead or images that poke fun at presidents and popes. For the ancient Celts, however, this was not principally a joyous time, especially if not enough food was put in for the winter months. Bonfires were lit to attract the sun and warm the dead ancestors, while food was placed close by to appease and maintain their memory (our “trick or treat”). The bonfires attract mosquitoes, the mosquitoes attract bats, and the bats attract owls, common symbols in modern renditions of the rites, images demonized by the Church. The Celtic priests, Druids, added another ingredient, that is, human sacrifice. We know they engaged ritual killings at specific times of the years and some have suggested that Samhain was more than likely one of them. These special killings, as evidenced by bog burials, involved nobility as the sacrifice. In other words, if a hard, long winter was anticipated, a sacrifice of nobility might influence the deities to shorten the winter and provide a good spring planting and harvest. In another sense, if the nobility were not able to provide a good harvest through their proper rites and rituals then we need a changing of the guards. This type of ritual killing was abandoned by the Jews, most likely evidenced in the sacrifice of Isaac, the great non-event, where a scapegoat is inserted because it was philosophized that any life would do. This also protected the nobility including the priests. Human sacrifice, nonetheless, is found in Christianity, with the martyring of Jesus, the saints, and the mushroom, the kinder, gentler sacrifice. The Opet (New Year’s) festival in ancient Egypt, dating back to the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts, depicts the renewal of the king by bringing him near death most likely through the use of Amanita muscaria or other potent potion, and with his “recovery,” his kinship renewed.

All Saints Day, November 1, was more formerly instituted in the ninth century and was added to Church ritual as a means of absorbing Samhain and replacing it with Christian observance. Obviously this ploy did not obliterate this Celtic tradition, nor did it have much impact on the Feast of the Dead among the Maya when the Church, using the same strategy, attempted to extinguish that tradition (see Rush, J. The Twelve Gates, 2007). Samhain and All Saints’ Day have several things in common the major being a reverence for the ancestors/saints, especially those without their own special day of observance. In a sense this mirrors the Celtic fear of the ancestors, of not recognizing them, and perhaps removing protection or help for the living.

The image below is a seventeenth century icon from Greece. Icons are always signed, but not by the artist; they are signed by that which inspired the artist, God. One of the most popular of God’s signatures in Eastern art is to be found in clothing, often in the hem of an alb, cape, or perhaps in the sleeve, or at the end of a stole. This signature is also the Mystery in Christianity, the Holy Mushroom. In this image we see Jesus in the center of the sun disk (Aten in Egyptian, Adon in Hebrew) doing the hokey-pokey, surrounded by the saints in their ranked order. Directly above Christ’s head is the Arc of the Covenant, so I am told, but this is more likely a book, a determinative for the Holy Mushroom, out of which are coming rays of light rendered with several Instruments of the Passion, that is, reed, cross, spear, and Holy Sponge (mushroom). The angel to the left of the book is either holding the mushroom in his hand or his stale is being blow forward in the shape of a mushroom by holy wind. Jesus is centered in the Aten sun disk, the mushroom, and his left knee and thigh form another common mushroom motif. To the left and right of Jesus’ feet are Seraphs, “fire makers,” who brings fire, physical discomfort before you enter his celestial domain. Directly beneath his feet is the papal cross forming the stalk of the mushroom flanked by the most noticeable popes and bishops. The angels flanking Jesus’ head appear to be Cherubim; they know God’s wisdom and deliver it to humans in the form of doves and manna, the food of the gods.

Beneath is Abraham (left), on his throne, accepting all God wills to be in his presence, and in the distance he sees a man wearing a blue loin cloth walking his way. Directly in front of the man is a tree-mushroom. God has bequeathed favors on the Good Thief and he has entered the Garden of Paradise. As you recall, Jesus is nailed to a cross erected in the center of Golgotha, the Hill of Skulls, geography not found in history. This hill is the ben-ben stone, the axis mundi, the center, and when it materializes it splits into paired opposites, as all things in the field of time are paired, generically rendered as good and evil, male and female, light and dark, and so on. Jesus as the story goes was stationed between two thieves, one unrepentant, Gestas, and the other, Dismus, who repented. Dismus is on the right side of Jesus while Gestus is on the left, and when this good-bad is reversed in the art, always look deeper into the meaning. This celestial image shows God or Jesus in heaven, in his majesty, surrounded by his loyal followers. I would add to this that they all must have been thieves, repentant all, because they are letting another one in, Dismus, who’s only regret is that he got caught. The reader can place his or her own truth to the story. The exoteric meaning, proffered as historical truth, comes from Matthew 6: 10: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The saints and sinner below Jesus’ feet, frequent flyers all, are the temporal rulers especially chosen to administer God’s will. And when the peasant asked the Bishop why he was in charge, he recited Matthew 6: 10, pointed at the icon and said, “You see here are all the saints who had experiences with God, and most were martyred. So there it is, proof; the saints are the witnesses.” Icons can be seen as the first snap shots in history, the difference is they reflect inner space, imagination, and mind-altering substances helped stimulate that reflection.


December 2009
by John A. Rush

Mushroom of the Month December 2009

December is a magical month representing the end of one period and entrance into another. The winter solstice, December 21, is the shortest day of the year where the sun appears to stand still in its position on the horizon for three days and then daylight lengthens thus ushering in the a new year. The winter solstice is recognized by cultures all over the world and it is not surprising that Christianity would incorporate this celestial event into its mythic storyline specifically for the purpose of synchronizing with and absorbing the competing pagan traditions. Halloween and Christmas are my favorite times of the year. Halloween is purely Celtic in origin, tolerated by the Church because they couldn’t extinguish the tradition. Halloween is perverted by Fundamentalist Christian groups who often use the haunted house as a means of demonizing sex, drugs, and the gods of other traditions. The horned god (Cernunnos, the Green Man), for example, becomes Satan or Beelzebub, and we are warned about other evils, the temptations that surround us.

Christmas, however, is an amalgam including Celtic, Egyptian, and Christian symbols. The pine tree, for example, is a symbol for St. Anna, with the roots representing Mother Mary, who nurtures the fruiting body Amanita muscaria, Jesus, the botanical trinity from which emerged what is known today as Christianity. Jesus is the gift to the world, that is, communion with God. The connection to Santa is direct, that is to say, Santa is a reflection of an older tradition, Thor or Donner, who rode around in a Golden Chariot pulled by two goats, Cracker and Gnasher, placing the gift of the god under the pine tree. The true gift was communion with God. The frequent flyer was the shaman, the stand-in for the god just as the early Christian saints, who shared his gift with those who were good during the year. Bad children, as the fairytales inform, were placed in ovens or boiled in cauldrons, or perhaps for lesser offences given a lump of coal. In the early Christian cults those who confessed their sins and answered the parables (understood the mystery) were worthy of the flesh of God. For the pagans, the dried mushrooms would be delivered by the shaman on the winter solstice, and because there was lots of snow around the huts, a trap door was conveniently available in the roof for easy entrance and exit. I love these stories! In any case, the Christmas story and the story of Santa bringing gifts are one and the same. The true gift, however, was shared among the pagans but restricted for the Christians. You won’t find too many images of Santa outside Christian churches, but many still display echoes of the pagan god in the form of candy canes, Christmas trees, and associated ornaments. The manger scene, I might add, comes from the Egyptian tradition.

The birth of Jesus is symbolic of the birth of the Catholic Church and an expansion of the constructed storyline once it gained political acceptance through Constantine. Constantine needed allies rather than sectarian strife. Through the efforts of Eusebius of Caesarea (cir. 263-339 CE) the life and times of Jesus was shamelessly constructed. Jesus, who cannot be found in history, was made real through forgery and debate and probably the destruction of priceless documents not conforming to the Church’s quest for unification. There can be no doubt about the forgeries, actions unnecessary if Jesus was a real person healing the sick and bringing people back to life far and wide and known to all.

Jesus has many enemies for his truth is dangerous, so dangerous that even the Church had to suppress the original message if they were to gain political merit. His truth is human decency and this does not set will with people in power. Those who would eradicate human decency, redefined by the Church for their own ends, are characterized as evil and this evil goes by many names, for example, Satan, Devil, and my favorite, Beelzebub. Beelzebub is an old Canaanite god shared by the Hebrew (also a Canaanite tribe) and translates as Lord of the Flies. The connection to Jesus can only be understood through the behavior of flies and how that insect relates to Amanita species. In the first image below notice the fly on Jesus’ right leg, Mother Mary is pointing to it, while Jesus holds a transparent globe in his hand and appears to be looking up and past Mother Mary. According to St. Melito, bishop of Sardis dating to the late second century, the fly was a symbol of the devil, Beelzebub, Lucifer. The fly is sometime characterized as temptation or gluttony, but at the very least, evil. But there may be another meaning, for it could be seen as a botanical evil—flies crawl up the stalk of the mushroom (Jesus’ leg) and lay their eggs in the gills. When the maggots hatch they consume the mushroom and its life’s force. In the second image we see a similar motif. Mary is looking at the fly while Baby Jesus clutches a bird, a dove, unusual in its brown and white color. The dove has its wings spread and Jesus is holding tightly as if he and the dove are one. The dove is a messenger, and Jesus is the message, the path to illumination and everlasting life. Jesus is also wearing the cruciform nimbus with dots, another analogue of the mushroom. His right eye appears to be looking at the fly and his left at Mary’s left hand while she pulls him away from evil. Turned upside down the pillow becomes the mushroom cap while the stalk is formed by his buttux and right thigh. Amanita msucaria is also known as Fly Argaric or Fly Mushroom.

Jesus and Santa both bring knowledge to the world through communion with the god, a sacred event. So, this Christmas, as in Christmas past, place the gift that keeps giving under your tree and commune with the deity or energy of choice—“Give me that ol’ time religion. . . . ! “

 

January 2010
by John A. Rush

Priests need something to do and one of their duties involves honoring numerous saints, some recognizable in history, others constructed for absorbing gods and goddesses from other traditions, filling gaps in the storyline, and certainly to reinforce a martyr mentality and absolute faith in the storyline. Those who give their life to God gain merit.
    Much of the New Testament (1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, etc.) is attributed to Paul, the lesser apostle, who has no historical visibility. By looking at the grammatical structure and stock phrases biblical scholars tell us they were penned by the same hand and therefore celestial logic informs it must be Paul’s. Some scholars maintain his historicity because the priest poets tell us that Clement of Rome said so around 96 CE The problem with this “history” is that we only have the word of priest poets, with a political agenda, who heard these stories from others who heard them from still others, that people like Paul, or St. Clement for that matter, existed outside of someone’s imagination. In my opinion mush of what we know as the New Testament was pulled together during the fourth and fifth centuries from earlier rites and rituals (e.g., The Gospel of Thomas, Pistis Sophia, etc.) that lacked storyline or history of the main players. Through political necessity and the efforts of Eusebius of Cesaria (see Rush, J. Failed God, 2008) the New Testament was constructed, voted on, and proffered as historical fact. This is why much of the New Testament is written in a similar style; it was probably written by the same hand, sometime between 312 and 420 CE, and that “same hand” is likely that of St. Jerome (or someone like him) who “pulled” this together as “his” version (Latin or Vulgate Bible) sometime between 400 and 420 CE One is lead to believe that the books of the New Testament were lying around since the mid-first century, located, translated into Latin, and then bound together as a book without additions and subtractions, rewrites, peer review, and so on. This is highly unlikely.
    In any case, who was St. Paul? As the storyline goes, he was a Jew with little respect for women (misogynist), tent maker, and guilt ridden homosexual who actively persecuted Christians. In Acts 9: 1-8 we read:
But Paul, threatening with every breath and eager to destroy every Christian, went to the High Priest in Jerusalem.
He requested a letter addressed to synagogues in Damascus, requiring their cooperation in the persecution of any believers he found there, both men and women, so that he could bring them in chains to Jerusalem.
 As he was nearing Damascus on this mission, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven spotted down upon him!
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ``Paul! Paul! Why are you persecuting me?''
``Who is speaking, sir?'' Paul asked. And the voice replied, ``I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!
Now get up and go into the city and await my further instructions.''
The men with Paul stood speechless with surprise, for they heard the sound of someone's voice but saw no one!
As Paul picked himself up off the ground, he found that he was blind. He had to be led into Damascus and was there three days, blind, going without food and water all that time.

    Paul is going from one place to another, and during the “trip” he is struck blind by God after which he converts to Christianity and becomes the “lesser apostle.” Being “struck blind” is symbolic of going from one sensory or reality state to another, like when the light bulb comes on. Many are struck blind by truth, only to recover with a different perspective. For example, when you first learned that Santa was an idea and attitude, and not a magical man in a red suit flying around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, delivering presents to all god boys and girls—that was a shock; Christmas is never quite the same. Being informed that Jesus is a mushroom represents that same type of shock resulting in disbelief and anger, maintained in many cases even in the face of overwhelming evidence (cognitive dissonance) to the contrary. Paul poetically was blinded by his anti-Christian hate (guilt, hate of self) and unable to experience the true nature of God (love, compassion), but emerges from this experience converted, a true believer.  So, how did this conversion, celebrated on January 25, take place, or was Paul’s experience simply a psychotic split from reality? Again, we are not talking history and the historical existence of Paul, so this isn’t psychosis. Instead we need to look at the message behind the image, behind the adventure attributed to this interesting player in the construction of Christianity. All saints were inspired by God, a personification, and there can be little doubt regarding the identity of the Jewish and Christian God. This deity is the Fiery Bush that Moses encountered one fine afternoon; this is Fiery Hathor and the Aten sun disk in the Egyptian tradition; this is the Teacher of Righteousness, the Holy Mushroom.
    The following icon is entitled, The Vision of St. Paul, and comes from the North Deacons Door, originally at the Cathedral of the Annunciation, Solvychegodsk, Russia (c. 1579). Here we see Christ in Majesty, doing the hokey-pokey with a mushroom, disguised as a book, on his left knee; beneath the book there is a mushroom-shape in the sash. He is flanked by Mary on the left and John the Baptist on the right. We see mushrooms with stalks in the angel’s stole and in the stole or cape of St. Paul. The roof structures are also of interest seeing that the angels are emerging from several to do God’s bidding. St. Paul is flanked by a red burning “bush” (mushroom analogue) on his left, and blue (Psilocybin?) and red bush (Amanita?) on his right, which further emphasize the importance of the mushroom in this image. Icons are usually not signed, I’m told, because they are inspired by God. Thus, to sign the icon would be a form of celestial plagiarism, unless of course, it is the signature of God, the mushroom.

Jan 2010


February 2010
by John A. Rush



In Catholicism there are many saints, many personalities, and many possibilities. The month of February, or The Month of the Passion of Our Lord, is a tribute to the martyrs of Christ, symbolically rendered in portions of the Catholic Mass, informing that holding true to the myth of the Sacrifice even in the face of death translates as the highest level of merit in heaven. There are several paths to sainthood, and the most dependable method is to actively seek the experience of martyrdom. This, or course, usually involves challenging the politic in some manner great or small in the name of the deity. Islamic homicide bombers truly believe they will be highly praised by il Liah (Allah), the Moon-God of War, with rewards that include 72 virgins and cold beer (without the hangover). Celestial rewards in Islam are an appeal to our animal nature, that is, clinging to life, sex and food to sustain life, and recognition by other group members.

Christianity, on the other side, did not emerge as a conquest tradition, and, contrary to Islam, surfaced as a rejection of our animal nature and all terrestrial things. Early Christian beliefs and practices represent psychological protection for people living a miserable existence without power or influence. This rejection of our animal nature is reflected in a heaven with no earthly delights—no clinging to life, no sex or caloric food, and no concern about status because you are in perpetual ecstasy contemplating God. The image below is a wonderful example of this otherworldly, serene paradise where absolutely nothing is happening. In Islam, heaven is party time, at least for the men. I’m not sure what women get, other than the privilege to service men. In Islam the terrestrial fear of female energy translates to the celestial realm.

Many of the early saints had experiences that turn them totally inward. As you recall (January 2010) Paul is struck blind by God on the road to Damascus and becomes an aggressive true believer, who is then martyred (decapitated) thus opening the door to his sainthood. Some saints, however, did not reportedly perform miraculous or noteworthy service outside unyielding faith in the Lord. These saints symbolize the average person promising if you are a true believer you can likewise reach sainthood. Such a case is Dorothy (c. 300 CE) who is celebrated on February 6. Dorothy, as the story goes, was a born Christian who refused to pay homage to the gods during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. She was tortured numerous times, and ridiculed by a writer named Theophillus. But, at the moment of her beheading, she prayed and an angel descended from heaven with a basket of roses and apples which were presented to Theophillus. Angels bring the conduit to prophecy and ecstasy, manna, not terrestrial apples or roses. In any case, Theophillus apparently converted on the spot, and was martyred shortly thereafter, another analogue of the mushroom. The image below is entitled, The Little Garden of Paradise, or The Virgin Mary in a Walled Garden with Saints (Master of the Frankfurt, c. 1410 CE). Let’s consider some of the symbols connected to this image.

First, Theophillus translates as “beloved of God” or “friend of God,” an honorary title, so we are instructed. Dorothy means “gift of God.” Apples (as well as quinces, pomegranates, and figs) are analogs of the mushroom, while the rose can point in several directions. Remember Christian art does not represent the secular world; these are not pictures but a representation of celestial geography which can only be imagined. What you see is not what you get.

Then there are the roses (sometimes five-petal) which, in Christian art, are white, yellow, and red, with white representing purity, yellow and gold perfection, and red a symbol of martyrdom. But the symbolism goes way beyond this. The rose is analogous to the lotus, octopus, cornucopia, and Grail. A rose without thorns is said to have grown in the Garden of Eden (mushrooms don’t have thorns). In the image below we see the Virgin Mary in the center of a walled garden reading a “book” (see The Mushroom in Christian Art for an extended interpretation of the book). The walled garden, as some scholars suggest, represents Mary’s virginity, but that’s not what this is. This is the garden of ecstasy, not a garden that has any connection with carnal acts.

To the left is Dorothy picking apples and placing them into the vase/chalice (on her left) symbolic of that (womb) which brings forth everlasting life (mushroom, Jesus). Surrounding the periphery and foreground are flowers including lilies on the far right representing Mary’s purity, but not purity in a carnal sense. Instead this is pure thought devoid of all terrestrial suggestion; this is deep meditation, or as the Buddhists would say, “stopping of the mind stuff.” Red roses to the right and above the tree represent the Passion, the blue iris above the offering table is symbolic of Mary and Isis of the Egyptian tradition, and strawberries below the table are considered the “food of the blessed,” heaven, another analogue of the mushroom. There are also lilies of the valley (chastity, i.e. nothing is happening) to the right of the well; this is not about carnal things. And then there are carnations (Dianthus or “God’s flower”) to the left of the apple tree. These symbols point 180 degrees away from our animal nature.

Flanking Mary on the right is a “table” symbolic of Golgotha as indicated by the small skull on the ground to the left. On the table is a cup encrusted with jewels above which is a flat dish with “apples” (mushroom cap?), while to the right are Amanita mushrooms clearly showing stalks pointing up. I am told these are apple cores or even cherries, but there is no one in heaven to eat these fruits; they eat the Food of God. You decide. In the bottom left is St. Barbara (c. 300 CE - excommunicated from sainthood in 1969 because she, like Jesus, has absolutely no historical visibility) drawing water from a well, symbolic of transmutation. Barbara means “foreign woman” or “stranger.” St. Barbara, I might add, is the patron saint of miners who work with explosives! (I’m surprised the Islamic terrorists haven’t invited Barbara into their celestial fold.) The story of St. Barbara is a play on the Rapunzel-in-the-tower caper for in both the father claims to pretect his daughter from the evils on the outside, Christianity in the former and men (sex) in the latter. Barbara had converted to Christianity and as a sign of rebellion or challenge to the prevailing politic had three windows (instead of two ordered by Daddy) installed in her protective prison as a sign of the Trinity. When Dioscorus returned home she admitted her conversion. Daddy Dioscorus then stabbed her to death, but she was whisked away to a pasture with two shepherds tending sheep, and noticing the materialization and restoration were told by a bevy of angels to keep the event secret. Dioscorus pursues his daughter and encounters the shepherds, one of which cops to Barbara’s whereabouts, and of course was immediately turned to stone. Because of her unyielding faith Barbara was returned to life, but brought back to town, only to be repeatedly cut and tortured. By morning, however, all her wounds would heal. She was finally beheaded—by her father! He in turn was struck by a bolt of lightning and vaporized. Dioscorus, I might add, translates as “Son of Zeus,” a reference to the pagan traditions and vain attempts to kill Christian faith. Martyrdom usually requires decapitation which translates into removing the mushroom cap from the stalk; all these early saints are analogues of the mushroom path. This is an unusual story and the points of interest are Barbara’s ability to self-heal but not if her head is removed, possibly a reference to the part of the mushroom sacrificed, the cap, while the stalk is discarded, and the name Dioscorus, a reference to the pagan traditions.

Catherine of Alexandria (bottom center) is seated with Jesus who plays a lyre (interesting shape and color). Catherine (c.290 CE), meaning “pure,” attempted to convert Emperor Maximinus and for her efforts was condemned to death, broken on the wheel. However, she touched the wheel and it fell to pieces, so she was beheaded. Beheading, again, is analogous to removing the stalk from the cap. There is no historical visibility for Catherine but the Church still keeps her on the payroll.

Clinging to the tree on the right is Oswald. Oswald has an interesting history creating a cult following on the Scottish isle of Ione and dying (642 CE) in a battle with the pagan King of Mercia. He is usually dressed in royal attire holding a box-like vessel which contains anointing oil brought to him by a raven (a play on the Elijah and raven story); here, in ecstasy, he leans against the tree.

Oswald looks down upon the archangel Michael who keeps a sleepy eye on the devil by his knee. The other image is St. George, in back of which is a small dragon, asleep, on his back behaving himself and of little concern at the moment—nothing is happening. Let’s put some of these symbols together.

Mary sits next to the offering table, symbolizing the cross on Golgotha, evidenced by the skull. On the table is the chalice, the receptacle of everlasting life. Above is a platter, most likely an analogue of the mushroom cap, and Amanita mushrooms on their cap (once “picked” they can’t easily stand on their stalks), the sacrifice. Dorothy picks apples from a tree and places them in a large vessel symbolizing Jesus and her own sacrifice. Barbara, on the other hand, apportions the waters of everlasting life—a possible reference to urine drinking. Catherine sits with Jesus who plays the song of the universe (the buzz), while Oswald leans on the tree as no one is in need of anointing oils at the moment; all are in ecstasy. Michael and George look bored with an otherworldly gaze because nothing is happening. This scene speaks to the sacrifice of the Holy Mushroom and its many analogues. In this sense Dorothy, Barbara, and Catherine likewise represent the mushroom as they were pure (virgins) and, like Jesus, sacrificed. Also, they have no historical visibility. So this is the Garden of Tranquility, a singularity, where the sacrifice has been made and good and evil are contemplating the next round, waiting for Jesus, the Holy Mushroom, to mature and take his place as the ultimate martyr in the field of time, the cycle of life, death, and return.

Feb2010

Coming in 2010:

The Mushroom in Christian Art

by John A. Rush

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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

  • Paperback: 420 pages
  • Publisher: North Atlantic Books, Frog Ltd. (March 2010)
  • Language: English
  • Color Photos: 200
  • Available: March 2010

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John A. Rush, PhD

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