Persephone’s Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion

Description

This fascinating book discusses the role played by psychoactive mushrooms in the religious rituals of ancient Greece, Eurasia, and Mesoamerica. R. Gordon Wasson, an internationally known ethnomycologist who was one of the first to investigate how these mushrooms were venerated and employed by different native peoples, here joins with three other scholars to discuss the evidence for his discoveries about these fungi, which he has called entheogens, or “god generated within.” Author R.

Gordon Wasson, Stella Kramrisch, Jonathan Ott, Carl A.P. Ruck Author Info R. Gordon Wasson was an American banker and ethnomycologist who pioneered the study of psychoactive mushrooms in indigenous rituals, notably introducing the Mazatec use of Psilocybe mushrooms to the Western world.

Stella Kramrisch was an Austrian-born art historian and Indologist renowned for her scholarship on Indian temple architecture and the symbolic cosmology of Hinduism. Jonathan Ott is an American ethnobotanist and writer known for coining the term “entheogen” and for his extensive work on psychoactive plants and their cultural significance. Carl A.

P. Ruck is a classical scholar and professor who has explored the use of entheogens in ancient Greek religion, notably co-authoring work on the Eleusinian Mysteries and the sacramental use of kykeon. ISBN-13 978-0300052664 Publisher Yale University Press Publication Date July 29, 1992 Edition Revised Binding Paperback Condition New Page Count 257 Pages