The Road to Eleusis (Paperback)

R. Gordon Wasson

ISBN 10: 1556437528 / ISBN 13: 9781556437526

Published by North Atlantic Books,U.S., Berkeley, CA, 2008

About this Item

Paperback. ".one of the two best kept secrets in history, and this book is the most successful attempt I know to unlock it. . A historical tour de force."--Huston Smith, author of The World's ReligionsThe first popular edition of an underground classic on entheogens and spirituality that reconciles nature and human civilization by rediscovering the very roots of Western religious experience cloaked in an ancient mystery.Unlock the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries: A deep exploration of secret rites, psychedelic sacraments, and spiritual revelations that captivated ancient Greek society for nearly two millennia.Uncover the evocative history of The Road to Eleusis. Once held in hushed whispers, the Eleusinian Mysteries were a series of secret rituals and initiations in honor of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone. They stood as an enigmatic cornerstone of ancient Greek spirituality, capturing imaginations and fevered intrigue for close to two millennia. But beneath the veils of tradition and ceremony lay a potent secret.First unveiled in this book's controversial 1978 release, a groundbreaking trio-a mycologist, chemist, and historian-proposed a radical theory: the sacred potion imbibed during these clandestine rites was infused with a potent, psychoactive entheogen. This was not just a challenge to conventional interpretations: it was a revolutionary reframe of the role that naturally occurring psychedelic drugs have played in spiritual rituals and rites since time immemorial.The Road to Eleusis goes beyond dissecting ancient rites: it charts how the authors reshaped our modern understanding of entheogens' role in spiritual ceremony, revealing facets of the Mysteries previously thought lost to history. The authors share intriguing new insights on experiential religious practices, perspectives on the healing potential of psychedelics, and how-and why-the secrets of the Mysteries were deliberately concealed. The book's revelations reach beyond the scholarly into legal, social, and spiritual realms-all while recasting everything we thought we knew about the rites and rituals of Hellenic cults and expanding our understanding of foundational tenets of Western philosophical and spiritual thought.This 30th-anniversary edition brings with it an enlightening preface by religious luminary Huston Smith and a renewed exploration of the chemical findings by Peter Webster. It powerfully argues for a reimagining of Western religious history and the transformative magic of entheogens. Argues that the famed Mysteries conducted at Eleusis in Greece for a period of nearly two millennia in antiquity entailed psychoactive substances in a ritual context. This book is suitable for open-minded students of earth-based spiritual practices. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781556437526

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Road to Eleusis (Paperback)
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books,U.S., Berkeley, CA
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1556437528
• ISBN 13: 9781556437526
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The secretive Mysteries conducted at Eleusis in Greece for nearly two millennia have long puzzled scholars with strange accounts of initiates experiencing otherworldly journeys. In this groundbreaking work, three experts--a mycologist, a chemist, and a historian--argue persuasively that the sacred potion given to participants in the course of the ritual contained a psychoactive entheogen. The authors then expand the discussion to show that natural psychedelic agents have been used in spiritual rituals across history and cultures. Although controversial when first published in 1978, the book's hypothesis has become more widely accepted in recent years, as knowledge of ethnobotany has deepened. The authors have played critical roles in the modern rediscovery of entheogens, and The Road to Eleusis presents an authoritative exposition of their views. The book's themes of the universality of experiential religion, the suppression of that knowledge by exploitative forces, and the use of psychedelics to reconcile the human and natural worlds make it a fascinating and timely read. This 30th anniversary edition includes an appreciative preface by religious scholar Huston Smith and an updated exploration of the chemical evidence by Peter Webster.

About the Author

R. Gordon Wasson (1898--1986) was a pioneer investigator of sacred indigenous mushroom rituals in Mexico in the 1950s. Albert Hofmann, the famed chemist who discovered the curious properties of LSD in 1943, recently celebrated his 100th birthday in Switzerland. Carl A. P. Ruck, an expert on ancient Greek ethnobotany, lives in Massachusetts.