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Evokation
  
 
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A

MAZE

IN

ZAZAZA ENTER ZAZAZA

ZAZAZAZAZAZAZAAZAZAZAZAZAZAZ

ZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZAZ

THE

MAGIKALALPHABET

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262625242322212019181716151413121110987654321

 

 

WORK DAYS OF GOD

Herbert W Morris D.D.circa 1883

Page 22

"As all the words in the English language are composed out of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet,.."

 

 

LIGHT AND LIFE

Lars Olof Bjorn 1976

Page 197

"By writing the 26 letters of the alphabet in a certain order one may put down almost any message (this book 'is written with the same letters' as the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Winnie the Pooh, only the order of the letters differs). In the same way Nature is able to convey with her language how a cell and a whole organism is to be constructed and how it is to function. Nature has succeeded better than we humans; for the genetic code there is only one universal language which is the same in a man, a bean plant and a bacterium."

"BY WRITING THE 26 LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET IN A CERTAIN ORDER

ONE MAY PUT DOWN ALMOST ANY MESSAGE"

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
I
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
9
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
ME
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
9
18
9
18
9
18
9
18
9
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
=
9
=
9
=
9
=
9
=
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
1
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
1

 

 

"BY WRITING THE 26 LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET IN A CERTAIN ORDER

ONE MAY PUT DOWN ALMOST ANY MESSAGE"

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

 

 

A

HISTORY OF GOD

Karen Armstrong

The God of the Mystics

Page 250

"(The Book of Creation). There is no attempt to describe the creative process realistically; the account is unashamedly symbolic and shows God creating the world by means of language as though he were writing a book. But language has been entirely transformed and the message of creation is no longer clear. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is given a numerical value; by combining the letters with the sacred numbers, rearranging them in endless configurations, the mystic weaned his mind away from the normal connotations of words."  

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
I
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
9
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
ME
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
 =
=
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
9
18
9
18
9
18
9
18
9
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
1+8
=
=
9
=
9
=
9
=
9
=
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
1
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
I
ME
1

 

 

THERE IS NO ATTEMPT MADE TO DESCRIBE THE CREATIVE PROCESS REALISTICALLY

THE ACCOUNT IS SYMBOLIC AND SHOWS GOD CREATING THE WORLD BY MEANS OF LANGUAGE

AS THOUGH WRITING A BOOK BUT LANGUAGE ENTIRELY TRANSFORMED

THE MESSAGE OF CREATION IS CLEAR EACH LETTER OF

THE

ALPHABET

IS

GIVEN

A

NUMERICAL

VALUE BY COMBINING THE LETTERS WITH THE SACRED NUMBERS

REARRANGING THEM IN ENDLESS CONFIGURATIONS

THE MYSTIC WEANED THE MIND AWAY FROM THE NORMAL CONNOTATIONS OF WORDS

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

 

 

FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

A QUEST FOR THE BEGINNING AND THE END

Graham Hancock 1995

Chapter 32

Speaking to the Unborn

Page 285

"It is understandable that a huge range of myths from all over the ancient world should describe geological catastrophes in graphic detail. Mankind survived the horror of the last Ice Age, and the most plausible source for our enduring traditions of flooding and freezing, massive volcanism and devastating earthquakes is in the tumultuous upheavals unleashed during the great meltdown of 15,000 to 8000 BC. The final retreat of the ice sheets, and the consequent 300-400 foot rise in global sea levels, took place only a few thousand years before the beginning of the historical period. It is therefore not surprising that all our early civilizations should have retained vivid memories of the vast cataclysms that had terrified their forefathers.
Much harder to explain is the peculiar but distinctive way the myths of cataclysm seem to bear the intelligent imprint of a guiding hand.l Indeed the degree of convergence between such ancient stories is frequently remarkable enough to raise the suspicion that they must all have been 'written' by the same 'author'.
Could that author have had anything to do with the wondrous deity, or superhuman, spoken of in so many of the myths we have reviewed, who appears immediately after the world has been shattered by a horrifying geological catastrophe and brings comfort and the gifts of civilization to the shocked and demoralized survivors?
White and bearded, Osiris is the Egyptian manifestation of this / Page 286 / universal figure, and it may not be an accident that one of the first acts he is remembered for in myth is the abolition of cannibalism among the primitive inhabitants of the Nile Valley.2 Viracocha, in South America, was said to have begun his civilizing mission immediately after a great flood; Quetzalcoatl, the discoverer of maize, brought the benefits of crops, mathematics, astronomy and a refined culture to Mexico after the Fourth Sun had been overwhelmed by a destroying deluge.
Could these strange myths contain a record of encounters between scattered palaeolithic tribes which survived the last Ice Age and an as yet unidentified high civilization which passed through the same epoch?
And could the myths be attempts to communicate?

A message in the bottle of time"

'Of all the other stupendous inventions,' Galileo once remarked,

what sublimity of mind must have been his who conceived how to communicate his most secret thoughts to any other person, though very distant either in time or place, speaking with those who are in the Indies, speaking to those who are not yet born, nor shall be this thousand or ten thousand years? And with no greater difficulty than the various arrangements of two dozen little signs on paper? Let this be the seal of all the admirable inventions of men.3

If the 'precessional message' identified by scholars like Santillana, von Dechend and Jane Sellers is indeed a deliberate attempt at communication by some lost civilization of antiquity, how come it wasn't just written down and left for us to find? Wouldn't that have been easier than encoding it in myths? Perhaps.
Nevertheless, suppose that whatever the message was written on got destroyed or worn away after many thousands of years? Or suppose that the language in which it was inscribed was later forgotten utterly (like the enigmatic Indus Valley script, which has been studied closely for more than half a century but has so far resisted all attempts at decoding)? It must be obvious that in such circumstances a written / Page 287 / legacy to the future would be of no value at all, because nobody would be able to make sense of it.
What one would look for, therefore, would be a universal language, the kind of language that would be comprehensible to any technologically advanced society in any epoch, even a thousand or ten thousand years into the future. Such languages are few and far between, but mathematics is one of them - and the city of Teotihuacan may be the calling-card of a lost civilization written in the eternal language of mathematics.
Geodetic data, related to the exact positioning of fixed geographical points and to the shape and size of the earth, would also remain valid and recognizable for tens of thousands of years, and might be most conveniently expressed by means of cartography (or in the construction of giant geodetic monuments like the Great Pyramid of Egypt, as we shall see).
Another 'constant' in our solar system is the language of time: the great but regular intervals of time calibrated by the inch-worm creep of precessional motion. Now, or ten thousand years in the future, a message that prints out numbers like 72 or 2160 or 4320 or 25,920 should be instantly intelligible to any civilization that has evolved a modest talent for mathematics and the ability to detect and measure the almost imperceptible reverse wobble that the sun appears to make along the ecliptic against the background of the fixed stars..."

"What one would look for, therefore, would be a universal language, the kind of language that would be comprehensible to any technologically advanced society in any epoch, even a thousand or ten thousand years into the future. Such languages are few and far between, but mathematics is one of them"

"WRITTEN IN THE ETERNAL LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS"

 

 

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

 

 

 

 

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1+0
1+1
1+2
1+3
1+4
1+5
1+6
1+7
1+8
1+9
2+0
2+1
2+2
2+3
2+4
2+5
2+6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

 

 

GODS AND SPACEMEN IN THE ANCIENT EAST

W. Raymond Drake 1968

New evidence on the unexplained mysteries of civilization in the ancient East

Page 124

"it is said that in the ancient Egyptian language OS-IRIDE meant 'mouth of the iris'168 or 'the voice of the light..."

 

 

THE LOST LANGUAGE OF SYMBOLISM

Harold Bayley 1912

Page 278

""According to the authors of The Perfect Way, the words IS and ISH originally meant Light, and the name ISIS, once ISH-ISH, was Egyptian for Light-Light."

 

6
ISH-ISH
72
36
9
4
ISHI
45
36
9

 

Page 278

"ONE-EYE, TWO-EYES, THREE-EYES"

"According to the authors of The Perfect Way, the words IS and ISH originally meant Light, and the name ISIS, once ISH-ISH,

THE HOLY BIBLE

Scofield References

Hosea Chapter 2

Page 922/923

16

And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

 

 

AND IT SHALL BE AT THAT DAY SAITH THE LORD THAT THOU SHALT CALL ME ISHI

1+5+4 9+2 1+8+1+3+3 2+5 1+2 2+8+1+2 4+1+7 1+1+9+2+8 2+8+5 3+6+9+4 2+8+1+2 2+8+6+3 1+8+1+3+2 3+1+3+3 4+5 9+1+8+9

AND SHALL CALL ME NO MORE BAALI

1+5+4 1+8+1+3+3 3+1+3+3 4+5 5+6 4+6+9+5 2+1+1+3+9

AND IT SHALL BE AT THAT DAY SAITH THE LORD THAT THOU SHALT CALL ME ISHI

AND SHALL CALL ME NO MORE BAALI

 

 

-
ISHI
-
-
-
1
I
9
9
9
2
S+H
27
9
9
1
I
9
9
9
4
ISHI
36
27
27
-
-
3+6
2+7
2+7
4
ISHI
9
9
9

 

And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi;

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
-
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
B
=
2
-
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
A
=
1
-
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
D
=
4
-
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
L
=
3
-
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
-
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
47
-
56
First Total
601
223
70
-
3
2
9
12
5
12
14
8
18
-
-
4+7
-
5+6
Add to Reduce
6+0+1
2+2+3
7+0
-
-
-
-
1+2
-
1+2
1+4
-
1+8
-
-
11
-
11
Second Total
7
7
7
-
3
2
9
3
5
3
5
8
9
-
-
1+1
-
1+1
Reduce to Deduce
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
-
2
Essence of Number
7
7
7
-
3
2
9
3
5
3
5
8
9

 

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
6
7
9
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
-
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
B
=
2
-
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
A
=
1
-
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
D
=
4
-
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
L
=
3
-
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
-
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
47
-
56
First Total
601
223
70
-
3
2
9
12
12
14
18
-
-
4+7
-
5+6
Add to Reduce
6+0+1
2+2+3
7+0
-
-
-
-
1+2
1+2
1+4
1+8
-
-
11
-
11
Second Total
7
7
7
-
3
2
9
3
3
5
9
-
-
1+1
-
1+1
Reduce to Deduce
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
-
2
Essence of Number
7
7
7
-
3
2
9
3
3
5
9

 

 

and shalt call me no more Baali.

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
N
=
5
-
2
NO
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
4
MORE
51
24
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
B
=
2
-
5
BAALI
25
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
-
20
-
25
Add to Reduce
230
95
32
-
2
2
3
4
5
12
7
8
9
-
-
2+0
-
2+5
Reduce to Deduce
2+3+0
2+2+3
3+2
-
-
-
-
-
-
1+2
-
-
-
-
-
2
-
7
Essence of Number
5
5
5
-
2
2
3
4
5
3
7
8
9

 

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
-
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
B
=
2
-
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
A
=
1
-
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
D
=
4
-
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
L
=
3
-
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
-
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
47
-
56
-
601
223
70
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
N
=
5
-
2
NO
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
-
4
MORE
51
24
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
B
=
2
-
5
BAALI
25
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
-
20
-
25
-
230
95
32
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
67
-
81
First Total
831
318
102
-
5
4
9
12
5
24
21
8
27
-
-
6+7
-
8+1
Add to Reduce
8+3+1
3+1+8
1+0+2
-
-
-
-
1+2
-
2+4
2+1
-
2+7
-
-
13
-
9
Second Total
12
12
12
-
5
4
9
3
5
6
3
8
9
-
-
1+3
-
-
Reduce to Deduce
1+2
1+2
1+2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
9
Essence of Number
3
3
3
-
5
4
9
3
5
6
3
8
9

 

 

THE HOLY BIBLE

Scofield References

Hosea Chapter 2

Page 922/923

16

And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.

 

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
A
=
1
1
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
2
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
3
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
B
=
2
4
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
A
=
1
5
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
6
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
D
=
4
7
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
8
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
9
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
L
=
3
10
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
11
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
12
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
13
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
14
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
15
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
16
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
A
=
1
17
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
18
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
C
=
3
19
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
20
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
N
=
5
21
2
NO
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
22
4
MORE
51
24
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
B
=
2
23
5
BAALI
25
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
-
67
-
81
First Total
831
318
102
-
5
4
9
12
5
24
21
8
27
-
-
6+7
-
8+1
Add to Reduce
8+3+1
3+1+8
1+0+2
-
-
-
-
1+2
-
2+4
2+1
-
2+7
-
-
13
-
9
Second Total
12
12
12
-
5
4
9
3
5
6
3
8
9
-
-
1+3
-
-
Reduce to Deduce
1+2
1+2
1+2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
9
Essence of Number
3
3
3
-
5
4
9
3
5
6
3
8
9

 

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
6
7
9
A
=
1
1
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
2
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
3
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
B
=
2
4
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
A
=
1
5
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
6
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
D
=
4
7
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
8
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
9
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
L
=
3
10
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
T
=
2
11
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
T
=
2
12
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
13
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
C
=
3
14
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
15
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
16
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
A
=
1
17
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
18
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
C
=
3
19
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
20
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
N
=
5
21
2
NO
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
M
=
4
22
4
MORE
51
24
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
B
=
2
23
5
BAALI
25
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
67
-
81
First Total
831
318
102
-
5
4
9
12
24
21
27
-
-
6+7
-
8+1
Add to Reduce
8+3+1
3+1+8
1+0+2
-
-
-
-
1+2
2+4
2+1
2+7
-
-
13
-
9
Second Total
12
12
12
-
5
4
9
3
6
3
9
-
-
1+3
-
-
Reduce to Deduce
1+2
1+2
1+2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
9
Essence of Number
3
3
3
-
5
4
9
3
6
3
9

 

 

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
2
3
4
6
7
9
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THOU
64
19
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
A
=
1
-
3
AND
19
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
C
=
3
-
4
CALL
28
10
1
-
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
I
=
9
-
2
IT
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
N
=
5
-
2
NO
29
11
2
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SAITH
57
21
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
A
=
1
-
2
AT
21
3
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
D
=
4
-
3
DAY
30
12
3
-
-
-
3
-
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
L
=
3
-
4
LORD
49
22
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
T
=
2
-
4
THAT
49
13
4
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALT
60
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
T
=
2
-
3
THE
33
15
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
M
=
4
-
4
MORE
51
24
6
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
S
=
1
-
5
SHALL
52
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
B
=
2
-
2
BE
7
7
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
B
=
2
-
5
BAALI
25
16
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
I
=
9
-
4
ISHI
45
27
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
M
=
4
-
2
ME
18
9
9
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
67
-
81
First Total
831
318
102
-
5
4
9
12
24
21
27
-
-
6+7
-
8+1
Add to Reduce
8+3+1
3+1+8
1+0+2
-
-
-
-
1+2
2+4
2+1
2+7
-
-
13
-
9
Second Total
12
12
12
-
5
4
9
3
6
3
9
-
-
1+3
-
-
Reduce to Deduce
1+2
1+2
1+2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
9
Essence of Number
3
3
3
-
5
4
9
3
6
3
9

 

 

-
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
9
1
+
=
11
1+1
=
2
=
2
=
2
-
`-
-
-
-
-
19
9
19
+
=
47
4+7
=
11
1+1
2
=
2
-
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
3
5
3
-
-
-
+
=
16
1+6
=
7
=
7
=
7
-
`-
5
12
5
21
-
-
-
+
=
43
4+3
=
7
=
7
=
7
--
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
`-
5
12
5
21
19
9
19
+
=
90
9+0
=
9
=
9
=
9
-
-
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
+
=
27
2+7
=
9
=
9
=
9
-
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
1
-
-
1
occurs
x
2
=
2
=
2
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
3
occurs
x
2
=
6
=
6
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
--
5
-
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
occurs
x
2
=
10
1+0
1
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
-
9
occurs
x
1
=
9
=
9
27
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
18
-
-
7
-
27
-
18
2+7
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
-
1+8
-
-
-
-
2+7
-
1+8
9
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
9
-
-
7
-
9
-
9

 

 

7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
9
1
+
=
11
1+1
=
2
=
2
=
2
`-
-
-
-
-
19
9
19
+
=
47
4+7
=
11
1+1
2
=
2
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
3
5
3
-
-
-
+
=
16
1+6
=
7
=
7
=
7
`-
5
12
5
21
-
-
-
+
=
43
4+3
=
7
=
7
=
7
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
`-
5
12
5
21
19
9
19
+
=
90
9+0
=
9
=
9
=
9
-
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
+
=
27
2+7
=
9
=
9
=
9
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
1
-
-
1
occurs
x
2
=
2
=
2
-
-
3
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
3
occurs
x
2
=
6
=
6
--
5
-
5
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
occurs
x
2
=
10
1+0
1
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
-
9
occurs
x
1
=
9
=
9
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
18
-
-
7
-
27
-
18
-
-
-
-
-
-
9
-
-
-
1+8
-
-
-
-
2+7
-
1+8
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
9
-
-
7
-
9
-
9

 

 

7
ELEUSIS
-
-
-
-
E+L+E+U+S
62
17
8
-
I
9
9
9
-
S
19
10
1
7
ELEUSIS
90
36
18
-
-
9+0
3+6
1+8
7
ELEUSIS
9
9
9

 

 

7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
12
5
21
19
9
19
+
=
90
9+0
=
9
-
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
+
=
27
2+7
=
9
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
E
          
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
          
1
+
=
6
-
-
6
-
  
L
      
I
  
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
  
3
      
9
  
+
=
12
1+2
=
3
-
    
E
  
S
    
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
    
5
  
1
    
+
=
6
-
-
6
-
      
U
          
-
-
-
-
-
      
3
      
+
=
3
-
-
3
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
27
-
-
18
-
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
-
-
2+7
-
-
1+8
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
9
-
-
9

 

 

7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
-
-
-
-
`-
5
12
5
21
19
9
19
+
=
90
9+0
=
9
-
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
+
=
27
2+7
=
9
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
      
U
      
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
      
3
      
+
=
3
-
=
3
-
    
L
-
S
    
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
    
3
-
1
    
+
=
4
-
=
4
-
  
L
      
I
  
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
  
3
      
9
  
+
=
12
1+2
=
3
-
E
          
S
T
-
-
-
-
-
-
5
          
1
+
=
6
-
=
6
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
27
-
-
18
--
5
3
5
3
1
9
1
-
-
2+7
-
-
1+8
7
E
L
E
U
S
I
S
-
-
9
-
-
9

 

 

3
THE
33
15
6
5
FIELD
36
27
9
2
OF
21
12
3
7
ELEUSIS
90
36
9
17
Add
180
90
-
1+7
Reduce
1+8+0
9+0
-
8
Deduce
9
9
9

 

 

-
DEMETER
-
-
-
2
DE
9
9
9
2
ME
18
9
9
2
TE
25
7
7
1
R
18
18
9
7
DEMETERF
207
43
34
-
-
2+0+7
4+3
3+4
7
DEMETERF
9
7
7

 

 

-
PERSEPHONE
-
-
-
2
PE
21
12
3
1
R
18
9
9
5
SEPHO
63
27
9
2
NE
19
10
1
10
PERSEPHONE
121
58
13
1+0
-
1+2+1
5+8
1+3
7
PERSEPHONE
4
13
4

 

 

-
PERSEPHONE
-
-
-
5
PERSE
63
27
9
5
PHONE
58
31
4
10
PERSEPHONE
121
58
13
1+0
-
1+2+1
5+8
1+3
1
PERSEPHONE
4
13
4

 

 

-
PERSEPHONE
-
-
-
5
PERS
58
31
4
5
E
5
5
5
5
PHONE
58
31
4
10
PERSEPHONE
121
58
13
1+0
-
1+2+1
5+8
1+3
1
PERSEPHONE
4
13
4
-
-
-
1+3
-
1
PERSEPHONE
4
4
4

 

PERSEUS ANSWERS THAT PHONE

 

7
PERSEUS
40
13
4
10
PERSEPHONE
121
58
13
7
DEMETER
4
13
4

 

 

SUPERNATURAL

Graham Hancock 2003

For my Father Donald M. Hancock, 7 December 1924 - 16 September 2003.

Ride in green pastures

Page

"Drugs and genuine religious experiences
It is Benny Shanon's controversial view that 'all the paradig­matic characteristics of the mystical experience are encountered
with ayahuasca . . .'75 He also asks if the 'meaning and value of religious and spiritual experience induced by the ingestion of psychoactive agents' are 'comparable to the experiences of mystics attained without external agents', and replies: 'My
empirical study of ayahuasca leads me to answer with a cate­gorical "yes".'76
It may at first seem absurd that anything like a genuine reli­gious experience could be induced by activities as simple and apparently as materialistic as eating, drinking or smoking certain species of plants. But we should feel less surprised when we remember that the plants in question contain chemicals inti­mately related to brain hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. Although the neurological details are difficult to grasp, the fact is that these chemicals and others like them are intrinsic to all the functions of our brains, while our brains in turn are involved in everything we experience ­even if we choose to define some of those experiences as real and some as non-real. Whether we like it or not, in other words, and whether or not we augment them or tinker with their balance in any way, it is beyond serious dispute that these chemicals already play a fundamental role in spontaneous (i.e., non-drug-induced) religious experiences. And since such spon­taneous experiences occasioned by brain chemistry are regarded as genuine, then there is no reason why the deliberate induc­tion of the same brain chemistry with hallucinogens should result in experiences that are any less genuine.
It was for this exact reason that Aldous Huxley, who had no doubt of their mystical and religious value, often referred to hallucinogens as 'gratuitous graces'.77 Those of us reared in / Page 629 / puritanical moral climates might feel that we cannot possibly deserve something so wonderful and enlightening as a religious experience without working and suffering for it, but this is not a logical position. Besides, no matter how powerful the hallu­cinogen we may consume, the truth is that we will not have a religious experience with it unless we have prepared ourselves properly and have indeed made ourselves in some way deserving.
Huston Smith, the renowned American scholar of religions, agrees that many drug experiences may be entirely lacking in religious features: 'They can be sensual as readily as spiritual, trivial as readily as transforming, capricious as readily as sacra­mental.'78 Nevertheless he reports recent research which demon­strates that under the right circumstances with properly prepared subjects, drugs can and do induce religious experiences that are indistinguishable from such experiences that occur spontaneously. . . The way the statistics are currently running, it looks as if from one-fourth to one­third of the general population will have religious experiences if they take certain drugs under naturalistic conditions. . . Among subjects who have strong religious proclivities, the proportion of those who have religious experiences jumps to three-fourths. If such subjects take the drugs in religious settings, the percentage soars to nine out of ten.79
I feel compelled to re-emphasise at this point that my full acceptance of the role that brain chemistry plays in consciousness does not mean that I think brain chemistry causes conscious­ness or that religious experiences - whether or nor induced by hallucinogens or other means - are necessarily 'made up' in the brain. I see no evidence for such reductionism. The alternative model that I have adopted throughout this book is of the brain as a biochemical and bioelectric receiver that may be 'retuned' / Page 630 / by a variety of techniques to allow attention to be paid to other levels of reality not normally accessible to our consciousness. Those 'retuning' techniques include the use of hallucinogenic drugs combined with the skilful manipulation of the 'set' and 'setting' of participants to generate maximum sensitivity and openness on their part. so inspired by the progress that David Lewis-Williams has made cracking the visionary code of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, more and more scholars are coming to suspect that the answers to some of the greatest mysteries of antiquity may lie in further research into the role of hallucinogens in triggering spiritual experiences. It seems that very often those experiences were sought in theatrically staged subterranean settings, selected, like the caves themselves, to maximise visionary 'retuning' of the brain. Specific suggestions have been made on the basis of large bodies of convincing evidence that the reli­gions of ancient Greece, ancient India, ancient Egypt, and the ancient Maya of Central America - to name but a few - were rooted and grounded in direct spiritual experiences that the devotees themselves attained through the use of psycho active plants. If this is so, then one would expect to find many strong shamanistic traces in all of these religions.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it turns out that we do, and that in a number of cases it is even possible to identify the specific hallucinogens that were used.

The end of life and its god-sent beginning

Barely half an hour's drive outside the modern city of Athens lies the ancient shrine of Eleusis, humbled and in ruins now but once the centre of the most famous 'mystery cult' of an­tiquity, dedicated to the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The myth tells the story of Demeter's journey to the underworld / Page 631 / to claim back from death the soul of her daughter Persephone - a shamanic mission that honours the forces of life, rebirth and regeneration. So vital were these forces held to be that once a year, in our month of September, thousands of pilgrims from all parts of Greece used to converge on Eleusis, where it was believed that the living Persephone had burst forth from the earth. The terminus of their journey was the great Telestrion, the darkened Hall of Initiation, with its forest of columns, focused around an inner enclosure known as the Anaktoron, from which, at the climax of the ceremonies, a figure appar­ently materialised 'in the midst of a great light'.81 The figure was often construed as that of Persephone 'returning from the dead with her new-born son conceived in the land of death'.82
It is hard work to discover anything else about the visions that the pilgrims saw at Eleusis. The shrine was astonishingly successful at guarding its mystery over a period that some authorities suggest may have been as long as 2,000 years of continuous functioning before it was finally closed by Christian diktat in the fourth century AD. 83 Hundreds of thousands passed through its gates down the ages, including some of the most famous names of Classical Greece, such as Plato, Aristotle and Sophocles, but almost everyone stayed very quiet about what they had seen - which, indeed, they were obliged to keep secret 'on pain of death or banishment'. 84 We have few specifics, therefore, but from many of the pilgrims there have survived more general reports telling us that the rituals at Eleusis and the visions seen there were transformatory and that afterwards they were never the same as before. Very commonly they claimed to have utterly lost their fear of death and to be prepared for life beyond it in the land of shadows. In the words of Sophocles after his initiation at Eleusis: 'Thrice happy are those of mortals, who having seen those rites depart for Hades; for to them alone is granted to have a true life there. For the rest, all there is / Page 632 / evil.'85 The poet Pindar likewise said that what he had seen validated the continuity of existence beyond the grave, and that he had learned great truths from his experience at Eleusis:86 'Happy is he who, having seen these rites, goes below the hollow earth; for he knows the end of life and he knows its god-sent beginning.'87
As archaeologist George Mylonas puts it, when we read these and many other similar statements by the great and nearly great of the ancient world:
We cannot help but believe that the Mysteries of Eleusis were not an empty, childish affair devised by shrewd priests to fool the peasant and the ignorant, but a philosophy of life that possessed substance and meaning and imparted a modicum of truth to the human soul. That belief is strengthened when we read in Cicero that Athens has given nothing to the world more excellent or divine than the Eleusinian Mysteries. Let us recall again that the rites of Eleusis were held for some two thou­sand years; that for two thousand years civilised humanity was sustained and ennobled by those rites. Then we shall be able to appreciate the meaning and importance of Eleusis . . .88
Mylonas was certain that the shrine succeeded so spectacularly for so long because it 'satisfied the most sincere yearnings and deepest longings of the human heart'89 - but neither he nor anyone else when he wrote these words in 1961 really had the faintest idea how it managed to pull off a trick like that. It's all very well to hint that it must have had something to do with 'a philosophy oflife', but a philos­ophy takes time to absorb, while it is clear that what all the pilgrims were struck and transformed by at Eleusis was a powerful and immediate experience that they went through during their night inside the Telestrion and that seems to / Page 633 / have included visions seen, sounds heard and supernatural beings encountered.
The oath of secrecy and the passage of thousands of years means that the pickings are thin in the relatively limited range of primary sources on Eleusis that have come down to us. Nevertheless, scattered here and there, some clues have survived that have helped researchers build up a clearer picture of what was really going on inside the Telestrion. Aristotle confIrms that it was 'an experience rather than something learned'.9O The pilgrim Sopater tells us that he saw a schema ti, 'a form or appearance of some kind hovering above the ground'. 91 Plato was perhaps a little more explicit when he spoke of phantasmata or ghostly apparitions, while Pausanias records that the initiation hall 'became filled with spirits'.92 Also relevant are the physical symptoms reported by many:
fear and trembling in the limbs, vertigo, nausea, and a cold sweat. Then there came the vision, a sight amidst an aura of brilliant light that suddenly flickered through the darkened chamber. Eyes had never before seen the like. . . The division between earth and sky melted into a pillar of light.93

Spot the hallucinogen

What are we to make of this distinctive constellation of symptoms combining spectacular visions with physical malaise? Carl
A.P. Ruck, Professor of Classical Studies at Boston University, . is in no doubt:
Clearly an hallucinatory reality was induced within the initiation hall and since at times as many as three thousand initi­ates, a number greater than the population of an ordinary ancient town, were afforded such a vision annually on schedule, / Page 634 / it would seem obvious that some psychotropic drug was involved.94
Together with the world-famous mycologist R. Gordon Wasson, and Albert Hoffman, the discoverer of LSD, Ruck was the third member of a team of eminent scholarly detec­tives who spent much of their spare time during the first half of the 197°S trying to solve the mystery of Eleusis. They drew attention to the well-documented fact that on entering the Telestrion every pilgrim was obliged to drink 'a special potion, the kykeon, that was an essential part of the Mystery'.95
Could the potion have been psychedelic? Fortunately its ingredients are recorded in a Homeric hymn to Demeter dating to the seventh century BC, so we ought to be able to find out. At first glance they don't look anything like hallu­cinogens, being listed rather innocently as barley (alphi), water, and mint (glechon).96 However, Gordon Wasson, the mycol­ogist on the research team, knew that barley and other wild and cultivated grasses often support a fungal parasite called ergot that does contain hallucinogenic alkaloids. Indeed, it was from precisely the same fungus that Albert Hoffman had first synthesised LSD in 1943. Hoffman tells the story as follows:
In July 1975 I was visiting my fIiend Gordon Wasson in his home in Danbury when he suddenly asked me this question: whether Early Man in ancient Greece could have hit on a method to isolate an hallucinogen from ergot which would have given him an experience comparable to LSD or psilocybin. I replied that this might well have been the case and I promised to send him, after further reflection, an exposition of our present knowledge on the subject.97

 

-
KYKEON
-
-
-
2
KY
36
9
9
4
KEON
45
18
9
6
KYKEON
81
27
18
-
-
8+1
2+7
1+8
6
KYKEON
9
9
9

Page 635

It took Hoffman two years and much laboratory work to complete his task, since ergot-contaminated rye was known as a dreaded poison in the Middle Ages (see Chapter Eight) and he had to satisfy himself that it would have been possible for the priests of Eleusis to isolate the hallucinogenic alkaloids from the toxic and deadly ingredients. What he discovered is that ergonovine and lysergic acid amide, the two principal hallu­cinogens in ergot, are both water-soluble, whereas the poisonous alkaloids such as ergotamine and ergotoxin are not. Throughout Greece ergot is a parasite of barley, which we know was one of the ingredients of the kykeon, and in Hoffman's opinion it would have been relatively easy for the priests to extract the visionary alkaloids: 'The separation of the hallucinogenic agents by simple water solution from the non-soluble ergotamine and ergotoxin alkaloids was well with the range of possibilities open to Early Man in Greece.'98
Although the priests of Eleusis were dedicated in particular to the cultivation of wheat and barley in the name of Demeter, goddess of grains, Hoffman points out that an even easier method than washing contaminated barley was available to them. Paspalum distichum, a wild grass that grows throughout the Mediterranean basin, supports Claviceps paspali, a species of ergot
which contains only alkaloids that are hallucinogenic and which could even have been used directly in powdered form. . . In the course of time the hierophants could easily have discovered Claviceps paspali growing on the grass Paspalum distichum. Here they would be able to get their hallucinogen direct, straight and pure. But I mention this only as a possibility or a likelihood, and not because we need P. distichum to answer Wasson's ques­tion . . . The answer is yes. Early Man in ancient Greece could have arrived at an hallucinogen from ergot.99

Page 636

Any remaining doubt that the sacred potion of Eleusis was indeed a psychoactive brew was dispelled when the researchers came across evidence of a notorious scandal. . . uncovered in the classical age, when it was discovered that numerous aristocratic Athenians had begun celebrating the Mystery at home with groups of drunken guests at dinner parties. 100
The revellers included Alcibiades, the brilliant but unscrupu­lous politician and military commander who was convicted of
profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries in 415 BC and defected to Sparta rather than face the death penalty.1Ol As well as showing the seriousness with which such matters were treated by the Athenian authorities, the significance of this story lies in what it tells us about the true nature of the visionary experiences at the heart of the Mysteries. We now know that these experi­ences were not exclusive to the sacred precincts of Eleusis but could even be enjoyed at private dinner tables by the simple expedient of drinking the kykeon.lOl The conclusion that they were drug experiences is more or less inevitable, as is the obvious parallel with the modern recreational use of once sacred plant hallucinogens.
Last but not least, it is surely significant that Demeter herself,
the goddess of Eleusis, was sometimes known by the name of Erysibe, which means, literally, 'ergot',103 while we read three times in the Hymn to Demeter that her robes were 'purple dark', the colour of the fruiting bodies of ergot.104
For all these reasons, and many more, Professor Ruck concludes: 'I and my colleagues interpreted the Eleusinian mysteries as communal shamanic ceremonies involving the ingestion of drugS.'105

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The mystery of soma

As becomes apparent under modest magnification, 'fruiting bodies' of ergot are in fact clusters of tiny purple mushrooms.106 Another much larger species of mushroom, Amanita muscaria - the fly agaric - has been identified by the mycologist R. Gordon Wasson, together with lndologists Stella Kamrisch and Wendy O'Flaherty, as the most likely candidate for the myste­rious soma, the famous consciousness-altering drug of ancient India's Vedic scriptures. ID?
The Rigveda, the oldest of the four Vedas that stand at the root of modern Hinduism, is thought to date back more than 3,000 years and perhaps a great deal longer. It describes soma as a god, as a plant, and as a beverage extracted or pressed from that plant. 108 The Vedas run to millions of words, and tens of thousands of them are devoted to soma, but we need only cite a few lines here to convey the sense of its hallu­cinogenic attributes and its unmistakably shamanic undertones:

Like currents of wind, the drinks have lifted me up. Have I not drunk soma?
One of my wings is in heaven, the other trails below. Have I not drunk soma?
I am huge, huge! Flying to the clouds. Have I not drunk soma?109

In the navel of the earth [is situated soma], which is also the mainstay of the Sky.110"

 
 
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