Drying or boiling Amanita mushrooms converts the reactive ibotenic acid to muscimol, and may boil off the muscarine that is thought to be at the root of these negative effects (Erowid 2007). This tale was known throughout northern Europe from England to Russia in medieval times (Rutajit 2000). Australian Firefighters Pose For Their 2021 Charity Calendar To Treat Injured Wildlife From The Recent Fires (18 Pics) You Can Now Buy A ‘Half Christmas Tree’ If You Hate Decorating The Back And Want To Save Space 50 Times Car Mechanics Took Pics Of What They Were Dealing With So Others Would Believe Them Now that we’ve cleared that up, what might be more interesting to discuss is how easily upset you became, and how you were so ready to dismiss an entire well-researched article simply because of what you perceived was a grammatical or spelling error. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. The elves of Santa Claus, then, may be kind of manifestations of the spiritual realm appearing in the form of creatures not dissimilar to what Terence McKenna refers to as “machine elves.”. He also credibly resembles a diminutive, fur-clothed shaman of the sort who might have lived in pre-Christian Europe. Tell that to grandma this year. With that symbolic connection, the holiday was perhaps a tradition related to a death/rebirth process through the mushroom, as well. The gospels were written within the lifetime of the HUNDREDS of eye witnesses to these facts, and taught to thousands. Artwork of various kinds may show this correlation. Posted in ARTS & MUSIC, Essays Post navigation. With the solstice closer to Christmas than our current New Year’s, it is also the end of the seasonal cycle. To follow Christmas back its roots, we need to start with a very special fungus. The symbols that surround the Santa mythos also hint at connections to the Amanita mushroom. He does look curiously similar to the pagan forest deity Hearne/Pan, who may have been transformed into the Dark Helper character of the Santa myth (Renterghem 1995). As Christianity’s influence spread throughout Europe and suppressed (but did not eliminate) the old pagan religion, the figure of Saint Nicholas was laid overtop the original concept of the goddess, shamaness, or pagan deity who visited believers bearing gifts (Rutajit 2000, Renterghem 1995). … Regardless, because a shaman is often the one who takes psychedelics in Siberian cultures, the gifts may have been a kind of collective healing of the society through some kind of connection to the spiritual or unconscious world world. There is some evidence that a Siberian shaman likely wore garments or materials colored similarly to white and red to better play the part of the mushroom in some kind of drama, almost as a kind of character. I hadn’t seen him speak, so your video and additional references are appreciated. At first glance, Amanita muscaria and the Christmas holiday appear to be an unlikely duo. http://www.erowid.org/plants/amanitas/amanitas.shtml. Moore did a lot to cement the image of Santa Claus as “kindly old elf” who travels the world in a single night on a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer (Letcher 2007). In modern terms, Christmas is either seen as a Christian holiday or a consumeristic ritual, but its origins are older and far more psychedelic than anyone would expect. https://abundancedancegarden.wordpress.com/2016/12/17/psychedelic-times-sacred-medicines/, It Just Is Media | 2.12 – The Christmas Special, Natal pode ter origem enteógena: Papai Noel curte cogumelos mágicos - DAR - Desentorpecendo A Razão : DAR – Desentorpecendo A Razão, Amanita muscaria e a origem enteógena do Natal, Saint Nicholas and Shamanism | Mountain Man Traditional Healing, Taste the Wild – One Day Foraging Fungi Course « Bushcraft Courses « Urban Bushcraft, The Caucasian’s Guide to Black Christmas – The ProActive Family, Psychoactive Kava Blend Builder by Effect, Looking for werewolves in ancient petroglyphs – Aimee Easterling, Entoptic Imagery and Altered States of Consciousness, When Santa was a Mushroom: Amanita muscaria and the Origins of Christmas, Angel’s Trumpet (Datura) Essence – Traumapothecary, Brugmansia x candida – White Angel’s Trumpet. 2000. Even in a supposedly modern, reason-based society, we still hold festivities to mark this time of transition before the new year. Allegro argues, through etymology, that the roots of Christianity, and many other religions, lay in fertility cults, and that cult practices, such as ingesting visionary plants to perceive the mind of God, persisted into the early Christian era, and to some unspecified extent into the 13th century with reoccurrences in the 18th century and mid-20th century, as he interprets the fresco of the Plaincourault Chapel to be an … At low doses, Amanita mushrooms can produce a sensation of warmth and increased energy similar to a moderate dose of alcohol but more stimulating. Your email address will not be published. The tradition existed all over the ancient world, but most of the iconography/symbology recognized today comes from pre-Christian Northern Europe; God sits in the … Born to wealthy parents, they died when he was young and he was raised by his uncle. [1] And Santa is not a flying shaman; he never flew before about 1823, and his red and white suit commemorates Coca-Cola, not Amanita muscaria. Previous. Merry Christmas Amanitas Browsing for a creative Christmas present for my boyfriend on the internet I came across an ad for the red-spotted, holiday-festive mushroom Amanita muscaria. I’ve read various articles about this Santa Shaman for some years now. Furthermore, when visiting people’s homes to perform healing services, shamans would often climb through the smoke hole of the tent, sometimes with a sack of Amanitas or other entheogenic plants to administer to the sick (Arthur n.d.). Interestingly, reindeer have a strong association with Siberian indigenous people’s of the Taiga, and are also prevalent in the Christmas story. It is possible that the story of Christ’s death and rebirth was written to resemble a shamanic initiation rite in order to convince reluctant natives in pre-Christian Europe to convert to the Christianity (Rutajit 2000). peace and love. Two species, Amanita muscaria and Amanita pantherina, contain muscimol and ibotenic acid and are known to be psychoactive (Erowid 2007). The mushroom’s likeness has been used as a Christmas ornament, on greeting cards, and in other holiday imagery in Europe for generations. The symbol, however, has little to do with Christianity. One of the active substances in the hallucinogenic mushroom is DMT 1, an entheogen naturally produced in the brain's pineal gland. That’s just one of the symbolic connections between the Amanita muscaria ... Mushrooms abound in Christmas iconography. For its beauty and power legends and fairy tales were created about this mystical muchroom. Traditions often have a living quality about them: they evolve out of original forms to the point where we forget why we perform them in the ways we do. Yet that insight got me thinking: how many seemingly Christian elements of Christmas actually mask pagan or shamanic traditions that are much older? It may even be that native Siberians first deduced the probable effects of Amanita mushrooms by observing intoxicated reindeer (Arthur n.d.). Required fields are marked *. Even Santa’s flying reindeer may be connected to the Amanita mushroom and its effects: reindeer have been observed foraging and eating Amanita mushrooms in winter, and sometimes exhibiting “drunk” behavior afterward (Letcher 2007). Some scholars have speculated that Santa’s “flying reindeer” are a covert reference to the behavior of reindeer who have ingested Amanita mushrooms. With the association between the Siberian Shaman and the original idea behind Christmas, there is further support behind the idea that Christianity, itself, may have been originally a mushroom cult. The same mushrooms that were used by the ancients. A Christmas card featuring a gift of Amanita mushrooms. Amanita Muscaria is the mushroom which started the Christmas tradition through Siberian Shaman cultures. Donning red and white regalia to honor the magic mushrooms, the shaman would look for them under pine trees. Amanita Muscaria only grows under conifer trees which are, ironically, green, pine needle trees which thrive in colder climates (like, near the North Pole). Most people can agree that Christmas is celebrated on December 25th because this date is close to the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year (Renterghem 1995). Or, it may have been only the Siberian Shaman who hallucinated everything themselves. Other scholars have pointed out the parallels between our Christmas feasts, gift giving, and sexual permissiveness (just look at the modern Christmas office party), and older traditions such as the pagan feast of Saturnalia (Letcher 2007, Renterghem 1995). by James Arthur, in an E-Christmas card to a friend in 1996.. Subject: Merry Christmas !!! As to the antiquity of paganism of course it is old. The Amanita Muscaria, or Fly Agaric, is not the type of mushroom you should take home and eat. "Kent explores the cult of the Amanita Muscaria mushroom in this special extended episode about the dark side of psychedelic culture." Not … Also, the ability of many of these sacraments (including Amanita Muscaria) to stimulate experiences that many humans find to be deeply mystical, non-dual, indeed “sacred” certainly suggests to me that these plants and/or active compounds within them should be considered seriously as sacramental. Amanita muscaria Christmas ornaments. He also encouraged his associates to be generous as well. As discussed, Siberians would often place Amanitas in stockings to dry before the fire. The True Origin of Christmas SIBERIAN AMANITAS AVAIABLE HERE. 1 - Comment received by Email from Dave Spacey: 'There is no DMT in Amanita Muscaria.' Second, they grow close to pine, … New York: Harper Collins. 1995. http://www.jamesarthur.net, Erowid. The Glückspilz (Lucky Mushroom) Tradition. ), and sing songs about flying reindeer? But to insinuate that Christians are basically misled pagans is ludicrous. This is a Large red and … It is said that saturn creates the materialism of the world just like santa. Ordinary Siberians may also have used Amanitas to ward off or combat winter-related conditions such as vitamin D deficiency, depression, and lack of energy brought on by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The Amanita muscaria is the red and white magic mushroom that grows almost exclusively beneath Pine trees. The word Christmas originally comes from the Egyptian KRST (oiled/anointed one) and Mes, the sacred cakes annually made/ingested by the Egyptian; the Heathen Eucharist made from Amanita muscaria or was the mushroom itself. Their main psychoactive ingredient is 'muscimol,' as well as trace amounts of DMT, an entheogen naturally produced in the brain’s pineal gland. As it happened the youngest daughter was washing her stockings by the fireplace and the bag of gold fell into her stocking. Saint Paul: Lewellyn Publications. Having recently been turned on to psilocybin mushrooms by him, but having always thought Amanitas were toxic, I was intrigued by the ad and investigated. Although possible that others might have ingested it, more likely it was only the shaman under the psychedelics. Learn how your comment data is processed. Amanita Muscaria’s Effects . In this view, Jesus was either the mushroom, or someone propped up by the apostles as a communicator with the mushroom. Your email address will not be published. What do flying and plane crashing dreams mean? The sun would have stayed near or below the horizon for weeks during the Siberian winters. What can the local practices of tribes in Siberia tell us about why we exchange gifts around solstice time, stash them under pine trees decorated with red and white ornaments (which are sometimes even in the shape of amanitas! I believe this is a well-crafted and insightful article, thanks for pulling all the research together. Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom. van Renterghem, Tony. The legend, or more accurately, the myth of Christmas, began very differently from what we have come to believe in today. Andrew Haacke is a lifelong spiritual seeker who researches and writes about the Hero's Journey, symbolism, mythology, and psychedelics. Thus, conifers are used for Christmas trees, the same trees these mushrooms are found growing under. Rutajit, Andrew. Taken farther than the Siberian Shaman, Jesus was an extension that may have been carried outward beyond what initially was a localized phenomena to a message that ultimately has been warped and spread worldwide. The collection, preparation, and use of fly agaric mushrooms (Amanita muscaria) were central to many northern European and Asian peoples’ winter solstice celebrations and ceremonies. BUY SIBERIAN AMANITAS. Christmas Observations. When Santa Was a Shaman. Santa Claus is said to place presents both in stockings (Rutajit 2000) and under the Christmas tree, traditionally a living pine tree (Renterghem 1995). Among Siberian Shaman traditions, amanita muscaria has a long connection with the pagan holiday that preceded our current Christmas, and is the basis upon which our current holiday is framed.. I enjoy reading about it in a way that takes me back to the anticipation of Santa coming as a little child. 22 PHOTOS. They honored the fungus so much that the shamans would dress like the mushroom in appearance. As he grew up St. Nick was a pious man, and very generous with what he had. How can I take seriously an article where the plural of shaman is referred to as shamans? That is why Christ came, to deliver us from ourselves. There is no patent on trees, but it is silly to obsereve Christmas if you are not Christian. Some interesting ideas there, but here’s one more for you…, The ‘father’ of the modern day Santa Claus was St. Nicholas, a Grecian man who lived in Lycia in the 4th century. I was first exposed to thes ideas through John Allegro’s seminal book “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross”.

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