Psychoactive Plants Consumed in Religious Rituals
Research by: H. Ümit Sayin (SexuS Journal, 2017)
This extensive research article provides a chronological and cross-cultural analysis of psychoactive plant consumption during religious and shamanic rituals of ancient and indigenous cultures. It hypothesizes that many figures and archetypes common to global myths and religions (such as gods, angels, demons, spirits, Satan, and mythological creatures) may actually be manifestations of the human subconscious and collective unconscious, unlocked and visualized under the influence of powerful psychoactive entheogens.
Cults and Cultures Examined
The review touches on a diverse array of ancient groups and their sacraments:
- Amazonian/South American Cultures: Ritualized use of Ayahuasca alongside DMT-containing plants (like Chacruna), serving physical and spiritual healing purposes.
- Mesoamerican Cultures (Aztec/Maya): Use of magic mushrooms (psilocybin), peyote (mescaline), Morning Glory seeds (containing LSA, similar to LSD), and even bufotenin from toad secretions.
- Greek and Hellenic Cultures (e.g. Dionysian Rituals): Suggests that drinks like the kykeon of the Eleusinian_Mysteries or ancient absinthe contained psychoactive elements (ergot alkaloids, wormwood/thujone, or even DMT from Phalaris species) which fueled ecstatic and hyper-sexual orgiastic rites, where the Bacchae wielded the plant-tipped thyrsus.
- Middle Eastern/Anatolian & Other Groups: Evidence of opium, cannabis, Peganum harmala (a MAO inhibitor), Ephedra, and magic mushrooms being found in archaeological sites from Egypt and Mesopotamia. Identifies these elements in the Sufi sect of Melamis and Hassan Sabbah’s Hashishins, as well as the Bwiti Cult using Ibogaine in Africa.
The Origins of Religious Archetypes and Mythological Forms
A core argument of the paper is the link between the universally re-occurring symbols in religions and the entoptic images or hallucinations experienced during deep psychedelic trance states (H-ASCs - Hallucinogen-Induced Altered States of Consciousness).
Because humans share a common neurobiological structure and collective unconscious (as posited by Jung), these shared neuro-chemical responses manifested as remarkably similar archetypal icons worldwide—despite these cultures having no geographic contact.
Furthermore, Sayin argues that many similarities exist between ancient pagan Sun-Gods (Horus, Attis, Mithra, Dionysus) and figures like Jesus Christ (all sharing motifs like virgin births, dec 25th dates, 12 disciples, death/resurrections). The argument positions these institutionalized religious narratives as continuations of chemically-inspired, nature-based pagan mythologies rather than strictly historical events.
Related
- Entheogen_Hypothesis — concept page synthesizing this thesis across the archive
- Eleusinian_Mysteries — the institutional apex of Western entheogenic ritual
- The_Chemical_Muse_Hillman — parallel pharmacological argument for Greco-Roman drug culture
- Road_to_Eleusis_Review_Webster_1999 — review of the ergot/kykeon hypothesis for the Eleusinian Mysteries
- Esoteric_Initiation — the psychological framework of ritual transformation