Science paper Investigating the psychedelic hypothesis of kykeon, the sacred elixir of the Eleusinian Mysteries

Investigating the psychedelic hypothesis of kykeon, the sacred elixir of the Eleusinian Mysteries - PMC

This study revisits the hypothesis that Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul., a fungus infecting cereals and producing ergot alkaloids (EAs), was the psychedelic agent in kykeon, the sacred elixir of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Although archaeological ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[secpropyl]

So... this mysterious kykeon was just LSA(?!)

From the paper:

With focus on the Eleusinian one, its components are given as water, mint, and barley

The most basic recipe I've found is barley water + pennyroyal. Presumably (possibly?) the barley was fermented which produces diverse substances eg carboxylic acids, esters, aldehydes etc.

 

[Transform]

So... this mysterious kykeon was just LSA(?!)

From the paper:


The most basic recipe I've found is barley water + pennyroyal. Presumably (possibly?) the barley was fermented which produces diverse substances eg carboxylic acids, esters, aldehydes etc.

The observation regarding wood ash hydrolysis - backed up with NMR analysis - looks to be of interest for those considering investigating ergot preparations. The cyclic peptide substituent of the ergotoxin lysergamides hydrolyses more readily than the remaining amide nitrogen of the resulting LSA.