I have for a long time been interested in the anchient mystery brews like kykeon and soma, and have read all I can find regarding them. Many theories have been made as to what both were, and no one seemes to agrea as to what is the most likely. I would like to make a list of the theories and some posible kandidates, all psychedeliks of the old world may have been used. And there may ewen have been no psychedelic at all.
The mysteries at Eleusis was preformed regulary for atleast 2000 years, and probably had an ewen older pre history.
It was also a festival of some sort that lasted atleast one week, and inkluded fasting and a pilgrimage. It is like other rites frome around the world, like the huichol pilgrimage, with rituals performed along the way. The "pilgrims were gradualy forced out of their ordinary frame of mind, this makes for an exelent mind set for life transformation.
So what was the drink they got at the end of the ordeals, culd it just have been a rich and strong barley wine. that gave them both the rush of shugars, alkohol, and sustinance. It culd have been cuite psychedelik just like that to be brogth back from a state of hunger and sleep deprivation with sutch an luxurious drink.
The other theories:
1 WASSON/HOFMANN/RUCK theory = kykeon was a brew containing Ergot. It is posible but have to my knowledge not been prowen to work. But the teory is sound, water extrakt of ergot shuld not contain ergot toxins. or culd the brew have ben made by doing a partial hydrolysis with potash, thus making ergot peptides in to ergotamins as sugested by Peter Webster in Mixing the Kykeon
2 Terence Mcenna = kykeon was made of a psilocybe mushroom. It is stil posible but not as likely, but could they not have lerned to grow the mushrom in large clay pots like they made alkohol. By infesting coked barley with a easly grown psilocybe they could have made large amounts of psyhoaktive barley to make vine/beer from. and ones a clay pot has been infested you only have to fill it with coked arley and the whole thing starts again, this is done in fermentation in indigenus cultures when making beer.
3 opium/cannabis........ if you have ingested an opioid and then smoked a bowl you will know that this mix is quite psychedelic.
4 amanita .... unlikely but stil posible, but culd they have gatherd enougth.....?
5 Acasia/harmalla = quite posible, an easly cept sekret, and large amounts could be made.
6 other ......there is many things that could have been used, maybe they used whatewer they got their hands on that could make the pilgrims see their life from a new perspektive. but it is most likely that it was the same thing year after year.
The anchients knew a lot about plants and had lots of diferent plants with psychoaktive effekts at their disposal. but people at tat time shuld know the effekts of many of thise plants to, so shuld they not have been able to recognice a familiar high. The vines of anchient Grees was ofthen spiced with psychoative plants, ewery thing from hemp to henbane vas used, and there aparently was ofthen need for antidotes to be administerd after a long visit to the lokal drinking establshment. so they knew their plants.
plees ad any theory I forgot, and I would lowe to hear what you think about this fasinating mysterie
The mysteries at Eleusis was preformed regulary for atleast 2000 years, and probably had an ewen older pre history.
It was also a festival of some sort that lasted atleast one week, and inkluded fasting and a pilgrimage. It is like other rites frome around the world, like the huichol pilgrimage, with rituals performed along the way. The "pilgrims were gradualy forced out of their ordinary frame of mind, this makes for an exelent mind set for life transformation.
So what was the drink they got at the end of the ordeals, culd it just have been a rich and strong barley wine. that gave them both the rush of shugars, alkohol, and sustinance. It culd have been cuite psychedelik just like that to be brogth back from a state of hunger and sleep deprivation with sutch an luxurious drink.
The other theories:
1 WASSON/HOFMANN/RUCK theory = kykeon was a brew containing Ergot. It is posible but have to my knowledge not been prowen to work. But the teory is sound, water extrakt of ergot shuld not contain ergot toxins. or culd the brew have ben made by doing a partial hydrolysis with potash, thus making ergot peptides in to ergotamins as sugested by Peter Webster in Mixing the Kykeon
2 Terence Mcenna = kykeon was made of a psilocybe mushroom. It is stil posible but not as likely, but could they not have lerned to grow the mushrom in large clay pots like they made alkohol. By infesting coked barley with a easly grown psilocybe they could have made large amounts of psyhoaktive barley to make vine/beer from. and ones a clay pot has been infested you only have to fill it with coked arley and the whole thing starts again, this is done in fermentation in indigenus cultures when making beer.
3 opium/cannabis........ if you have ingested an opioid and then smoked a bowl you will know that this mix is quite psychedelic.
4 amanita .... unlikely but stil posible, but culd they have gatherd enougth.....?
5 Acasia/harmalla = quite posible, an easly cept sekret, and large amounts could be made.
6 other ......there is many things that could have been used, maybe they used whatewer they got their hands on that could make the pilgrims see their life from a new perspektive. but it is most likely that it was the same thing year after year.
The anchients knew a lot about plants and had lots of diferent plants with psychoaktive effekts at their disposal. but people at tat time shuld know the effekts of many of thise plants to, so shuld they not have been able to recognice a familiar high. The vines of anchient Grees was ofthen spiced with psychoative plants, ewery thing from hemp to henbane vas used, and there aparently was ofthen need for antidotes to be administerd after a long visit to the lokal drinking establshment. so they knew their plants.
plees ad any theory I forgot, and I would lowe to hear what you think about this fasinating mysterie
