Ophiuchus Pharmacology

The Search for the Legendary Soma, Amrita - "The Deathless Drink"

Internal Use of an Known External Form
Proponent View

Psilocybe cyanescens (Stamets 111), Mushroom Stone (Weil),
Maria Sabina with the living sacrament (Riedlinger 1992)

Amrita or Soma

A sanskrit word meaning "nectar of immortality". The substance that gives the immortal life and purifies the human body in preparation for realization of the Immortal Body. Also called Soma. Amrita / Soma is secreted by the human glandular system. Yoga Spiritual Dictionary

Sanskrit for "elixir of immortality", it literally means "deathlessness". This has obvious parallels in "ambrosia" the name of the classical Greek "food of the gods" which means "no death". The Vaults of Erowid -- Psycho-mycological Studies & Uses of Plants

Amanita muscaria - Medicinal Uses

The Shaman's Sacred Mushroom

Below-quoted material copy/pasted from uncopyrighted page at
Genesis of Eden Diversity Encyclopedia

3: The Sacred Mushroom: Teonanactl and the Lady of the Alder

The Story of the discovery of the flesh of the gods is dealt with in detail in Homage to Maria Sabina. It is surely one of the more unusual episodes of human history. The very existence of such entities had apparently disappeared from human consciousness, despite the existence of ancient mushroom stones in the Guatemalan highlands, when in 1936 an anthropologist in Mexico discovered of the existence of a mushroom rite, hidden through the 500 years of Christian repression. It was to lie fallow for another 20 years until Gordon Wasson received the prophesied transmission from Maria Sabina.

To continue, please visit this highly informative page/web site: Twelve Sacred Plants

Internal Use of an Known External Form
Opponent View

Excerpt from a talk entitled Renouncing the Search for the Edible Deity.
from The Eating Gorilla Comes in Peace, by Bubba Free John (Adi Da Samraj), Published by the Dawn Horse Press, 1979, pp. 46-5

BUBBA: Throughout history human beings have been looking for something to sustain them. Everything from Jesus to Amanita muscaria, the sacred mushroom, is claimed to be the panacea, the sustainer, Krishna, the thing that rejuvenates, that keeps us forever alive and full. Because of our metaphysical presumption of unlove, we are always seeking for the Sustainer outside ourselves. And, all over the world and throughout human time, cults have developed around magical somethings-or-other that represent food, the connection to what sustains. All holy rituals are about food. Most often they literally involve food: sacrificing food, eating food, "this is my body, this is my blood," killing calves, taking things from the holy place and absorbing their energies. The Sacrament of Universal Sacrifice, which all devotees in our Church engage daily, may also tend to be used in this cubic fashion, if right devotional responsibility is not presumed.

* * * paragraphs - cut to the thesis statement on the topic of Soma/Amrita * * *

However, the true "soma" is not eaten in the form of any objective meal. The "soma" is what is released in the body when we live the Law of sacrifice. The "soma" is released in the most absolute Divine Enjoyment. It is the nectar of Amrita Nadi, the Current of Immortal Bliss...."amrit" is the ancients' word for the "Divine Nectar" (Amrita Nadi literally means 'the Nerve of Divine Nectar," the Current of Immortal Bliss). In some sense it is a physiological process...the higher glands begin to secrete substances that are now suppressed because of the impure condition of the blood and the attenuated energy and attention of the being. These substances are secreted by the glands, and they rejuvenate and awaken the various psycho-physical centers.

To read the whole article go to: Renouncing the Edible Deity

Myth, Legend, History - Unbiased View

The Mushroom

The Fountain of Living Waters

The God of the Bible says "I am the Fountain of Living Waters". If we are to understand this statement on a level of literal translation, then this means alive, made of water, and in the similitude of a fountain. This describes a mushroom. The Waters of life is an ancient term linked to the living waters, and the Waters of Immortality. The waters one drinks to receive the gift of immortality and transcendence. Soma, and Amrita (Hindu/Buddhist), are also considered the waters of life. The attributes of which bestowed enlightenment. The churning-of-the-milky-ocean is to (metaphorically) produce this substance. The waters of life are also synonymous with the blood of the god in the sacramental analysis. [Mushrooms and Mankind, Page 5]

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