The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross: A study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of the ancient Near East

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Allegro's views don't necessarily reflect my own"– well taken; with one caveat – his views, vs his claims of view. I'm sure he had views – but not necessarily as advertised. More likely he kept them 'down low'– and only reflect in his "theorizing" story about the unsavory, drug-infested True Origins of Christianity (its "Secret History" as he scandalized it). John Marco Allegro was a scholar who challenged orthodox views of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Bible and the history of religion, with books that attracted popular attention and scholarly derision.

After service in the Royal Navy during World War II, Allegro started to train for the Methodist ministry but transferred to a degree in Oriental Studies at the University of Manchester. In 1953 he was invited to become the first British representative on the international team working on the recently discovered Dead Sea Scrolls in Jordan. The following year he was appointed assistant lecturer in Comparative Semitic Philology at Manchester, and held a succession of lectureships there until he resigned in 1970 to become a full-time writer. In 1961 he was made Honorary Adviser on the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Jordanian government. Hall, Mark. "Foreword", in Allegro, John M. The Dead Sea Scrolls & the Christian Myth. Prometheus 1992, first published 1979, p. ix.

About the Author(s) of The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

Allegro went on to write several other books exploring the roots of religion; notably The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth, which relates Christian theology to Gnostic writings, classical mythology and Egyptian sun-worship in the common quest for divine light. Allegro saw himself as a publicist for the scrolls. His books, talks and broadcasts promoted public interest in the scrolls and their significance. At first, the rest of the team encouraged his efforts, which after all were intended to help fund their research. But they thought he went too far in raising questions about the parallels between Essenism and Christianity, and doing so in public. He was accused of stirring up controversy at the expense of scholarship. Allegro argued that Jesus in the Gospels was in fact a code for a type of hallucinogen, the Amanita muscaria, and that Christianity was the product of an ancient "sex-and-mushroom" cult. [29] [30] Critical reaction was swift and harsh: fourteen British scholars (including Allegro's mentor at Oxford, Godfrey Driver) denounced it. [29] Sidnie White Crawford wrote of the publication of Sacred Mushroom, "Rightly or wrongly, Allegro would never be taken seriously as a scholar again." [31]

The living power of cultic rites and symbols – The sacred mushroom as the emblem and embodiment of divinity – The secret meaning of biblical myths – The language of religion that links us to our ancestors the sacred mushroom and the cross sets out John allegro’s quest through a family tree of languages to find the truth about where Christianity came from. All anger and/or fear – trying to act as if it’s something else, anything other than classic animal behavior, primate style. You know the routine, as you show and tell. Good old make-believe but without the fun – staged with grim determination as if it has some “point” for making, like “something to say.” And – there it is, verbatim,a b The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Peter Flint and James VanderKam (10 July 2005) ISBN 056708468X T&T Clark pp. 323–325 If you ever have a psychedelic experience and you are at all familiar with biblical myths, you get the vague feeling that this must be what they were talking about. Allegro shows you with the language that it is exactly what they were talking about. It makes more sense that our ancestors believed that having mushroom fueled orgies in the woods would transfer their powers of biological fertility to their crops than for them to have been scared of a bearded man in the sky. It also shines light on to the potential reasons the first Christians were persecuted so by the Romans. To sum up, John Allegro believed the Dead Sea Scrolls raised issues that concerned everyone. It wasn’t just a matter of dusty manuscripts and disputed translations – the story of the scrolls raised questions about freedom of access to evidence, freedom of speech, and freedom to challenge orthodox religious views. He believed that through understanding the origins of religion people could be freed from its bonds to think for themselves and take responsibility for their own judgements. The idea of sacred mushrooms being intertwined with religious history is a fascinating concept. It raises questions about the origins of religious symbolism and the potential influence of psychoactive substances on ancient rituals and beliefs. Exploring the Content a b c Flint, Peter & VanderKam, James (2005). The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their Significance For Understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp.324–. ISBN 978-0-567-08468-2.