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The entheomycological origin of Egyptian crowns and the esoteric underpinnings of Egyptian religion.

Stephen R Berlant

Journal of Ethnopharmacology November 14, 2005 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2005.07.028 (opens in new tab)

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Characteristics Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed
Citations 17
Key points Argues that the Egyptian White and Triple Crowns, Osiris, and the Eye of Horus all represent entheogenic mushrooms, specifically Psilocybe cubensis.

Abstract

In this paper, I theorize that the Egyptian White and Triple Crowns were originally primordia of the entheogenic Psilocybe (Stropharia) cubensis, which an Egyptian tale known as Cheops and the Magicians allegorically explained grew on barley, and that Osiris was the God of spiritual rebirth because he personified this and other entheogenic mushrooms. I go on to theorize that the plant known commonly as the Eye of Horus, which the Egyptians included in cakes and ales designed to spiritually rebirth the living and the dead, was an entheogenic mushroom cap entirely analogous, if not identical, to Soma. Finally, I explain why so many scholars failed to discern these identities and relationships for so long.

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