someone asked me to “respond to” the summary for this book and since im making coffee and its listed as a “#1 best seller” and im (frankly, though i havent read this book) extremely familiar with this type of thing, i will do so

obviously, i havent read this book, but ive spent a lot (a lot) of time around the world of “basically all religions come from using psychedelics” ideas and found the way this description was interesting so, obviously i cant “refute” someones work from an amazon blurb [...]

so, this is just a little semiotic exploration of how these people talk and the way they use language to paint this picture, because they all do it in this particular way that really ropes people in, in a way that i think is very seductive for a certain type of person.

right off the bat the title and subtitle caught my eye, you can find this archetype going back into esoterica, although its extremely debatable if they were talking about psychedelics (i do not think they were). theres a very short essay by paracelsus (alchemist) in this vein

its called “the supreme secret of the world as revealed (or something) by hermes trismegistus” and it basically posits that there is this key to immortality hidden in the great esoteric works that you have to dig in and find and you can use it to become immortal. its very concise

that doesnt mean this book has anything to do with that. in most senses it does not, but its interesting that this is a somewhat perennial impulse for this type of mindset, that immortality is hidden just below the surface of a “scene” that people see but fail to truly understand

anyway lets see what it actually says here. joe rogan thing, lol. otherwise, i thought this was noteworthy as this is essentially always how its presented. some type of secret electric thread running thru a broad range of topics. this is the standard “neon sign” outside the door

first up. this is where this kind of thing usually starts. surprisingly, i would say the answer is yes, in a specific sense. there actually is a very very strong case to be made that at the elusinian mysteries some type of psychoactive substance was used. [...]

theres a very very compelling case to be made thats outlined in a book called “on the road to eleusis”. not going to go into it here but even if you disagree with it it is at least a very compelling case set into concrete facts, logic, and evidence, rather than pure speculation

then you get “the jump”. did greeks use psychoactives in a particular ceremony. sure im convinced. did christians inherit that tradition in a lineage that stretched back to the stone age? uh... .... no....? what.

since this is kind of a semiotic analysis i find this innate need to appeal to a secret lineage very interesting. its like its part of the whole package innately, for some reason. no one ever makes the case that some monk like, just found a mushroom or something [...]

its always part of some SECRET LINEAGE that was PASSED DOWN IN THE SHADOWS via like cryptograms and hidden symbols in paintings. of course i am illuminati secret s0ciety tracker boy so i am sympathetic to such a case and know some things like that exist, but here it does not.

i find this type of phraseology very interesting. “there is zero archeological evidence for the original eucharist”. its just such a fascinating way to rope normal people in, it appears to come out swinging so hard, but it really means literally nothing.

you can almost picture the guy that wrote it thinking he has pulled some epic gotcha. “the original eucharist? ZERO archeological evidence for it. NOTHING.” as though you would find... what. like a labeled cup...? footprints around a table? what does this even mean. nothing.

“no ones ever found the holy grail so, christians just take it on faith that the last supper happened. but ONE MAN is on a quest for THE TRUTH”. its just so interesting seeing these verbal arrows that present as these mega-statements but actually mean nothing.

again im not like deconstructing this guys argument i just thought this was a perfect example of how these people always talk. they have this mode and mindset they tap into by virtue of their project. to me it is fascinating, that it just happens naturally, but i am dumb. anyway