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Books > Health, Home & Family > Mind, body & spirit > The Occult > Witchcraft & Wicca
A comprehensive look at the long tradition of psychedelic magic and
religion in Western Civilization. Unbeknownst--or
unacknowledged--by many, there is a long tradition of psychedelic
magic and religion in Western civilization. As Thomas Hatsis
reveals, the discovery of the power of psychedelics and entheogens
can be traced to the very first prehistoric expressions of human
creativity, with a continuing lineage of psychedelic mystery
traditions from antiquity through the Renaissance to the Victorian
era and beyond. Describing how, when, and why different peoples in
the Western world utilized sacred psychedelic plants, Hatsis
examines the full range of magical and spiritual practices that
include the ingestion of substances to achieve altered states. He
discusses how psychedelics facilitated divinatory dream states for
our ancient Neolithic ancestors and helped them find shamanic
portals to the spirit world. Exploring the mystery religions that
adopted psychedelics into their occult rites, he examines the role
of entheogens in the Mysteries of Eleusis in Greece, the worship of
Isis in Egypt, and the psychedelic wines and spirits that
accompanied the Dionysian mysteries. From ancient priestesses and
Christian gnostics, to alchemists, wise-women, and Victorian
magicians, Hatsis shows how psychedelic practices have been an
integral part of the human experience since Neolithic times.
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