The Written Word
"The written word is a symbol of thought; behind it lies an attitude of mind,
and emotion, a reasoned hypothesis, to which the reader can to some extent penetrate."
John M. Allegro had no plans to become a mushroom detective. His field was etymology, the study of the roots of words and their evolution . He was one of the world's foremost experts on ancient languages of the Near East.
He was a member of the international team that translated the Dead Sea Scrolls.
As any student of our own language can see, there are words that change their meaning
very rapidly. Slang expressions can mean different things in different neighborhoods.
Younger generations delight in warping the meanings of the words their elders hold
dear. New technologies require new language to describe their new features and function.
Although the meanings of words tend to change, religious terminology, and especially
the names of gods and epic heroes appear to have survived unaltered for thousands
of years.
Mr. Allegro was especially interested in the writings of the ancient Sumerians, who occupied the territory near the site of modern Baghdad, near the shores of the
Persian Gulf. Not only did the Sumerians seem to have originated the written word,
but their language had much in common with the Indo-European and Semitic tongues.
The Sumerians wrote on fired clay tablets, some of which have survived for 3,000 years.
This "linguistic bridge" has allowed the etymologist to trace the roots of words
in their progression through many cultures.2 Allegro
"...should we wish to track down the root of our word 'rule', meaning 'control,
guide, exercise influence over', etc., we should find that our etymological dictionaries
will refer us through an adaption of Old French back to the Latin regulo, 'direct', connected with regno, 'reign', rex, 'king', and so on. The root here is plain reg-
or the like, and its ultimate source we can now discover by taking our search back
another three or four thousand years to the earliest known writing of all, that of
ancient Sumer in the Mesopotamian basin. There we find a root RIG, meaning 'shepherd',
and, by breaking the word down even further, we can discover the idea behind 'shepherd'
to his people, that of ensuring the fecundity of the flocks in his charge. This explains the very common concept that the king was a 'shepherd' to his people, since his
task was primarily that of looking after the well-being and enrichment of the land
and its people."
Our word "tablet" comes from a Sumerian word for the clay tablets they wrote on. These
were a bun-shaped lump of clay that was rounded on the bottom to fit the hand and
flat on the top to receive the writing. Triangular impressions were made in the soft
clay with a stick called a stylus. Further study of their language showed that these
words also referred to parts of a mushroom. The tablet, turned flat side down resembled
the cap of a mushroom and the stylus also meant the stem or "stype" of the plant.
When Mr. Allegro began to decipher the names of the Sumerian gods, he found many of
them bore names also used to describe certain mushrooms. He further found that many
of the names also had strong sexual connotations. As he began to find more and more
examples of this phenomenon, he also noticed that many of these terms were the same as
terminology he had found used in other Near Eastern religions. As more and more words
were deciphered, a pattern began to develop. Mr. John M. Allegro had made one of
the biggest discoveries of the century. He had found the parent religion to Islam, Hebrew
and Christianity, and it worshipped a sacred mushroom.
The Sumerian priests practiced rites vaguely familiar to us; they prayed to one god
who sent his only son to earth for the salvation of man. And that "son of god" was
our friend the Amanita muscaria.
To the practitioners of this religion, the Amanita muscaria was the most important
thing in existence. They owed everything to the god who led them out of the darkness
of ignorance into the light of civilization. They considered this fungus so sacred
that they used words with mushroom connotations to describe almost everything in their
daily lives.
To them, their prosperity depended directly on the ability of their people and animals
to reproduce. Many children made for a strong family and tribe. They counted on the
animals, both domesticated and wild, to provide them with meat and materials like
leather and bone. They also farmed the land and were dependent on their crops and some
forage food for themselves and their animals. All of this depended on an adequate
rainfall. With it they grew and prospered and without it they could perish. This
led to the belief that the Earth was the mother or "womb" of creation. In order for the womb
to bring forth life it required fertilization. They "knew" that the rain must contain
the "seed of life", and of course, it could only come from the "Father God", who
obviously resided in the heavens.
So far, this is not an unusual belief system; we find many places in the world where
this is the dominant view. Even our own beliefs of today are not too far removed.
Mother Earth and Father God are still with us. To these ancient Sumerians, the symbol
for their heavenly father was the same as the symbol that meant the ultimate in "male-ness",
the erect penis. It was obvious to them that the rain was semen from this all powerful
god.
"The Heavenly Father" fertilized the "Earth Mother" with his life giving "Holy Water"
which brought forth the growing things that furnished heat, shelter and food.
"The phallic form of the mushroom matched precisely that of his father, whom
the Sumerians called ISKUR, 'Mighty Penis', the Semites Adad, or Hadad, 'Big-father',
the Greeks 'Pater-Zeus', and the Roman Jupiter, 'Father-god'."
One plant that stood out after a summer rain was the bright red Amanita muscaria.
This plant, with no visible seed, was brought forth from the "virgin" soil by the
ejaculation of the "heavenly father". It was said to be "storm seeded", or in another
name, "penis of the storm". Not only did it spring forth from the very semen of god, but
when it first rose out of the ground, it appeared as an erecting penis. The ancients
concluded that this miniature penis was the "Son of God" come to earth. When the
fungus was fully formed, it appeared in the shape of the thunderstorm which brought the
holy rain, more proof of its divinity.
"The seed of God was supremely holy. Whether it appeared directly from heaven
as rain, or as the sap or resin of plants and trees, or as spermal emission from
the organs of animals or man, it was sacred and to waste it was a grievous sin. The
processes and balance of nature demanded its effective use, since without it there could be
no life or regeneration. The words for 'curse' and 'sin' have their roots in the
idea of 'seed running to waste'."
And when they ate the flesh of their god, he showed them mighty visions, gave them
strength and wisdom, so that they could rule in this kingdom. The people who practiced
this religion spent a good deal of time out in the summer rains, looking for their
little god and at the same time being "anointed" with the "holy water" that fell from
the sky. The name they were called translates roughly as the "anointed ones".6 Allegro
The reader may be struck by something familiar about all of this. It also struck Mr.
Allegro that he had seen this before. Not only were the beliefs similar to those
of a more modern era, but many of the words for heroes and gods had been used, virtually
unchanged, in later Hebrew writings including the Old and the New Testaments and the
Dead Sea Scrolls. These words and titles had lost their mushroom and sexual connotations
and were being interpreted by modern scholars as having a purely religious meaning.
I suppose that it is time to take a close look at this fungus that has received so
much attention. The Amanita muscaria is a bright red mushroom with white spots that
grows in association with certain trees, especially white birch in the Old World
and pine trees in North America. You have seen this colorful character on greeting cards
and in illustrated children's books. This is the mushroom where you are likely to
find elves and fairies hanging out.
It first forms in the ground, still damp from his father's orgasm, as a white "egg",
just under the decaying leaves and needles. This is the "vulva" or "womb"7 Allegro from which
the fungus emerges. The words used to describe this stage of the plant's growth may
also be translated as "covered basket" or "manger".
As the snake-like stalk rises from the egg, the soft white outer coating breaks away
revealing the deep red of the cap of the mushroom. The "man child" emerges wrapped
in "swaddling clothes", as this white fluffy wrapping is then referred to. This "veil"
hangs loosely around the stype, being attached to it in the middle. This is the "foreskin"
of the erecting penis, and is probably what circumcision is meant to imitate. The
fungus then passes through a stage where the cap forms a perfect dome. The full erection of the mushroom and the spreading of its canopy usually takes less than a day.
To the Sumerians, the stype of the fully formed mushroom appeared to be a penis inserted
in the cap, which resembled the female genitals. In this living symbol they saw both
the male and female elements expressed, and involved in the sex act. They felt that it embodied the whole of creation and was the representative of god here on earth.
If you've never seen this flashy plant in action, it may be difficult to understand
what all the fuss is about, but if you have seen it, the erotic symbolism is obvious.
And so we have a motif that appears in many places in the ancient world, the virgin
birth (without seed), is the claim of many mythical heroes. The emergence from a
covered basket or manger, like Moses, whose name translates as the "emergent serpent"(as
from a covered basket)8 Allegro really means that phallic stage of the mushroom's growth. The
words used to describe Dionysus and Jesus in their mangers and the snake charmer's
cobra all have their origins in the worship of this sacred fungus.
As I said before, words with mushroom/sexual connotation were very popular with the
Sumerians. There seems to be no part of their life that was not described in terms
of their sacred fungus. The head of an axe and its handle, for example, were named
after the corresponding parts of the mushroom. Just about anything that got inserted into
a hole received a fungus name relating its masculine nature, while the hole was named
for its female counterpart. The axle and the wheel were named in this fashion. The
fire drill with its whorl and axle, the tablet and stylus already mentioned and the
bow and arrow, show their fungus origins.
Up until fairly recently, as history goes, the priesthood was the only class that
even knew how to write. That seems to be true the farther we go back into history,
all the way back to the first writers, the Sumerians. It is the priests of the Sacred
Mushroom that are the most likely candidates for being the inventors of writing in the
first place.
"The temple was designed with a large measure of uniformity over the whole of
the Near East now recognizable as a microcosm of the womb. It was divided into three
parts; the Porch, representing the lower end of the vagina up to the hymen, or Veil;
the Hall, or vagina itself; and the inner sanctum, or Holy of Holies, the uterus. The
priest, dressed as a penis, anointed with various saps and resins as representing
the divine semen, enters through the doors of the Porch, the 'labia' of the womb,
past the veil or 'hymen' and so into the hall."
The Jewish surname, Kohen, is also the most common Hebrew word for "priest". This
word comes to us from the Sumerian title for the office which translates literally
as "guardian of the semen". He was in charge of "god's house", where he was acting
out the role of the supreme creator. He was the keeper of the saps and resins that represented
the divine semen in its Earthly forms.10 Allegro The ancients "knew" that water was the fluid
contained in all life and, to them, these liquid elements of Nature were the life
blood of existence. When the priest poured these holy oils on the heads of dignitaries,
it was meant to represent them as divine beings covered with the divine spermatozoa.
This identifies them with the first "anointed ones", who practiced the same rites
in ancient Sumer, as well as bestowing upon them the life giving properties of the "holy"
water.
There are many modern Hebrew words and rites that are obviously descended from the
Sumerians. The little round cap that Jewish schoolboys wear is shown by its nomenclature
to represent the cap of the sacred mushroom. In fact, most of the religious headgear of the Near East can be traced to its Sumerian roots. In the crowns of kings, caps
of all kinds, most helmets and the "crown of thorns"11 Allegro supposedly worn by Jesus, we
can see that they refer to the cap of the sacred fungus, and or, the head of the
erect penis.
It is easy to dismiss Mr. Allegro and others who have brought us such disturbing news
as cranks or fools, but when we venture out into uncharted landscapes, we must trust
our scouts. The Mushroom Detectives may seem a little eccentric, but don't let that
distract you from the importance of their investigations.
It is important to realize that nobody made this stuff up in an effort to discredit
religion. This information has come to us from dedicated researchers who are often
as baffled by the implications as the rest of us.
The symbol of the cross is used throughout the world in many cultures. According to
Mr. Allegro it started out as a word meaning the tongue of an oxcart that with its attached yoke.
A popular punishment of the times was to put the offender in the harness and make
him pull the cart or wagon as a beast of burden. This was hard punishment but not
very practical. A man was not likely to be able to keep up with the rest of the oxen. So,
this evolved into crucifixion. A symbol for the tongue and yoke was erected and the
offender tied to it. He was left by the side of the road to serve as a warning to
others who might have thoughts of misconduct.12 Allegro
The original names given the tongue and yoke were, like the wheel and axle, also names
referring to the sacred mushroom. The cap, representing the female was the "burden",
supported by the shaft, that held the male and the oxen to their task.
Mr. Allegro's findings have received almost no attention in the western world for the same reasons that Mr. Wasson's failed to enlighten
the Hindus. Nobody wants to hear it. When it came time to publish, the usual academic journals open to him wanted nothing to do with his work. After all, it was Christian money that financed his studies. His revelations shook biblical scholars to the core.
He eventually published his findings in a London tabloid with a credibility rating
equal to our National Enquirer. They "sexed up" the headlines and gained him nothing but ridicule for his work. His insistence on publishing his findings cost him his
career and he died after spending his last years in virtual exile on the Isle of
Man. Lucky for us, he also left us
several books on the subject that are available through the library system and used book stores.
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Sources
Click on Author to return to quoted text.
1 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 3.
2 Allegro,The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 10.
3 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 4.
4 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 55.
5 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 25.
6 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 60.
7 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 54.
8 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 80.
9 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 25.
10 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross<, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 58.
11 Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 59.
12 Allegro,The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Doubleday, New York, 1970, p 105.
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