The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross: A study of the nature and origins of Christianity within the fertility cults of the ancient Near East Paperback – November 12, 2009

Nobody who reads this book will ever be the same again. Its most vehement critics cannot escape its impact. That is, if they have understood it. It does require a certain preparation and education to be able to follow what it says. Those who scream,”absurd, ridiculous, blasphemous, etc.” are those whom it will follow the rest of their lives like the Hounds of Hell. It is simply that kind of masterpiece. If you read only one book during the rest of your life, it should be this one.

Allegro's book was one of the original, how should I say, books of the entheogenic Pentateuch. You simply cannot become learned in this matter without reading this book. That being said, BE WARNED. To say Allegro is "phallocentric" would be a vast understatement, for hardly a page gets turned without the mention of a penis. When we say that someone's work is "remarkable", we don't necessarily mean it is *worthy of remark. It may simply be titillating and scandalous. Nonetheless, if only 60% of Allegro's suppositions are correct, then this book is an amazing window into the ancient world of the mushroom sacrament. Yes, Mr. Allegro, psilocybin (especially cubensis) mushrooms can resemble a penis. Yes, there are undoubtedly thousands of references in antiquity to the mushroom as a penis. But Allegro becomes so fixated on the issue he may as well have called his book "The Sacred Mushroom and the Penis". What we wanted from him was a window into the Dead Sea Scrolls. After all, he was giving interviews essentially saying 'yes, I was on the team deciphering these 972 texts and here are the precise verses which I think refer to the use of drugs among the ancient Jews, the more modern Christians, and the Essenes who seem to have acted as a bridge between them'. But he didn't to that. The title alone is false advertising, but so what?Allegro is into etymology and philology and Derrida himself would be amazed at the deconstructions he posits. Allegro is also what I call an "armchair Sumerologist" much like Zechariah Sitchin was: a self-taught expert on the Sumerian lexicon. Wasson berates him for his lack of credentials on the subject, but in the mid 50's to the mid 60's, when Allegro was composing this book, where could one obtain such credentials? As Sitchin himself once said: when he was writing "The 12th Planet" where may have been all of 20 people in the world that even knew how to read Sumerian, so Wasson can just go bite a big phallic-mushroom (which I'm sure he did many times) and cut Allegro some slack. Yes, some of his "word-brick" conjecture is spurious and some is partially (and partically) credible, but other examples he gives are like Babe Ruth knocking a home-run out of the park.None of this changes the fact that this book is a MUST-READ. You need it on your shelf. Forever. End of story. So go buy it already!

Really need to look into linguistics and exactly how we break things like this down

My brother bought this exact product and the quality is very nice for it being a soft cover. The description and the quality was enough for me to buy it the night of and I can't wait for it to come in.

This is book is great. It will really open your mind to new ideas or theories regardless of if you agree with them. That being said, it is a lot of information to digest it can be very dry at times and extremely interesting at others. It’s not an easy read with kids running around in the background if you really want to get into the book I suggest a notepad for questions and theories you’ll want to research later and sometimes even between pages

Interesting perspectives on psilocybin and Christianity. While I don't necessarily agree with the majority of what is written, the author definitely drew my attention to some key symbolism in the OT.

Excellent writingDefinitely a must read

As an archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar John certainly had the credentials to make the statements he is making.Having said that I don’t believe he makes a good case through this book.Since the discovery of the Mazatecs in the 1950’s, mushroom use in Christian Churches in the US has been on the rise.Anyone two has studied the Bible and has experienced these rituals will tell you that the two fit together hand-in-glove.Whether mushrooms were the basis of the New Testament or simply a dramatic enhancement to Christianity, as a divine gift from God, remains to be seen.I enjoy carrying this book with me as a conversation starter if nothing else and recommended it highly.