Pope Francis fraternized with the psychedelics author Brian Muraresku a couple of years ago, but the meeting went unreported until this week. Muraresku is known for his criticism of the New Testament. He thinks that the blood of Christ figuratively represented in the contemporary Holy Communion may have originally been a psychoactive brew in the ancient past.
His 2020 book — The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name — theorizes that early Christianity is rooted in ritual psychedelic consumption among ancient mystery cults. He believes these substances are necessary to save the modern-day Western world from self-destruction.
The Catholic Church leader “entertained a psychedelic ambassador at the Vatican who claims humanity will be saved if we all get off our nuts on magic mushrooms and LSD,” as eloquently described by Daily Star writer Kate Nelson on Thursday. That depiction of it is questionable, but it provides an idea about how the news was received by people who are sceptical of the value of psychedelics.
Muraresku presented the religious leader with a copy of his New York Times best-selling book during their meeting sometime in late 2021 or early 2022. This story first came to light in an article by The Reason, published on Monday and written by Travis Kitchens.
“Western civilization, Muraresku argues, is in the grip of a cataclysmic ‘spiritual crisis’ that can be remedied only through a ‘popular outbreak of mysticism,'” Kitchens wrote, “the result of retrieving what he says are the Eucharist’s ancient, and until now secret, pharmacological roots.”
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Joe Rogan is a fan of Muraresku
He has praised the author for his attention to detail and thorough research.
Muraresku was featured in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience earlier this year. The two talked for hours about his book and writing journey, the Eleusinian mysteries, the impact of psychedelics on society, and other topics.
Joe Rogan also hosted an episode with Muraresku and the Ancient Apocalypse journalist Graham Hancock four years ago. He has commended Hancock for his boldness and willingness to question commonly accepted theories about our planet.
“I think Graham Hancock is doing great work, he’s making people think,” Rogan once said. “And he’s not just pulling stuff out of his ass, he’s doing research.”
Kitchens said that Muraresku was a “protégé” of Hancock in his recent article in The Reason.
However, he didn’t necessarily mean that positively, as he described Hancock as being “an economist reporter turned conspiracy theorist who has made a fortune writing speculative bestsellers about purported lost civilizations.”
Not everyone is as open-minded as Joe Rogan.
rowan@mugglehead.com
