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R. Gordon Wasson
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Persephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion Paperback – July 29, 1992

by R. Gordon Wasson (Author), Stella Kramrisch (Author), Carl Ruck (Author),
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 43 ratings
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This fascinating book discusses the role played by psychoactive mushrooms in the religious rituals of ancient Greece, Eurasia, and Mesoamerica. R. Gordon Wasson, an internationally known ethnomycologist who was one of the first to investigate how these mushrooms were venerated and employed by different native peoples, here joins with three other scholars to discuss the evidence for his discoveries about these fungi, which he has called entheogens, or "god generated within."
Previous page
  1. Print length
    257 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    July 29, 1992
  5. Dimensions
    9.25 x 6.14 x 0.76 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300052669
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300052664
  8. See all details
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From the Back Cover

This fascinating book discusses the role played by psychoactive mushrooms in the religious rituals of ancient Greece, Eurasia, and Mesoamerica. R. Gordon Wasson, an internationally known ethnomycologist who was one of the first to investigate how these mushrooms were venerated and used by different native peoples, here joins with three other scholars to discuss his discoveries about these fungi, which he has called entheogens, or 'god generated within.'

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Revised edition (July 29, 1992)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 257 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300052669
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300052664
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.25 x 6.14 x 0.76 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 43 ratings

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R. Gordon Wasson

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
43 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fabrizio Feoli
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect copy
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
Thanks! Printed in 1986 , still looks like it was printed yesterday. Old like new!
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ForagedWild
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it, now.
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021
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The book is excellent. A must read along with The Road to Eleusis and The Immorality Key.
3 people found this helpful
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Joseph H Pierre
4.0 out of 5 stars A historical look at entheogens and their use in religion
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2000
The title is taken from Greek mythology. Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Styx, or, in the more usual tradition, the daughter of Zeus and Ceres (Demeter). Pluto carried her off while she was in the midst of gathering flowers and made her his wife, and she became the queen of the under world. She symbolizes the changes of the seasons, and particularly the return of Spring.

This book is about mushrooms, particularly mind-altering mushrooms, which the author, R. Gordon Wasson, refers to as "entheogens," a word he himself coined, meaning substances which chemically induce religious experiences.

In 1926, Wasson married a Russian physician, Valentina Pavlovna, in England. He was himself a journalist employed by the New York Herald Tribune at the time. His wife introduced him to mushrooms, which in those days were little used by Americans who looked down on them as "toadstools", but were enthusiastically embraced as a food by Europeans, who were far more knowledgeable about them.

Somewhere along the line, the couple became persuaded that entheogenic mushrooms, particularly the Amanita Muscaria, known colloquially as the 'fly agaric', was the original 'Soma' of legend, used by the Greek oracles and others in rituals.

This book traces Wasson's single-minded pursuit of evidence to buttress his theory in his travels throughout the world, in the Americas as well as Europe and even Siberia. It is a scholarly attempt to make the case that mind-altering mushrooms may have been responsible for mankind's most primitive religious feelings, leading to the very beginnings of religion as we know it today.

He traces their religious use in Mexico, Central and South America, India (where they have fallen out of favor), China, Siberia, Europe, and of course ancient Greece.

This book is a scholarly work, heavily footnoted (but without an index) and illustrated liberally with photographs and artwork. It is clear that Wasson was very single-minded in his interest, to the point where some of his conclusions may be attributed more to enthusiasm for his subject than objective science.

He does not dwell on the preparation of the Amanita Muscaria, which apparently can be quite toxic if not prepared carefully and with knowledge.

Unfortunately, perhaps, the book has become something of a "cult book" for some modern recreational drug users. I have seen some internet websites, in which contributors refer to Wasson as an authority on "'shrooms," and where the language used indicates other than academic interest.

Apparently the Fly Agaric mushroom is the original source of the chemical psilocybin, the mind altering drug that induces hallucinations on a par with those experienced under the influence of d-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-25 (LSD).

Joseph Pierre,
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity
19 people found this helpful
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Richard Peel
5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read for all thinkers
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2016
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There can be no serious effort to study ancient thinking and culture without considering in depth the influence of mind-freeing substances.
3 people found this helpful
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David Ewing
5.0 out of 5 stars Persephone's Quest
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2012
I believe R. Gordon Wasson is total genius. The prose is great, a must read. Also read, The Road to Eleusis. He and Ruck weave a web of scholarly inquiry that has been on the shelf waiting for discovery.
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Alistair Nexus
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Source and Homage to the Mysteries
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2005
I am a student of Carl A.P. Ruck, who was one of the contributors for this collection. This volume is indeed a collection which covers several sides of the story, touching upon almost every civilization which was influenced by the entheogensis of the mushroom (Amanita and Psylocybe). For those who have read McKenna's work, this is the foundation of it, although the antithesis of his belief that the Psylocybin containing species are the Soma of ancient Aryans. The second part of this book deals with the secrets of the ancient Greeks, their worship of entheogens, their belief in their ancestors and the Eleusinian mysteries- the common temple of the world.

An incredible read, very accessible to anyone interested in mythology and with an open mind.
17 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Persephone's Quest : Entheogens and the Origins of Religion
Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2000
Although I only gave it 4 stars, this book is actually outstanding. I did not give it the highest evaluation because, although R.G. Wasson's material was monumental, some of the other material included did not seem of the same caliber. Wasson's perspective is really a must read for anyone interested in this subject. He was not only extremely intelligent, but he also had an innate ability to phrase his ideas in a manner that really conveyed a total picture of what he was discussing. His perspective of calling them "personal experiences rather than hallucinations" really describes his intelligent attitude of pioneering. He had the insight to realize that he was discovering a new frontier that no one had the understanding to call true, false or imaginary. He was aware of the power of people using psychoactive materials and did not try to fit all of this into a politically correct literary structure that the current autorities of his era would accept. He provides his own, somewhat negative, perspective of Dr. Timothy Leary "and those of his ilk". He did not agree with the psychedelic crowd about using these materials for entertainment and believed that there was something inherently sacred about them. Although he was the first person of modern civilization to discover and document the use of the Psilocybin mushrooms of Central America he realized there was a difference between the effects of these mushrooms and the Amanita Muscaria which has no Psilocybin and apparently produced effects that spawned a number of the major religions of the world. I recommend this book to anyone who would like REAL information concerning psychoactive experience.
36 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Hector Jose
5.0 out of 5 stars It's an amazing book
Reviewed in Mexico on January 24, 2018
Verified Purchase
It's an increíble book, every page is gold. You must have to reade ir. Every parte, every chapter is a revelation.
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Samantha Devin
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most revealing and important books you'll read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2010
Verified Purchase
The scholars have studied for centuries the meaning of the Eleusian Mysteries from a point of view that was far from being the correct. They tried to be systematic and scientific, therefore they pass over the most important questions. This book take a new an revealing perspective, not only about the Greek Mysteries but about all the religious practices of the past. When you read this book you discover one of the most important secrets of humanity, a secret that has been kept for almost 3000 years. This book hasn't had its time ye, as all the works and ideas really shocking, but I am sure that in the future this book will be one of the keys to help humanity to recover the true sense of religious experience. For me, the content of the book was enlightening and at the same time obvious. Professionally it helped me a lot to build my novel and personally contributed to the understanding of one of the most beautiful and best kept secrets of ancient Greece. Superb!
3 people found this helpful
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Ronald Arthur Dewhirst
3.0 out of 5 stars Persephone's Question
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2010
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If there is an entheogenic research bandwagon I felt as though I might be on it. But maybe not.

Gordon Wasson I am happy to read. He is so knowledgable but friendly with it and humourous at times. Stella Kramrisch's essy on the Hindu Vedas and the references to ritual clay pots and the Putika plant was slow going. So too was Carl P. Ruck's essay on the Entheogens and their Role in the Formation of the Classical Tradition. It's nice to see all this research and speculation taking place but it would be great if it could be communicated more readily.

I've been re-reading it though, so it's worth having to hand.
2 people found this helpful
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Starwalker
3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointing ....
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 21, 2014
Verified Purchase
A bit rambly with too much personal anecdote for my taste. The title suggests something with a bit more scholarly 'meat on the bone'.
3 people found this helpful
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