Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras: The Pine Cone & Pollen

My next series of short blog posts will move on from the indigenous Norse archetypes into some background knowledge of some of the books in my e-library. I am giving some basic understandings and videos that may inspire you to explore some of the more obscure or esoteric writings that I share. The books that I will explore here will have the common theme: knowledge to help harmonize your four pillars of health. I try to find pdf versions of my favorite books for reference and inspiration only, I highly recommend getting paper versions of the books that may interest you.

The first book explores the Mithras culture which is the highly influential "drug cult" that civilized Europe. Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras is written by Carl A. P. Ruck, Mark A. Hoffman and Jose Alfredo Gonzalez Celdran. The fascinating history of the Mithraism cult influenced the Christ mythology, the Last Supper, pop culture, astrology, and plant medicine as we know it; it is little wonder that the culture was demonized and suppressed.

So much of modern culture is borrowed from the ancients. Our DNA memory holds onto the truth that our ancestors once held in wisdom. The beauty of Othala ᛟ is all we have to do is activate the spirit memory, it is always here with us to access. Let's briefly look at some of the important symbols of Mithraism and reflect on where it is in modern psyche and consciousness.

Red Cap

Today we see people wearing these floppy toques as a fashion statement, even on extremely hot days! These caps (mushroom caps) were worn by the Mithras followers also. The caps were red in homage to the bright red and white speckled Amanita muscaria mushroom.

"The metaphor of the cap is so naturally suggestive that the botanical term for the mushroom’s top is pileus, and it commonly figures in folklore and fairy tales, such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” called “Little Red-Cap” in German, and among the diminutive fairy folk frequenting forests. Altaic shamans who use Amanita muscaria consider their caps an essential aspect of their craft, since it is there, they believe that their powers are concentrated. The psychoactive Psilocybe semilanceata (“half-spear” or pointed) mushroom is commonly called “liberty cap” because of its resemblance to the Phrygian cap and its association with the French revolutionaries. Its botanical description as “half-spear” probably derives from the same tradition since the Mithraic cap, atop the Sword of the Accord (a spear in this case), with its definite fungal connotations, was used in the illuminations of the Déclaration des droits de l’homme. It is common for easily available varieties with similarly psychoactive properties to be substituted for the original sacrament; thus, the Psilocybe resembles the bonnet rouge, but obviously lacks its distinctive red color."

Pine Cone

As you can see in the video, the pine cone is placed at the Vatican and is often related to the Pineal gland and higher consciousness. This is true yes, but just a scratch of the surface. One meditation that can be quite enlightening quietly observes the mushroom or pine cone as just the fruiting body of the vast mycelia or giant tree and the rooting network reaching deep into the Earth. For added context, I may also add that the Vatican is built on the ancient religious grounds of the Mithras.

"The Amanita mushroom, like the pinecone, is actually a fruit of the tree— the same tree upon which they are mycorrhizally dependent. That is to say, the host tree supports the Amanita mycelium of which the mushrooms are the fruit; since the fruiting bodies do not appear without proximity to a host tree, it is easy to understand why preliterate and prescientific peoples would assume that the mushroom is, in fact, the fruit of the tree. The tree is most frequently a pine or birch, less commonly oak, and the mushrooms have also been reported on eucalyptus, olive, larch, and Asiatic cedars. The fly agaric’s dependence upon its host gives it the common folkloric epithet of the “tree-mushroom.” Similarly, the mushrooms often become the “apples” of a magical tree since the both fresh and dried muscaria closely resemble red apples in their corresponding stages. Thus, sometimes the capped heads of Mithras either alone and sometimes with all three persons of the Trinity appear actually in the tree, an evergreen pine, hanging as its fruit."

Rock

The Rock also represents the "magic" mushroom. The water miracle and water from a stone are important metaphors of the Mithras. Rock n' Roll music is aptly named as it affects the human energy field for better or worse. In present popular culture there is also blatant messaging with the example to the extreme being Dwayne Johnson, father Rocky, known as The Rock and sporting a metamorphosing brahma bull tattoo.

"The rock from which the god was born was both wet and derived from water, another clear metaphor for the Amanita mushroom, all the more so since the rock was found at the base of a tree and so drenched with water that streams flowed from its source. The head of the water god of the river’s spring is seen at the base of the rock mass of the birthing. Thus, the rock nativity was also the water miracle—the god as he burst from the fruiting egg-cave-rock that quickly expanded, absorbing the rainfall from the sudden thunderstorm and bolt of lightning, used his dagger to stab the rock. And behold, from it flowed the stream, an eternal spring, fons perennis. Like Soma, which was squeezed to extract its liquor of magical drink, the rock yielded its nectar, and his two Torchbearers were at hand (as at the tauroctony), to be the first to taste it: O thou, you fountain confined in the rocks, you who have nourished the twin brothers (Cautes and Cautopates) with your nectar, as the verse painted on the wall of the Santa Prisca Mithraeum proclaimed. (Fons concluse petris, geminos qui aluisti nectare fratres.) In the Ptuj Mithraeum, the rock of the spring is a pinecone; the diminutive twins are present, one eagerly scooping up its precious waters, while the other hugs the god’s knees in adoration. The altar commemorates the Eucharistic sacrament, its two other sides depicting the bow, quiver, and dagger, while on the other side, the meal with Sol, the sun. Christians interpreted this water miracle as equivalent to the transubstantiation of wine into the blood of their god."

Bull's Blood

Bull's Blood is a nutritious varietal of beet. Originally grown for its green tops, this is now one of the most commonly used beet roots grown today. The Mithras Bull's Blood is yet another reference to the ancient use of mushroom medicine. While some cults past and present have used animal and even human blood sacrifice rituals, the Bull's Blood here actually represents the mushroom potion used by the shamanic healers or those seeking enlightenment. The use of these potions was famously used by the likes of the Viking Berserkers and Japanese Kamikaze pilots in war as well as the CIA LSD for population mind control.

"Since the water miracle created the sacred drink, Mithras could sometimes even be seen rising from the rock with a bunch of grapes uplifted in his hand, like a Bacchus-Dionysus. With crossed legs, Cautopates salutes the miracle with clenched hand to his forehead in the ancient gesture of reverence at the epiphany of the sacred water as wine. The association of wine with bull’s blood derives on the metaphoric level from the identity of Dionysus as a bull and bull-mushroom but also from the ancient practice, now banned, of using dried bull’s blood as a fining agent to help clear the wine of suspended particles and clarify it. The famous potent Hungarian wine known as Bull’s Blood (Egri Bikavér or “Bull’s Blood of Eger”) is named for the tradition that in the siege of Eger in 1552, the Ottoman Turks were told that the “drunken, red-bearded” defenders of the town were preternaturally ferocious because they had drunk bull’s blood, a tradition similar to the tales of the berserkers. The bow, quiver, and arrows at the base of the god’s torso indicate that the uplifted Dionysian entheogen is a version of the water miracle. Compare the fresco of Mithras shooting at the rock (as a pile of cloud rocks) in the DuraEuropos Mithraeum."

Norse Testosterone Tea

That is a very brief introduction to the Mithras beliefs, mankind's history and plant medicine of the ancestors. No matter your individual world view, I hope that you found this information worthy of contemplation.

The Northern peoples' medicine commonly includes pine, mushrooms (including the pine mushroom too!), and nettle leaf and root. I have created a health food tea that is the cleanest and most bio-available product that can be found.

Increase your physical strength and endurance, as well as improved mental awareness and immune health with this special tea.

Pine pollen provides your body with both an external source of testosterone as well as phyto-androgens that supplement your own testosterone production. Stinging nettle root extract inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estradiol and estrogen, thereby increasing your existing testosterone levels. We add super power with the Chaga, "The King of Mushrooms", a favourite of Northern European Folk Medicine.

Visit our medicine chest for more information:

Norse Testosterone Tea | Web of Wyrd

Subscribe to My E-Library to check out the Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras book:

My E-Library | Web of Wyrd