Quest for the Holy Grail

The very nature of the amanita muscaria, (it attaches to the root of certain trees and fruits only seasonally), guarantees that if it becomes popular, it will become scarce. So secrecy became important to the kings. Only the priests were allowed to harvest and dispense the sacrament. The general population was ignorant of the true identity of their god. All were ignorant of the symbiotic connection between the fungus and the tree under which it fruited. The trees became popular for building and for ceremonial fires. When the trees where cut down, the holy mushrooms were gone altogether. This meant that every few generations, the warrior kings had to pack up and move on, looking for a new source for their god. If a new source was not found within a few generations, the identity of the vanished god would be lost and only the search remained: the epic quest for the holy grail.

When they hit the road with their chariots, they brought their herds along for food. The herds brought with them stropharia cubensis. So while the warrior kings are raping and pillaging their way around the world in search of their lost god, an invisible rival followed along, always under foot, ready to take over. And it does over time. Little by little the warrior ethic is undermined by the docile effects of psilocybin. Over time, the behavior of the warrior clans become more peaceful, as the direct influence of the god of war is lost and the new god of peace sneaks into the diet and consciousness. The roaming slows down and city states grow.

The kings fought against this dilution of their resolve by maintaining their bloodlines and their code of ethics. The warrior kings understood that their power was on the wane. It was articulated that a messiah would rise up from the people and rule over the land. The kings handled this threat with a very simple plan, kill any leader that showed this tendency and insert a puppet in his place.

So the warrior kings and their subjects lived in a state of tension. The people feared the king and the king feared the people. By this time agriculture was in full swing. Fire technology and cooking was advanced enough for the next god to materialize.

Ergot produces mushrooms, too, but they are microscopic and therefore invisible to ancient farmers. It grows in the seed head of some grains, especially rye. When eaten raw it produces the most awful reactions imaginable, like impaired circulation, gangrene and often death. So it takes some expertise to extract the hallucinogenic components. By the time a culture is advanced enough to harness the power of ergot, they are ready for more complex patterns.

Ergot gives rise to the concepts mathematics and geometry. The need to keep track of details, counting, describing and otherwise dealing with abstract information is the hallmark of an ergot culture, like the organization of government, trade and art exemplified by ancient Greece. This new group served as a liaison between the war gods and the people. And it turned a profit.

Interacting like casts in an insect colony, the military, labor and bureaucracy/commerce, each function to their own set of protocols. Every country has the same elements in their structure. The difference lies in the strength and efficiency of these three divisions of responsibility.

So why does this matter? The mixing of these elements and their domination of civilization for so long, has guaranteed that we all have elements of these three fungi in our DNA. So, we face the same tension that confronts nations, in our own psyche. Our reptilian brain has ruled our behavior for too long. Our higher selves have to be assertive. We need to use our higher brains to scrutinize our behavior and make changes in the way we think and act. Our plant symbiots are urging us on.

Our epic search for the holy grail has uncovered many plants willing to influence human behavior. We have found cultures around the world who forged symbiotic relationships with plants, other than the big three, that resulted in harmonious living with the local environment. Plants like peyote and cannabis have added their mellowing agents to the mix. Ayahuasca and salvia are helping to bring the spiritual back into our consciousness.

The reign of the warrior kings is over; time for peace to rule.