-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
nessie wrote:
>
> 'Shrooms in the desert!?! No way. Too dry. Need rain and cow pies. Trust
> me.
On the surface that argument sounds good, and I'll admit that there is certainly a
possibility that this line of research by Terence McKenna, et al., is flawed and
psilocybe mushrooms are not "manna from Heaven". But consider the Children of Israel
supposedly wandered for 40 years, whose to say they stayed in the desert the entire
trip? In fact, unless I'm mistaken, the word used to describe where they wandered was
in the 'wilderness', not in the 'desert', per se. Simply because they started off in
a desert region of Egypt and 40-years later settled in the arid land of Canaan,
doesn't necessarily mean they stayed in a desert region totally devoid of rain and
dew throughout their wanderings. They had cattle with them, they had plenty of cow
pies. I mean how long would it take to travel from Egypt to Canaan? Several months, a
year, two years, several more years? To me, 40 years sounds like quite a long time to
travel that distance. More importantly, they only had manna for a certain part of
their trip, and by the time they settled in the arid land of Canaan, there was no
more manna to be had, which is consistent with the theory that they traveled from
Egypt to a less arid region where psilocybe mushrooms were able to grow on their cow
pies in the morning dew, and over the decades wandered out of the region, settling in
Canaan, where the shrooms could no longer grow, thus no more manna for the Children
of Israel.
Once again, from the original page I posted:
The Bible never tells us exactly what manna was and where it came from, but
there are many Old Testament passages which describe its physical qualities
and conditions associated with its appearance. The Bible's first reference
to manna is in the Book of Exodus as the children of Israel are fleeing
from Egypt and following Moses into the wilderness. After six weeks of
wandering, they began complaining to Moses that they are tired and hungry.
What happens next is truly extraordinary:
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will vain bread from heaven for
you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that
I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no (16:4). And when
the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there
lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground (16: 14).
And when the children of Israel saw if, they said one to another It is
manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the
bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
When I read this passage, I was struck by the fact that manna easily fits
the description of psilocybe mushrooms. For one thing magic mushrooms are
small and round, and since they sprout so rapidly they would seem to appear
overnight, as if out of the sky. Also, anyone harvesting them would
immediately notice that they turn blue where torn and had no roots, giving
more reason to believe that the mushrooms were of celestial origin. Note
that manna does not just fall from heaven, but instead it is described as
coming with the frost and dew, during the wet seasons. These are the
precise weather conditions for mushrooms to thrive. And finally, manna is
described as a bread.
Although translations have obscured the intent of this passage, it seems to
be a description of how to find and identify manna and distinguish it from
other non- psychoactive (or possibly lethal) mushrooms. Look for the small
round things which are like bread, come with the rain, and seem to have
heavenly (bluish) coloring. Psilocybe mushrooms also sprout in tiny pin
heads which branch out in all directions and bear a resemblance to hear
frost.
It is also interesting to note that Moses tells the children of Israel that
manna comes directly from Heaven to test them on whether or not they will
walk in God's law. Here is evidence that manna was endowed with unusual
spiritual powers, like those of magic mushrooms. However, manna does not
automatically confer spiritual power. Instead, it serves as a test. Magic
mushrooms would provide visionary experiences that would certainly test all
who ingested them. Moses also said that the manna is literally the "bread
of the lord" which is remarkably similar to the literal Aztec name for
psilocybe mushrooms, "flesh of the gods."
But how and why did the manna suddenly appear? Again referring to the
Bible, it is clear that the children of Israel had journeyed to a land
where there was dew in the morning. As a large, nomadic tribe, the
Israelites brought a lot of cattle and sheep together in the area. That
meant a great deal of manure. The change of climate from the arid lands of
Egypt to the dewy climate of the wilderness created ideal conditions for
the propagation and spread of psilocybe mushrooms in livestock dung.
In Exodus 12: 19-20, we find more references to manna.
And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning (16:19).
Notwithstanding they harkened not unto Moses. but some of them left of it
until the morning, and it bred worms and stank: and Moses was wroth with
them(16.20). And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his
eating. and when the sun waxed hot it melted...(16:21).
Anyone familiar with wild mushrooms knows that they go bad very quickly and
shrivel up under the heat of the sun, exactly like manna. [...]
Later, in Numbers 11:6-9, manna is again described in terms that are
remarkably similar to magic mushrooms:
But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna,
before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour
thereof as the colour of bdelliaum. And the people went about and gathered
it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans:
and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
Here we find manna described as before our eyes, having a neutral taste
like fresh oil, and once again, the Bible mentions that manna appearing in
the morning when the dew fell. The Old Testament even tells us what manna
looks like, the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof. When
psilocybe mushrooms are dried, their range of colors is virtually identical
to dried coriander seed. In both cases, with mushrooms and coriander seeds,
we see great similarities in the texture, color, tones, contrasts and
general visual appearance. The Children of Israel must have given great
thought about how to transmit the appearance of manna so as to aid future
generations who might encounter it. However, mushrooms were a mystery to
the Hebrews and they were unable to predict where manna could be found.
Little did they realize that the manure from their cattle was providing a
means for the mushroom to find its way into their mountain campsites.
Notice that the manna was ground in mills or beat it in a mortar. That is
odd because earlier we are told that manna was quite delicate and, then the
sun wax hot, it melted. However, if manna was the psilocybe mushroom, then
it was probably dried and then ground in order to be used for baking. In
fact, dried magic mushrooms are quite hard. Grinding or crushing the dried
mushroom and then baking with the powder would insure that the delicate
psychoactive molecules retained their highest potency.
In the next passage, the Bible describes manna as having light tan color
and texture like a wafer, certainly an accurate description of the color
and texture of a dried psilocybe mushroom. We also learn that the taste of
manna is no longer that of fresh oil but rather that of honey. According to
McKenna's research', honey has long been used in Mexico as a preserve
medium for psilocybin containing mushrooms. Perhaps the children of Israel
had begun to mix honey with the manna to preserve its potency. We find that
Moses announced that manna must be kept for future generations:
And the house of Israel called the name there of manna: and it was like
coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with
honey(l6: 31). And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth.
Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations: that they may see the
bread where with I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth
from the land of Egypt (16:32).
Again we are told to fill an omer with manna But how much is a omer? Isaac
Asimov, in his book on the Bible, concludes that an omer is about four
liters, while the King James version of the Bible estimates an omer to be
six pints. Psilocybe mushrooms are 92% water and only 8% remains when they
are dried. Also, fresh mushroom take up a lot of space, due to their shape.
So four liters of fresh magic mushrooms would yield less than a tenth of a
liter, or about 1/4 cup of dried, powdered manna This corresponds closely
with the amount of magic mushrooms required for a moderately strong dose
when used for baking This is important because it clearly shows that not
only does manna have similar qualities to magic mushrooms, it also shows
that it was also used in the same quantity as mushrooms. So manna matches
psilocybe mushroom on both a qualitative and quantitative analysis
providing a compelling argument that psilocybe mushrooms are in actuality
"manna from Heaven."
Of course there are those who will remain eternally skeptical, but keep in
mind that the description of manna given in the old testament bears an
exact resemblance to mushrooms. Even if psilocybe mushrooms are not manna
the similarities have indicated mushrooms as a possible candidate, and they
certainly fit the bill for a "spiritual food'. Unfortunately, when the
Children of Israel finally reach the arid land of Canaan, the mysterious
manna no longer appeared.
And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of
the land: neither had the children of Israel manna any more.
The children of Israel must have been deeply disappointed when they ran out
of their sacred manna. We can see that they went to great lengths to
preserve their knowledge about identifying and using manna The Old
Testament contains detailed information about the color, texture,
appearance, and relationship to dew, and the Old Testament even explains
how manna is to be ground and then used in baking cakes. If the Israelites
thought that manna was a magical event caused by God would they have
bothered to note all the details about the identification of manna?
<snip>
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