Any topic or question related to human experience can be studied historically. Participants in any experience or belief system cannot validly say they have a greater truth that invalidates scientific or historical inquiry. Or they can say that, but .....PsyPhilosopher wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:06 am"Historical method" is hardly relevant to psychedelic esotericism, the crucial issue here is the hermeneutics of religion.neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:25 pm Simply relying upon plausibility does not cut it as a historical method
The Psychedelic Theory of Esoteric Religion
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Re: The Psychedelic Theory of Esoteric Religion
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Re: The Psychedelic Theory of Esoteric Religion
It is important to understand that Allegro was suggesting a mushroom theory of religion and *not* a psychedelic theory of religion.
Allegro had no concept of a psychedelic mushroom, no concept of entheogens, and no concept that ancient Christians were tripping on drugs and experiencing religious revelation as a result.
Allegro focused on the amanita muscaria mushroom (red with white spots) which is not psychedelic. The psychedelic mushrooms are the (visually unremarkable) psilocybin-containing varieties, but Allegro had no awareness of these mushrooms or of any role that psilocybin-induced experiences had on early christianity.
Re: The Psychedelic Theory of Esoteric Religion
PsyPhilosopher wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:06 am"Historical method" is hardly relevant to psychedelic esotericism, the crucial issue here is the hermeneutics of religion.neilgodfrey wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:25 pm Simply relying upon plausibility does not cut it as a historical method
When deciding how religion is best interpreted, the relative plausibility of the different interpretive paradigms is compared. For example - is it more plausible to interpret the crucifixion story as a literal historical event, or as a metaphor for intense psychedelic tripping?
Well if you take:
(1) It's intended to describe a literal historical event (whether or not it really happened), OR it's intended as a metaphor with whatever spiritual meaning.
Compared to:
(2) It's intended as a metaphor with a very specific meaning-- psychedelic tripping
Then I think (1) should be about a billion times more plausible than (2). (And I'm not against the idea that psychedelic plants have had a significant influence on world religion, or some types of religion.)
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Re: The Psychedelic Theory of Esoteric Religion
This ^ is not a valid comparison because (2) is included as a subset of (1)
There are various pairs of axioms that need to be compared for their relative plausibility, such as:
(1) Religious stories are literal depictions of historical events
vs.
(2) Religious stories are metaphorical (and therefore non-literal)
and:
(1) Religious stories are metaphorical references to astrological events
vs.
(2) Religious stories are metaphorical descriptions of psychedelic experiences
etc.