Well, it’s that special time of year again. When Christians, Capitalists, And Holy Mushroom Conspiracy Theorist ramp up their propaganda, asking us to buy into their agenda.
The capitalist agenda seems straightforward enough: the best way to celebrate this time of year and not be shamed as a Grinch or Scrooge is buy, Buy, BUY more shit for people. For Christians, it’s maybe a strong overlap but a little less about money and little more about Jesus. The holy mushroom conspiracy theorists, however, their agenda is a bit more distorted but has, according to this week’s guest, an ongoing theme to convince you of something that has no actual historical evidence.
That ‘thing’ at this time of year has already hit your newsfeed, can you guess? That’s right: Santa Claus Is a Mushroom Shaman!
Of course, Jesus is also a mushroom.
The red and white amanita and the red and white outfit. The flying reindeer and the Siberian reindeer herding shamans eating the Amanita and drinking that sweet, sweet hallucinogenic reindeer piss. Oh, yes, the legend of Santa Clause is real and it’s all about the holy mushrooms, the Amanita muscaria. Not only is Santa really a shaman, but Jesus is indeed a mushroom, and all of Christain is a crypto mushroom fertility cult surrounding the amanita! But, actually, according to today’s guest, despite how fervently people seem to believe these ideas are correct, they are nothing more than sloppy thinking, confirmation bias, and circular reasoning. They are false, apparently.
Santa is not a mushroom shaman, Jesus was not a mushroom, and Christianity is not hiding a giant secret inside the biblical texts about the true hallucinogen at the root the religion being an amanita muscaria. But, therein lies a whole different set of questions: What is the actual history of Santa Claus? Who was Jesus? What drugs were Christians actually taking? (cause they were getting HIGH and spoke openly about it). What is the real history of Christmas, the nativity, and the holy mushroom?
Mmm, Amanita
Those questions are addressed in passionate form by Tom Hatsis, writer and psychedelic historian. He is the author of The Witches’ Ointment: The Secret History of Psychedelic Magic; Psychedelic Mystery Traditions: Spirit Plants, Magical Practices, Ecstatic States, and Microdosing Magic: A Psychedelic Spellbook. He also appears on the GaiamTV shows Psychedelica and Open Minds with Regina Meredith, and has several articles published in Psychedelic Press U.K.
Hatsis believes that in the psychedelic renaissance we must separate the modern lore from authentic history, a task he takes up by dismantling the tired and inept “holy mushroom hypothesis” in articles, videos, books, and this podcast, with a particular focus on Santa Claus, Christian Drug Taking, Jesus, and the real history of Christmas.
Something I would like to clarify here: In the beginning of this interview, I mistakenly say that there is no such thing as a Siberian “shaman reindeer herder.”
This is not true, as such a person does exist (I say as much in my video on flying reindeer). What I meant was that in none of those small cultures that might have a shaman reindeer herder among their ranks do they make any association between the shaman and Santa Claus, a character that still hasn’t penetrated into Siberian culture.
I note this because I have come to realize that while mushroom conspiracy theorists say the darnedest things *all the time*, I am not allowed to make the slightest error in their eyes without them pouncing (despite the fact that they have no clue what they are talking about in the first place).
This is Tom’s blog where you will find all sorts of great articles and essays on psychedelic history. A couple of specific places to start might be The Christian Radish Cult, where he discussed the origins of the Christmas tree, and The Holy Mushroom, an in-depth debunking of the holy mushroom hypothesis
*** Big thanks to my patrons on Pateron for helping keep this podcast alive! Especially, Thomas & Melanie H., Clean S., Steven B., Greg A., Dean H., Joe A., Andy D., Angela & James J., Ian C., Gibson V., Harry P., Don J., Yvett F.C., KDP, and Cornelius Phlegmbottom
