Immortality Key
by Brian C. Muraresku, Graham Hancock · first published 2020
88% recommend13% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A well-researched look at ecstatic spiritual practice and psychedelic use in ancient Western religion, including the Eleusinian and Dionysian mystery cults
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"A groundbreaking, controversial dive into the role psychedelics have played in the human experience of the Divine throughout Western history, and the answer to a 2,000 year old mystery that could shake the Church to its foundations. The Immortality Key connects the lost, psychedelic sacrament of Greek religion to early Christianity-exposing the true origins of Western Civilization. In the tradition of unsolved historical mysteries like David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon and Douglas Preston's The Lost City of the Monkey God, Brian C. Muraresku's 10-year investigation takes the reader thr
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I would highly suggest reading "The Immortality Key" by Brian C. Muraresku before dismissing this all as "hippie nonsense"
on “Paul Stamets on the interrelationship among mushrooms, consciousness, and nature” ↗The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku. It’s a cool look at lesser known side of Western civilization, namely estatic spiritual experiences. Even if you don’t agree with the author’s conclusions, it’s very well researched…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name Brian C. Muraresku https://www.amazon.com/Immortality-Key-Uncovering-History-Re... Well written, engrossing book on the historical underpinnings and the…
on “Ask HN: Best books read in 2022” ↗…complex way, i.e it's not just absorbing a couple of rites here and there, but it also has roots in hybridation with mystery cults like the mysteries of Eleusis and the cult of Dionysus. Good read: The Immortality Key, by Brian Murarescu. The reason I said "true" and not "false" is that the church was very successful at rebranding the whole spiel to the point where the memory of the link was utterly removed from the…
on “A Visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City (2023)” ↗Good read is The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51174256-the-immortality... Good interview with the author: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/346...
on “From Opium to Saffron, the Ancients Knew a Thing or Two About Drugs” ↗You can read Brian Muraresku's The Immortality Key for a detailed exploration of this topic. It certainly isn't beyond criticism, but it's points are substantive and well referenced, giving the reader enough scope to tackle the controversial points themselves,…
on “Discovery of fresco portraying Dionysian mysteries at Pompeii” ↗Check out The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku, it has a few theories on through lines. The book is about these mystery cults, and specifically how they may have been using and early form of LSD. Part of the theory is the classically…
on “Discovery of fresco portraying Dionysian mysteries at Pompeii” ↗To those interested in the history of human consumption of hallucinogens I can't recommend this book enough: The Immortality Key.
on “In Algeria, ancient cave art may show psychedelic mushroom use” ↗The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name 978-1250207142 Stories of Your Life and Others: Ted Chiang 978-1529039436 Leonardo da Vinci 978-1501139154
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗…senses and the signals of your ego mind - both that can mask the more subtle - and can be repressed if disconnected from it at a young age due to various reasons. Furthermore, if you read the book The Immortality Key, there is the belief circulating that wine - "the blood of Christ" - historically wasn't alcohol but wine was a mix, and arguably an entheogen-psychdelic that then connected people to an altered state…
on “Saint Michael Sword: Are the cathedrals really on a straight line?” ↗