Editing Eleusinian Mysteries (section)

==Entheogenic theories==
Numerous scholars have proposed that the power of the Eleusinian Mysteries came from the [[kykeon]]'s functioning as an [[entheogen]], or [[psychedelic agent]].<ref name="Wasson, R 1978"/> The use of potions or philtres for magical or religious purposes was relatively common in Greece and the ancient world.<ref>Collins, Derek. ''Magic in the Ancient Greek World''. Wiley, 2008</ref> The initiates, sensitized by their fast and prepared by preceding ceremonies (see [[set and setting]]), may have been propelled by the effects of a powerful psychoactive potion into revelatory mind states with profound spiritual and intellectual ramifications.<ref name="Wasson, et al.">Wasson, ''et al.''.</ref> In opposition to this idea, skeptical scholars note the lack of any solid evidence and stress the collective rather than individual character of initiation into the Mysteries.<ref>Burkert, op.cit. Ch.4</ref> 

Many [[psychoactive]] agents have been proposed as the significant element of kykeon, though without consensus or conclusive evidence. These include the [[ergot]] species [[Claviceps paspali]],<ref name="Wasson, R 1978"/> a [[fungus|fungal]] [[parasite]] of [[paspalum]], which contains the alkaloids [[ergotamine]], a precursor to [[LSD]], and [[ergonovine]].<ref name="Wasson, et al."/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ruck|first=Carl|date=2000|title=Mixing the Kykeon|url=https://vdocuments.mx/mixing-the-kykeon-anew-carl-ap-ruck-peter-webster-sacred-mushrooms-of.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-17|website=vdocuments.mx|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021200924/https://vdocuments.mx/mixing-the-kykeon-anew-carl-ap-ruck-peter-webster-sacred-mushrooms-of.html |archive-date=2021-10-21 }}</ref> However, modern attempts to prepare a kykeon using ergot-parasitized barley have yielded inconclusive results, though [[Alexander Shulgin]] and [[Ann Shulgin]] describe [[ergonovine]] and [[ergine|LSA]] to be known to produce LSD-like effects.<ref>Shulgin & Shulgin. ''Tihkal''. Transform Press, 1997.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.erowid.org/plants/ergot/ergot.shtml |title=Erowid Ergot Vault |publisher=Erowid.org |access-date=2012-09-15}}</ref>

Discovery of fragments of [[ergot]] (fungi containing LSD-like psychedelic alkaloids) in a temple dedicated to the two Eleusinian Goddesses excavated at the Mas Castellar site ([[Girona]], [[Spain]]) provided some legitimacy for this theory. Ergot fragments were found inside a vase and within the dental calculus of a 25-year-old man, providing evidence of ergot being consumed. This finding seems to support the hypothesis of ergot as an ingredient of the Eleusinian [[kykeon]].<ref>Juan-Stresserras, J. , & Matamala, J. C. (2005). Estudio de residuos microscópicos y compuestos orgánicos en utillaje de molido y de contenido de las vasijas [A study of the microscopic residue and organic compounds in grinding tools and jar contents]. In P. Bueno, R. Balbín, & R. Barroso (cur.), ''El dolmen de Toledo'' (pp. 235–241). Alcalá de Henares, Spain: [[University of Alcalá|Universidad de Alcalá]].</ref>

[[Psychoactive mushrooms]] are another candidate. Scholars such as [[Robert Graves]] and [[Terence McKenna]], speculated that the mysteries were focused around a variety of ''[[Psilocybe]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Graves|first=Robert|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/761273872|title=The Greek Myths|date=2011|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-241-95274-0|edition=Complete and definitive|location=London|oclc=761273872}}</ref> Other [[entheogen]]ic fungi, such as ''[[Amanita muscaria]]'', have also been suggested.<ref>McKenna.</ref> A recent hypothesis suggests that the ancient Egyptians cultivated ''[[Psilocybe cubensis]]'' on barley and associated it with the deity [[Osiris]].<ref>{{Cite journal
| author =Stephen R. Berlant
| title =The entheomycological origin of Egyptian crowns and the esoteric underpinnings of Egyptian religion
| publisher =Journal of Ethnopharmacology
| year =2005
| doi =10.1016/j.jep.2005.07.028
| pmid =16199133
| volume =102
| issue =2
| journal =J Ethnopharmacol
| pages =275–88
| s2cid =19297225
}}</ref>

Another candidate for the psychoactive drug is an opioid derived from the [[poppy]]. The cult of the goddess Demeter may have brought the poppy from Crete to Eleusis; it is certain that opium was produced in Crete.<ref>[[Károly Kerényi|Kerényi]].''Dionysos. Archetypal image of indestructible life''. p 24</ref>

Another theory is that the psychoactive agent in kykeon is [[Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]], which occurs in many wild plants of the Mediterranean, including ''[[Phalaris (plant)|Phalaris]]'' and/or ''[[Acacia]]''.<ref>Metzner, Ralph. "The Reunification of the Sacred and the natural". ''Eleusis'' Volume VIII, 1997. pp. 3–13</ref> To be active orally (like in [[ayahuasca]]) it must be combined with a [[monoamine oxidase inhibitor]] such as Syrian rue (''[[Peganum harmala]]''), which grows throughout the Mediterranean.

Alternatively, [[J. Nigro Sansonese]] (1994), using the [[mythography]] supplied by [[George E. Mylonas|Mylonas]], hypothesizes that the Mysteries of Eleusis were a series of practical initiations into [[trance]] involving [[proprioception]] of the human nervous system induced by breath control (similar to [[samyama]] in yoga).<ref>[[J. Nigro Sansonese|Sansonese, J. Nigro]]. ''The Body of Myth.'' Rochester, 1994, pp. 195–215.</ref> Sansonese speculates that the ''kisté'', a box holding sacred objects opened by the hierophant, is actually an esoteric reference to the initiate's [[skull]], within which is seen a sacred light and are heard sacred sounds, but only ''after'' instruction in trance practice. Similarly, the seed-filled chambers of a [[pomegranate]], a fruit associated with the founding of the cult, esoterically describe proprioception of the initiate's [[heart]] during trance.