La llave de la inmortalidad

by Brian Muraresku

La religión y la ciencia convergen para pintar un cuadro radical del evento fundacional del cristianismo. El historiador religioso más influyente del siglo xx, Houston Smith, alguna vez se refirió al «secreto mejor guardado» de la los antiguos griegos consumían drogas para encontrar a Dios y los primeros cristianos heredaron esa tradición secreta. Durante casi dos mil años antes de Cristo, gente común y reconocidas personalidades de Atenas y Roma acudían a la ciudad griega de Eleusis a celebrar los rituales secretos en los que los iniciados consumían bebidas «sagradas» —enriquecidas con drogas que alteran la mente— que los llevaban al borde de la muerte y a encontrarse con Dios. Especialistas en arqueobotánica y arqueoquímica han encontrado evidencia científica del uso de alucinógenos en la Antigüedad clásica. Si estos sacramentos sobrevivieron miles de años, ¿era la Eucaristía de los primeros cristianos una Eucaristía psicodélica? Con la finalidad de encontrar respuesta a esta pregunta, Brian Muraresku se lanzó a un periplo que duró 12 años para examinar las raíces del sacramento que realizan cada domingo unos 2 500 millones de cristianos alrededor del visitó las ruinas de Grecia, inspeccionó colecciones ocultas del Museo del Louvre, se internó en las catacumbas de Roma para descifrar los símbolos de los primeros cristianos y revisó archivos secretos del Vaticano. La llave de la inmortalidad  reconstruye de manera apasionante la historia de una remota Eucaristía psicodélica guiada sobre todo por mujeres —guardianas por antonomasia del conocimiento del uso de las plantas— que luego fue prohibida y suprimida de los registros «oficiales» por la Iglesia.

520 pages, Paperback

Published June 27, 2023

Reviews

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

First heard about the book through a video summary in one of the seasonal ceremonies made by Alex Grey during the pandemic. And while this subject is one of my favorites, sensing the book was written for the "layman,” I was hesitant. And I was both right and wrong.

I was right in that there are far more in-depth books on any of the particular subjects dealt with in the book, and that there is some expected shallowness when dealing with some pretty important points. I was wrong because, even taking all of this and my following criticism into account, it’s not only a great starting point on the topic but one hell of a book—wonderfully researched and a joy to read.

I do want to mention a few things I disliked.

There is some oversimplification when it comes to ancient Greek culture—it wasn't all reason with a hint of drugs for getting off steam and learning how to die. It was far more complex than that, and while I understand what the author wanted to convey about the singularities of Greek thought, I believe he ended up doing it a disservice.

On a similar vein, it creates a false golden age. Reading some parts of the book, I got the impression we lived in harmony with nature in matriarchal societies without war before capitalism—sorry, Christianity—ruined the world. The early Church did its fair share of world-ruining, but the author's depiction of the pagan world is far too idealistic.

Third, the author does a monumental job in following as much as possible the bureaucracy of academia, and then suddenly claims witches kept the mysteries alive until Bruno's time—almost for a thousand years—without any substantial backing. While I certainly like the theory, it’s far more speculative than everything else postulated in the book, and it forces data to fit his narrative. Quite the shame.

Anyway, the postulate behind the book is that the early Eucharist wasn't just a symbol but that there was something in the kool-aid, and that it was all run by women, like the cult of Dionysus. And yes, there is something there, but we can’t just say “that was early Christianity.” There is a vast, non-forged historical record that points to what we’ve known for centuries—that it was a boys' club from the start. The author likes to quote Cicero when it comes to the Mysteries, but fails to do so when it comes to Christianity; and that, I think, says a lot.

[Mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente perspectiva.