The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name

by Brian C. Muraresku

Particularly fascinating about the marzeah is the possibility that it acted as the bridge between the more archaic drinking ceremonies from Egypt and the Near East, including Tel Kabri, and the later Mysteries belonging to both Dionysus and Jesus. Common to all these rituals is the concept of ingesting a special potion for a singular purpose: to transcend ordinary time and space, reaching a state of consciousness where the ancestors still live and breathe, and the gods and goddesses are made real. For lack of vocabulary, scholars often refer to this place as the “underworld.” And maybe the initiates of the marzeah truly believed they went somewhere, just like the initiates of the Greek and Christian Mysteries in the centuries that followed. But at the end of the day, we’re only trying to get hold of the mechanism that created the sensation of otherworldly travel, and the conviction that creates whole religions in the wake of these unforgettable mystical experiences.