The Psychedelic Gospels by Jerry B. Brown PhD & Julie M. Brown MA

The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity

Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., and Julie M. Brown, M.A.

The Psychedelic Gospels reveals evidence of visionary plants in Christianity and the life of Jesus found in medieval art and biblical scripture—hidden in plain sight for centuries

The Psychedelic Gospels Book Cover — Cover Image: God Creates Plants, Great Canterbury Psalter, England, c. 1180.

Follows the authors’ anthropological adventure discovering sacred mushroom images in European and Middle Eastern churches, including Roslyn Chapel and Chartres Cathedral
Provides color photos showing how R. Gordon Wasson’s psychedelic theory of religion clearly extends to Christianity and reveals why Wasson suppressed this information due to his secret relationship with the Vatican
Examines the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels for evidence showing that visionary plants were the catalyst for Jesus’s awakening to his divinity and immortality

About the Book

Throughout medieval Christianity, religious works of art emerged to illustrate the teachings of the Bible for the largely illiterate population. What, then, is the significance of the psychoactive mushrooms hiding in plain sight in the artwork and icons of many European and Middle-Eastern churches? Does Christianity have a psychedelic history?

Providing stunning visual evidence from their anthropological journey throughout Europe and the Middle East, including visits to Roslyn Chapel and Chartres Cathedral, authors Julie and Jerry Brown document the role of visionary plants in Christianity. They retrace the pioneering research of R. Gordon Wasson, the famous “sacred mushroom seeker,” on psychedelics in ancient Greece and India, and among the present-day reindeer herders of Siberia and the Mazatecs of Mexico. Challenging Wasson’s legacy, the authors reveal his secret relationship with the Vatican that led to Wasson’s refusal to pursue his hallucinogen theory into the hallowed halls of Christianity.

Examining the Bible and the Gnostic Gospels, the authors provide scriptural support to show that sacred mushrooms were the inspiration for Jesus’s revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven and that he was initiated into these mystical practices in Egypt during the Missing Years. They contend that the Trees of Knowledge and of Immortality in Eden were sacred mushrooms.

Uncovering the role played by visionary plants in the origins of Judeo-Christianity, the authors invite us to rethink what we know about the life of Jesus and to consider a controversial theory that challenges us to explore these sacred pathways to the divine.

About the Authors

Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D., is an educator, anthropologist and activist. From 1972 to 2014 he served as founding professor of anthropology at Florida International University in Miami, where he taught a course on “Hallucinogens and Culture.”

Julie M. Brown, M.A., is an integrative psychotherapist, who conducts research on the role of sacred plants in religion. She took all of the original photographs for The Psychedelic Gospels.

Order Your Copy!

Published by Inner Traditions

Park Street Press
ISBN 978-1-62055-502-6
$19.95 (CAN $23.95) Paper
Also available as an ebook

288 pages, 6 x 9
Includes 16-page color insert and
30 black-and-white illustrations
Religion/Entheogens

Selected Images from the Book

In The Psychedelic Gospels, we provide a stunning photographic gallery documenting the role of psychedelic plants in Judeo-Christianity. These six photographs are representative of the sixty images, both in color and black & white, found throughout the book. (click images for enlarged views and details)