Paracelsus on Philosophy and Medicine

There is a true and a false philosophy. As froth in new-made wine swims upon the top and hides the true wine below, likewise there is a froth of sophistry and pseudo-philosophy swimming at the top of true philosophy; it looks like knowledge, but it is the outcome of ignorance, gilded and varnished to deceive the vulgar. It is like a parasite growing upon the tree of knowledge, drawing the sap out of the true tree and converting it into poison. The intellectual working of the brain alone is not sufficient to give birth to a physician; the true physician is not he who has merely heard of the truth, but he who feels the truth, who sees it before him as clearly as the light of the sun, who hears it as he would hear the noise of the cataract of the Rhine or the whistling of the storm upon the ocean, who smells it and tastes it, it being sweet to him as honey or bitter as gall. Nature produces diseases and effects their cures, and where, then, could be found a better teacher than Nature herself? That alone which we see and feel and perceive constitutes true knowledge, not that of which we are merely informed in books and which is not confirmed by experience.

The knowledge of Nature as it is--not as we imagine it to be--constitutes true philosophy. He who merely sees the external appearance of things is not a philosopher; the true philosopher sees the reality, not merely the outward appearance. He who knows the sun and the moon has a sun and a moon in him, and he can tell how they look, even if his eyes are shut. Thus the true physician sees in himself the whole constitution of the Microcosm of man, with all its parts. He sees the constitution of his patient as if the latter were a clear crystal, in which not even a single hair could escape detection. He sees him as he would the stones and pebbles at the bottom of a clear well. This is the philosophy upon which the true art of medicine is based. Not that your physical eyes are able to show you these things, but it is Nature herself who teaches it to you. Nature is the universal mother of all, and if you are in harmony with her--if the mirror of your mind has not been made blind by the cobwebs of speculations, misconceptions, and erroneous theories--she will hold up before you a mirror in which you will see the truth. But he who is not true himself will not see the truth as it is taught by Nature, and it is far easier to study a number of books and to learn by heart a number of scientific theories than to enoble one's own character to such an extent as to enter into perfect harmony with Nature and to be able to see the truth.

Extended Show Notes from The Universe Within Podcast Ep 81 with Jeff Chilton

A Piece John wrote about John Allegro and The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

A close friend turned me on to a recent interview on Joe Rogan. The person was spreading the psychedelic gospels and undermining the established order. I do not know Joe well, in fact this may be the first time I have heard him. He seems to be quite intelligent and on the right track, although there were certain areas of the conversation that I would like to comment on.

As a student of the mushroom and of those who have uncovered its ancient origins, I found Joe's lack of knowledge of Allegro to be unfortunate. My friend did a good job of correcting his totally incorrect biographical intro of Allegro and rightly pointed out that Allegro was not only a brilliant philologist and academic, but the only member of the Dead Sea Scroll committee that was not affiliated with a religion. 

But I would like to point out that the statement that one cannot critique Allegro's work without being a philologist while academically correct, is not exactly true, and it is often used as a method of sidestepping the question of the validity of his work. I understand the concept, I am not an astrophysicist. But there is enough corroborating evidence to unequivocally state that Allegro "cracked the code", for certainly language has been used for thousands of years to convey not only secret meanings but also to conceal them. My reading of Allegro's book simply reaffirmed what I found to be self evident. “Jesus” was indeed a mushroom personified as were many other similar "gods." He was literally the psychoactive path to godhead. Christians consumed his flesh and drank his blood. It syncs quite nicely with the Mazatec interpretation of teonanacatl as "god's flesh" and the Hindu highly revered potion called Soma.

Dissemblers can quibble about Allegro's derivations in their efforts to obfuscate the bigger picture, but they should not be allowed to distract from the profundity of Allegro's scholarship. His message is revolutionary for our times. Ancient "religions" were based around sex and "drugs", ie fertility and psychoactive plants, especially mushrooms. Christianity is not immune to this or apart from this or different from this. And today's christianity like most religions is simply a set of rituals. Now, one can only wonder what kind of trouble this mode of thinking might bring.

Joe tossed the Jesus as mushroom question out as a joke. It is not a joke and needs to be challenged. To me, studying this in 1969, with Wasson confirming the identity of Soma as mushroom (regardless of the genus he names), it was only too obvious that most of our major religions were mushroom based and Allegro simply confirmed this with his branch of language science. The ignominy of this period was that Allegro was the true philologist while Wasson was the dilettante who depended upon others. Yet the dilettante was allowed to question the character of the true scientist. The fact that Allegro had his academic reputation destroyed over his interpretation of the scrolls only deepened my acceptance of his work. After all, the sixties revealed the great lies of the Overlords and how we live in an upside down world. Additionally, Allegro was not bemushroomed nor did he seek the experience. He did not join the neo-Gods of Psychedelia who were by the late seventies performing in a traveling road show spreading psychedelic wisdom and heralding the discoveries of the ancient mysteries. On their terms!

Allegro cracked the code that laid bare christianity and exposed its fungal roots and was crucified for it. What Joe doesn't understand is that Jesus was nothing more than the latest incarnation of a series of similar figures that populated the pantheon of Middle Eastern gods. The currently accepted Jesus has absolutely no historical basis. Period. It is a heresy to say so and for that reason it is rarely discussed. But all the evidence is there for those who care to view it. (see Suns of God by Acharya S) It is quite easy to postulate about the gods and goddesses of other cultures, but it is dangerous to do so at home. Wasson was unable to accept this fact for a number of reasons. Was it his christian heritage? Jealousy? It was due to their vilification of Allegro that I had difficulty with some of Wasson and his retinue’s pronouncements. Their job was to write the history of the Psychedelic Enlightenment in their own image and it has some serious flaws.

I know I have mentioned the Irvin and Rutajit book on Astrotheology, Their book sheds more light on ancient religions than most others. It is a goldmine of information and a key to understanding the symbolism of ancient stories and mythologies. Put that together with the information of mushroom use and many mysteries become more understandable. Dr. John Allegro played a significant role in revealing the extent of mushroom usage in the ancient world and his work deserves more acknowledgement.