The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity

The Psychedelic Gospels advances a controversial theory that Christianity has a hidden psychedelic history driven by visionary plants, especially sacred mushrooms. Jerry and Julie Brown argue that medieval Christian art and biblical and Gnostic texts preserve evidence of psychoactive mushroom imagery that points to ritual and spiritual mechanisms behind Jesus' awakening and teaching, including the Trees of Knowledge and Immortality. The book also challenges R. Gordon Wasson’s legacy by claiming he had a secret relationship with the Vatican that suppressed follow up on his hallucinogen theory, while the Browns connect Wasson’s “sacred mushroom seeker” research to examples found in churches across Europe and the Middle East.