Consciousness Cafe - Entheogens and Psychedelic Cultural Transmissions

It was primarily European urban centers that converted to Christianity, usually for political or commercial interests rather than as a matter of faith. Christians built their sanctuaries upon the pagan sites, commonly incorporating the actual architectural remnants and assimilating the symbolism of the former deities. The wisdom of those deposed gods and their rites persisted in less objectionable forms, disguised as festivals and quaint tales to delude the censors. Tales as simple as Snow White or The Sleeping Beauty perpetuate themes traceable back to the great Norse sagas, the Classical and Mesopotamian epics, and the comedies and tragedies of the theater of Dionysus. In this volume, the authors look at pagan rites officially obliterated by the Church that left behind visionary sacraments still practiced by the ecclesiastical elite and cherished by the leading families of Europe as the source of their former empowerment.

// posted by ustaath @ 12/26/2006 01:16:00 PM