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.Anotherof our common vegetable names so derived is Chicory, a variant form of whose name in Greek isKorkoron.This last occurs also as a mushroom name, and Pliny s description of Chicory showsthat whatever magic plant he is describing it is not the culinary root we know so well:THE KEY OF THE KINGDOMthose who have anointed themselves with the juice of the whole plant,mixed with oil, become more popular and obtain their wishes more easilyso great are its health giving properties that some call it Chreston ".There has clearly been some confusion here in traditions regarding the plant, with which we mayreasonably identify the Kirkaion, Mandrake.The juice was to be rubbed on or anointed (khristos) , and its properties were so beneficial that it was called Chreston (Greek khrëstos, good, honest, health-bestowing , etc.).26 One is reminded of the form of the name by whichnon-Christians spoke of the object of the sect s adoration, Chrestus.So Suetonius speaks of theemperor Claudius having to expel Jews from Rome because they were making a disturbance atthe instigation of Chrestus .27 What Pliny is describing then is the Jesus Christ mushroomwhose consumption brought on the first century Christians the vilification and contempt of theRoman historians.The Greek Korkoron, the Christ mushroom, appears also as an alternative name forHalicacabus,28 another of the bolt designations of the fungus.Its name is related to the Semiticword for star envisaged as a penis in the sky, a miniature sun .Our own word star comesvia Greek from a Sumerian word for knobbed bolt .Of Halicacabus, Pliny says:The root of Halicacaks is taken in drink by those who, to confirm superstitious notions, wish tosplay the inspired prophet, and to be seen publicly raving in unpretended madness.He adds that the root is so antipathetic to the nature of asps, that ifit be brought near to the reptile it stupifies that very power of theirs tokill by stupefaction .29Allusions like this to serpents and antidotes for their poisons or malign influences over the mind,usually imply some special relationship between the plant and the reptile.Mushrooms andserpents are closely related in folk lore, and in this case we are reminded of the Old Testamentpassage about Moses brazen serpent, on which Jesus models himself,3° that anyone bitten by asnake might look on it and live (Num 21:9).Of the other Sumerian elements that went to make up mushroom names, RI, or dialectal LI, alsomeant cone or bun shape, MASh (-TAB-BA), twin , so LI-MASh meant two cones or hemispheres , like, MASh-TAB-BA-R/LI.The word GI means stem so5152 THE SACRED MUSHROOM AND THE CROSSthat LI-LI-GI could describe the mushroom as two halves of the volva separated by the erectstem.3 Very common in the phallic nomenclature of the mushroom is the Sumerian BALAG, crown of the penis; glans .Supplemented by ANTA, raised , we shall meet the word in thename given to the Maenads, Bacchantes, and the Hebrew weepers for Tammuz.32 In Sumerian,the orgiasts whose task it was to cause the erection of the male organ, and in the cult, the raisingof the phallic mushroom, were called BALAG-NAR.By natural association of ideas thiscombined word came into Greek as the name for an axe-handle, pelekunarion, which was pushedthrough the central hole of the double- axe head, the peleL us.33The extension of erect penis words to stakes, rods, cudgels, and the like is common in anylanguage.Of the BALAG-derived words we might cite the Greek plialagx, Latin and ourphalanx, meaning a roller, log, or rank of soldiers .4 Another onion name, referring to the knobbed root of the vegetable that provoked phallic allusions, was the Latin pallacana,precisely our Sumerian *BALAG.AN(TA).35The ancient naturalists speak of a poisonous spider whose namePhalaggion stems from the same root.Its connections with the genitalorgan are clear from their descriptions of the effects of its bite:The eyes become bloodshot, a shivering settles upon his limbs, and straight- way his skin andgenitals grow taut, his penis projects, dripping with foul ooze." 36Among the antidotes for this fearsome poison is listed Asparagus, awell-known antaphrodisiac, and also named from the SumerianBALAG, presumably on account of its straight stalk.37Semitic made a number of roots from BALAG, crown of the penis , and found therein wordsdenoting a hemispherical or bun shape, as those for a young woman s firm breast, the similarlyshaped whorl of a spindle, half a pomegranate skin, a human temple, and a cake of figs.38 As inthe title Bacchante , the middle L of BALAG became assimilated to the following consonantin pronunciation, giving sounds like bacc- or (from the cognate BULUG) bucc- .Latin thusgained its bucca, cheek , and Hebrew one of its names for the mushroom, paqqu ah.39From the New Testament myth-maker s point of view, this doublepronunciation greatly enlarged his scope for punning.He could useTHE KEY OF THE KINGDOM 53BALAG in full for Semitic roots like p-l-kh, make 4° ( On this rock I will build (make) mychurch ), but could shorten it and run into the preceding MASh of the fungus name, finding rootslike sh-b-kh, bless, praise ( Blessed art thou, Simon Bar jonah. ),41 and sh b q, release, forgive ( whatsoever you release on earth. ),42 and so on.Having seen something of how the New Testament writers use the old sacred names of themushroom for their word-play, we have now to look again at the nature of the fungus itself.Fromthe manner of its growth and its sexual resemblances come many of the human allusions in thestories that grew up round it.Its main parts, the volva and the penis stem, represented the essential distinguishing features of men and women, and in mythology they served as symbols forthe male and female characters in the stories.VIIThe Man-child Born of a VirginDescribing the growth of the mushroom ( boletos) , Pliny says: the earthproduces first a womb (vulva).and afterwards (the mushroom) itself inside the womb, like ayolk inside the egg; and the baby mushroom is just as fond of eating its coat as is the chicken.The coat cracks when (the mushroom) first forms; presently, as it gets bigger, the coat is absorbedinto the body of the footstalk (pediculi).at first it is flimsier than froth, then it growssubstantial like parchment, and then the mushroom." is born.1More prosaically, perhaps, the process is thus described by a modern mycologist: In the genusAmanita a membrane surrounds the young fungus.In addition to this wrapper or volva there isanother membrane, stretching from the margin of the cap and joined to the stem, as in themushroom.Thus it is as if the button stage were surrounded by an outer skin.As the fungusdevelops this is torn apart.If its texture is sufficiently tenacious to hold it together, it is left as acup at the base of the stem.With growth the membrane covering the gills tears and is left as aring on the stem. Of the Amanita phalloides, the writer adds: Before the volva breaks the fungus looks somewhat like a pigeon s egg half-buried, or like asmall phallus egg.It is common in glades in woods and adjoining pastures after the firstsummer rains, and continues through early autumn. 2It was the fertilization of the womb that most puzzled the ancients, and remained a mysteryuntil the end of the last century [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl matkasanepid.xlx.pl
.Anotherof our common vegetable names so derived is Chicory, a variant form of whose name in Greek isKorkoron.This last occurs also as a mushroom name, and Pliny s description of Chicory showsthat whatever magic plant he is describing it is not the culinary root we know so well:THE KEY OF THE KINGDOMthose who have anointed themselves with the juice of the whole plant,mixed with oil, become more popular and obtain their wishes more easilyso great are its health giving properties that some call it Chreston ".There has clearly been some confusion here in traditions regarding the plant, with which we mayreasonably identify the Kirkaion, Mandrake.The juice was to be rubbed on or anointed (khristos) , and its properties were so beneficial that it was called Chreston (Greek khrëstos, good, honest, health-bestowing , etc.).26 One is reminded of the form of the name by whichnon-Christians spoke of the object of the sect s adoration, Chrestus.So Suetonius speaks of theemperor Claudius having to expel Jews from Rome because they were making a disturbance atthe instigation of Chrestus .27 What Pliny is describing then is the Jesus Christ mushroomwhose consumption brought on the first century Christians the vilification and contempt of theRoman historians.The Greek Korkoron, the Christ mushroom, appears also as an alternative name forHalicacabus,28 another of the bolt designations of the fungus.Its name is related to the Semiticword for star envisaged as a penis in the sky, a miniature sun .Our own word star comesvia Greek from a Sumerian word for knobbed bolt .Of Halicacabus, Pliny says:The root of Halicacaks is taken in drink by those who, to confirm superstitious notions, wish tosplay the inspired prophet, and to be seen publicly raving in unpretended madness.He adds that the root is so antipathetic to the nature of asps, that ifit be brought near to the reptile it stupifies that very power of theirs tokill by stupefaction .29Allusions like this to serpents and antidotes for their poisons or malign influences over the mind,usually imply some special relationship between the plant and the reptile.Mushrooms andserpents are closely related in folk lore, and in this case we are reminded of the Old Testamentpassage about Moses brazen serpent, on which Jesus models himself,3° that anyone bitten by asnake might look on it and live (Num 21:9).Of the other Sumerian elements that went to make up mushroom names, RI, or dialectal LI, alsomeant cone or bun shape, MASh (-TAB-BA), twin , so LI-MASh meant two cones or hemispheres , like, MASh-TAB-BA-R/LI.The word GI means stem so5152 THE SACRED MUSHROOM AND THE CROSSthat LI-LI-GI could describe the mushroom as two halves of the volva separated by the erectstem.3 Very common in the phallic nomenclature of the mushroom is the Sumerian BALAG, crown of the penis; glans .Supplemented by ANTA, raised , we shall meet the word in thename given to the Maenads, Bacchantes, and the Hebrew weepers for Tammuz.32 In Sumerian,the orgiasts whose task it was to cause the erection of the male organ, and in the cult, the raisingof the phallic mushroom, were called BALAG-NAR.By natural association of ideas thiscombined word came into Greek as the name for an axe-handle, pelekunarion, which was pushedthrough the central hole of the double- axe head, the peleL us.33The extension of erect penis words to stakes, rods, cudgels, and the like is common in anylanguage.Of the BALAG-derived words we might cite the Greek plialagx, Latin and ourphalanx, meaning a roller, log, or rank of soldiers .4 Another onion name, referring to the knobbed root of the vegetable that provoked phallic allusions, was the Latin pallacana,precisely our Sumerian *BALAG.AN(TA).35The ancient naturalists speak of a poisonous spider whose namePhalaggion stems from the same root.Its connections with the genitalorgan are clear from their descriptions of the effects of its bite:The eyes become bloodshot, a shivering settles upon his limbs, and straight- way his skin andgenitals grow taut, his penis projects, dripping with foul ooze." 36Among the antidotes for this fearsome poison is listed Asparagus, awell-known antaphrodisiac, and also named from the SumerianBALAG, presumably on account of its straight stalk.37Semitic made a number of roots from BALAG, crown of the penis , and found therein wordsdenoting a hemispherical or bun shape, as those for a young woman s firm breast, the similarlyshaped whorl of a spindle, half a pomegranate skin, a human temple, and a cake of figs.38 As inthe title Bacchante , the middle L of BALAG became assimilated to the following consonantin pronunciation, giving sounds like bacc- or (from the cognate BULUG) bucc- .Latin thusgained its bucca, cheek , and Hebrew one of its names for the mushroom, paqqu ah.39From the New Testament myth-maker s point of view, this doublepronunciation greatly enlarged his scope for punning.He could useTHE KEY OF THE KINGDOM 53BALAG in full for Semitic roots like p-l-kh, make 4° ( On this rock I will build (make) mychurch ), but could shorten it and run into the preceding MASh of the fungus name, finding rootslike sh-b-kh, bless, praise ( Blessed art thou, Simon Bar jonah. ),41 and sh b q, release, forgive ( whatsoever you release on earth. ),42 and so on.Having seen something of how the New Testament writers use the old sacred names of themushroom for their word-play, we have now to look again at the nature of the fungus itself.Fromthe manner of its growth and its sexual resemblances come many of the human allusions in thestories that grew up round it.Its main parts, the volva and the penis stem, represented the essential distinguishing features of men and women, and in mythology they served as symbols forthe male and female characters in the stories.VIIThe Man-child Born of a VirginDescribing the growth of the mushroom ( boletos) , Pliny says: the earthproduces first a womb (vulva).and afterwards (the mushroom) itself inside the womb, like ayolk inside the egg; and the baby mushroom is just as fond of eating its coat as is the chicken.The coat cracks when (the mushroom) first forms; presently, as it gets bigger, the coat is absorbedinto the body of the footstalk (pediculi).at first it is flimsier than froth, then it growssubstantial like parchment, and then the mushroom." is born.1More prosaically, perhaps, the process is thus described by a modern mycologist: In the genusAmanita a membrane surrounds the young fungus.In addition to this wrapper or volva there isanother membrane, stretching from the margin of the cap and joined to the stem, as in themushroom.Thus it is as if the button stage were surrounded by an outer skin.As the fungusdevelops this is torn apart.If its texture is sufficiently tenacious to hold it together, it is left as acup at the base of the stem.With growth the membrane covering the gills tears and is left as aring on the stem. Of the Amanita phalloides, the writer adds: Before the volva breaks the fungus looks somewhat like a pigeon s egg half-buried, or like asmall phallus egg.It is common in glades in woods and adjoining pastures after the firstsummer rains, and continues through early autumn. 2It was the fertilization of the womb that most puzzled the ancients, and remained a mysteryuntil the end of the last century [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]