Bacchus is not merely a god associated with intoxication; rather, he represents the embodiment of the psychoactive potential of medicinal plants, which the ancient Greeks used both recreationally and religiously. This thought-provoking thesis has been championed by American researcher Carl A.P. Ruck, a renowned specialist in Dionysian studies whose unconventional views clashed with the established norms of his day during the 1970s.

In 2021, Brian Muraresky’s groundbreaking book rekindled interest in Ruck’s ideas, providing convincing evidence to support the researcher’s thesis and fill the gaps that had previously existed. Recent archaeological discoveries in the Ukraine and advances in the chemical analysis of biological compounds have further strengthened the credibility of this argument, justifying a renewed defense of Ruck’s work.

The use of psychotropic substances in Greek religious ceremonies is well documented in ancient texts and archaeological discoveries. Eminent researchers such as mycologist Robert Gordon Wasson and Carl A. P. Ruck have studied the botanical origins of these substances in depth. Their research has highlighted the possibility that certain plants, such as ergot and psilocybe mushrooms, may have been used in rituals as part of the cult of Dionysus.

When Ruck presented his thesis in the 1970s, the novelty of his proposal met with strong opposition, which almost jeopardized his career. The idea that classical authors could have been influenced by mind-altering substances was quickly dismissed by some as sensationalism, or even regarded as mere « myth ». The idea that Plato, one of the world’s greatest philosophers, had been under the influence of a « little green fairy » was greeted with incredulity and dismissed.

Nevertheless, with the accumulation of convincing evidence over the years, it’s clear that revisiting and defending Ruck’s thesis is not only useful but necessary for a better understanding of ancient Greek cultural and spiritual practices. It reminds us that seeking knowledge with an open mind and adopting new perspectives can lead to profound insights into our shared human history.

The Mysteries of Eleusis

In his captivating book « The Key to Immortality », Brian Muraresku takes a closer look at the ancient Eleusis mysteries that took place in the Greek city of Eleusis. Muraresku puts forth a convincing hypothesis that these enigmatic rituals involved the consumption of a mysterious psychedelic preparation called « kykeon », which played a pivotal role in guiding participants through profound spiritual experiences.

This theory suggests that the potion’s psychoactive properties helped induce altered states of consciousness and mystical visions during the ceremonies. Interestingly, historical accounts credit the senator and philosopher Cicero with describing the Eleusinian Mysteries as the greatest achievement of mankind, surpassing even the famous Athenian democracy.

Archaeological discoveries support the idea of a link between Bacchus, the god of celebration, and psychedelic substances. Ancient Greek pottery and artwork often depict scenes of joyous festivities, with individuals seen absorbing various plants or potions. These visual representations imply that psychedelic substances played an important role in Dionysian celebrations and rituals.

Muraresku’s groundbreaking contribution was to establish a direct link between traces of ergot and rituals centered on the Eleusinian mysteries. Ergot, known as Claviceps purpurea, served as the precursor substance from which LSD was synthesized in 1938. This remarkable discovery sparked interest in hallucinogenic practices in the Amazon, Mexico and Russia, paving the way for psychedelic experimentation in the 1960s.

The mysteries of Eleusis unfolded under the protection of the goddess Demeter, and her descent into the underworld symbolized a journey of initiation. According to Ruck, this symbolic « journey to the underworld » was probably induced by the consumption of ergot-contaminated barley found on the plain of Eleusis.

However, the American researcher’s theories go beyond this singular context; he suggests that the Eleusis mysteries may have been just one of many unnamed cults. Bacchus could have played a crucial role in linking the different cultures that used psychedelic substances, and could have preserved their use through memory and cultural practices. Such revelations challenge our understanding of ancient rituals and underline the significant impact of psychoactive substances on religious experiences throughout history.

Bacchus as a symbol of ancient medecine?

Bacchus, known as a deeply sensuous god, is often linked to the intoxicating effects of wine produced from his fertile grapes, which serves as an inspiration for music and poetry. A myriad of words characterizes Bacchus, including dance, contradiction (representing both life and death), intoxication, fire, frenzy, madness, and ecstasy.

This enigmatic cult is said to have preceded the establishment of the Dionysian theatrical festival in Athens. Followers of this mystical cult engaged in ritual mourning for the god’s winter disappearance, and exuberant celebrations to welcome his return in spring. These devotees of Bacchus, both men and women, were often depicted in a state of madness or drunkenness.

The women who followed them, called maenades, were particularly notable for their wild, untamed behavior: they ran, howled and danced frenziedly through the forests, consuming live animals and adorning themselves with vines and grapes. The ingestion of live animals was thought to facilitate union with their god, Bacchus, enabling them to « incorporate » him into their very being.

Recently, these themes have been the subject of renewed interest, fuelled by advances in archaeological chemistry and the abandonment of rigid adherence to Greek rationalism. Frenzy, madness and ecstasy, the recognized characteristics of entheogens – substances capable of profoundly altering a person’s mental state – have received increased attention. Carl A. P. Ruck coined the term « entheogens » to dissociate hallucinogens from criminal implications and facilitate scientific exploration.

Two aspects of Bacchus indicate that ecstasy may have played a more important role than mere drunkenness, perhaps even excluding alcohol altogether. One of these attributes is the thyrsos, a staff or rod, often made of pine and adorned with vines, leaves and sometimes pine cones. The thyrsos is closely linked to rituals and celebrations in honor of Bacchus, the god associated with wine, fertility, ecstasy and festivities. Thyrsos is also closely associated with the gathering of medicinal plants, as many sources report that women used thyrsos in their foraging activities.

This evolutionary perspective on Bacchus and his cult highlights the potential influence of psychoactive substances and altered states of consciousness in ancient religious practices, opening up new avenues of exploration and understanding of ancient cultures and their spiritual beliefs.

Bacchus’ second attribute, the maenades (or bachantes), has little to do with drunkenness. Madness, depravity, extreme aggression: the symptoms indicated by the maenades are far too radical to indicate the consumption of wine, which was far less potent in alcohol than today, and which was moreover forbidden to women. A further problem arises when we note that the maenads went into the forest, far from wine and vines, and armed only with their thyrse.

The true origines of Bacchus

Although he lives on Mount Olympus, he’s not really an Olympian (he’s the only god whose mother is mortal). Researchers often trace his origins to Thrace, based on the descriptions of Greek poets. On the other hand, other researchers establish a direct link between Bacchus and ancient archetypes from the Eurasian steppe or even India. Greek mythology has him appearing as a child on the mythical Mount Nysa, where he is under the protection of Seilenos and the nymphs. However, it is not known exactly where Nysa is located: sometimes in Libya, sometimes in Thrace, sometimes in Ethiopia.

Ancient and modern evidence suggests that the origins of the Bacchus cult can be traced to the Lower Dniester region. In 1980, a Russian archaeologist named Evgenii Yarovoi discovered the possible burial site of an ancient priest-king, Thyrsus, depicted as a bull-horned god. Herodotus identified him as Agathyrsus, ancestor of the legendary Agathyrsi. The archaeological remains of Usatovo indicate a pastoral population with wild vines in abundance. Animal skins were so abundant, thanks to hunting as a main activity, that they were exported, notably as containers for wine.

Russian researcher Vadim Tsymbursky calls him « the God between heaven and earth », based on the interpretation of Old Greek proper names. Relying heavily on semantics, Tsymbursky finds Bacchus in the Lower Dniester region of western Ukraine. In particular, he relies on the phonetic proximity of the Thyrsus, a large gathering stick attributed to Bacchus’ followers, and the river in question (the Tyras/ ό Τύρας). During the Neolithic period, the mouth of the Dniestre was the site of one of the world’s most advanced civilizations and part of the Thracian world, where Bacchus traditionally originated.

Researcher John M. Allegro proposes an even more mind-boggling theory. A specialist in the Dead Sea Scrolls and ancient languages, Allegro has conducted a comparative study of Middle Eastern languages and New Testament vocabulary. He concludes that several passages in the Bible could be hidden formulas aimed at preserving an ancient legacy of consumption of Amanita muscaria, perhaps the most emblematic of entheogenic mushrooms. His book, « The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross », ruined his career, banished from classical circles for greatly exaggerating the causal links between linguistic borrowings and transfers of meaning. Nevertheless, his reading of Bacchus deserves to be remembered.

According to Allegro, the name Bacchus (originally Bacchus), or Bak-khos, is an abbreviation of the Sumerian Balag-Ush, meaning « erect penis ». This terminology would have been frequently used by Semitic peoples to secretly designate hallucinogenic mushrooms supposedly sown by the gods.

If the idea that Christianity is founded on the protection of a hallucinogenic cult seems totally preposterous, even shocking, it’s worth recalling the more than anecdotal similarities between the resurrected Bacchus and the figure of Christ. Bacchus is also the god of fertility, represented by the vine that dies and is reborn each year, thus performing the « miracle » of regeneration. Whoever drinks Bacchus’ wine becomes the eponymous god, just as wine symbolizes the blood of Christ. However, the transcendence associated with a divine beverage was also a feature of early civilizations. In Vedic India, the Rig Veda sings the praises of « soma », which gives access to divinity.

A mythological episode presents the perfect analogy of a hallucination. As Bacchus travels through the islands of the Aegean Sea, he is captured by a band of Tyrrhenian pirates who wish to sell him into slavery. He then infests their ship with ghosts of creeping vines and wild beasts, and in terror, the men jump overboard and transform into dolphins. Animal metamorphosis has been closely associated in recent decades by anthropologists and ethnobotanists. One of the most striking examples is the testimony, in the Middle Ages, of men who felt they had become werewolves after consuming henbane, a poisonous and hallucinogenic plant.

The Greeks knew of numerous plants capable of inducing such terrors, notably belladonna. In the Odyssey, when Ulysses wants to free himself from the witch Circe, Apollo gives him a beverage to protect him from his own wine, suspected of being bewitched. The same hero will give undiluted wine to a Cyclops to put him to sleep and enable him to escape from his cave. The list of possessions or alterations during mythological events is strangely long.

Why was Bacchus above all a symbol of ecstasy? Because wine, described as a medicine, was almost never just an intoxicant. Carl Ruck offers the following explanation:

« the virulence of the drink far exceeded its alcohol content, but derived from the various fortifying toxins added to it. » « hemlock, jimsonweed, aconite, cannabis, wormwood, ergot, and probably, imethyltryptamine (DMT) from acacia and similar plants, as well as psychoactive resins and incense. »

Carl A.P. Ruck

Pierre-Olivier Bussières is the Editor-in-Chief of Hoppy History and Uber Optimized. He also writes about travel, geopolitics, and alcohol markets, and has published articles in The Diplomat, Reflets, The Main, Go Nomad, Global Risk Insights, and Diplomatie.

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