This is an inspiring collaboration between a passionate amateur scholar and his professional scholar friends. How delightful to read something that isn't dumbed down. The analysis and induction is nicely supplemented by the "Hymn to Demeter." Much for the brain to chew on!

Wasson et al's revelations of the complexity of the myths that surrounded the Eleusian mysteries are fodder for hours upon hours of thought play about the foundations of our culture today.

The authors of 'Road to Eleusis' - they include Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, and Gordon Wasson, the white man who in 1957 revealed the continued existence of the pre-Columbian sacred-mushroom rite to the non-Mexican Indian world - argue that a water-soluble alkaloid contained in ergot, a tiny fungus which attacks grains and grasses, was the principal psychoactive ingredient of the 'kykeon', the sacred potion drunk before the celebration of the Mysteries of Eleusis by those awaiting initiation. The philological and psycho-pharmacological argument of 'Road to Eleusis' is compelling but to get the most from the book, read it in combination with 'Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' by Karl Kerenyi, a disciple of Carl Jung, which provides an introduction to the history of Eleusis and contains a psychological study of the Mysteries.

In pre-Classical times, it is likely that almost the entire population of Athens walked the fifteen-mile distance to Eleusis at harvest time every year in order to drink the 'kykeon' and experience the sense of the mythic reunion of Persephone, the Daughter, with Demeter, the Mother who taught men how to plant seeds and reap the fruit. The Christ, the draw in the psychological game of chess between the Hellenised Middle East and Israel, speaks distantly but clearly of Eleusis in John 12: 20-24 and Cicero, the Roman philosopher, author and statesman who coined the phrase 'bread and circuses' to damn the spectacular politics of his time, was an initiate.

Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon, also designed the Telesterion, the classical-period temple of the Mysteries of which only broken columns survive. However, scattered throughout 'Eleusis' by Kerenyi are bits and pieces of the psychological vocabulary of the Mysteries which with the help of ancient Greek and Indo-European comparative etymological dictionaries allow a reconstruction of the mind of the initiate. For example, 'tele', from 'telos', the full circle, the crown - today, we hear it many times every day in connection with technology; however, at Eleusis 'tele' had a sacral meaning.

Eleusis was to religion in Athens what democracy was to Athenian politics: essential.

'Road to Eleusis' and 'Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' - read both; and when in Greece, don't miss Eleusis, 20 miles south of Athens on the mainland across the water from the island of Salamis, open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. except Monday when the site is closed.

If other books are dynamite, this is nuclear. It documents how the Mystai at Eleusis became Epoptes, a standard rite of passage for all the famous Greek minds we seek to understand. Full understanding is not possible without initiation such as is outlined in this volume. Eleusis is at the end of a line of mystical experience that goes back to 5000 BCE. Is is not so much that the Mystery of Eleusis is revealed, as that it points the sacred way how to unravel the mystery of our own existence. The Greeks knew, and if you do as they did, you can. Wasson tells us what the Greeks did.

This is a great book for anyone interested in this subject, whether initiate or not. It provides insight from a number of the initial 20th century pioneers, as well as gives us a window into the inner ritual as performed by the more rural indian "initiates". I would recommend this book to anyone interested in using entheogens, writing about entheogens, or anyone who has used them previously and would like a better understanding of their experience. I especially liked the different perspectives such as referring to their experiences as just that-personal experiences rather than simply hallucinations, which implies something false or nonexistant. It provides a profound respect for these experiences rather than a complete dismissal of the experience as nonsense, as our governments and "health" agencies may be tempted to do.

If you want a number of perspectives on the serious use of psychedelics, this is the book! Christian, Buddhist, spiritual, scientific and legal considerations on the subject are presented.

As an anthology, it will familiarize you with key figures in the contemporary psychedelic scene.

This is an intelligent book for people wanting to explore psychedelics for spiritual purposes. It is not a book for "stoners" who just want to trip to see "pink bunnies"

"The Sacred Mushroom Seeker" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

"Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

"The Wondrous Mushroom" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy