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  • The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

  • A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity Within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East
  • By: John M. Allegro
  • Narrated by: Martyn Swain
  • Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

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The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

By: John M. Allegro
Narrated by: Martyn Swain
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Summary

Where did God come from? What do the bible stories really tell us? Who or what was Jesus Christ? This audiobook challenges everything we think we know about the nature of religion:

  • The ancient fertility cult at the heart of Christianity.
  • The living power of cultic rites and symbols.
  • The sacred mushroom as the emblem and embodiment of divinity.
  • The secret meaning of biblical myths.
  • The language of religion that links us to our ancestors.

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross sets out John Allegro's quest through a family tree of languages to find the truth about where Christianity came from.

©1970 John M. Allegro (P)2022 Dreamscape Media
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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What listeners say about The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A history of language

I truly enjoy it! The narrator could seem boring for some people but I enjoy that it was read as a factual book and not fiction. As with most audiobooks it is best heard whilst doing something else, for example training or other monotone chores.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Nice ideas - shame about the recounting of them…

Well where to start. The author must be commended for some interesting ideas and no doubt a great deal of research. An easy and entertaining read this is sadlyNOT however :-/
I fear the author has some sort of obsession as it seems that just about every ancient name, place,symbol or reference is another word for phallus - with a fair few vulvas erections semen and copulation thrown in for a bit of variety. I didn’t count but these seem to outstrip any mention of the poor old mushroom ( a vulva supported by a phallus apparently) by several orders of magnitude. Then there is the narrator…… well dont take this personally Martin. I understand you are a very good author in your own right so I’d just say : don’t give up your day job…. Please … don’t give up your day job…..
If you have language difficulties or English is not your first language I’m sure it might have been helpful. But for anyone wanting an entertaining and relaxing listen this might not be for you. The often painfully slow …… careful ……. Monotone……… deliberate……..enunciation………zzzzzzz… oops sorry- of….. each……and…..every……word was painful as it was boring to the extreme. I often immerse myself in an interesting ebook for hours on end, but it was only by confining myself to a moving vehicle that I was able to listen for anything approaching a hour without the desire to start chewing off my own arm. The delivery is very reminiscent of Colin Firth’s character Bertie King George VI - in film of The Kings Speech. Indeed, I several times checked the book info to make sure it was not him. I couldnt get the image of Bertie in front of his 1940s microphone out if my mind and fully expected him to suddenly start whistling, bursting into song or to come out with a loud string of expletives, conducted by his speech therapist Lionel Logue played by the excellent Geoffrey Rush.
I think I might buy the hardback if I can bring myself to go back to this but for anyone interested in the subject area I would HIGHLY recommend The Immortality Key by Brian Muraresku - also available on Audible and a truly remarkable book,beautiful narrated with passion clarity and enthusiasm, rather than by someone who sounds like they are trying to use a presumably slightly blurred autocue for the first time.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

probably better if you read it.

I was skeptical about getting this as the reviews aren't great. after hearing Joe Rogan go on and on about this my hopes where higher.

LOTS of "prepositive asterisk" and words being spelled out letter by letter did not make for enjoyable listening. I will echo some other reviews saying the narrator isn't great.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Love the concept. Boring and pretentious execution…

Too long to get through. A lot of repetition and was just difficult to concentrate whilst reading. Apart from this, I think this theory is interestingly plausible to some extent. Overall 5/10

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Shocking revelations

This is a fascinating piece of work. My linguistic skills are insufficient to critique it adequately. The summary is, the bible is a work of fiction with important messages hidden within things like the names of characters. Since reading it, I’ve made a connection between mushrooms and the superficial story. Modern science has recently discovered that the 5HT2a receptors when stimulated by psilocybin, DMT, LSD and similar chemicals suppress the default mode network of the brain, pushing it into a child like state free of priors. The superficial Bible story states that you can only enter the kingdom of heaven like a child. Coincidence? Certainly, our civilisation knew nothing of Serotonin receptors or their subtypes 2 millennia ago or even 200 years ago!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Can I get my credit back please.

This Narrator is a robot. That annoying I couldn’t even fall asleep. Three more words

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

shut up, mate...your borin'

I stopped listening to this, probably before it even got in to it. So boring. I actually want my money back Audible. Jesus, man, it's like when you look up an easy 3 piece pancake recipe online, and you get some mental-cases spiritual journey into why they came up with they're method. Just give tell me what I need, bish-bosh-bash, and I'm off.
Cheers Joe Rogan for putting this book in my mind✌🏼

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