UN’INEBRIANTE SALVEZZA - CULTI ENTEOGENI E MITOLOGIE FRA ELLENISMO E IRANISMO

Abstract

An intoxicating salvation. Entheogenic cults and mythologies between Hellenism and Iranism

Avestan texts tell us that at the time of Zoroaster the use of a strong drink, usually identified with ‘wine’ or a generic alcoholic drink, was widespread. The purpose of this article is to identify this psycho-active substance in the context of ancient visionary experiences that require an altered state of consciousness and perception of reality, a modification of existence through the expansion of the inner world of visionary,
entheogenic: the ecstatic hallucinatory mind-expanding ‘drugs’ work through the natural means of long fasting, or by the stimulation of psychoactive plants or substitutes such as opiates. These hallucinogenic rituals play a role also in the teachings of the late Magusaean, the Hellenized Magoi or the Mages of the Greek settlements (a kind of Zoroastrian defrocked priests that lives in Syria or Anatolia). The Hellenistic and Late- Antique literature produced many comparisons between Iranian lore and Western traditions, with special regard to the psychotogenic experiences.