Austins Atheism Blog Did Early Christians Use Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelic Snails?
Did Early Christians Use Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelic Snails? Monday September 4, 2006 Many religions around the world have incorporated the use of hallucinogenic substances into their religious rituals. Since these substances can induce amazing visual experiences which are interpreted as religious or visions sent by gods. There is no current record of early Christians engaging in such rituals, but some interesting evidence has surfaced which may indicate that they did. Franco Fabbro writes: The mosaic floor of the northern hall in the ancient Christian basilica at Aquileia dating back to a period set before 330 AD reproduces several symbolic objects and pictorial scenes. Among these, a baskets filled with mushrooms and another with snails deserve special attention. Mushrooms and snails are two rare elements of early Christian iconography. Those snails have been identified as Helix (Helix) cincta, whereas the mushrooms are mor
