Literary Nonfiction. Cultural Studies. European History. Drugs. This illustrated book by Carl A. P. Ruck, Mark Alwin Hoffman, and José Alfredo González Celdrán traces the history of an unlikely force in the shaping of Western civilization: the use of psychedelic mushrooms, namely by a secret society called the cult of Mithras. Nero was the first emperor to be initiated by the group's "magical dinners," and most of his successors embraced the ritual as a source of spiritual transcendence. The cult was officially banned after the Conversion, but aspects of their rituals were assimilated or co-opted by Christianity, and the brotherhoods persist today as secret societies such as the Freemasons. This is a fascinating exploration of a powerful force kept behind the scenes for thousands of years. "An important book—by far the most comprehensive account of this thunderingly neglected topic that I have seen"—Huston Smith.

Carl Ruck teaches at Boston University and is co-author of many critically acclaimed books on psychedelic plants, including Persephone's Quest, which the Times Literary Supplement called "delightful." | Based in Taos, New Mexico, Mark Alwin Hoffman is publisher of Entheos: The Journal of Psychedelic Spirituality. He has written on shamanism, ancient religions, early Christianity, and the role of visionary sacraments in Western mystery tradition. | José Alfredo González Celdrán, based in Murcia, Spain, is a professor of ancient Greek and author of Las Puertas de Moeris, a historical novel, and Homres, Dioses y Hongos (Men, Gods and Mushrooms) on the role of psychoactive mushrooms in myth and religion.