Kykeon was a psychoactive drink which was taken at the ancient rites of Eleusis, commonly known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. The most popular theory about its ingredients is that it was made from barley infested with the fungus ergot, which contained alkaloids similar to LSD. Kykeon was so important to the Eleusinian Mysteries, that the two families who owned the barley fields in Elusis became quite wealthy and were held in high regard.
The Eleusinian Mysteries took place every year and commemorated the search of Goddess Demeter for Her missing daughter Persephone. No one knows with absolute certainty what happened in these rites, but they involved the participant going into an underground cavern or structure, to drink the Kykeon and undergo death and rebirth; an experience which was said to free the participant from fear of mortality. These psychedelic rites were undergone by great philosophers and influential figures including but not limited to Plato, Plutarch, Cicero, Aristotle, many playwrights, and the highest hierophants and priests of the day. Plutarch wrote:
“Because of those sacred and faithful promises given in the Mysteries…we hold it firmly for an undoubted truth that our soul is incorruptible and immortal…when a man dies, he is like those who are initiated into the mysteries. Our whole life is a journey by tortuous ways without outlet. At the moment of quitting it come terrors, shuddering fear, amazement. Then a light that moves to meet you, pure meadows that receive you, songs and dances and holy apparitions.”
