Carl Anton Paul Ruck (born December 8, 1935,

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

) is a professor in the Classical Studies department at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. He received his B.A. at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, his M.A. at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and a Ph.D. at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He lives in

Hull, Massachusetts Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, located on a peninsula at the southern edge of Boston Harbor. Its population was 10,072 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in P ...

Entheogen theory

Carl Ruck is best known for his work along with other scholars in

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

on the sacred role of

entheogens Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called "magic" mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancien ...

, or psychoactive plants that induce an

altered state of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called an altered state of mind, altered mental status (AMS) or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. It describes induced changes in one's me ...

, as used in religious or

shamanistic Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

rituals. His focus has been on the use of entheogens in classical western culture, as well as their historical influence on modern western religions. He currently teaches a mythology class at Boston University that presents this theory in depth. The book ''The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries,'' co-authored by Ruck with

Albert Hofmann Albert Hofmann (11 January 1906 – 29 April 2008) was a Swiss chemist known for being the first to synthesize, ingest, and learn of the psychedelic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Hofmann's team also isolated, named and synthesi ...

and R. Gordon Wasson, makes a case that the psycho-active ingredient in the secret kykeion potion used in the

Eleusinian mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries () were initiations held every year for the Cult (religious practice), cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are considered the "most famous of the secret rel ...

was most likely the

ergotism Ergotism (pron. ) is the effect of long-term ergot poisoning, traditionally due to the ingestion of the alkaloids produced by the '' Claviceps purpurea'' fungus—from the Latin "club" or clavus "nail" and for "head", i.e. the purple club-h ...

causing fungus ''

Claviceps purpurea ''Claviceps purpurea'' is an ergot fungus that grows on the ear (botany), ears of rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of Cereal, grains or seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the ergot sclerotium, can ...

''. Furthermore the book introduced for the first time the term "entheogen" as an alternative for terms such as "psychedelic", "hallucinogen" and "drug" that can be misleading in certain contexts. ''The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist'' (2001) explores the role that entheogens in general, and ''

Amanita muscaria ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Amanita''. It is a large white-lamella (mycology), gilled, white-spotted mushroom typically featuring a bright red cap covered with ...

'' in particular, played in Greek and biblical mythology and later on in

Renaissance painting Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

, most notably in the

Isenheim Altarpiece The ''Isenheim Altarpiece'' is an altarpiece sculpted and painted by, respectively, the Germans Nikolaus Hagenauer, Nikolaus of Haguenau and Matthias Grünewald in 1512–1516. It is on display at the Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, in Fra ...

Matthias Grünewald Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528; also known as Mathis Gothart Nithart) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th cent ...

. In January 2003 Ruck came to public attention commenting on a book by the cannabis activist Chris Bennett. He was quoted in ''The Guardian'', and then wrote an article for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''.“Was There a Whiff of Cannabis about Jesus?” The Sunday Times, January 12, 2003
. His later work explored entheogenic connections to the Roman

cult of Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras was link ...

Bibliography

* ''Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness'', with Mark Alwin Hoffman (2013, ) * ''The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art'', with Mark Alwin Hoffman (2012, ) * ''Mushrooms, Myth and Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe'', with Mark Alwin Hoffman and Jose Alfredo Gonzalez Celdran (2009, ) * ''The Hidden World: Survival of Pagan Shamanic Themes in European Fairytales'', with Blaise Daniel Staples, José Alfredo González Celdrán and Mark Alwin Hoffman (2007, ) * ''Sacred Mushrooms of the Goddess: Secrets of Eleusis'' (2006, ) * The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist'', with Clark Heinrich and Blaise Daniel Staples (2000, ) * ''Intensive Latin: First Year and Review'' (1997) * ''The World of Classical Myth: Gods and Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes'', with Blaise Daniel Staples (1994, ) * ''Persephone's Quest: Entheogens and the Origins of Religion'', with R. Gordon Wasson,

Stella Kramrisch Stella Kramrisch (May 29, 1896 – August 31, 1993) was an American pioneering art historian and curator who was the leading specialist on Indian art for most of the 20th century. Her scholarship remains a benchmark to this day. She researched ...

and

Jonathan Ott Jonathan Ott (born 1949 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an ethnobotanist, writer, translator, publisher, natural products chemist and botanical researcher in the area of entheogens and their cultural and historical uses, and helped coin the term "' ...

(1988) * ''Latin: A Concise Structural Course'' (1987) * ''Ancient Greek: A New Approach'' (1972, 2nd ed. 1979) * ''The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries'', with R. Gordon Wasson,

and Blaise Daniel Staples (1978, ) * ''Pindar: Selected Odes'' (1967) * ''The List of Victors in Comedies at the Dionysia'' (1967)

References

External links

Page for Carl Ruck at BU's Classics Department (including a list of publications)

- Two video lectures by Carl Ruck in RealVideo format.
Carl explains what it is about us that craves altered states
on The Filter Podcast. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruck, Carl A. P. 1935 births Living people People from Bridgeport, Connecticut People from Hull, Massachusetts Mythographers University of Michigan alumni Harvard University alumni Boston University faculty Psychedelic drug researchers Psychonautics researchers

Entheogen theory

Bibliography

Further reading

References

External links