Publisher's Synopsis
An essential aspect of the traditional stories or myths about the Greek heroes has been intentionally overlooked in the study of Classical literature and religion, specifically, the pivotal role accorded to magical plants and religious sacraments derived from psychoactive botanical and venomous animal sources, serpents, reptiles, and the like. The Son Conceived in Drunkeness remedies this oversight.
Toward the end of the great expansion of consciousness now known as the Psychedelic Revolution of the 60s and 70s, Dr. Ruck proposed a new word for such mind-altering substances to free them from the implications of irreverent recreational abuse and the irresponsible marketplace of New Age pseudo-scientific theologies. This word is entheogen, a substance that allows the deity to reside within the human. The most direct mode of access is the simple ingestion or other method of application of the sacrament so that the entheogen forms the mediating pathway between the human and the divine.
Ultimately, this magical club that is the hero's weapon of choice will emerge as the rod of Asklepios, wielded by the modern profession of medicine in the battle waged with drugs and toxins on the frontier of the battle between life and death.
