The Well of Desire

A sexually explicit illustrated Book of Genesis by controversial artist Robert Crumb, which features Bible characters having intercourse, has been condemned by religious groups.

The book, which is released this month, carries the warning "adult supervision recommended for minors", and is described as "scandalous satire" by its publishers. It includes graphic illustrations of Bible characters having sexual intercourse, and other scenes depicting naked men and women as well as "gratuitous" depictions of violence.

A spokesman for the Church of England said: "I haven't seen the book but I think trying to sell something by emphasising the sexual nature of some of the scenes doesn't seem to be a good way to pass on the message of the bible." --the Telegraph

I don't think I could find better Gosporn fodder - the blog that spends much of its time emphasizing just that. Robert Crumb created Fritz the Cat, the notorious X rated graphic novel. Obviously a man with a better understanding of the Torah than most - it's all ABOUT sex and violence!

Speaking of sexual symbolism in the bible, I'll never forget Jeff Fairhall's unique interpretation of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well:

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." --John 4:7-14

Jeff believed that Jesus was a Fly Agaric eating shaman, and in shamanic ritual the entheogenic properties of the mushroom is often transmuted - "turning water into wine" - via an intermediate mechanism/facility. This is done because the mushroom has negative (poisonous) effects on a person who takes it directly. That is why Nordic shamans would eat reindeer meat, because the reindeer would graze on Amanita, absorb the entheogens in their flesh, while the poisons were excreted through the deer's metabolism. Reindeer meat was "pure Amanita". Likewise, early Christians would eat snails that ate the mushroom, rather than eat the mushroom directly.

The human body has the same ability to transform the poison of the Fly Agaric into pure entheogen, through metabolism. The purified extract is available via the urine of a shaman who has eaten the mushroom. His urine had become "living water". Jesus was offering the Samaritan woman the "bong of life", and she completely misunderstood his meaning. In a classic reversal of roles, the Samaritan had become a Jew, who then became a Christian - a people who listen but do not understand.

Remember that an entheogen is simply a mechanism of the Dionysian Mysteries - a catalyst for ego-death. And it is difficult to imagine a more profound strike at the ego than willingly taking the piss out of some high priest's dick. Takes humbling yourself to a whole new level, doesn't it?

The rains have begun again in the Pacific NW, which means the peculiar leopard slug is everywhere. Dionysus and his snails? Here's David Attenborough narrating slug porn. I've personally witnessed this - by the light of a full moon.