I've been waiting for the right time to post this amazing monumental presentation regarding the occult and esoteric pagan history behind religious symbolism in relation to Jesus and Sun cycles, amanita muscaria mushroom (fly agaric) and the divine experiences of altered states of consciousness through entheogenic drugs. Happy Holidaze...

Thousands of years ago, in the pre monarchic era, psychedelic/entheogenic substances where publicly known world wide and were respected for their ability to bring forth the divine, Yahweh, God, The Great Spirit, etc., by the many cultures who used them. Often the entire tribe or community would partake in the entheogenic rites. These rites were often used in initiation into adulthood, for healing, to help guide the community in the decision process, and to bring the direct religious experience to anyone seeking it, that might take these psychedelic sacraments properly.

In the pre literate world, the knowledge of psychedelic plant sacraments, as well as fertility rites and astronomical knowledge surrounding the sun, stars, and zodiac, known as astrotheology, were anthropomorphized into human/god like beings so their stories and practices could be passed down for generations. Weather changes over millenniums caused environmental changes that altered the available foods and plant sacraments available in the local vicinity. If a tribe lost its shamanic El-der (El - God), all of the tribe's knowledge of their plant sacraments as well as astronomical knowledge would be lost.

Links:
http://www.pharmacratic-inquisition.com/
http://www.gnosticmedia.com/
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality