JONAH

 

 

Introduction to the book of Jonah

 

The narrator of the book of Jonah is unclear. As with so many other books of the Bible; the narrator is the Lord, or as we otherwise understand it, “The collective mushroom consciousness”. So we might expect the narrative to jump around again in the same manner as the “Song of Songs”.

 

 

 

Jonah 1

 

1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 

 

There are many things used as oracles by people in the Middle East including the “Urim and Thummim”. The Jewish Priests used this device to divine many things of the Lord. When the scriptures say “The word of the LORD” came to someone and said something it must be considered a major event, something has happened that someone thought important enough to record and through the course of time the event has remained. The question is what is this really saying? Communication with gods over the course of human history is an enigma only because the religious authorities of the world have ignored the true means of communication, the real gods of the ancient world, plants. The voice of the LORD, as previously discussed, was thought to be in the thunder and the rumbles of a volcano, these voices were understandable under the influence of plant Entheogens. But the description of the communication here is “the word”. “Word”, in the Hebrew translated here is “dabar”, [JI1] one of the definitions is “oracle”. It is not unusual to note that Jewish Priests as well as Christians used oracles; oracles are the norm, not the exception. There are many oracles whereby a prophet, seer, shaman, priest, sage, mystic or yogi claim to receive the direct revelations from god. Most often these visions manifest in death to rebirth scenarios, playing the hero, villain, saint and savior. The most widely used (and prolifically reported) oracle (all over the planet) is the Amanita muscaria. As the A. muscaria mushroom is the mainstay of visionary experience and contact with the LORD in the Bible, we interpret this first verse to say, “Jonah took the Amanitas and manifested the LORD” Also the name of Jonah’s father is “Amittai” and again we can hardly ignore how close this name resembles Amanita. The name Amittai translates as “habitually speaking or disposed to speak the truth; observant of the truth; truthful. The father would be properly the Amanita as when the mushroom is consumed the father (god) and the son (consumer) become one. As is the metaphorical role of many Biblical persons Jonah is called on a mission to warn the city of Nineveh (cry against it) because the city, or the people’s wickedness has come to the attention of the Lord. Nothing is said of Jonah’s previous connection with Nineveh but it follows that in his mind they had been very naughty and needed rebuking. As we will see Jonah was conflicted about this idea and so he explored the idea of going somewhere else and ignoring his call.

 

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

 

Here we see Jonah running away from the voices inside his head. Running away from the presence of the Lord, mentally heading for Tarshish by way of a ship from Joppa. Jonah knows it is futile to try and run away from the “presence of the LORD” (since the lord is inside his head) but our protagonist thinks to do exactly this. Could this have all really been in his mind? A dream? Perhaps, this is a vision experienced on A. muscaria? This is exactly the case, as it shall become apparent throughout the decoding of the book. The Hebrew word here translated, as “presence” is “paniym/paneh” and one definition of this word is “shewbread”.

 

4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

 

The “ship” as is recorded in the Middle-Eastern traditions of Buddhism and others is the vessel that carries the soul to Nirvana. The mataphor is a spiritual journey when one goes into the depths of hell or the heights of bliss (Nirvana) as a meditation on some important aspect (or lesson) of life. The metaphorical large, slow boat to Nirvana is the Mahayana buddhist path. This path is reportedly one  of many lifetimes of study whereas the lightning-fast boat is called Vajrayana. The Vajrayana path is reported to possibly deliver Enlightenment in a single lifetime through the use of the muhrooms (Vajra). The word “Vajra” (Tibetan “Dorje”) is the Lightning Bolt and this is metaphorically the A. muscaria. A tempest within the metaphorical ship is mental imagery of the tempest of the soul going through a life changing experience. We will keep this in mind as we discuss the events to come and the tempest that Jonah is about to experience.

 

5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

 

The tempest brings on visions of paranoia and Jonah sleeps deep within the ship. Jonah see is his vision everyone is praying to their gods and only Jonah knows that it is his own god that has brought on this storm. The marinrers of the ship are multiple aspects of jonah’s own personalities (argumentative states of ones own consciosness). Throwing the wares into the sea is symbolic for casting away beliefs and baggage from the past which bogs down the mind and spirit.

 

6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

 

These events are taking shape as Jonah manifests an authority figure to be asked “What meanest thou, O sleeper?” The Hebrew word translated here as “meanest” is “damah” [JI2] and it means to devise. This word and this question insinuate Jonah is creating the entire scenario in his head. The Hebrew word translated here as “sleeper” is “radam” [JI3] and this is no ordinary sleep. Radam really means a to be cast into a death-like sleep. It means to be stunned or stupefied (the exact word always used to describe what happens to flies when they eat the Amanitas) with sleep or death. This is the sleep of an Amanita trip, a rare type of sleep uniquely described by this statement. Jonah is manifesting an authority figure that demands that he pray to his god or perish. Jonah thinks himself to be holding back his powers and sleeping while everyone is about ready to perish. Of course everyone else has failed to stop the storm by praying to his or her gods, Jonah considers himself to be the only one able, he was, after all, trying to escape his glorious calling

 

7 And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

 

Jonah must be discovered as the source of the troubles so the cast decides to cast lots (divine the answer by throwing stones –another form of oracle). As the events unfold Jonah appears to have been aware of the goings on as he was hiding deep within the ship while things began to focus upon him. Jonah now takes center stage as the cause of all the troubles.

 

8 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

 

Now Jonah is under interrogation, the mental processes of his past are unfolding in the unfortunate scenario of him being blamed for the evils that have befallen all of mankind (symbolically represented as the inhabitants of the ship). This is known in esoteric circles and shamanic ritual as “The Trial”.

 

9 And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

 

The questions given in this description were simple and enquiring of his occupation, destination and nationality but Jonah must confess that he is a Hebrew and his God is the one that made the sea and dry land, thereby identifying himself as the central  person associated with the events. Not only this but as we will soon discover, Jonah confesses all about his fleeing from the presence of the LORD. Here we have the self-sacrificing truth teller (the father, Amittai, manifested).

 

10 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

 

Jonah (and his imaginary friends) now gets scared, his reluctance to follow instructions is revealed and the fear sets in. The fear factor plays out as conflicting desires and thoughts manifest themselves.  There are lots of scenarios to consider here, why he feels it necessary to chastise someone, why he is conflicted about it and his vascillating between being the good guy and the bad guy.

 

11 Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

 

Jonah contemplates his next course of action. This is a strange scenario but for someone responsible (taking upon himself the blame as the Christ-figure) it follows that he would guide what is to come. As “the sea wrought, and was tempestuous” there is a lot going on in his mind, Jonah is reeling in the throngs of the Amanita rampage.

 

12 And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

 

As the willing sacrifice Jonah maneuvers his course from the frying-pan into the fire. He prepares for the next phase of his journey, leaving the ship (a state of mind that is metaphorically above the ground) and being “cast forth into the sea”. Jonah is preparing to take the plunge into the underworld.  It is this underworld voyage that is the destiny of every shaman. For it is the underworld journey that purges the soul, teaches the lesson and evolves the personality and spiritual skills.

 

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them.

 

Jonah meets with light opposition to the quest from the multifarious parts of his subconscious. Whether or not to play it safe hold fast to what consciousness exists in the ship or delving into the underworld where the testing of mental stamina really achieves new ground becomes the topic of debate for Jonah.

 

14 Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

 

Now all of the parts of Jonah’s mind become as one, agreeing that Jonah is correct in worshipping the LORD and they have even agreed upon something even stranger. They are all in agreement that Jonah is innocent (an innocent sacrificial lamb) and everybody is now pleading to the LORD.

 

15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

 

Once the plunge is inevitable, the decision is made and Jonah heads for the underworld there is a moment of silence, stillness in meditative reflection upon the ultimate decision of self-sacrifice.

 

16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.

 

Preparing for the Journey the vision turns to the making of vows and even offering a sacrifice

 

17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

 

These metaphors represent the depths of emotional turmoil and the mental transformation of the journey to the abyss. The great fish god of the ancients represented the Phoenicians and all the Mariners of the sea but also represented the underworld.[JI4] 

 

 

Jonah 2

 

1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

 

The depths of the sea are likened to hell in this passage. As the sea is below the surface it is the abyss, just as the ground below the surface is considered the underworld in most old world religions. These are all metaphors for otherworldly travels of the shaman (priest/prophet).

 

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

 

Now Jonah gets to the point, it was not the voices in his head nor the mariners in his vision but the LORD (The mushroom and its supernatural effects) who cast him into the depths of the sea and into the underworld. Were it not for the great fish (the special deity associated with the underworld to the Philistines) that came along just in time he would have certainly perished.

 

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

 

The vision here is from the depths of hell and as far as experientially possible from the sight of the lord. Jonah looks again towards the “holy temple” or attempts to focus his attention towards the Lord’s holy temple (the holy temple is the mushroom or its presence).

 

5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

 

This scene is our protagonist trying to relate to the drama of his experience in the underworld. “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul” shows that this experience affected him deeply and the Hebrew word translated here as “waters” is “mayim” [JI5] and translates not only as waters but more specifically as “urine” and also “spring”. The Hebrew word translated here as “compassed” is “cabab” and the word translates as “revolve” or “return” in this we may find a clue to the second stages of the Amanita’s effects, those associated with a deeper experience through recycling (returning to the body) the urine. The Hebrew word translated here as “about” is “be’ad” which can mean “through” and “within”. This then translates as ‘The urine was returned within me, even to the soul, the depth closed me round about’[JI6] .

 

6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.

 

Once the experience turns deeper and “the earth with her bars was about me for ever” our diver is delivered in his mind by the LORD . This is a clear experience of eternity and the depths before the experience changes to “thou brought up my life from corruption”. Mentally our protagonist was tried in the fires of self-reflection and found himself wanting. This is a typical Amanita muscaria experience as is the next phase where one goes from the depths of despair to the heights of ecstasy.  While in the throws of desperation oftentimes people call upon whatever god or thing they believe in to save them. If they would just wait the change would happen anyways the experience is like riding a yo-yo.

 

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

 

This is what happens when someone has a belief system engrained into his or her cosmology, you interpret everything as you imagine it to be. Even on the Amanita muscaria this is the case, however, the bliss quickly fades as it was based upon false illusions.

 

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

 

The problem with believing something that is not based in reality, like in a particular god (in this case the dogmatized god of the Hebrews -far removed from the pure spirit of the mushroom god) is people tend to attribute everything positive to the god and everything bad to the devil. They see all events as proof of their belief’s correctness as did Jonah in his “I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land” confession (Jonah 1:9). In his scenario it could be no other thing responsible for such an event because his is the one and only true god. People claim to have the truth yet they never take responsibility for their own errors.

 

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

 

Now that Jonah is 100% convinced that his salvation from the depths of hell could only be attributed to the LORD he swears to make a sacrifice and pay that that he has vowed. It must be that Jonah made promises and vows to the lord during his time of despair. This is a common scenario acted out by countless numbers of people in real life situations as well as spiritual death and rebirth experiences.

 

10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

 

The fish experience was blissful. Jonah was singing praises to the LORD for his salvation and answering his prayers by sending the fist to rescue him from the depths. Here we have a vomiting episode because as the mariners were an aspect of Jonah himself so is the great fish. Jonah himself vomits and thus begins another phase of the experience.

 

 

 

Jonah 3

 

 

1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,

2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

 

After the vomiting episode Jonah again gets the urge to preach against the city of Nineveh. Once again, we are not privy to any reason behind this but it can be assumed that Jonah has some very deep-rooted issues concerning the city and its inhabitants. We also may consider that the city represents a multitude (one hundred and twenty thousand reportedly) that has different beliefs than Jonah. We can assume this because of the angst in the picture and the same might also represent a large obstacle and conflict of belief that Jonah must resolve.

 

3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

 

Jonah is making his stand against his mental construct of evil he calls Nineveh. Now he says that the oracle of the Lord has revealed to him that the great city will be overthrown if they do not repent of the evil. He gives them a set timeframe of forty days. This is interesting because the forty days is a repeating theme in mythologies. The temptation of Jesus was supposedly a forty day event, the rains fell during the flood of Noah for forty days, the embalming process in Egypt was forty days (Gen 50.3), Moses was “into the midst of the cloud” and was “in the mount forty days and forty nights” (Ex 24.18) all of these can be explained as mushroom experiences and perhaps will at a later time.

 

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

 

The internal conflict of Jonah has become a unanimous thought. His arguments and steadfast convictions in his beliefs have now created a consensus within his mind. He has become the hero and deliverer convincing the multitudes he imagines in his vision of his superior position.

 

6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

 

In Jonah’s mind he has even proved himself superior in morality to the metaphorical king, now showing his obeisance to the words of Jonah (otherwise referred to as the words of God). This is a common experience for those who have experimented with high doses of Amanitas. It is related to the Christ complex occasionally affecting tourists who visit Israel and it is also common in insane asylums. The experiential role of the hero (in visionary dream consciousness) is common enough to point out here and will be explained in much further detail later.

 

7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

 

We also may consider that the king represents the acknowledgement of Jonah as the savior figure by sending out the decrees to obey Jonah’s commands. We still do not have a clear picture of what exactly the “evil” is that Jonah is preaching against or this thing which has been brought to the attention of the Lord but in this verse it is associated with “violence”. The Hebrew word translated as “violence” is “chamac”. “Chamac”[JI7]  is not exactly violence as translated herein. It is in fact derived from a very similar word with a nearly same spelling in English and Hebrew alike but this word is modified from the regular violence by having defining words as “oppressor” and “wrong”.  So we might reasonably assume that the “evil” that has Jonah so up in arms is not specifically violence. The name of the city “Nineveh” is a combination word and the first part of the name is related to the Hebrew word “niyn” and means “son or progeny”. More interestingly this word comes from the Hebrew word “nuwn” and it means to “resprout” or propagate by shoots. Today we call this cloning. This is when you take a cutting of a plant and grow it without the plant going to seed. This interesting tidbit may require further research into a possible relationship with the “evil’ of Nineveh in the mind of Jonah.

 

9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

 

The king has done all he can do. He has set out decrees, commanded prayers and supplication to try appeasing the God of Jonah. Jonah has conquered his conflict. Right or not Jonah has convinced himself that he has reigned supreme in his visionary world. He has become the supreme commander-in-chief as far as dictating correctly “right from wrong”. Now all that remains to be seen is what will happen now that Jonah has been appeased.

 

10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

 

Apparently God can repent of evil, at least in the mind of Jonah. This is an important point because Jonah is creating the God within. This is the purpose of the whole conflict/resolution scenario. The exercise is based upon perfecting the soul and judgment/perception/understanding of the initiate. This explains clearly why God can change opinions, plot evil, repent of evil and alter course at will. An all-perfect and unerring God is not this one but an imperfect maturing God created within Jonah himself is what we are really seeing herein.

 

 

 

Jonah 4

 

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

 

Now we see why this type of exercise is important. Jonah has his glorious triumph over the purported evils being committed by Nineveh and they concede his authority but somehow this was unsatisfying.  Now Jonah is angry, in fact very angry and displeased that the voices inside his head that he rebuked were getting off the hook so easily.

 

2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

 

Now we can clearly see an immaturity in Jonah that reveals a deeper issue that needs to be dealt with. Jonah is angry because his words of rebuke and threats of woe and destruction went unfulfilled. In spite of the conformity of the multitude Jonah still expected something to happen to them. It is a matter of pride to Jonah that his words should be fulfilled, regardless of the outcome.  He is even trying to justify his initial reluctance and mental flight from what he was compelled to do by inventing an excuse that he knew what going to happen beforehand.

 

3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

 

Jonah is one hell of a whiner, he is even whimpering about it being “better for me to die than to live” just because he would rather not live with the embarrassment of prophesying about woe and destruction that never came to pass. Jonah, for all his greatness is acting like a little kid that didn’t get his way. He is also oblivious to the lives of others that would be affected.

 

4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

 

Now Jonah thinks to ask himself if he is being reasonable in his leap to anger. “Doest thou well to be angry?” asks the Lord inside Jonah’s head.

 

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow,[JI8]  till he might see what would become of the city.

 

Jonah decides that he needs to take a break and all this intense contemplation has taken its toll. He breaks away from the intensity of the city by retiring to the east or he intentionally clears his mind. He makes him a booth (tent or tabernacle) and sits down under it in the shadow to wait and see what happens to the city. Tents, coverings, umbrellas and the like are metaphors for mushrooms [JI9] but let us see what happens next.

 

6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

 

What exactly a “gourd” is may be related to the Hebrew word translated here as gourd. The word is “qiyqayown” and it means “gourd –as nauseas” and comes perhaps from the Hebrew word “qayah” that means, “to vomit[JI10] ”. At any rate this gourd is made to “come up over Jonah”, “to deliver him from his grief”. This is reminiscent of another typical characteristic of the Amanita experience, becoming larger and then smaller. Jonah is delivered by the gourd (somehow related to being nauseas and vomiting… again) and becomes exceedingly glad. Jonah has again been lifted into bliss for the time being.

 

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

 

Herein is another mushroom reference. As mushrooms get old they become infested with fly larvae (worms) and they wither and eventually disintegrate. Jonah is reflecting upon this very thing as his mushroom experience has him experiencing the “getting larger and smaller” effects as well as observing the mushrooms become worm infested and wither away. All of these are important to the observer attempting to resolve inner conflict with the strangeness of the mushroom’s life cycle.

 

8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. [JI11] 

 

As the sun rises Jonah is lying in the sun. This is very uncomfortable as the description “the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die” makes quite clear. Jonah, after a long night of riding the up and town tides of the mushroom experience is baking in the sun and it is so uncomfortable that he wishes he were dead.[JI12] 

 

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

 

Jonah has one final lesson to learn as he bakes in the sun recovering from his experience. He considers the gourd, withered and decrepit, destroyed by the worm and feels compassion and even anger that it perished. First he argues that he is correct to be angered, but then he realizes the lesson contained in the visions of his head.

 

10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

 

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

 

So the lesson falls back upon Jonah and his actions and decisions made throughout his experience. Should he feel slighted because of his embarrassment due to unfulfilled prophecy? Should he be angry that the city was spared from a slaughter? Can he feel compassion for a gourd because it withered yet think so little of the population of an entire city that he would prefer them destroyed just to save face and be able to say “see, I told you so?” Besides these hundred and twenty thousand people are a bit disadvantaged, either that or they are all very high because they  “cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand”. Finally one last reference to mushrooms can’t be ignored as then Jonah considers a destruction of Nineveh would also be a huge waste because in the city of Nineveh they have “much cattle” (the providers of Psilocybe mushrooms).

 

 [JI1]cite

 [JI2]cite

 [JI3]cite

 [JI4]Laviathon, Pisces, macro/micro

 

Citation needed.

 [JI5]citation

 [JI6]Citation

 [JI7]cite

 [JI8]This also sounds like sun worship, East, and the sun going down, or an eclipse.

 [JI9]Cite to Wasson, The word parasol (‘chattra’) in Sanskrit also means mushroom. Soma, by Wasson, pg. 63.

 [JI10]cite

 [JI11]Almost sounds here like Jonah is an anthropomorphism of the mushroom.

 [JI12]macro / micro relationship.