Introduction to the Research "Gaudí and the Amanita Muscaria"

The stereotypical description of Gaudí as a simple devout Catholic does not align with the mysterious symbolism reflected in his works, particularly those related to his great friend and patron, the magnate and politician Eusebi Güell. My hypothesis is that, although his imagery draws inspiration from pre-Christian (pagan) mythology, due to his interests and public image, he had to outwardly adhere to strict Christian obedience in an era and country with a highly conservative and anti-Masonic church.

After several years of intermittent research, in 2019, I personally confirmed my prediction that, only during the winter solstice and from Park Güell, the sun rises spectacularly over the marine horizon, shining directly behind the Sagrada Família. This, along with the opportunity to read and write during the pandemic, led me to delve deeper into the research and write the book Gaudí and the Amanita Muscaria (self-published, 2022).

This illustrated theory connects diverse fields such as history, symbolism, Christianity, Freemasonry, alchemy, astro-theology, and the ethnobotany of certain psychoactive, medicinal, and sacred plants. The results may be surprising. For instance, there is no scientific evidence for the historical existence of Jesus as a real figure, and his life aligns with well-known solar cults when contextualized with the pagan mythologies of his time.

During the winter solstice, when light begins to overcome darkness, the Sun King is reborn to restart the annual solar cycle of death and resurrection across four seasons, culminating and reversing in the summer solstice. During the winter solstice (December 19 to 21), the start of the Christmas period, the sun rises on the eastern horizon precisely where, the previous night, the Belt of Orion (the Three Kings) follows a bright star (Sirius) that indicates where the sun will be born. Just before dawn, the constellation Virgo (the Virgin Mother of God) appears and rises at the exact point on the eastern horizon where the sun will emerge. Gaudí aligns this point with the Sagrada Família and Park Güell.

Gaudí also orients his works based on astrological phenomena in other cases. For example, in the Güell Pavilion, which represents the Greek myth of the Garden of the Hesperides about Hercules and the tree of the fruits of immortality, or in Casa Botines with a curious assimilation of Saint George with Hercules. Both are related to astrological phenomena.

Another significant aspect of the aforementioned discovery about Park Güell is that the sun and the Sagrada Família also align perfectly with the Amanita muscaria that Gaudí placed on the roof of the park’s main entrance. This clearly intentional alignment relates to a controversial theory by John M. Allegro, one of the translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a library contemporary with Jesus. This renowned academic, specialized in ancient languages, argues that the Bible contains mythology, not historical facts, and that “Jesus” was a code name for the Amanita muscaria, considered the son of the Sun God in Mesopotamian fertility cults.

In this vein, I have discovered that Gaudí depicts numerous ancestral plants in his works: Greek myths or biblical scenes that, directly or indirectly, reference psychoactive, medicinal, and sacred substances. For example, mushrooms like the Amanita muscaria (from the Phoenix myth and the Oracle of Dodona) or plants like the blue lotus flower (Nymphaea caerulea from the myth of Hercules’ birth), the laurel Nerium oleander (from the Oracle of Delphi and the myth of Apollo’s victory over a dragon), as well as others like snake venom and reptile blood. In Gaudí’s first work for Güell, they represent the myth of the Garden of the Hesperides, very similar to the Genesis story of Adam and Eve, in which Hercules kills a dragon next to the tree of the fruits of immortality.

Christianity syncretized traditions from its environment and era and incorporated them into rituals like the Eucharist. For example, the potent wine of Dionysus, which his followers mixed with psychoactive additives, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, central to ancient Greece, known for their secret potions made from the rye fungus (Claviceps purpurea), which grows on cereals, the basis of bread.

Gaudí depicts esoteric and alchemical symbolism in a hidden but visible manner. The central myth is that of the fruit born at the foot of the sacred tree, like an egg in a bird’s nest that is born, spreads its wings in the shape of a cross or grail, dies burned, and eternally rises from its ashes, like the Amanita muscaria. Gaudí was not the first to represent these ideas, as the highly significant Chartres Cathedral, the cradle of operative Freemasonry, already depicted these magical mushrooms in its stained glass windows.

On the other hand, my opinion is that Gaudí was an operative Mason, with a moderate Christian and strongly Catalanist tendency, and it cannot be ruled out, though undocumented, that he was a registered member of a speculative lodge. In any case, I have contextualized his biography with the historical context, showing that many of his friends, teachers, idols, collaborators, and clients were Masons, as were many liberal professionals in Catalonia at the time. I have also summarized the arguments used by other authors before me to support the claim that Gaudí belonged to Freemasonry, a brotherhood that could be one of the sources of inspiration for his still mysterious symbolism.

Andreu Puig

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