Burning substances for inhalation in enclosed spaces was likely the most primary method of altering consciousness in the ancient world. While much has been written about entheogenic plants, the literature on psychoactive incenses is deficient. From nomadic tents to Taoist meditation rooms, smoldering plant and resin fumes were used for invocation, banishment, and shamanic travel since humanity mastered fire. The text details primary "incense cults" and highlights commonalities and shared influences. It speculates that selective burning of substances like mercury and sulfur may have contributed to their lasting use and veneration in alchemy across India, China, Arabia, and Europe. A companion online database is planned.
The article examines historical evidence for the use of psychoactive ergot preparations in religious systems, focusing on Persian, Greek, Jewish, and Islamic sources. Poems, hadith, and scriptural writings suggest an entheogenic heritage among ancient sects that exchanged philosophical and ritual influences across regions. Esoteric Shia and Sufi writings in particular indicate a "celestial botany" employing psychoactive plants for initiatory and ritual purposes. The second part addresses research methods for rendering ergot alkaloids nontoxic and entheogenic, arguing that without a chemical demonstration of such a preparation, theories about ergot in mystery traditions remain speculative.