The Agnostic Maverick
Welcome back beautiful soul family. How is being present treating you? It really does take an extreme amount of stress off of our mental psyche. More space is left to appreciate the bounteous beauty that encompasses our daily lives.
Today we will dive into this fascinating Archeologist and Scholar by the name of John Marco Allegro. John was born February 17th 1923 in London. From 1941 through 1946, he served in the British Navy. He attended the University of Manchester and received his Bachelor with honors in Oriental Studies in 1951, and went on to gain his Master of Arts in Oriental Studies in 1953.
From here, he began his research into the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Pesharim. The Pesharim is a group of interpretive commentaries on scripture that emerged from the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
He was the first British Representative on the international team of scholars who gathered in Jerusalem in 1953 to decipher the thousand’s of scroll fragments from cave 4 by the Dead Sea.
It is important to note that he although being raised Protestant, had now become Agnostic. He was the only one on the team that did not allow the translation process to be hindered with religious bias perspectives and narratives.
Now this is where things start to get really interesting. John was a well oiled machine when it came to the translation process. He would translate with expediency, and shortly after submit his findings. This was not the attitude, nor work ethic of the other scholars. John felt that these translations should be made public for any and all scholars to join in the interpretation process. This however is the complete opposite agenda of those trying to control the narrative.
In his translation process, it had led him to the conclusion that these scrolls told the origin story of Christianity as well as other interesting tidbits of information on Judaism. His translation showed that Christianity was a cryptic version of ancient fertility cults who were inspired by the hallucinogenic mushroom (Amanita Muscaria), and that Jesus in the gospels was a code for a type of hallucinogenic.
He put forth the theory that stories of early Christianity and Judaism originated in this Essene clandestine cult centered around the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and that the New Testament was the coded record of this Shamanistic cult. Christians did not understand Essene thought. Allegro told the other scholars that the Dead Sea Scrolls proved that a historical Jesus never existed.
Needless to say, this did not go over well with the Christian establishment. A once revered and highly respected translator and archeologist, was now ostracized and ridiculed. He was the Advisory to the Jordanian Government on the Dead Sea Scrolls from 1961-1988. In 1962, he was given the positions of Trustee, and Honorary Secretary of Dead Sea Scrolls Fund. So as we can see here, he was highly trusted.
After getting nowhere with his colleagues, and a witch hunt turned against him, he decided to take matters into his own hands. This led to an extensive library of books that he went onto publish. In 1956 he released his book “The Dead Sea Scrolls” which was authorized before things fell apart. In 1958 he released “The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls”. The controversy started around the infamous Copper Scroll. John felt that the rest of the team who were all Roman Catholic, were deliberately delaying publication of the scrolls because they contained material that contradicted Christian tradition.
This led to his unauthorized publication of “The Treasure of the Copper Scroll” in 1960. This infuriated his team leader Roland de Vaux who said it was dishonest and shoddy scholarship. This being said despite the fact Allegro had played a pivotal role in enlisting experts to open the rigid scroll, and in personally transcribing its difficult text.
John was not going to be held down by the narrative. In 1964 he released “Search in the Desert”. In 1965 he released “The Shapira Affair”. He went on to publish “Discoveries in the Judean Desert of Jordan V: Qumran Cave 4” in 1968.
In 1970 he published one of the most controversial books by the name of “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross”. This is the book where he laid it all out purely based on transcribing these scrolls. He dove deep into etymology (the study of relationship between words and the thoughts they express), and philology (the science of words). This allowed him to trace the root of the words in the scrolls and come to a clear scientific conclusion based on these findings.
Also in 1970 he published “The End of the Road”, and followed that up with “The Chosen People” in 1971. In 1977 he released “Lost Gods”. In 1979 he released “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth”. In 1982, he published “All Manner of Men”. In 1985, he released “Physician, Heal Thyself”.
As you can see, John put most of his life into getting out what he deciphered as the true translations. Book after book, he would not be silenced. It is not an easy task to find much information on John Marco Allegro due to his stance against the Christian machine. He has been suppressed just like anyone that speaks out against agendas and narrative indoctrination. That is why I included his publications in this post so you can find and read them for yourselves.
John left this world oddly enough on the same day he was born. He died 65 years to the day, on February 17th 1988. What a fascinating life this man led. What a phenomenal legacy he blessed us with in his publications. I consider this an honor to shine a little light on this illusive figure.
His daughter Judith Anne Brown, following his footsteps, released “John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls” in 2005. A fascinating journey into his life’s work from her perspective. So, while there may not be much on the man himself out there, he left a treasure trove of information in his works. What a gift it is to be able to read!
I hope this helps John! I hope you all enjoyed a glimpse into this man’s life and the fascinating trail he left for us to be able to follow. As with all things I speak of, I encourage you to do your own research. The perspective gained experiencing the quest yourselves perpetuates growth much more sustainably.
It is of importance to note that John Allegro stated himself that he never consumed psychedelics, so this should ease the minds of those that may think he was just a connoisseur of psychedelics.
I love you all. You are so beautiful. I am grateful to have you all in my life. I hope you have a safe and happy fourth. Thank you.
Contributing Sources: johnallegro.org
whynow.co.uk/read/the-archeologist-who-thought-jesus-was-a-mushroom