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Rating: 
Summary: he who has ears
Review: I really would not want anyone with an interest in the history of the sacramental use of psychoactive plants to be put of by the one negative review so far showing. The endorsements of Richard Evans Schultz and Carl Ruck should be sufficient. However I would make these observations: This book probably is best read in conjunction with other books on the subject. I would particularily recommend "Ploughing the Clouds" on Soma which mixes poetry and erudition without being obscure. Certainly this book would not serve as a suitable introduction for a neophyte curious about the hidden history of psychoactive sacraments but there is plenty of other material available. However, for those more widely read in the subject the book is filled with useful material of a recondite nature. Some may well find that, for them, the style of 'The Elixir' goes against the grain but, for those who do not find it wilfully obscure, it really is a case of 'he who has ears let him hear', if that doesn't sound too corny!
Rating: 
Summary: Send it back for proper editing!
Review: This book has no unifying theme, no introduction, no apparent goal or evident purpose, no conclusion, no direction, and worst, almost no information about ergot. How does 75 pages of random ancient history, in the front of the book, have any relationship with drugs? This book is a random collection of writings, with literally not even the attempt to come up with a unifying theme. I had hoped this book would cover the subjects claimed in the marketing material.I agree with the marketers that a book badly needs to be written about the cultural contributions of ergot. The book Strange Fruit: Alchemy and Religion - The Hidden Truth has more coverage of ergot in its footnotes than the present work has in its entirety. Dan Merkur makes a sustained and comprehensible case for ergot in ancient Jewish religion in his books Mystery of Manna, and The Psychedelic Sacrament.
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