ALLEGRO, JOHN M.

(1923–1988)

   A member of the team that was translating and supposedly publishing the Dead Sea Scrolls, Allegro reached the controversial conclusion that early Christian texts are a coded record of the Essene community’s use of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Publication of his views in The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross (1970) was at least partly responsible for his departure from the official translation team. The full publication of the scrolls (which he had argued for) took place years after his death and has demonstrated that his argument is without warrant. Nonetheless, there are still adherents of the view that “Jesus was a mushroom.”