Ancient Greek mystery cult priestesses may have chemically tweaked fungus to induce psychedelic hallucinations

An ancient Greek painting of people doing an Eleusinian ritual. It's on a piece of wood that looks like a house. .

Priestesses of a mysterious cult in ancient Greece and Rome may have used a highly toxic fungus to create psychedelic hallucinations during their rituals, a new study suggests. However, some experts say that, although the study shows that is plausible, it's not historical proof that this occurred.

The study, published Feb. 13 in the journal Scientific Reports, reports the results of laboratory experiments to make the ergot fungus non-toxic while keeping its hallucinogenic properties. A key feature of the study is that it used only the simple technology known in ancient Greece, where what's now known as the Eleusinian Mystery cult originated about 3,000 years ago.