By Minister Amanda Joa · Divine Earth Church
The sacrament speaks for itself. No book can replace sitting in ceremony. So why does the Divine Earth Church (DEC) name three books as sacred texts?
Because after ceremony, we need help carrying what we received. Our doctrine says these books support our understanding of the sacrament. They never replace it (Divine Earth Church, n.d.).
First, a few words you’ll see below:
Sacrament: a sacred practice where we meet the divine.
Entheogen: a plant or fungus used in ceremony to connect with the sacred. The word comes from Greek and means “the divine within.”
Integration: the work after ceremony of bringing what you learned into daily life.
Sacred Knowledge by William A. Richards
Bill Richards was a young theology student in Germany when he joined an early research study and met the sacred through plant sacrament for the first time (Richards, 2016). He spent decades studying these experiences, much of it at Johns Hopkins University.
He found several commonalities amongst the people whose experiences he studied:
People from very different backgrounds describe the same things: oneness, deep peace, and a sense of touching something holy.
These feelings often last for years.
Hard moments, like fear or grief, often open into meaning.
How to use it: Read it before your first ceremony. It reminds you that you’re not alone in whatever you might see.
Psychedelics and the Soul by Simon Yugler
Simon Yugler is a therapist and teacher trained in depth psychology, which is a branch of psychology started by Carl Jung. Depth psychology looks at dreams, symbols, and the hidden parts of the mind to help explain human experience.
His book walks through ten archetypes. An archetype is a pattern that shows up in stories from every culture, like the hero or the journey to the underworld. Yugler pairs each one with an old myth and real stories of healing (Yugler, 2024).
What stood out:
Ceremony opens the door to communion with the divine within us. Our doctrine calls these sacred states. In them, insight and revelation arise, and we meet the divine as something close and woven into our relationships, not distant or far away (Divine Earth Church, n.d.). Yugler’s point is that the experience alone isn’t the whole story. The soul is where that insight takes root and real change happens.
Old myths already map what we go through: going down into the dark and coming back changed.
Integration is slow, sacred work, and that’s okay.
How to use it: Keep it close after ceremony. When an image from your journey keeps coming back, find the chapter that fits and read it.
The Immortality Key by Brian C. Muraresku
Brian Muraresku spent twelve years researching Eleusis (Muraresku, 2020). Eleusis was a temple near Athens, Greece. For about 2,000 years, people traveled there to drink a sacred drink called the kykeon. Many said they saw the divine and lost their fear of death.
Muraresku argues that:
The earliest Christian communion may have carried the same purpose.
Women were likely the first keepers of these sacraments.
Over time, a living encounter was turned into only a symbol.
Some historians disagree with parts of his work. We don’t treat it as settled fact. We value it for what it helps us remember.
How to use it: If you grew up in church, read this one slowly. It may change how you see communion.
How This Ties to Our Doctrine
DEC’s doctrine is clear: these books support the sacrament, but they don’t stand above it (Divine Earth Church, n.d.). Each one gives us something different:
Richards shows what people find in ceremony.
Yugler shows what the sacrament and the ceremony asks of the soul.
Muraresku shows how old this path really is.
You don’t need to read a single page to receive the sacrament. And you can read every page and still need ceremony to know what they mean.
Read them before ceremony to prepare your heart. Read them after to make sense of what you met. Then bring what stirs in you to integration circle, where we can hold it together.
With love,
Minister Amanda
References
Divine Earth Church. (n.d.). Statement of doctrine.
Muraresku, B. C. (2020). The immortality key: The secret history of the religion with no name. St. Martin’s Press.
Richards, W. A. (2016). Sacred knowledge: Psychedelics and religious experiences. Columbia University Press.
Yugler, S. (2024). Psychedelics and the soul: A mythic guide to psychedelic healing, depth psychology, and cultural repair. North Atlantic Books.
