Mushrooms, Myth & Mithras: The Drug Cult that Civilized Europe
Carl Ruck, Mark Alwin Hoffman, José Alfredo González Celdrán (on Google Books)

An interesting interview with Prof. Carl Ruck: The Hidden World – Prof. Carl A. P. Ruck interview (excerpt)

Carl A.P. Ruck, Professor of Classical Studies, Boston University: http://www.bu.edu/classics/people/faculty/carl-a-p-ruck/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_A._P._Ruck

Interestingly Prof. Ruck notes in the video interview how Western scientists partly like to draw a line towards influences that the middle eastern cultures had on the classical Greek culture. In relation to Mithraism this is of particular interest, since Mithraism took its initials in the myths of the ancient Iran.

Research about the early middle eastern cultures is still lacking in Western sciences however. Partly because of the “language barrier” – after all the Persian languages don’t root in Latin and Greek of course, and partly because through the forced Islamization in Persia research is somewhat tendentious.