---
name: Ethylene
molecule: C2H4
compound: "Ethylene"
era: Ancient
origin: England
archetype: Acidhouse
ancestor: Pythia
swag_score: 2
image: "https://assets.0xhoneyjar.xyz/Mibera/traits/acidhouse_pythia_ethylene.webp"
date_added: "2025-01-12"
---

<div align="center">
  <img src="https://assets.0xhoneyjar.xyz/Mibera/traits/acidhouse_pythia_ethylene.webp" alt="Ethylene" width="320" />
</div>


# Ethylene

## Effects & Properties

**Effects:** At high concentrations can act as a simple asphyxiant by
displacing oxygen, potentially causing dizziness or unconsciousness. Inhalation of high
concentrations may also cause mild central nervous system depression, though it’s rare outside
industrial accidents. Ethylene is flammable.

**Natural Occurrence:** Ethylene acts as a signaling molecule in
plants, coordinating developmental processes and stress responses.
**Appearance:** Ethylene is invisible, emitted
as a gas by ripening fruits, senescing leaves, or stressed plants.

## History

Ethylene was first identified as a gas by Johann Joachim Becher in 1669 and later characterized by Dutch chemists in the 18th century. The most significant historical connection to psychoactive use comes from the Oracle at Delphi in ancient Greece, where recent geological research (2001, by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer and John Hale) suggests that ethylene gas seeping from fault lines beneath the temple may have induced the trance states experienced by the Pythia (priestess). Industrially, ethylene became one of the most important petrochemicals in the 20th century, but its role as a potential ancient entheogen links it to some of the most influential prophecies in Western civilization.

## Connections

**Archetype:** [Acidhouse](../../../core-lore/archetypes.md#acidhouse)

**Ancestor:** [Pythia](../../../core-lore/ancestors/pythia.md)

**Tarot Card:** [Knight of Swords](../../../core-lore/tarot-cards/knight-of-swords.md)

**PubChem:** [Ethylene](https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ethylene)

**Paired With:** [NOS](nos.md)

## Sources

- https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/ethylene/ethylene.shtml
- https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ethylene
- https://www.britannica.com/science/ethylene
- [Ethylene - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene)
- [Ethylene (plant hormone) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_(plant_hormone))
- [Johann Joachim Becher - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Joachim_Becher)
- [The Delphic Oracle: A Multidisciplinary Defense of the Gaseous Vent Theory - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12126193/)
- [Pythia - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia)