I don't necessarily trust the source of this alleged Chinese folklore, but se non è vero, è ben trovato. A legendary batrachian appeased by booze and opera: 

The Frog General (青蛙將軍) is one of southern Fujian’s most charming folk deities, a fallen Tang dynasty general said to have returned as a spirit in frog form. He favors high places on temple walls and answers summons made with clean vessels and strong liquor, his beloved offering. After drinking, his cheeks glow red, and his taste for opera awakens.... When the Frog General selects a show, fortune blooms. Wherever he leaps, blessings follow.

Hence, with some corroboration here. 

 "Two or three years ago they were just another snake cult."

To believe that psychedelics had a central role in our evolution I would need to see them at the center of religious iconography regarding knowledge and creation worldwide. And this would have to be the case from the beginning. This seems like an impossibly high bar to clear.

And yet, this is true of snakes, which are worshiped all across the globe, and have been from the beginning. One strange coincidence is how often they are associated with knowledge, despite having a peanut for a brain. What no one has noticed is that snakes themselves contain a hallucinogen: their venom. I argue that there was an ancient psychedelic snake cult concerned with selfhood from which modern snake symbolism descends.

 Filed under "sure, why not?".