Religious and spiritual use of cannabis

This article is about cannabis used in a religious or spiritual context.

Cannabis has an ancient history of ritual usage as an aid to trance and has been traditionally used in a religious context throughout the Old World. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, which are thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. Itinerant sadhus have used it in India for centuries, and in modern times it has been embraced by the Rastafari movement. Anthropologist Sula Benet claimed historical evidence and etymological comparison show that the Holy anointing oil used by the Hebrews contained cannabis extracts, "kaneh bosm" (קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם), and that it is also listed as an incense tree in the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the Old Testament. Early Christians used cannabis oil for medicinal purposes and as part of the baptismal process to confirm the forgiveness of sins and "right of passage" into the Kingdom of Heaven.^{[citation needed]} The Unction, Seal, laying on of hands, the Counselor, and the Holy Spirit are all often synonymous of the Holy anointing oil.^[1] Early Gnostic texts indicate that the Chrism is essential to becoming a "Christian".^[2][3] Some Muslims of the Sufi order have used cannabis as a tool for spiritual exploration.

Ancient shamanic use

Several of the mummies found near Turpan in Xinjiang province of Northwestern China were buried with sacks of marijuana next to them. Based on this, archaeologists concluded that they were shamans: "The marijuana must have been buried with the dead shamans who dreamed of continuing the profession in another world." The mummies were dated to circa 1,000 BCE.^[4]

The early Chinese pharmacopeia 神农本草经 Shen nong ben cao jing referred to magical uses of marijuana such as seeing demons and communicating with spirits. Early Taoists also believed that combining marijuana with ginseng allowed one to see into the future.^[5] A 6th-century CE Taoist medical work, 五脏经 Wu Zang Jing, recommended marijuana for seeing demons or spirits, and in this Joseph Needham found evidence for the influence of cannabis in the communications with immortals recorded by a Taoist named Yangxi in the 4th century.^[6]

Herodotus wrote: "The Scythians, as I said, take some of this hemp-seed, and, creeping under the felt coverings, throw it upon the red-hot stones; immediately it smokes, and gives out such a vapour as no Grecian vapour-bath can exceed; the Scyths, delighted, shout for joy."^[7] What Herodotus called the "hemp-seed" must have been the whole flowering tops of the plant, where the psychoactive resin is produced along with the fruit ("seeds").^[8]

Ancient Pagan use

In ancient Germanic culture, cannabis was associated with the Norse love goddess, Freya.^[9][10] The harvesting of the plant was connected with an erotic high festival.^[9] It was believed that Freya lived as a fertile force in the plant's feminine flowers and by ingesting them one became influenced by this divine force.^[11] The Celts may have also used cannabis, as evidence of hashish traces were found in Hallstatt, birthplace of Celtic culture.^[12]

Hindu and Buddhist use

Sadhu offering charas to Shiva.

Cannabis was used in Hindu culture as early as 1500 BCE, and its ancient use is confirmed within the Vedas (Sama Veda, Rig Veda, and Atharva Veda).^[13][14]

Cannabis or ganja is associated with worship of the Hindu god Shiva, who is popularly believed to like the hemp plant. Ganja is offered to Shiva images, especially on Shivratri festival. This practice is particularly witnessed at temples of Benares, Baidynath and Tarakeswar.^[15]

Ganja is not only offered to the god, but also consumed by Shaivite (sect of Shiva) yogis. Charas is smoked by some Shaivite devotees and cannabis itself is seen as a gift ("prasad," or offering) to Shiva to aid in sadhana.^[16] Some of the wandering ascetics in India known as sadhus smoke charas out of a clay chillum.

During the Hindu festival of Holi, people consume a drink called bhang which contains cannabis flowers.^[15][17] According to one description, when elixir of life was produced from the churning of the ocean by the gods and the demons, Shiva created cannabis from his own body to purify the elixir (whence, for cannabis, the epithet angaj or body-born). Another account suggests that the cannabis plant sprang when a drop of the elixir dropped on the ground. Thus, cannabis is used by sages due to association with elixir and Shiva. Wise drinking of bhang, according to religious rites, is believed to cleanse sins, unite one with Shiva and avoid the miseries of hell in the after-life. In contrast, foolish drinking of bhang without rites is considered a sin.^[18]

Researchers claim that in the 5th century BCE Siddhartha ate only hemp seeds for six years, prior to becoming the Buddha. Cannabis continues to play a significant role in the meditation ritual of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, and has been a practice since 500 BCE when cannabis was regarded as a holy plant.^[14][19]

Ancient Hebraic use

According to Aryeh Kaplan,^[20] cannabis was an ingredient in the Holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts. The herb of interest is most commonly known as kaneh-bosem (קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם ^[21]) which is mentioned several times in the Old Testament as a bartering material, incense, and an ingredient in Holy anointing oil used by the high priest of the temple.

The Septuagint (300 BCE) translates kaneh-bosem as calamus, and this translation has been propagated unchanged to most later translations of the Torah (1500 BCE+). However, Polish anthropologist Sula Benet published etymological arguments that the Aramaic word for hemp can be read as kannabos and appears to be a cognate to the modern word 'cannabis',^[22] with the root kan meaning reed or hemp and bosm meaning fragrant. Both cannabis and calamus are fragrant, reed-like plants containing psychotropic compounds. While Benet's conclusion regarding the psychoactive use of cannabis is not universally accepted among Jewish scholars, there is general agreement that cannabis is used in talmudic sources to refer to hemp fibers, as hemp was a vital commodity before linen replaced it.^[23]

Muslim use

Generally in orthodox Islam, the use of cannabis is deemed to be khamr (intoxicant), and therefore haraam (forbidden).^[24][25] As with most orthodoxies, early practices differ in this. Some say that, as hashish was introduced in post-Koranic times, the prohibition of khamr (literally, "fermented grape" but generally understood to mean anything that clouds consciousness) did not apply to it.^[26] Others point to various hadith, which equate all intoxicants with khamr, and declare them all haraam, "if much intoxicates, then even a little is haraam".^[27][28] Because some Muslims have attributed the cannabis state of consciousness with higher states of awareness, whether its effects are even considered intoxicating is controversial.

Although cannabis use in Islamic society has been consistently present, often but not exclusively in the lower classes,^[29] its use explicitly for spiritual purposes is most noted among the Sufi. An account of the origin of this:

According to one Arab legend, Haydar, the Persian founder of the religious order of Sufi, came across the cannabis plant while wandering in the Persian mountains. Usually a reserved and silent man, when he returned to his monastery after eating some cannabis leaves, his disciples were amazed at how talkative and animated (full of spirit) he seemed. After cajoling Haydar into telling them what he had done to make him feel so happy, his disciples went out into the mountains and tried the cannabis for themselves. So it was, according to the legend, the Sufis came to know the pleasures of hashish.^[30]

Rastafari use

Members of the Rastafari movement use cannabis as a part of their worshiping of God, Bible study and Meditation. The movement was founded in Jamaica in the 1930s and while it is not known when Rastafarians first made cannabis into something sacred it is clear that by the late 1940s Rastafari was associated with cannabis smoking at the Pinnacle community of Leonard Howell. Rastafari see cannabis as a sacramental and deeply beneficial plant that is the Tree of Life mentioned in the Bible. Bob Marley, amongst many others, said, "the herb ganja is the healing of the nations." The use of cannabis, and particularly of large pipes called chalices, is an integral part of what Rastafari call "reasoning sessions" where members join together to discuss life according to the Rasta perspective. They see cannabis as having the capacity to allow the user to penetrate the truth of how things are much more clearly, as if the wool had been pulled from one's eyes. Thus the Rastafari come together to smoke cannabis in order to discuss the truth with each other, reasoning it all out little by little through many sessions. They see the use of this plant as bringing them closer to nature. In these ways Rastafari believe that cannabis brings the user closer to Jah, Haile Selassie I, and pipes of cannabis are always dedicated to His Imperial Majesty before being smoked. While it is not necessary to use cannabis to be a Rastafari, some feel that they must use it regularly as a part of their faith. "The herb is the key to new understanding of the self, the universe, and God. It is the vehicle to cosmic consciousness" according to Rastafari philosophy,^[31] and is believed to burn the corruption out of the human heart. Rubbing the ashes from smoked cannabis is also considered a healthy practice^[32].

Other modern religious movements

Elders of the modern religious movement known as the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church consider cannabis to be the eucharist,^[33] claiming it as an oral tradition from Ethiopia dating back to the time of Christ.^[34]

Like the Rastafari, some modern Gnostic Christian sects have asserted that cannabis is the Tree of Life.^[35]

Other organized religions founded in the past century that treat cannabis as a sacrament are the THC Ministry, the Way of Infinite Harmony, Cantheism, the Cannabis Assembly, the Church of Cognizance^[36], the Sinagogue of Satan, the Church of the Universe.^[37][38], The Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu.^[39]and The Free Life Ministry Church of Canthe.^[40]<span

Modern spiritual figures like Ram Dass^[41] and Eli Jaxon Bear openly acknowledge that the use of cannabis has allowed them to access "another plane of consciousness" and use the drug frequently.

See also

Cannabis portal

• Charas
• Entheogen
• Freedom of thought
• THC Ministry
• Free Exercise Clause
• Church of Cognizance
• Religion and drugs
• Church of the Universe

References

Further reading

• Booth, Martin. (2004). Cannabis: A History. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-32220-8
• Shields, Rev. Dennis (1995). The Holy Herb. Source: [1] (Accessed: Thursday, March 1, 2007)
• Bennett, Chris; Lynn Osburn & Judy Osburn (1995). Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic & Religion. CA: Access Unlimited. ISBN 0-9629872-2-0
• The Sacred Plants of our Ancestors by Christian Rätsch, published in TYR: Myth—Culture—Tradition Vol. 2, 2003–2004 - ISBN 0-9720292-1-4
• Jackson, Simon (2007). ' 'Cannabis & Meditation - An Explorer's Guide'. Headstuff Books. ISBN 978-0-9553853-1-5 . Second Edition (2009) ISBN 978-0-9553853-4-6

External links

• Erowid Cannabis Vault #2
• Resurrection of the Higher Self by Matthew Webb, July 1989
• Free Life Ministry Church of Canthe a "Cannabis Sacrament Church" in Austin, Texas
• xCannabis Ministries Cannabis Spiritual Ministries in South East Idaho
• green faith ministry Organic spiritual & medicinal cannabis healing