Cannabis and the Christ:

[Spurious George]

Cannabis and the Christ: Jesus used Marijuana

Jesus used Marijuana

As doubtful as the following hypothesis might first seem to the reader, I might as well boldly state my case right from the start: either Jesus used marijuana or he was not the Christ. The very word "Christ", by the implication of its linguistic origins and true meaning, gives us the most profound evidence that Jesus did in fact use the same herb as his ancient semitic ancestors, and which is still used by people around the world for its enlightening and healing properties.

The Greek title "Christ" is the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, which in English becomes "The Anointed" D. The Messiah was recognized as such by his being anointed with the holy anointing oil, the use of which was restricted to the instillation of Hebrew priests and kings (See CC#5). If Jesus was not initiated in this fashion then he was not the Christ, and had no official claim to the title.

The ancient recipe for this anointing oil, recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus (30: 22-23) included over nine pounds of flowering cannabis tops, Hebrew "kaneh-bosm" B, extracted into a hind (about 6.5 litres) of olive oil, along with a variety of other herbs and spices. The ancient chosen ones were literally drenched in this potent cannabis holy oil.

Other Christian Sources

For the first four hundred years after Jesus' birth, the term "Christian" was used to describe a wide variety of sects and a large volume of different documents. Through the acceptance of one of the more ascetic branches of Christianity by the Roman ruling class, Christianity eventually became the state religion of its former persecutors.

In an effort to unify the faith into a controllable mass, the newly formed Roman Catholic Church held a number of councils. These councils prohibited not only pagans, but also differing Christian sects, and edited a wealth of Christian literature down to the few meager documents which have survived as the modern New Testament. Z

In an attempt to save their manuscripts from the editorial flames of the Roman Catholic Church, certain Christians, now considered Gnostic heretics, hid copies of their scrolls in caves. One of these ancient hiding places was rediscovered in our own century, and the large collection of early Christian documents was named the Nag Hamadi Library,2 after the Egyptian area where it was found. Prior to this discovery, what little was known of the Gnostics came from a few fragmentary texts, and the many polemics written against them by the founders of the Catholic Church.

There is no reason to consider these ancient Gnostic documents as less accurate portrayals of the life and teachings of Jesus than the New Testament accounts. In a sense, the rediscovery of the Nag Hamadi Library marks the resurrection of a more historical Jesus, an ecstatic rebel sage who preached enlightenment through rituals involving magical plants, and who is more analogous to the Indian Shiva, or the Greek Dionysus, than the pious ascetic that has come down to us through the Bible's New Testament.

The Anointed One

Contrary to the depiction given in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was likely not born as the Messiah. He received this title through his initiation by John the Baptist, and so it is not surprising that both Mark and John are conspicuously absent of the virgin-birth mythology, and begin their stories of Jesus' short career with his initiation by John.

Although their version of Jesus' baptism by John describes it as involving submersion under water, the term "baptism" has connotations of "initiation", and Gnostic scriptures indicate that the original rite was performed in conjunction with the kaneh-bosm anointing rite, "the annointing taking place either before or after the baptismal ceremony."3 Some Gnostic texts also specifically state that Jesus recieved the title Christ "because of the anointing,"4 not because of a water baptism.

Conceivably, the washing off of the oil with water would have been a means to begin the termination of ritual and the oil's effects.

The description of the after-effects of the rite clearly indicates that Jesus underwent an intense psychological experience, more than one would recieve from a simple submersion in water.

Jesus came from Nazareth Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove. K And a voice came from heaven "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels attended him. (Mark 1: 9-13)

It should be noted that the vision and words described were seen and heard only by Jesus, as it specifically states that "he saw".

The role played by John the Baptist, as priest and prophet, is very similiar to that of the Old Testament prophet Samuel. Just as Samuel's annointing of Saul and David marked them as Messiah-king, so did Jesus' initiation by John make him the Christ.

In the events after Jesus' vision and his overwhelmed recluse into the desert, there are clear parallels with the story of the prophet Samuel's initiation of Saul with the cannabis-rich holy ointment, and Saul's ensuing madness in the form of possession by the Spirit, and wandering off to make nabi (act in a frenzied ecstatic manner) (1 Samuel 10).

The tale of Saul's possession by the spirit is an example of how the ancients interpreted the effects of cannabis and other entheogens. What we perceive as being "high" or "stoned" the ancients called "possessed by the Spirit of the Lord."

"As a result of the spiritual 'anointing' Jesus expected to be different; and he was different. The prophecies had said that the Messiah would recieve from God wisdom and insight, the power to heal and to subjugate evil. The faith of Jesus was so strong that he did not question that these capacities had now been conferred upon him." 6

The entheogenic effect of the cannabis annointing oil would have immensely magnified both Jesus' own expectations, and the ensuing experience with John.

In some authorative texts of the Gospel according to Luke, after the Baptism the voice of God declares, "This day I have begotten thee." J This indicates that the event of Jesus' encounter with John marks the true beginnings of Jesus' mission and his acknowledgement as the Messiah.

The importance of the anointing, and Jesus' own acknowledgement of it, is again exemplified in the gospel of Luke.

According to the New Testament Jesus began his ministry in Nazareth, by reading the following passage from the scroll of Isaiah and proclaiming, "today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:16)

The Spirit of Yahweh God is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound... (Isaiah 61:1-2)

The Anointed Ones

Unlike the shamanistic priests and kings of earlier generations, Jesus did not follow the strict Old Testament taboos that limited the holy cannabis oils use to Yahweh's chosen few (Exodus 30:33), but broke tradition and began to liberally use it in both healing and initiation rites.

Through this open distribution the singular Christ, "the Anointed", was extended to become the plural term "Christians", that is, those who had been smeared or anointed. "By rubbing on this divine unction. . . obtained from certain special herbs or plants, they believed they were donning the panoply of God."7

As the New Testament's John explains:

. . . you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. . . . the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him." (1 John 2: 27). L

". . . the Christian, the 'smeared or anointed one', received 'knowledge of all things' by his 'anointing from the Holy One' (1 John 2: 20). Thereafter he had need of no other teacher and remained forevermore endowed with all knowledge (v. 27).

"Whatever the full ingredients of the Christian unction may have been, they would certainly have included the aromatic gums and spices of the traditional Israelite anointing oil: myrrh, aromatic cane,M cinnamon, and cassia. . . Under certain enclosed conditions a mixture of these substances rubbed on the skin could produce the kind of intoxicating belief in self-omniscience referred to in the New Testament."8 N

The Incomplete Baptism

In the first few centuries AD, Christian Gnostic groups such as the Archontics, Valentians and Sethians rejected water baptism as superfluous, referring to it as an "incomplete baptism".9 In the tractate, the Testimony of Truth, water Baptism is rejected with a reference to the fact that Jesus baptized none of his disciples.3

Being "anointed with unutterable anointing", the so-called "sealings" recorded in the Gnostic texts, can be seen as a very literal event. "There is water in water, there is fire in chrism." (Gospel of Philip).

"The anointing with oil was the introduction of the candidate into unfading bliss, thus becoming a Christ." 10

"The oil as a sign of the gift of the Spirit was quite natural within a semetic framework, and therefore the ceremony is probably very early. . . In time the biblical meaning became obscured." 13

The survivng Gnostic descriptions of the effects of the anointing rite make it very clear that the holy oil had intense psycho-active properties, which prepared the recipient for entrance into "unfading bliss". In some Gnostic texts like the Pistis Sophia and the Books of Jeu, the "spiritual ointment" is a prerequisite for entry into the highest mystery. 10

In the Gospel of Philip it is written that the initiates of the empty rite of Baptism:

"go down into the water and come up without having received anything. . . The anointing (chrisma) is superior to baptism. For from the anointing we were called 'anointed ones' (Christians), not because of the baptism. And Christ also was [so] named because of the anointing, for the Father anointed the son, and the son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. [Therefore] he who has been anointed has the All. He has the resurrection, the light. . . the Holy Spirit. . . [if] one receives this unction, this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ."

Similarly, the Gospel of Truth records that Jesus specifically came into their midst so that he:

"might anoint them with the ointment. The ointment is the mercy of the Father. . . those whom he has anointed are the ones who have become perfect."

The apocryphal book, The Acts of Thomas, refers to the ointment's entheogenic effects as being specifically derived from a certain plant:

Holy oil, given us for sanctification, hidden mystery in which the cross was shown us, you are the unfolder of the hidden parts. You are the humiliator of stubborn deeds. You are the one who shows the hidden treasures. You are the plant of kindness. Let your power come by this [unction].

Gnostic Mysteries

The Gnostics had many levels of initiation, and the mysteries of these different grades were not written down like the more esoteric surviving texts were, but were given verbally at special ceremonies. Elements like the recipe of the obviously psychoactive holy oil were guarded with the closest secrecy, and were known only by the sect's most trusted initiates. This was a standard mystery school method, as "magic revealed is magic lost", and such secrets could only be entrusted to the group's most loyal members.

"Gnostic treatises did not reveal the whole matter. . . the final revelation was only communicated by word of mouth in the body, and by vision out of the body."10

"It is certain that Gnostic texts even in cultic matters favour a metaphorical symbolic manner of speaking and. . . clearly avoided communicating precise details about their 'mysteries'."3

In 130-200AD, the Catholic Church Father Irenaeus accused the Gnostics of initiating members with "secret sacraments". In his discussion of Gnostic texts which dealt with the anointing rite, he stated that they were written in an archaic manner, "to baffle even more those who are being initiated." 14

We can add to Ireneaus's comments that the Gnostics likely wrote in such a concealing fashion to "baffle" their persecutors, like Ireneus, whom they feared would find out the source behind the secret power of their anointing oil.

Mysteries of the Faith

Such a hidden reference to other psychoactive plants can be seen in "the mystery of the five trees", which were used by Jesus in complicated shamanistic initiation rituals. They are described in what is possibly the oldest Christian text in existence O, The Gospel of Thomas:

"...there are five trees for you in Paradise... Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death."

In the Gnostic view, "not experiencing death" meant reaching a certain state of interior purification or enlightenment, at which point the initiate would "rise from the dead" and "never grew old and became immortal." That is to say, he rose from ignorance and blindness, gained possession of the unbroken consciousness of his spiritual ego, and as such realized that he was a part of a larger Cosmic whole, which continued on long after the disappearance of the material body. Jesus referred to attaining this "higher" state of consciousness, as "entering the kingdom of heaven".

The attainment of this Gnostic state can be compared to the goal of yoga, (which itself means "union"), where the successful devotee obtains "a radical switch in consciousness obliterating the sense of individuation." 15

As with the similar goal of yoga union, the "kingdom of heaven" state was not attained instantaneously, but required years of vigorous training. Like certain older branches of yoga, a variety of psychoactive plants were used as aids to facilitate the devotee in attaining this "higher" state.

Although the Gnostic give us some detailed descriptions of these esoteric Christian teachings, it is interesting to note that they are also alluded to in New Testament accounts by Jesus himself:

"To you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables: so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand. . . " (Mark 4:11)

The Treasure of Light and the Mystery of the Five Trees

At the turn of the present century Professor GRS Mead summarized a German translation of a surviving Gnostic text, the "Second Book of Ieou". 16 P The text describes Jesus bidding male and female disciples to join him so that he can reveal to them the great mystery of the Treasure of Light.

In order to accomplish this, the candidates have to be initiated by three Baptisms: The Baptism of Water, the Baptism of Fire, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, "and thereafter the Mystery of the Spiritual Chrism [anointing]."10

Jesus tells his followers that the master-mysteries of the Treasure of Light are involved with the mystery of the Five Trees, which may mean having knowledge of the magical plants that were used in the ceremony.

All of these mysteries Jesus promises to give to His disciples, that they may be called "Children of the Fullness (Pleroma) perfected in all mysteries." The Master then gathers His disciples, and sets forth a place of offering, placing one wine-jar on the right and on the left, and strews certain berries and spices round the vessels; He then puts a certain plant in their mouths, and another plant in their hands, and ranges them in order round the sacrifice.10

Continuing with the ritual, Jesus gives the disciples cups, along with other articles, and seals their foreheads with a magical diagram. Then, like shamanistic and magical ceremonies the world over, he turns his disciples to the four corners of the world, with their feet together in an attitude of prayer, and then offers a prayer which is prefixed with an invocation, and continues with a number of purifications and into the Baptism of Fire.

In this rite vine-branches are used; they are strewn with various materials of incense. The Eucharist is prepared...8

The prayer [this time, is to] the Virgin of Light. . . Q the judge; she it is who gives the Water of the Baptism of Fire. A wonder is asked for in "the fire of this fragrant incense", and it is brought about by the agency of Zorokothora.R What the nature of the wonder was, is not stated. Jesus baptizes the disciples, gives them of the eucharistic sacrifice, and seals their foreheads with the seal of the Virgin of Light.

Next follows the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In this rite both the wine-jars and vine-branches are used. A wonder again takes place, but is not further specified. After this we have the Mystery of Withdrawing the Evil of the Rulers, which consists of an elaborate incense-offering.

The "wonder" in the incense which so perplexed Mead was presumably a reference to its undescribable psychoactive effects. It's also likely that the other undefined "wonder" indicates the magical properties of the different plants used in the ceremony.

It would seem to follow that the identity of the different plants, vines, and berries described in the excerpts were identified to the participants as the Mystery of the Five Trees.

At this time we can only speculate what other plants were used in the ceremony. The account of mandrake in Genesis 30: 14-16 and in Solomon's Song of Songs 7: 13, (which seems to indicate its addition to the holy anointing oil), clearly document the long term interest the Hebrews had with these seemingly magical plant angels.

That the use and knowledge of such plants could have been passed down by certain "heretical" branches of the faith such as the Gnostics seems self evident. The addition of such a powerful hallucinatory drug such as mandrake (or belladonna, which was also popular in the Middle East at that time) would help to explain some of the extreme experiences related to the holy anointings and baptisms described in the Gnostic literature. S

The Leaves of the Tree are for the Healing of the Nations

Cannabis is likely the most useful plant medicine in existence, and it has been used to treat a wide variety of ailments throughout history. Few readers will not be aware of the international fight taking place at this time, to get the sick and dying access to the amazing healing and curative powers of the cannabis plant's leaves and flowers.

As such, it should not be surprising to find that there are numerous references to the early Christians healing with the anointing oil, giving further indication that Jesus and his apostles had begun to freely dispense the sacred kaneh-bosm anointing oil, which had previously been under a strictly enforced prohibition, restricting its use to the Hebrew priests and kings.

Knowledge of cannabis' healing powers may account for some of Jesus' healing "miracles".T The Acts of Thomas specifically invokes the healing quality of the sacred plant into the holy oil: "You are the plant of kindness. Let your power come. . . and heal by this unction."

The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles demonstrates Jesus' own view of the importance of this rite, when he gives the disciples an "unguent box" and a "pouch full of medicine" with instructions to go into the City of Habitation, and heal the sick. He tells them you must heal "the bodies first" before you can "heal the heart".

"Knowledge and healing were two aspects of the same life-force. If to be rubbed with the 'Holy Plant' was to receive divine knowledge, it was also to be cured of every sickness. James suggests that anyone of the Christian community who was sick should call to the elders to anoint him with oil in the name of Jesus The Twelve are sent out among their fellow-men casting out demons and anointing the sick with oil (Mark 6:13)."8

At the time of Christ, no differentiation was made between medical treatment and exorcism or miracles, all three were interrelated. To cure someone of a disease or to relieve them of an injury was paramount to exorcising the tormenting spirit, or miraculously healing them.

Thus it is not so surprising to find that the anointing oil expelled demons and gave protection against them, correspondingly it cured and dispelled the "sickness" of the soul and body. Exorcism (literally "driving out") was performed by means of anointing. The ancient magical texts provide abundant evidence for this application of oil.3

The oldest New Testament Gospel, clearly verifies this use of the holy oil early on in Jesus' controversial ministry:

And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them. (Mark 6:13)

Cleanse the lepers

One of Jesus' most well known miracles is his healing of lepers, which appears in the first three New Testament Gospels. The term translated as leprosy can actually refer to any number of skin diseases, usually systemic infectious lesions or extreme allergic reactions.

Due to its topical anti-bacterial properties, cannabis has been used to treat a variety of skin diseases such as pruritis, also known as atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disorder. The symptoms of pruritis are severe itching, "and patches of inflamed skin, especially on the hands, face, neck legs, and genitals,"17 a description that sounds startlingly similar to the skin disease described in Leviticus 13, called tsara'ath. It is usually translated in the Old Testament as leprosy, but has been noted by a number of scholars to be more likely a reference to a severe form of pruritis rather than true leprosy (Hansen's disease).

In relation to Jesus' curing of the lepers (Matthew 8,10,11 Mark 1, Luke 5,7,17), we could have an example of a disease expelled through the use of the cannabis "holy oil". Besides the anti-bacterial properties of cannabis oil, cannabis has been said to be effective in treating sufferers of Pruritis even when administered through smoking!17

A 1960 study in Czechoslovakia concluded that "cannabidiociolic acid, a product of the unripe hemp plant, has bacteriocidal properties." 18 The Czech researchers "found that cannabis extracts containing cannabidiolic acid produced impressive antibacterial effects on a number of micro-organisms, including strains of staphylococcus that resist penicillin and other antibiotics.U

"The Czech researchers successfully treated a variety of conditions, including ear infections, with cannabis lotions and ointments. Topical application of cannabis relieved pain and prevented infection in second-degree burns. . . "17

Heal the wounded

The Gnostic Gospel of Philip makes direct reference to how the holy oil "healed the wounds", and not suprisingly we find that cannabis was used in salves and ointments for burns and wounds throughout the middle-ages. Cannabis resin was also used for other topical applications, especially in relieving the pain of worn and crippled joints.

The Acts of Thomas specifically states "Thou holy oil given unto us for sanctification. . . thou art the straightener of the crooked limbs." This medicinal quality of cannabis oil could account for the miraculous healings of cripples attributed to Jesus and his disciples.

"Cannabis is a topical analgesic. Until 1937, virtually all corn plasters, muscle ointments, and [cystic] fibrosis poultices were made from or with cannabis extracts."19

A common and effective home remedy for rheumatism in South America was to heat cannabis in water with alcohol, and rub the solution into the affected areas. In the middle of the 19th century Dr WB O'Shaughnessy claimed to have successfully treated rheumatism (along with other maladies), with "half grain doses of cannabis resin" given orally. 20

Cast out demons

In the ancient world and up until medieval times, the disease now known as epilepsy was commonly considered to be demonic possession, and its victims were outcasts from society. Here again, we could have an explanation for events of demonic exorcism (as in Mark 5, Luke 8), and the demon's expulsion by the use of cannabis.

Dr Lester Grinspoon and other medical marijuana advocates have offered testimonials from modern epilepsy sufferers, who have noted the profound effects of natural marijuana in controlling their seizures. Dr Grinspoon also points to the positive results of cannabis and synthetic cannabidiol in the treatment of epilepsy obtained in a 1975 report, 21 and again in a 1980 study which concluded "for some patients cannabidiol combined with standard antileptics may be useful in controlling seizures. Whether cannabidiol alone, in large doses, would be helpful is not known." 22

Other ailments of spasmodic muscular contractions such as Dystonias, which results in abnormal movements and postures, have been beneficially treated with the administration of cannabis.17

Another of the miracles attributed to Jesus was the healing of a woman from chronic menstruation (Luke 8:43-48). Again we find that cannabis has been used for the treatment of such ailments, as the US Dispensary of 1854 listed cannabis extract as a remedy for "uterine hemorrhage", as well as other maladies. V

Although the Biblical story of Jesus' cure of the menstruating woman describes this event as a faith healing which results from the woman touching Jesus' robe, and him feeling the "power" go out from him, an actual remedy seems more likely. That such a medicinal remedy could be considered a miracle is not at all far-fetched.

Although far beyond the breadth or intent of this article to document, cannabis has also been used successfully to treat glaucoma, arthritis, depression and mood disorders, migraines and chronic pain.

Archaeological Evidence

In an earlier article (CC#5) the use of cannabis among the Jews prior to the Christian period was documented, and a recent archeological dig in Bet Shemesh near Jerusalem has confirmed that cannabis medicine was in use in the area up until the fourth century. Thus it would seem to stand to reason that it was used for these purposes throughout the intervening Christian period.

In the case of the Bet Shemesh dig, the cannabis had been used as an aid in child bearing, both as a healing balm and an inhalant. Scientists commenting on the find noted that cannabis was used as a medicine as early as the 16th century BC, in Egypt. 24

This find garnered some attention, as can be seen from the Associated Press article, "Hashish evidence is 1,600 years old", that appeared in Vancouver newspaper The Province, on June 2, 1992:

Archaeologists have found hard evidence that hashish was used as a medicine 1,600 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said yesterday.

Archaeologists uncovered organic remains of a substance containing hashish, grasses and fruit on the abdominal area of a teenage female's skeleton that dates back to the fourth century, the antiquities authority said in a statement.

Anthropologist Joel Zias said that although researchers knew hashish had been used as a medicine, this is the first archeological evidence. (Associated Press 1992).

Although the idea that Jesus and his disciples used a healing cannabis ointment may seem far-fetched at first, when weighed against the popular alternative (one that is held by millions of believers) that Jesus performed his healing miracles magically, through the power invested in him by the omnipotent Lord of the Universe, the case for ancient accounts of medicinal cannabis seems a far more likely explanation.

Indeed, it was through the dawning of the Spirit, provided by the entheogenic and healing anointing oil, that the early followers of Jesus came to consider themselves Christians, or Anointed-Ones! Ironically, many modern day Christians zealously persecute marijuana culture, unaware that the name of their faith makes reference to a psychoactive topical ointment that was rich in cannabis.

Adapted from Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible: The Pagan Origins of the Judaic and Christian Traditions (Volume 2, The New Testament and Related Literature). By Chris Bennett and Neil McQueen.

B The "m" is a pronounced plural, and the singular kaneh-bos sounds remarkably similar to the modern cannabis. Although often mistranslated as "calamus", the word has been translated as "fragrant-cane" in most modern bibles, and specifically designates the fragrant flowering tops of cannabis.

Z The New Testament in its present form was composed and edited between 367-397AD, about twelve generations after the events in question.

K The reference to a dove may have connotations of the Goddess tradition, which was continued by the Gnostics, who paid special attention to Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom. In earlier times the dove was sacred to Astarts, Aphrodite, Ishtar and other forms of the Goddess. "Gnostic Christians said Sophia was incarnate in the dove. . . that descended on Jesus at his baptism to impregnate his mind." 12

J The same proclamation is stated of the Anointed One, or King in Psalm 2: 7.

L A similar claim was made about hashish by the medieval Sufi poet Fuzuli, who recorded in his treatise Bang and Wine, the story of Basra, a disciple whose sheik felt that he had reached the ultimate degree of perfection through the consumption of hashish, and that he was no longer in need of further guidance. This story led to Fuzuli's proclamation that "hashish is the perfect being. . . for the seeker of the mystical experience." In many ways the Sufi movement can be seen as the phoenix which rose from the ashes of the earlier Gnostics.

M ie: Kaneh Bosm, documented as cannabis.5

N This quote is from scholar John Allegro, whose work I drew from for this article. Allegro was a great scholar of both the bible and ancient languages, and his work broke a lot of ground. Allegro was also the only human secularist on the original team of scholars involved in the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, so he came to his views through more unbiased anthropological thinking than that of his more "faithful" co-researchers. In The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, Allegro translated the kaneh-bosm reference in Exodus as "aromatic cane", and I have quoted him here on how the anointing oil "could produce a kind of intoxicating belief in self-omniscience." Yet Allegro failed to make the rightful connection with cannabis, seeing instead another plant drug at use, the amanita muscaria mushroom. His writings reveal he was extremely prejudiced against cannabis, even going so far with his etymological arguments as to suggest that the Greek term "kannabis" somehow referred to a mushroom. Allegro never smoked marijuana, but his own observations of what he referred to as "the 'pot'-smokers of today, the weary dotards who wander listlessly round our cities and universities," caused him to discount any possible use of cannabis as a means of achieving spiritual ecstasy.

O The Gospel of Thomas has an estimated date of composition as early as 40-100 AD, and likely predates the earliest New Testament Gospel, Mark, which is thought to have been written around 60 AD.

P One of the few that managed to survive the Catholic Church's editorial flames, without being hidden with the Nag Hamadi codexes.

Q This offering of "fragrant-incense" to the Virgin of Light is reminiscent of the Old Testament offerings of kaneh-bosm incense to the Queen of Heaven (1 Kings 3:3). The Goddess played a paramount role in Gnostic theology.

R The title Zorokothora is likely derived from Zoroaster, an ancient Persian prophet-shaman. Centuries before the Christian age the Zoroastrian Magi were known for their use of "bhanga" (cannabis), as well as a primordial entheogenic drink known as "haoma" or "soma", now widely identified as anamita muscaria, or fly agaric mushroom. The Zoroastrians had a great influence on Jewish culture during the years of Persian rule. The concept of heaven and hell (conspicuously absent from the Old Testament) is derived from Zoroastrianism. Jesus' apparent knowledge of Zoroaster, and Zoroastrian sacraments, hints that perhaps amanita was identified with the entheogenic "wonder" filled "five trees" which Jesus used in his shamanistic initiation ceremonies. One of the more significant and widespread Gnostic sects, the Manicheans, were known to use anamita mushrooms, and worshipped Jesus right alongside Zoroaster. The Manicheans survived into the twelfth century in parts of Europe and China, and performed ceremonies similar to the one which Jesus is described as presiding over.

S Recipes for medieval witches' "flying ointments" contain cannabis, mandrake, belladonna and other entheogens, and the out-of-body experiences attributed to the Gnostics have many parallels with the Witches Sabat, as do aspects of their cosmology.

T Like other ancient historians, Biblical authors had a tendency to magnify historical events and make them appear miraculous. The earliest gospel is thought to have been recorded about 60 years after the crucifixion, and such a text cannot be regarded as an accurate, contemporary historical account. With time, imagination and fancy have a tendency to obscure memory. Yet it seems possible that many of the New Testament accounts could have at their basis logically explainable events, which became shortened and glorified into the unexplained miracles of the New Testament Gospels.

U Evidence of cannabis ointment's topical healing abilities can also be seen in its use as a treatment for the modern "sexual leprosy" of herpes. Sufferers of cold sores and genital herpes have reported succesful treatments by soaking cannabis leaves and flowers in rubbing alcohol and then dabbing the greenish solution on the site of a potential herpetic sore outbreak. "They say it prevents blistering and makes sores disappear in a day or two."17 Direct contact with THC killed herpes virus in a 1990 research study at the University of South Florida. 19

V "The complaints to which it has been specifically recommended are neuralgia, gout, tetanus, hydrophobia, epidemic cholera, convulsions, chorea, hysteria, mental depression, insanity." (US Dispensatory of 1854). 24

References

1. TW Doane, Bible Myths and their Parallels in Other Religions. First published in 1882, republished in 1985 by Health Research.

2. The Nag Hamadi Library in English, James Robinson Ed. Harper Collins, 1978, 1988

The Nag Hamadi Library is also available online.

3. Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism. Harper, San Francisco, 1987.

4. Gospel of Philip.

5. Sula Benet, Early Diffusions and Folk Uses of Hemp. (Reprinted in Cannabis and Culture, Vera Rubin, Ed. The Hague: Moutan, 1975.)

Sula Benet (as Sara Benetowa) Tracing One Word Through Different Languages. (1936). (Reprinted in The Book of Grass, 1967.)

Weston La Barre, Culture in Context; Selected Writings of Weston La Barre. Duke University Press, 1980

6. Dr Hugh Schonfield, The Passover Plot. Bantam Books, 1967.

7. John Allegro, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth. 1980.

8. John Allegro, The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross. Paper Jacks, 1970.

9. The Paraphrase of Shem.

10. GRS Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: Some Short Sketches Among the Gnostics of the First Two Centuries. Theosophical Publishing Society, London and Benares, 1900

11. Cailin Matthews, Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom. The Aquarian Press (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers), 1992.

12. Barbara G Walker, The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Harper Collins, 1983

13. Henry Chadwick, The Early Church. Pelican Books, 1967.

14. Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels. Random House, 1979.

15. George Feurstein, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga. Paragon House, 1990.

16. Codex Brucianus, an 1892 German translation by Dr Carl Schmidt. (quoted by Chris Bennett, Osburn & Osburn, Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion. Access Unlimited, 1995.)

17. Dr Lester Grinspoon and James Bakalar, Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1993.

18. Todd Mikuriya, MD, Ed, Marijuana Medical Papers. Medi-Comp Press, 1973.

19. Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes; Hemp and the Marijuana Conspiracy. Queen of Clubs Publishing, 1985-95.

20. WB O'Shaughnessy, On the Preparation of Indian Hemp (1839). (Reprinted in Marijuana Medical Papers, Todd Mikuriya, MD, Ed. Medi-Comp Press, 1973.

21. Consroe, Wood and Buchsbaum, "Anticonvulsant Nature of Marihuana Smoking", Journal of the American Medical Association 234 1975: 306-307.

22. Cunha, Carlini, Pereira, et al, "Chronic Administration of Cannabidiol to Healthy Volunteers and Epileptic Patients", Pharmacology 21, 1980: 175-185.

23. Nature Vol 363, 20 May, 1993.

24. Ernest Abel, Marihuana, The First Twelve Thousand Years. Plenum Press, 1980.

Source

Edited January 4, 2007 by Eleleth 4/4

[_Nyx_]

All I can think of is Reefer Madness... thanks Pandy

[The Silver Thong]

I don't see any reason why he wouldn't smoke it, His dad created it for us to use in cloths, paper well a ton of things and why not to smoke. Even Doctors are perscribing it. Ya I'll buy that he smoked it but thats only if he really exsisted. I see you are a good old B.C. boy ha I lived in Nakusp for a while and ya b.c. bud, best in the world oh ya

[GoddessWhispers]

Well that certainly explains the water into wine, munchies for loaves and fishes, not to mention the stroll on the pond.

The Bong of Jesus 420! Right after Genesis 1:29.

[Spurious George]

The Smoking Solstice Sun Gods

Since ancient times, Winter Solstice has been associated with the birth of a pot-smoking Sun God - including Jesus.

Most modern readers likely believe that the celebration of Christmas originally developed during the early Christian period. Yet Solstice celebrations of the birth of a virgin-born savior actually predate the mythology of the baby Jesus by millennia, and these celebrations were usually intertwined with the sacred use of cannabis.

The Solstice Sun Kings

The December 25 calendar date often overlaps the Winter Solstice, honoured throughout the ancient world for the annual return of the sun, and the longer hours of daylight needed for the planting of the next year's crops.

The Winter Solstice was the mythical birth date of a number of archetypal fertility gods, such as Mithra, Adonis, Dionysus, Osiris, Baal, and many other versions of the Solar Sun God, who bore such titles as the Son of Man, Light of the World, Sun of Righteousness, and Saviour. Most pagan mysteries celebrated the birth of a Divine Child at the winter solstice.1

Most of these archetypal deities, including Jesus, can not only be grouped together by their association with the Sun and Winter Solstice, but also by their association with a sacred plant, which many scholars believe is cannabis.

Jesus, the Sun God

It is not only Jesus' timely birth at the winter solstice which marks him as another incarnation of the Sun King. Early Christians often associated Jesus with the Sun, depicting him driving his chariot across the sky, and calling him the Sun of Righteousness.

As with the earlier prototypes whose body and blood given in sacrifice enriched the earth and caused wondrous plants to grow, so do countless popular legends and songs tell of flowers and medicinal herbs that grew under the cross or on Jesus' tomb.2 As the dead and resurrected Savior, Jesus is clearly the embodiment, and marks the continuation of such earlier gods as Mithra, Baal, Dionysus, and others.

The gift of the Magi

As for Sun King Jesus' association with the holy cannabis Tree of Life, we not only have references to his personal use and distribution of both healing cannabis ointments and incense (see CC#11), but also his connection to the Magi, and his earlier official birthdate of January 6.

Up until the fourth century AD, many Christians were celebrating Jesus' birth on January 6. At the time, December 25 was the traditional birth-holiday of the Persian savior Mithra. Catholic Church Fathers were angered at the celebration of this other Sun King proceeding their own festivities, so they appropriated the earlier date and moved Jesus' own birthday up by some twelve days.

January 6 became known as The Feast of the Magi, or Three Kings Day. This holiday is still celebrated in both Latvia and the Ukraine with a dish made from cannabis.

The Magi who brought gifts to baby Jesus were also known as Zoroastrians, after their prophet, Zoroaster. Zoroaster taught a religious technique of shamanistic ecstasy which originated around the consumption of potent preparations of marijuana.

Of the three symbolic gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, it is not known specifically what the ancient word translated as "frankincense" refers to. Knowing the Zoroastrians' use of cannabis, it seems likely that the precious incense given to the new-born baby Jesus included marijuana.

Mithra, world savior

The Zoroastrian sect also originated the concept of a "world savior," in the form of Mithra, one of many concepts later copied by Christians.

Not only was Mithra's birthday of December 25 adopted by Christians, but also the halo of light surrounding baby Jesus' head, the resurrection of both the god and his faithful followers, and numerous other aspects were all borrowed by the early Christian church directly from the preceding mythos of the Mithraic cult.

The Persian Mithra rose to such popularity in Rome through the first few centuries of the Common Era that the Western World very narrowly missed becoming Mithraist instead of Christian. Yet not much is known of the Mithraic cult, partly because it guarded its inner mysteries, and partly because it was later eradicated by a jealous Catholic Church.

Mithra's clear association with the holy cannabis plant can be seen in a relief, which shows Mithra sacrificing the sacred cow and allowing the sacred drink of the mysteries to issue forth from the wound as the symbolic animal's blood. (see over) The blood from the wound clearly makes the shape of a cannabis leaf, indicating that their sacred initiatory drink included marijuana as a prime ingredient.

Dionysus' magical wine

Surprisingly, the legends of Dionysus, Greek god of intoxication, are also closely related to both cannabis and the biblical story of Christmas.

Like Jesus, Dionysus was also said to have been born on the Winter Solstice, the son of a divine father and a virgin mother. The followers of Dionysus celebrated his "advent" with a newborn baby placed in a winnowing basket – the forerunner of baby Jesus in the manger.

Dionysus and Jesus were both hailed as the King of Kings, and both died – Jesus on the cross, Dionysus at the hands of the Titans. Both were reborn, and Dionysus ascended to Olympus, Jesus to heaven, both to sit at the right hand of their father.3

Dionysus is erroneously regarded to be the god only of alcoholic inebriation, because of a misunderstanding of the nature of Greek wine. They were actually potent infusions of numerous psychoactive plants, in which the alcohol served as a preservative, rather than an inebriating ingredient.4

Such a marijuana infusion was known to be popular in ancient Thrace, the home of the oracle of Dionysus. The oracle used marijuana in combination with other dried herbs to achieve a state of divine ecstatic trance and predict the future.2

Baal, the flesh of qunubu

Of the many interrelated cannabis-using Sun Gods born on Solstice, the one most connected with marijuana is an ancient Canaanite deity known popularly as Baal. Actually, Baal was merely one of the many names this ancient god was known by. In Egypt he was referred to as Osiris; in Syria as Adonis; in Rome as Hercules; in India, as Siva; in Greece as Dionysus.5

Much of the Old Testament narrative is concerned with Jehovah's prophets fuming against the continuing Semitic worship of this older god, and the struggle of the new Hebrew monotheism against the older Baal cult.6

Priests and royalty who were devotees of Baal enacted the part of their deity, and in these sacred rites the holy qunubu (cannabis) was also used to achieve enlightenment and ecstasy.7

The devotee who partook of the holy plant partook of the god himself. This concept is echoed in the symbolic eating of the sacred flesh of Jesus, a practice which finds much of its origin in the consumption of magical plants.

Santa Unmasked

When the Church Fathers adopted the Solar King's birthdate, they couldn't have foreseen its usurpation by a modern deity, who serves as a perfect mascot for our materialistic age.

A Cabalist might note that Santa, the fat, jolly man in the red suit, is a perfect anagram for Satan, and interpret that "Ol' Saint Nick" is in fact "Old Nick", a "popular English name of the devil.

Thus, beneath his seemingly jolly demeanor we can uncloak him for what he is, the symbol of greed, gluttony and avarice, which he instills in our children at their most vulnerable imprinting point.

Likewise with the Easter celebration of the death and resurrection of the same solar-fertility god, which materialistic culture has magically subverted into the Easter Bunny, who feeds us with his tooth-rotting Eucharists of a chocolate body and caramel blood!

Perhaps by reclaiming these ancient myths and identifying them with the stories of our own lives, we can change the focus away from the collection of material goods and refocus it on development of the self, as did our ancient ancestors.

By Chris Bennet (01 Nov, 1998)

References

1 Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Harper Collins, 1983

2 Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas, Vol. 2. University of Chicago Press, 1982

3 Johnson, Robert A. Ecstasy. Harper-collins, 1989

4 Ott, Jonathan. The Age of Entheogens & The Angels' Dictionary. Natural Products Co., 1995

5 Scott, George Ryley. Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sexual Rites. Senate 1996/ Luxor Press 1966

6 Danielou, Alain. Gods of Love and Ecstasy; The Traditions of Dionysus and Shiva. Inner Traditions 1992

7 Waterman, Leroy. Royal Correspondence of the Assyrian Empire, Part 1. University of Michigan Press, 1930

Source

P.S. Hey The Silver Thong, I would love to discuss BC having the best cannabis in the world lol but I am walking a fine line with this topic.

Edited January 4, 2007 by Eleleth 4/4

[distortedpandy]

All I can think of is Reefer Madness... thanks Pandy

Welcomes

[Snarky Pants]

I bet Christ would have been a cool cat to smoke up with.

[Zombie Boy]

i read about Jesus tokin up and chewin shrooms in an issue of High Times, lol.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

So I guess that Church of Weed is practicing true christianity then

And on the seventh day he got the munchies

Well now we know why Adam and Eve ate that apple

Edited January 4, 2007 by Avinash_Tyagi

[_Nyx_]

So I guess that Church of Weed is practicing true christianity then

And on the seventh day he got the munchies

Well now we know why Adam and Eve ate that apple

makes about as much sense as anything else

[GoddessWhispers]

All hail Jah! It's Rasta mon! Verrrrry verrrrrry Rasta. ~sings to tune of "Take me out to the ballgame" (Where fundies like to play...~ ~Grabs PA for a little spin~ "Doonnnt Bogart that savior mon. Donnnt Bogart that split. Jah was on the market, before fishes had their dip! "

"Donnnnnt Bogart that saviorrrrrr....." ~does a little dance~

Edited January 4, 2007 by GoddessWhispers

[Aztec Warrior]

OMG....that was long.

Still, as an expert......I doubt your theory...But presented well none the less.

[Zombie Boy]

So I guess that Church of Weed is practicing true christianity then

And on the seventh day he got the munchies

Well now we know why Adam and Eve ate that apple

LOL

[Spurious George]

OMG....that was long.

Still, as an expert......I doubt your theory...But presented well none the less.

OMG sometimes learning takes a little time. Expert in what exactly, short stories lol?

Thanks but its not my theory but one of many informative articles written by Chris Bennett, if there are any particular points you disagree with or would like clarified just post them, I might just be able to get Chris over here to discuss the finer points of his theory.

Here's another article of his, as you may guess I'm a big fan of his writing, this ones for the ladies...

Marijuana and the Goddess

(01 Sept, 1998)

Holy pot has been smoked by Goddess worshippers since before history, and was first banned by those who sought to subjugate feminine spirituality

In most ancient hunter-gatherer societies, women balanced the males' supply of game with their collected harvest from the surrounding wilderness. Women therefore became the first to learn the secrets of plants, and how they propagated themselves.

This knowledge led to the development of agriculture, and the evolution from the animal totems of the hunter-gatherers to images of the Great Mother, who with proper worship produced her abundant harvest in the same way that women produced children.

Cannabis is among humanity's oldest and most useful cultivated crops, and so it is not surprising to find that cannabis, in all its forms, has been intricately associated with Goddess worship in many cultures, throughout history.

Kali-Ma

The most ancient goddess still worshiped in the world today is the Indian Kali-Ma, the Mother of Life and Death. Her worship stretches back into pre-history, and is believed to predate that of her more well-known consort Shiva, the longest continually worshiped god on earth. Both Shiva and Kali are strongly associated with marijuana.

Kali is generally depicted with a girdle of human arms and a necklace of skulls, and represents the dark aspect of the goddess trinity of virgin-mother-crone. Both ancient and modern devotees of Kali partake of marijuana in various forms as a part of their worship.

Devotional ceremonies to Kali involve cannabis ingestion and ritual sex, which is directed at raising the Kundalini energy from the base of the spine up into the higher centres of the brain.

Other pot-goddesses

The worship of Kali, under various names, extended into the ancient Near East, and cannabis was also used by many of the worshippers of Kali's ancient world counterparts.

Kali is the Hindu counterpart of the ferocious and sensual Canaanite goddess Anath, (part of a similar trinity with Ashera and Astarte)who is also described with "attached heads to her back, girded hands to her waist."

In ancient Germany, marijuana was used in association with Freya, the slightly tamer Kali-like goddess of Love and Death.

Scythian Hempsters

It is generally accepted that it was the horseback-riding Scythians who spread the combination of cannabis and goddess worship throughout much of the ancient world.

Readers of part two in this series (CC#2) will remember that the Amazon-like Scythian women fought alongside their warrior mates, and that these "Hell's Angels" of the ancient world were known to have used cannabis in funeral rites, doing so in veneration of their own variation of the Goddess Mother of Life and Death, Rhea Krona.

Showing cannabis' strong ties with Scythian mythology, Rhea Krona came to reap her children in death with the scythe, an agricultural tool named for its Scythian origin, and originally designed for harvesting cannabis. This scythe image has survived through patriarchal times and into our modern day, with both Father Time and the Grim Reaper still carrying Rhea Krona's ancient hemp-harvesting tool.

The Tree of Life

In a cave where an ancient urn was found that had been used by the Scythians for burning marijuana, there was also a massive felt rug, which measured 5 by 7 metres. The carpet had a border frieze with a repeated pattern of a horseman approaching the Great Goddess, who holds the Tree of Life in one hand and raises the other in welcome.

Imagery of the Goddess and the Tree of Life is also found amongst other cultures with whom the Scythians came into contact. Readers of part three in this series (CC#5) will remember that the ancient Canaanites and also Hebrews paid particular reverence to the Near Eastern Goddess Ashera, whose cult was particularly focussed around the use of marijuana.

According to the Bible itself, the ancient worshippers of Ashera included wise King Solomon and other biblical kings, as well as their wives and the daughters of Jerusalem. The Old Testament prophets often chastised them for "offering up incense" to the Queen of Heaven.

Like the imagery on the Scythian carpet, icons dedicated to Ashera also have depictions of a "sacred-tree", most likely a reference to the cannabis that her followers grew and revered, using it as a sacrament, as a food and oil source, and also using the fibres in ritual weavings.

Eve: cultural hero

Among her other titles, Ashera was known as "the Goddess of the Tree of Life", "the Divine Lady of Eden" and "the Lady of the Serpent". Ashera was often depicted as a woman holding one or more serpents in her hands. It was Ashera's serpent who advised Eve to disobey the male god's command not to partake of the sacred tree.

The historical record shows that the Old Testament version of the myth of Eve, the serpent and the sacred tree was concocted as propaganda against pre-existing Goddess cults.

Originally, the outcome of the Eden myth was not tragic, but triumphant. The serpent brought wisdom, and after the magic fruit was eaten, Adam himself became a god. What was originally involved was probably a psychedelic sacrament, like the Elusian festival in Athens, in which the worshipper ate certain hallucinogenic foods and became one with the Mother Goddess Demeter.

Like the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge was a symbol associated with the Goddess. The rites associated with her worship were designed to induce a consciousness open to the revelation of divine or mystical truths. In these rites cannabis and other magical plants were used, and women officiated as priestesses.

Roman Catholic Persecution

In early Christian times, the holy cannabis oil was ingested and used by many Gnostic Christian sects, in honour of the Queen of Heaven.

With the rise of one of the more harshly ascetic and anti-female Christian sects in Rome, and the subsequent development of the Roman Catholic Church, such groups were forced out of existence, along with most pagan religions and the cult of the Great Mother.

The new Church of Rome followed their Judaic predecessors in naming Eve (the representative of all women) the "Mother of Sin", as well as demonizing magical plants.

Their violent purges of Goddess worship and magical plant use persisted into medieval times. It has been estimated that over a million female practitioners of the older Goddess religions were burned as "witches" for utilizing cannabis, mandrake, belladonna and other plants in their "flying ointments".

Even medieval French heroine Joan of Arc was accused of using cannabis, mandrake and other plants in order to hear the voices which guided her, and this eventually led the church to commit her to the flames.

Marrying your Goddess

Similar to its use in the spiritual techniques of India, medieval European occult and alchemical masters used cannabis to aid in the "Marriage of the Sun and Moon" in the individual. The Sun and Moon represent the masculine and feminine aspects of the self.

Tantrik, Zoroastrian, Gnostic, Alchemical and occult literature all refer to "marrying your Goddess", which means connecting an individual's feminine and masculine aspects together into a unified force. This theme appears over and over again in medieval occult literature. Even the Gnostic Jesus states "when you make the male and female one and the same… then you will enter the kingdom." (Gospel of Thomas)

Much like the woman's liberation movement which has been taking place in our modern world, individual self completion requires a similar process to take place in our minds. The feminine aspect, or right cortex, becomes a full partner with the masculine aspect, or left cortex.

Marijuana use can greatly assist in this process. Is it any wonder then, that Shiva, the Lord of Bhang, was known as the god who was both man and woman? Or that the hashish eating Sufis, and later the American hippies, were both accused of being too feminine?

Love your mother

From the collected evidence it is clear that cannabis has been associated with worship of the Goddess since antiquity. Now, as we stand on the verge of a new millennia, in what seem to be the death throes of the patriarchy, it is as if the Goddess is once again reaching out her hand and offering her sacred Tree of Life to us in our time of collective need.

Like so many disobedient Eves, numerous female figures such as Elvy Mussika, Hilary Black, Mary Kane, Mountain Woman, The Holy Sisters of Hemp, Mama Indica, Brownie Mary and many others have decided to challenge the commandments of the male authorities and once again tempt us with the forbidden fruits of cannabis.

Indeed, it is likely not until we are once again free to enjoy all the sacred fruits of Mother Earth that the liberation of the feminine will fully take place, and we can restore Gaia, our planetary matriarch, back to health.

-|-

The androgynous nature of the human organism is re-emerging into consciousness in new ways that have evolved from past experience. We are learning to recognize and differentiate the opposites in our nature.

It makes no difference whether we call these opposites masculine and feminine, creative and receptive, knowledge and wisdom, competition and cooperation, explosion and implosion, or Logos and Eros. What is important, is that they be experienced in union as aspects of our own inner self. They are the self-renewing possibilities of our own individuality. Yoked together, they can fertilize each other to generate the creativity which is the potential of human beings.

The return of such female values as cooperation and forbearance is longed for in a world torn by war and threatened by nuclear disaster, poverty, disease and rape of the land. When the goddess of fertility is reunited with the god of consciousness, the renewed culture will have its conception.

– The Yoga of Androgyny, June Singer

-|-

Hymn To The Plants — Rig Veda X.97.

Plants which as receptacles of light were born three ages before the Gods, I honour your myriad colors and your seven hundred natures.

A hundred, oh Mothers, are your natures and a thousand are your growths. May you of a hundred powers make whole what has been hurt.

Plants, as Mothers, as Goddesses, I address you. May I gain the energy, the light, the sustenance, your soul, you who are the human being.

Where the herbs are gathered together like kings in an assembly, there the doctor is called a sage, who destroys evil, and averts disease.

As they fell from Heaven, the plants said, "The living soul we pervade, that man will suffer no harm."

The Herbs which are in the kingdom of the Moon, manifold with a hundred eyes, I take you as the best of them, for the fulfillment of wishes, as peace to the heart.

The plants which are queens of the Soma, spread over all the Earth, generated by the Lord of Prayer, may your energies combine within this herb.

-|-

How women are like pot

There are some biological oddities which link cannabis with humans, especially the females of our species.

First, certain active compounds of marijuana have molecular resemblance to the female hormone estrogen. Possibly it is due to this aspect of cannabis' genetic make-up that some growers have reported success with fertilizing their plants with birth control pills or menstrual fluid, the use of which as a ritual fertilizer goes back to the matriarchal period.

Of similar interest is that cannabis seeds contain rare gamma linoleic acid, found only in spirulina, two other rare seed oils, and human mother's milk. As the tribal people of the world have always shown an incredible intuition when it comes to right use of plants, it is interesting to note that the Sotho women of South Africa make a mealy pap from hempseed to wean their babies off breast milk.

Recommended Reading:

The Chalice & the Blade, by Riane Eisler

A History of Religious Ideas, by Mircea Eliade

Ishtar Rising, by Robert Anton Wilson

The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, by Barbara Walker

The Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa: A Historical Ethnographic Survey, by WA Emboden (in Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens, Peter Furst, Ed

Chris Bennet is the author of Green Gold: Marijuana in Magic and Religion, and the forthcoming Sex, Drugs and Violence in the Bible.

Source

[Aztec Warrior]

Ok...Ok...you have done your research...please spare us the total articles.

Now, let's here your honest opinion without pasting....just you.

Sum it up....i'll listen....

[Spurious George]

Well you see, as I've already mentioned in this thread I'm walking a fine line with this topic and honestly avoiding personal discussion will probably increase the longevity of this thread, so I'm happy to stick with copying and pasting just to pass on the information to those who are interested. Not to mention you called yourself an expert, in what I have no idea you didnt answer that, said you doubt the theory but gave no reasons for that doubt and now expect me to sum it up for you. Sounds like I'm doing all the work and you just get to be the expert on.... something I dont know lol.

But, keeping in mind that I dont want this thread locked at this time, I will say that with over a decade of personal experience with the effects of a certain something discussed in these articles I personally agree with Chris Bennett's beliefs regarding this certain somethings enlightening properties. I also believe that he isnt saying necessarily that Jesus was real only that if he was then....

I am also aware from personal studies, including experimental research, on early human religious beliefs and practices that his theory isnt anything controversial. If anything, as a whole, these last two thousand years or so, compared to the tens of thousands of years of religious practice before it, is a new concept in human religious practices. Since the dawn of human religion shamanism has been there and humans remained part of the natural collective system on Earth, however since leaving these roots, forcibly removed in many cases, we have left this collective system and have done some serious damage to this planet. In general we lack any real attachment or responsibilty towards this planet now and it isnt any wonder to me where we went wrong.

I understand that discussing this topic in personal detail may be seen as unsafe for a family environment, but I believe not discussing this topic, not trying to make people aware of our roots and not trying to turn things around is unsafe for the planets environment. In other words I can accept the concerns to protect the micro but I also wish to protect the macro.

[+Sherapy]

Ele how did i miss this, there are many, many many christians that will stand firm on this, jesus smoked bud...

i think GW says it all in her posts.... girl i can't laugh any harder ha ha ha ha ha.......

ele why would people be upset more people smoke weed than don't i kid you not i grew up with my grandparents smoking it., my uncles ...

buyakashayogwan.......

Edited January 5, 2007 by Supra Sheri

[Bill Hill]

"Father....like why have you like...forsaken...er me, maaaan! It's a real bummer.... stuck.. here"

[kaknelson]

Well, I am suprised this thread hasn't been closed yet?

This is good...

The read reminds I of a doctrine like the THC Ministry: Take a look at this. I recommend the read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thc_ministry

rastaFAR I ! JAH!

Bless.

[War Eagle]

The dawn of man...

Edited January 9, 2007 by REBEL

[Kazahel]

I found it all a pretty good read.

The addition of such a powerful hallucinatory drug such as mandrake (or belladonna, which was also popular in the Middle East at that time) would help to explain some of the extreme experiences related to the holy anointings and baptisms described in the Gnostic literature.

I agree and I just wanted to say that I think if you actually ************************.. I thought I read somewhere that its just what happens when they are mixed together too. Like I tried ***************once and I was in a state of euphoria for about three days(it was really unique and pretty different to other drugs). So I recon if they made a mixture of just those two, as an anointing oil, it would bring the 'Spirit of the Lord' or something down quite alot..

cause I had the best Christmas that year.

3. No illegal or unsuitable content

Posts requesting or promoting software piracy, firearms, knives, illegal downloads or hacking are forbidden, as are posts or blog entries describing drug use or any other illegal activity.

A reminder here that we are getting very close to the line of closer.

Irish

Edited January 5, 2007 by Irish

[GoddessWhispers]

I'm wondering what a tea of any one of those combo's would do. ******************XThis is that affective organ, as it were, that is involved in sub-lingual (beneath the tongue) supplements, medications, etc... Herbal tinctures, are also deposited there, (tinctures are the little bottles you see in health food stores. Liquid herbal Combo with a dropper tube, so one can take them directly or squirt the mixture into hot water as a tea). ***************XXtakes it the rest of the way. As with any herbal remedy however, read and know what you're doing. Else it might be a costly trip. Belladonna especially.

3. No illegal or unsuitable content

Posts requesting or promoting software piracy, firearms, knives, illegal downloads or hacking are forbidden, as are posts or blog entries describing drug use or any other illegal activity.

A reminder here that we are getting very close to the line of closer.

Irish

Edited January 5, 2007 by Irish

[Spurious George]

Well I'm thinking that things may have or soon will cross the line into the personal detail discussion category, I'm sure there is a mod with his/her finger on the trigger and being aware of their concerns and the rules here I wouldnt blame them for locking this up, in other words this thread is almost pooched lol. So ya fire away, but first one more Bennett article going out to the Occultists, Satanists and other Beasts...

The Great and Wild Beast 666 and the Devil's Weed

"The action of hashish is as varied as life itself and seems to be determined almost entirely by the will or mood of the 'assassin,' and that within the hedges of his mental and moral form. I can get fantastic visions, or power of mind – analysis, or spiritual exaltation, or sexual excitement of various kinds, or ravenous hunger, or vigor of imagination, whichever I please, absolutely at will, on a minute dose of the Parker Davis extract. This is simply because I have discovered the theory and perfected the practice of the instrument."

- Aleister Crowley 1920

Birth of the Beast

Born at the height of the Victorian era in 1875, into the household of a strict religious sect of Plymouth brethren, the young Aleister Crowley was given little to read as a child besides the Bible. Being both a prodigious and rebellious lad, and having soon mastered the contents of the Good Book, he concluded at an early age that his mother's references to him being a "beast", indicated his identification with "the Beast, whose number is 666" of the New Testament's book of Revelation. This was a role he strove to fulfill for much of his controversial life.

A world class mountain climber and master chess player, Crowley was a fit and intellectual individual who took a scientific approach to the emotionally and imaginatively charged art of magic (which he renamed magick, to differentiate it from the popularized entertainment form). A pioneer of free-love and the mystical use of drugs, Crowley was amongst the weeds that broke the pavement of the stodgy and morally repressed Victorian era.

The supreme ritual

In a 1907 Essay, The Psychology of Hashish, Crowley wrote that in his extensive studies into the history of the occult he "found this one constant story. Stripped of its local chronological accidents, it usually came to this – the writer would tell of a young man, a seeker after hidden Wisdom, who, in one circumstance or another, meets an adept; who, after sundry ordeals, obtains from the said adept, for good or ill, a certain mysterious drug or potion, with the result (at least) of opening the gate of the other world. This potion was identified with the Elixir Vitae of the physical Alchemists, or one of their 'tinctures' most likely the 'white tincture' which transforms the base metal (normal perception of life) to silver (poetic conception)…"

After "poisoning" himself with "every drug in (and out of) the Pharmacopoeia" in search of the above preparation, Crowley came to believe that this substance was a "sublimated or purified preparation of Cannabis Indica." Preceding the theories of Gordon Wasson, Jonathan Ott, Terrence Mckenna and others by more than half a century, the Beast went so far as to speculate that "this ceremonial intoxication constitutes the supreme ritual of all religions."

Crowley further claimed that this mysterious herb was one of the prohibited trees in the Garden of Eden, "…if not the Tree of Life, at least of that other Tree, double and sinister and deadly…" In rhetorical response to Jehovah's ancient taboos, the Beast wrote: "Nay! for I am of the Serpent's party; Knowledge is good, be the price what it may."

Cannabis consciousness

In The Psychology of Hashish Crowley indicates a vast knowledge of the esoteric history of the herb, quoting the works of fellow hemp enthusiasts such as Zoroaster, the medieval alchemists, the works of members of Paris' Hashish Club, and other 19th century literary figures. Unfortunately, he was forced to hold back much of this knowledge, due to his association with certain occult groups, who believed that secrets revealed equals power lost.

Crowley wrote that "in order to keep the paper within limits," he had to restrict himself to information that was already quite available to the public at large, "lest the austerity of such a Goddess be profaned by the least vestige of adornment."

Unable to openly discuss the esoteric history of the herb, Crowley decided to look at other areas of interest. Having spent some years practicing yoga, ceremonial magic and other techniques of exploring the workings of the mind, as well as studying scientific literature on the subject, Crowley felt confident in discussing the effects of cannabis on the psyche of man.

Noting that "Yogis employed hashish… to obtain Samadhi, that oneness with the Universe," Crowley focussed on cannabis' ability to invoke different mental states, which he compared to similar states of consciousness associated with meditative and magical practices.

The first of the cannabis-consciousness states is termed by Crowley as the volatile aromatic effect, which he saw as being marked by an "absolutely perfect state of introspection… of an almost if not quite purely impersonal type."

The next state of consciousness attainable with cannabis, the toxic hallucinative effect, begins with thoughts and images passing "rapidly through the brain, at last vertiginously fast. They are no longer recognized as thoughts, but imagined as exterior… The fear of being swept away in the tide of relentless image is a terrible experience."

Crowley felt the best combatant against this delusional and paranoid state was a meditatively attuned and magickaly trained mind, as both these techniques "lead the mind to immense power over its own imaginations."

In the third and final level of consciousness attainable from cannabis, the narcotic effect, "one simply goes off to sleep."

Crowley noted that certain preparations of cannabis seemed to favourably elicit these different states of consciousness even more than dose size did, and believed that the effects themselves may be due to "three separate substances" in the plant, with differing strains having differing amounts of each.

Impersonal introspection

In relation to his own work and psychological goals, Crowley saw the most desirable of these states of consciousness to lie in the introspective state produced by the volatile aromatic effect.

Crowley, like other occultists of the time, saw this impersonal introspective state as ideal for the act of astral traveling, and offered instruction in his essay for its experimental practice. More importantly, Crowley saw cannabis as having the potential to aid the mind in achieving the ultimate state of consciousness, in which "Ego and non-Ego unite", and duality, or ego-bound consciousness, is transcended and Samadhi is achieved.

"If hashish-analogy be able to assist us here, it is in that supreme state in which man has built himself up into God," wrote Crowley. "One may doubt whether the drug alone ever does this. It is perhaps only the destined adept who, momentarily freed by the dissolving action of the drug… obtains this knowledge which is his by right, totally inept as he may be to do so by any ordinary methods."

Stoned initiations

Modern occult writer Francis King has speculated that Aleister Crowley may have been initiated into the magical use of drugs by chemist and student of pharmacology CG Jones, who also introduced the young Crowley into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. (Crowley would later find himself in a court battle with the Order after publishing some of their secret writings.)

Other famous members of the Golden Dawn can also be tied to cannabis use. British poet WB Yeats experimented with marijuana as an aid in the development of psychic powers, and the writer Lewis Carroll incorporated a cannabis-puffing caterpillar and a magical mushroom in his famous Alice in Wonderland.

Probably not realizing what a strong influence it would have on a generation, Crowley is reputed to have introduced the young Aldous Huxley to mescal in a pre-Hitler Berlin Hotel room, as well as initiating sci-fi writer HG Wells to the mysteries of hashish.

Higher minds

Utilizing cannabis, mescaline and a variety of other substances, Crowley would create and perform mythologically imbued occult rituals, which were directed at bringing the devotees into closer contact with higher states of consciousness. He had hopes of perfecting a method which would make the mystic frame of mind available to humanity at large. Far from seeing his work as something new and novel, Crowley rightfully saw such drug induced ritualistic initiation as being part of the ancient mystery schools which had been largely suppressed by the Catholic Church at the commencement of the Dark Ages.

Considering the strong role it played in his magical techniques, it is curious to note that after Crowley wrote The Psychology of Hashish there are only a few scattered direct references to cannabis in his writings. But, with a little cross-referencing, it can be shown that cannabis use is at the core of many of this famed magician's most celebrated occult texts, a fact that many modern Crowley enthusiasts are sadly unaware.

by Chris Bennett (01 Nov, 1999)

Source

More articles by Chris Bennett can be found at his website - http://www.forbiddenfruitpublishing.com/

[Atheist God]

I'm personally an atheist but Chris Bennett is right in regards to a lot of aspects of ritual herb taking for visions and what have you.

I can say personally that the method Jesus supposedly used in the Baptism of fire which is essentially covering your body in the oil extracted from the holy herb will induce visions.

It's not just religion either that such mind altering substances have been used either. Shakespear for example smoked cannabis out of clay pipes and wrote many of his stories while high. I would go as far to say that Cannabis among other entheogens and some man made ones like LSD and MDMA are more then just mind altering but rather mind expanding. Through out history man has used drugs for not only spiritual enlightenment but inspiration as well. More modern examples of inspirational use would be basically any band from the 60's. Modern examples of religious use would be the Rastafarians in Jamaica or the Church of the Universe (Chris Bennett is a member).

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On that note...

I know Chris Bennett and have talked to him many times before. He is an awesome guy to hang with but he has a bit of a temper.... None the less he is by far one of the most smartest men i have ever met in my life.

[Irish]

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Irish