Entheogenic use of cannabis

Cannabis has been used in an entheogenic context - a chemical substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context[1] - in India and Nepal since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. There are several references in Greek mythology to a powerful drug that eliminated anguish and sorrow. Herodotus wrote about early ceremonial practices by the Scythians, thought to have occurred from the 5th to 2nd century BCE. Itinerant Hindu saints have used it in Nepal and India for centuries.[2]

In modern culture the spiritual use of cannabis has been spread by the disciples of the Rastafari movement who use cannabis as a sacrament and as an aid to meditation.

Ancient and modern India and Nepal

The earliest known reports regarding the sacred status of cannabis in India and Nepal come from the Atharva Veda estimated to have been written sometime around 2000–1400 BCE,[3] which mentions cannabis as one of the "five sacred plants".[4]

There are three types of cannabis used in India and Nepal. The first, bhang, a type of cannabis edible, consists of the leaves and plant tops of the marijuana plant. It is usually consumed as an infusion in beverage form, and varies in strength according to how much cannabis is used in the preparation. The second, ganja, consisting of the leaves and the plant tops, is smoked. The third, called charas or hashish, consists of the resinous buds and/or extracted resin from the leaves of the marijuana plant. Typically, bhang is the most commonly used form of cannabis in religious festivals.

Hinduism

During the Indian and Nepalese festival of Holi, people consume bhang which contains cannabis flowers.[5][6] According to one description, when the amrita (elixir of life) was produced from the churning of the ocean by the devas and the asuras, Shiva created cannabis from his own body to purify the elixir (whence, for cannabis, the epithet angaja or "body-born"). Another account suggests that the cannabis plant sprang up 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 future life. It is also believed to have medicinal benefits. In contrast, foolish drinking of bhang without rites is considered a sin.[7]

Although cannabis is regarded as an illegal drug, many Nepalese people consume it during festivals (like Shivaratri) which the government tolerates to some extent and also for their personal uses and recreation purposes. Further in Nepal its seeds are also used in making pickles "bhang ko achar". The dried seeds are grinds and then mixed with aalo (potato). This is common in hilly area like Kathmandu, Pokhara of Nepal.

Buddhism

In Buddhism, the Fifth Precept can be interpreted to be "abstain from wines, liquors and intoxicants that cause heedlessness." How this applies to cannabis is variously interpreted. Cannabis and some other psychoactive plants are specifically prescribed in the Mahākāla Tantra for medicinal purposes. However, Tantra is an esoteric teaching of Hinduism and Buddhism not generally accepted by most other forms of these religions.[8]

Sikhism

Process of making bhang in a Sikh village in Punjab, India.
Photos taken by Marcus Prasad

In Gurbani

In Sikhism, First Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak, stated that using any mind altering substance (without medical purposes) is a distraction to keeping the mind clean of the name of God. Guru Nanak was offered Bhang (Marijuana) from the Mughal Emperor Babur. Guru Ji replied, "Meer Ji, I have eaten the Bhang, whose stimulation never ends". Babur asked, "Which is the Bhang, whose stimulation never ends?" Guru Ji recited this shabad:

Bho taeraa bhaang khalarree maeraa cheet ||
Awe of thee, O Lord God, is my bhang (marijuana), and consciousness (of Thee) is my leather hemp pouch.
Mai devaanaa bha-iaa ateet ||
I have become as an intoxicated recluse.

Therefore, Guru Nanak explains that remembering the true God has replaced the pleasures of Bhang. [9]

According to the Sikh Rehat Maryada, "A Sikh must not take hemp (cannabis), opium, liquor, tobacco, in short any intoxicant. His only routine intake should be food and water".[10]

Cannabis use throughout Sikh history

A typical Nihang sitting at The Golden Temple in Amrtisar, India

However throughout Sikh history Bhang (or Marijuana) was used in some way that has greatly affected Sikh history in a positive fashion.

When the Sikh battle against the Mughal empire was in full effect, at times Sikhs were forced to be nomadic warriors, always on the move so they do not get caught by the Mughal forces. Without proper medicine or food during those times many Sikh warriors drank Bhang to deal with healing pains from battle wounds. They also drank Bhang to help with digestion. At times their food supply was cut off, and they had to resort to eating tree bark. The bhang helped many Sikhs digest what they ate. These were tough times for Sikhs, but during this stage of their culture marijuana had become a necessity to assist their survival.[11]

In modern times, we call these soldiers Nihang ("without ego") and they still live that similar lifestyle of a nomadic warrior. Nihangs call Bhang "Sukhnidhaan" meaning the "giver of peace". They use Bhang as relaxation and pain relief from their martial arts training as well as using it for meditation. In Punjab, it is said that many Nihangs abuse bhang. However at this same time Nihangs contribute to society by feeding the hungry and poor people according to Sikh Tradition (See Langar) as well as performing martial arts duties (gatka) of Sikhism and keeping that tradition alive. Nihangs are generally respected into the villages they travel to, with people giving them food or money donations, and in turn the Nihangs use that food to feed entire communities. Bhang is mostly used in India on the Sikh holidays of Holla Mohalla and Vaisakhi. At many Sikh temples, including Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib Ji, the ‘Sukhnidhaan’ is offered as a holy food.[10] Some Sikh authoritarian figures want Bhang banned from Sikhism while some believe that Bhang use for Nihang's is a part of Sikh Tradition.

Historical and modern Africa

According to Alfred Dunhill (1924), Africans have had a long tradition of smoking hemp in gourd pipes, asserting that by 1884 the King of the Baluka tribe of the Congo had established a "riamba" or hemp-smoking cult in place of fetish-worship. Enormous gourd pipes were used.[12] Cannabis was used in Africa to restore appetite and relieve pain of hemorrhoids. It was also used as an antiseptic. In a number of countries, it was used to treat tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, neuralgia and other nervous disorders, cholera, menorrhagia, rheumatism, hay fever, asthma, skin diseases, and protracted labor during childbirth.[13]

In Africa, there were a number of cults and sects of hemp worship. Pogge and Wissman, during their explorations of 1881, visited the Bashilenge, living on the northern borders of the Lundu, between Sankrua and Balua. They found large plots of land around the villages used for the cultivation of hemp. Originally there were small clubs of hemp smokers, bound by ties of friendship, but these eventually led to the formation of a religious cult. The Bashilenge called themselves Bena Riamba, "the sons of hemp", and their land Lubuku, meaning friendship. They greeted each other with the expression "moio", meaning both "hemp" and "life."[14]

Each tribesman was required to participate in the cult of Riamba and show his devotion by smoking as frequently as possible. They attributed universal magical powers to hemp, which was thought to combat all kinds of evil and they took it when they went to war and when they traveled. There were initiation rites for new members which usually took place before a war or long journey. The hemp pipe assumed a symbolic meaning for the Bashilenge somewhat analogous to the significance which the peace pipe had for American Indians. No holiday, no trade agreement, no peace treaty was transacted without it (Wissman et al. 1888). In the middle Sahara region, the Senusi sect also cultivated hemp on a large scale for use in religious ceremonies (Ibid).

Ancient China

The sinologist and historian Joseph Needham concluded "the hallucinogenic properties of hemp were common knowledge in Chinese medical and Taoist circles for two millennia or more",[15] and other scholars associated Chinese wu (shamans) with the entheogenic use of cannabis in Central Asian shamanism.[16]

The oldest texts of Traditional Chinese Medicine listed herbal uses for cannabis and noted some psychodynamic effects. The (ca. 100 CE) Chinese pharmacopeia Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica) described the use of mafen 麻蕡 "cannabis fruit/seeds":

To take much makes people see demons and throw themselves about like maniacs (多食令人見鬼狂走). But if one takes it over a long period of time one can communicate with the spirits, and one's body becomes light (久服通神明輕身).[17][18]

Later pharmacopia repeated this description, for instance the (ca. 1100 CE) Zhenglei bencao 證類本草 ("Classified Materia Medica"):

If taken in excess it produces hallucinations and a staggering gait. If taken over a long term, it causes one to communicate with spirits and lightens one's body.[19]

The (ca. 730) dietary therapy book Shiliao bencao 食療本草 ("Nutritional Materia Medica") prescribes daily consumption of cannabis in the following case: "those who wish to see demons should take it (with certain other drugs) for up to a hundred days."

Beginning around the 4th century, Taoist texts mentioned using cannabis in censers. Needham cited the (ca. 570 CE) Taoist encyclopedia Wushang Biyao 無上秘要 ("Supreme Secret Essentials") that cannabis was added into ritual incense-burners, and suggested the ancient Taoists experimented systematically with "hallucinogenic smokes".[20] The Yuanshi shangzhen zhongxian ji 元始上真眾仙記 ("Records of the Assemblies of the Perfected Immortals"), which is attributed to Ge Hong (283-343), says:

For those who begin practicing the Tao it is not necessary to go into the mountains. … Some with purifying incense and sprinkling and sweeping are also able to call down the Perfected Immortals. The followers of the Lady Wei and of Hsu are of this kind.[21]

Lady Wei Huacun 魏華存 (252-334) and Xu Mi 許謐 (303-376) founded the Taoist Shangqing School. The Shangqing scriptures were supposedly dictated to Yang Xi 楊羲 (330-386 CE) in nightly revelations from immortals, and Needham proposed Yang was "aided almost certainly by cannabis". The Mingyi bielu 名醫別錄 ("Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians"), written by the Taoist pharmacologist Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456-536), who also wrote the first commentaries to the Shangqing canon, says, "Hemp-seeds (麻勃) are very little used in medicine, but the magician-technicians (shujia 術家) say that if one consumes them with ginseng it will give one preternatural knowledge of events in the future."[22][23] A 6th-century CE Taoist medical work, the Wuzangjing 五臟經 ("Five Viscera Classic") says, "If you wish to command demonic apparitions to present themselves you should constantly eat the inflorescences of the hemp plant."[24]

Yangshao culture (ca. 4800 BCE) amphora with hemp cord design

Cannabis has been cultivated in China since Neolithic times, for instance, hemp cords were used to create the characteristic line designs on Yangshao culture pottery). Early Chinese classics have many references to using the plant for clothing, fiber, and food, but none to its psychotropic properties. Some researchers think Chinese associations of cannabis with "indigenous central Asian shamanistic practices" can explain this "peculiar silence".[25] The botanist Li Hui-Lin noted linguistic evidence that the "stupefying effect of the hemp plant was commonly known from extremely early times"; the word ma "cannabis; hemp" has connotations of "numbed; tingling; senseless" (e.g., mamu 麻木 "numb" and mazui 麻醉 "anesthetic; narcotic"), which "apparently derived from the properties of the fruits and leaves, which were used as infusions for medicinal purposes."[26] Li suggested shamans in Northeast Asia transmitted the medical and spiritual uses of cannabis to the ancient Chinese wu 巫 "shaman; spirit medium; doctor".

The use of Cannabis as an hallucinogenic drug by necromancers or magicians is especially notable. It should be pointed out that in ancient China, as in most early cultures, medicine has its origin in magic. Medicine men were practicing magicians. In northeastern Asia, shamanism was widespread from Neolithic down to recent times. In ancient China shamans were known as wu. This vocation was very common down to the Han dynasty. After that it gradually diminished in importance, but the practice persisted in scattered localities and among certain peoples. In the far north, among the nomadic tribes of Mongolia and Siberia, shamanism was widespread and common until rather recent times.[27]

Joseph Needham connected myths about Magu, "the Hemp Damsel", with early Daoist religious usages of cannabis, pointing out that Magu was goddess of Shandong's sacred Mount Tai, where cannabis "was supposed to be gathered on the seventh day of the seventh month, a day of seance banquets in the Taoist communities."[28]

Ancient Central Asia

Both early Greek history and modern archeology show that Central Asian peoples were utilizing cannabis 2,500 years ago.

The (ca. 440 BCE) Greek Histories of Herodotus record the early Scythians using cannabis steam baths.

[T]hey make a booth by fixing in the ground three sticks inclined towards one another, and stretching around them woollen felts, which they arrange so as to fit as close as possible: inside the booth a dish is placed upon the ground, into which they put a number of red-hot stones, and then add some hemp-seed. … 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, and this vapour serves them instead of a water-bath; for they never by any chance wash their bodies with water.[29]

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").[30]

Several of the Tarim mummies excavated near Turpan in Xinjiang province of Northwestern China were buried with sacks of cannabis next to their heads.[31] Based on additional grave goods, archaeologists concluded these individuals were shamans: "The marijuana must have been buried with the dead shamans who dreamed of continuing the profession in another world."[32] A team of scientists analyzed one shamanistic tomb that contained a leather basket with well-preserved cannabis (789 grams of leaves, shoots, and fruits; AMS dated 2475 ± 30 years BP) and a wooden bowl with cannabis traces. Lacking any "suitable evidence that the ancient, indigenous people utilized Cannabis for food, oil, or fiber", they concluded "the deceased was more concerned with the intoxicant and/or medicinal value of the Cannabis remains."[33]

Ancient Europe

In ancient Germanic paganism, cannabis was associated with the Norse love goddess, Freya.[34][35] The harvesting of the plant was connected with an erotic high festival.[34] 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.[36] Linguistics offers further evidence of prehistoric use of cannabis by Germanic peoples: The word hemp derives from Old English hænep, from Proto-Germanic *hanapiz, from the same Scythian word that cannabis derives from.[37] The etymology of this word follows Grimm's Law by which Proto-Indo-European initial *k- becomes *h- in Germanic. The shift of *k→h indicates it was a loanword into the Germanic parent language at a time depth no later than the separation of Common Germanic from Proto-Indo-European, about 500 BC.

The Celts may have also used cannabis, as evidence of hashish traces were found in Hallstatt, birthplace of Celtic culture.[38] Also, the Dacians and the Scythians had a tradition where a fire was made in an inclosed space and cannabis seeds were burnt and the resulting smoke ingested.

Hashish is known as the real Dionysos "wine".[39]

Ancient Israel

It is generally held by academics specializing in the archaeology and paleobotany of Ancient Israel, and those specializing in the lexicography of the Hebrew Bible that cannabis is not documented or mentioned in early Judaism. Against this some popular writers[40] have argued that there is evidence for religious use of cannabis in the Hebrew Bible, although this hypothesis and some of the specific case studies (e.g., John Allegro in relation to Qumran, 1970) have been "widely dismissed as erroneous" (Merlin, 2003).[41]

The primary advocate of a religious use of cannabis plant in early Judaism was Sula Benet (1967), who claimed that the plant kaneh bosm קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם mentioned five times in the Hebrew Bible, and used in the holy anointing oil of the Book of Exodus, was in fact cannabis,[42] although lexicons of Hebrew and dictionaries of plants of the Bible such as by Michael Zohary (1985), Hans Arne Jensen (2004) and James A. Duke (2010) and others identify the plant in question as either Acorus calamus or Cymbopogon citratus.[43]

Islam

Main articles: Halal and Islamic dietary laws

The Quran does not directly forbid cannabis; however, cannabis is deemed to be khamr (an intoxicant) by many religious scholars and therefore generally believed to be haraam (forbidden).[44][45] Generally in orthodox Islam, conservative scholars deem cannabis an intoxicant and therefore, according to the Hadith, it is classified as haraam. The Hadith is the book of sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, which states: "If much intoxicates, then even a little is haraam."

Rastafari

It is not known when Rastafari first claimed cannabis to be sacred, but 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. Peter Tosh, among many others, has quoted Revelation 22:2, "... the herb is the healing of the nations." The use of cannabis, and particularly of long-stemmed water-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 the use of cannabis as bringing them closer to God (Jah), allowing the user to penetrate the truth of things more clearly, as if the wool had been pulled from one's eyes.

While it is not necessary to use cannabis to be a Rastafari, many use it regularly as a part of their faith, and pipes of cannabis are dedicated to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I before being smoked. According to the anti-cult group the Watchman Fellowship "The herb is the key to new understanding of the self, the universe, and God. It is the vehicle to cosmic consciousness"[46] and is believed to burn the corruption out of the human heart. Rubbing the ashes into the skin from smoked cannabis is also considered a healthy practice.[47]

Other modern religious movements

Elders of the modern religious movement known as the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church consider cannabis to be the eucharist,[48] claiming it as an oral tradition from Ethiopia dating back to the time of Christ.[49]

Other organized religions founded in the past century that treat cannabis as a sacrament are the Santo Daime church, the THC Ministry, Cantheism, the Way of Infinite Harmony, the Cannabis Assembly, the Church of Cognitive Therapy (COCT Ministry), Temple 420, Green Faith Ministries, the Church of Cognizance,[50] the Church of the Universe,[51][52] The Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu,[53] The Free Life Ministry Church of Canthe[54]The Church of Higher Consciousness and the federally tax-exempt inFormer Ministry Collective of Palms Springs, CA.[55][56][57] The Temple of the True Inner Light believes that cannabis is one of the parts of God's body, along with the classical psychedelics: mescaline, psilocybin, LSD, and DMT.[58] The First Church of Cannabis Inc. officially gained legal recognition in Indiana in 2015 following the passage of that state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.[59]

Modern spiritual figures like Ram Dass[60] openly acknowledge that the use of cannabis has allowed them to gain a more spiritual perspective and use the herb frequently for both its medicinal and mind-altering properties.

In Mexico, followers of the growing cult of Santa Muerte regularly use marijuana smoke in purification ceremonies, with marijuana often taking the place of incense used in mainstream Catholic rituals.[61]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology - Jurema-Preta (Mimosa tenuiflora [Willd.] Poir.): a review of its traditional use, phytochemistry and pharmacology". scielo.br. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  2. ↑ Bloomquist, Edward (1971). Marijuana: The Second Trip. California: Glencoe.
  3. ↑ Courtwright, David (2001). Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Harvard Univ. Press. p. 39. ISBN 0-674-00458-2.
  4. ↑ Touw, Mia. "The religious and medicinal uses of Cannabis in China, India and Tibet" (PDF). J Psychoactive Drugs 13 (1).
  5. ↑ Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission. Simla, India: Government Central Printing House. 1894. Chapter IX: Social and Religious Customs.
  6. ↑ "The History of the Intoxicant Use of Marijuana". National Commission of Marijuana and Drug Abuse.
  7. ↑ "Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report - Appendix".
  8. ↑ Stablein WG. The Mahākālatantra: A Theory of Ritual Blessings and Tantric Medicine. Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University. 1976. p 21-2,80,255-6,36,286,5.
  9. ↑ Sukhmandir Khalsa. "What Does Gurbani Say About Marijuana Use (Bhang)?". About.com Religion & Spirituality. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  10. 1 2 "The ‘Sukhnidhaan’ or ‘Bhang’ (cannabis)". Amrit World. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "SikhNet Discussion Forum • View topic - Sikh Reformism vs Nihang Traditions/Jhatka/Sukha Etc.". Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  12. ↑ [Dunhill, Alfred | "The Pipe Book" | London | A & C Black, 1924]
  13. ↑ "History of Marihuana Use: Medical and Intoxicant". Druglibrary.org. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  14. ↑ Cannabis and Culture. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Joseph Needham and Gwei-djen Lu (1974). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 2, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality. Cambridge University Press, p. 152
  16. ↑ "Before the Christian Era" from Zuardi AW (June 2006). "History of cannabis as a medicine: a review". Rev. Bras. Psiquiatr. vol.28 no.2 São Paulo. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  17. ↑ Needham and Lu (1974), p. 150.
  18. ↑ Compare "if taken in excess will produce visions of devils … over a long term, it makes one communicate with spirits and lightens one's body", Li Hui-Lin (1978). "Hallucinogenic plants in Chinese herbals". J Psychedelic Drugs 10 (1): 17–26.
  19. ↑ Li Hui-Lin (1973). "The Origin and Use of Cannabis in Eastern Asia: Linguistic-Cultural Implications", Economic Botany 28.3:293-301, p. 296.
  20. ↑ Needham and Lu (1974), p. 150. From ancient Chinese fumigation techniques with "toxic smokes" for pests and "holy smokes" for demons, "what started as a 'smoking out' of undesirable things, changed now to a 'smoking in' of heavenly things into oneself."
  21. ↑ Needham and Lu (1974), p. 152.
  22. ↑ Needham and Lu (1974), p. 151.
  23. ↑ Rudgley, Richard (1998). The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances. Little, Brown and Company.
  24. ↑ Joseph Needham, Ho Ping-Yu, and Lu Gwei-djen (1980). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 4, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention. Cambridge University Press, p. 213.
  25. ↑ Touw, Mia (1981). "The Religious and Medicinal Uses of Cannabis in China, India, and Tibet", Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 13.1:23-34, p 23.
  26. ↑ Li (1973), p. 297-298.
  27. ↑ Li, Hui-Lin. 1974. "An Archaeological and Historical Account of Cannabis in China", Economic Botany 28.4:437-448, p. 446.
  28. ↑ Needham, Joseph. 1974. Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology; Part 2, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality. Cambridge University Press, p. 152
  29. ↑ Herodotus. Histories. 4.75
  30. ↑ Booth, Martin (2005). Cannabis: A History. Picador. p. 29. As the seeds of cannabis contain no psycho-active chemicals, it is believed the Scythians were actually casting cannabis flowers onto the stones.
  31. ↑ "Lab work to identify 2,800-year-old mummy of shaman". People's Daily Online. 2006.
  32. ↑ "Perforated skulls provide evidence of craniotomy in ancient China". China Economic Net. 2007-01-26.
  33. ↑ Hong-En Jiang; et al. (2006). "A new insight into Cannabis sativa (Cannabaceae) utilization from 2500-year-old Yanghai tombs, Xinjiang, China". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 108 (3): 414–422. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.05.034. PMID 16879937.
  34. 1 2 Pilcher, Tim (2005). Spliffs 3: The Last Word in Cannabis Culture?. Collins & Brown Publishers. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-84340-310-4.
  35. ↑ Vindheim, Jan Bojer. "The History of Hemp in Norway". The Journal of Industrial Hemp. International Hemp Association.
  36. ↑ Rätsch, Christian (2003–2004). The Sacred Plants of our Ancestors. TYR: Myth—Culture Tradition 2. ISBN 0-9720292-1-4.
  37. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
  38. ↑ Creighton, John (2000). Coins and Power in Late Iron Age Britain. Cambridge University Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-521-77207-5.
  39. ↑ CIRC Paris. "Le site de la Fédération des CIRCs et du 18 Joint". Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  40. ↑ Dan Merkur The Mystery of Manna: The Psychedelic Sacrament of the Bible (2001); James D. Dure, Manna Magic Mushroom of Moses : Manna Botanical I.D. of a Biblical Sacrament (self published, 2000)
  41. ↑ Economic Botany M. D. Merlin Archaeological Evidence for the Tradition of Psychoactive Plant Use in the Old World - University of Hawaii "23 May 2011 - ".. Judaism (Dure 2001; Merkur 2000), and Christianity (Allegro 1970; Ruck et al. 2001). Although this hypothesis and some of the specific case studies (e.g., Allegro 1970) have been widely dismissed as erroneous, others continue"
  42. ↑ Rowan Robinson, The Great Book of Hemp, Health & Fitness, 1995, pag. 89
  43. ↑ Lytton J. Musselman Figs, dates, laurel, and myrrh: plants of the Bible and the Quran 2007 p73
  44. ↑ Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed (2003). Islam: Questions and Answers - Pedagogy Education and Upbringing. MSA Publication Limited. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-86179-296-9.
  45. ↑ Pakistan Narcotics Control Board, Colombo Plan Bureau (1975). First National Workshop on Prevention and Control of Drug Abuse in Pakistan 25–30 August 1975. Rawalpindi: Workshop Report. p. 54.
  46. ↑ Branch, Rick (2000), "Rastafarianism", Profiles (Watchman Fellowship ministry)
  47. ↑ Owens, Joseph (1974). Dread, The Rastafarians of Jamaica. ISBN 0-435-98650-3.
  48. ↑ "Marijuana and the Bible". Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church.
  49. ↑ "Erowid Cannabis Vault : Spiritual Use #2".
  50. ↑ Innes, Stephanie (2008-09-05). "Pot-Deifying Duo Guilty, Confident They'll Avoid Prison". Arizona Daily Star. Lee Enterprises.
  51. ↑ Jackson, Hayes (2008). "Appeal Date Set For Pot Priests". The Hamilton Spectator. Torstar.
  52. ↑ "Church of the Universe". Church of the Universe.
  53. ↑ "The Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu". The Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu.
  54. ↑ "The Free Life Ministry Church of Canthe". The Free Life Ministry Church of Canthe.
  55. ↑ "Rev. Dennis Erlich's Marijuana Collective for cult victims.".
  56. ↑ "Rev. Dennis Erlich's inFormer Ministry Collective IRS 990-N registration form.".
  57. ↑ "Rev. Dennis Erlich's inFormer Ministry Collective in trade magazine.".
  58. ↑ "Temple of the True Inner Light".
  59. ↑ "First Church of Cannabis Approved After Passing of Indiana's New Religious Freedom Law".
  60. ↑ "Ram Dass: Longtime Spiritual Leader, Opponent of the 'War on Drugs'". 2004-03-08.
  61. ↑ "Only on 9: The Dark Religion of the Santa Muerte | KTSM News Channel 9". Ktsm.com. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2011-04-20.

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.