Cannabis and Spirituality: Use in World Religions
The mind-altering nature of cannabis changes one's perspective. It supports creative abilities, enables seeing the world from a different angle, and inspires profound existential questions. It's no wonder that religions have used cannabis for centuries to enable closer connection with divinity. Today, we'll explore religions where cannabis played a significant historical role.
Cannabis in Ancient Chinese Spirituality
Ancient China was the birthplace of historical cannabis use. This can be traced back to the religious practices of the Yangshao culture in the Yellow River valley. Here, archaeologists found ancient tombs dating between 4,500 and 3,750 BC with burial items suggesting a belief in afterlife.
Ancient Chinese belief systems had animistic features - worshipping personifications of nature. Eventually, this archaic system developed a more complex structure with a pantheon of over 200 gods. People of that time had a strong belief in the supernatural, emphasizing spirits, ancestor worship, dragon spirits, and divination.
Shamanic practitioners also existed in ancient China. These mystical figures, known as "Wu", were depicted as individuals who controlled weather, communicated with spirits, and spent most of their time gathering magical herbs to cure illnesses.
Specific use of cannabis in this world of spirits, gods, and magic remains unclear. However, evidence suggests that cannabis and spirituality were somehow interconnected. Archaeologists discovered cannabis leaves, shoots, and flowers in 2,500-year-old Yang tombs in northwest China.
China became the cradle of cannabis.
Shintoism: Early Cannabis Spirituality in Japan
Japan also has a long history with the cannabis plant. Native islanders made clothing and baskets from it and ate its seeds. It's unsurprising that cannabis was highly regarded in ancient Shinto Japan.
Japan's native religion Shintoism, or the "way of the gods", is as old as the nation itself. As a decentralized belief system, Shintoism dramatically differs from other faiths. Shinto followers believe in holy spirits called Kami, which take the form of natural elements, organisms, and structures like mountains, wind, and trees.
Cannabis holds a spiritual significance in Shintoism: followers see the herb as a purifying plant capable of banishing evil spirits. Shinto priests wave bundles of cannabis over possessed individuals to rid them of troublesome spirits.
Cannabis has a spiritual significance in Shintoism, believed to banish evil spirits.
Buddhism and Cannabis in Indian Religion
In India, cannabis was considered a gift from heaven, sent by gods as an act of mercy - to help people free themselves from fear, achieve pleasure, and increase sexual desires.
Other Hindu beliefs speak of cannabis as a plant that grew from divine nectar fallen from the heavens. A popular theory associated with Hinduism is also a story where cannabis emerged from the efforts of gods and demons to obtain amrita - a Sanskrit method to achieve immortality.
Some Buddhist sects are more open to cannabis use, while others are strictly against it. Regardless of these conflicting views, the herb played a significant role on Buddha's path - Gautama Buddha ate one cannabis seed daily for six years on his journey to enlightenment.
The three main branches of Buddhism view cannabis from different perspectives.
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Theravada Buddhism
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Mahayana Buddhism
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Vajrayana Buddhism