Healing Hemp in World Religions
- Do you think that cannabis has no connection with religion in addition to rastafarianism? Then maybe the following text will surprise you.
Not only is it used during religious rituals, it is also associated with a long tradition of a variety of religions in todays and ancient world. So lets start in an area where cannabis use has historically the deepest roots - in China.
Cannabis in Chinese Mandivinity
Cannabis in combination with ginseng used in order to reveal truths about the future - that was shady psychoactive mix of Taoism . Ancient Taoists believed that cannabis allows them to send their spirit forward in time and predict what will happen in the future.
V prasHowever, cannabis was only allowed to be used by those top-ranking representatives. In no case was cannabis shared with ordinary people, which could explain the absence of mention of cannabis in ancient texts. In 200 AD, the Han Dynasty era began to change to Confucianism, ending both for Taoism and religious use of cannabis in China.
Cannabis in Indian Religion
While around the year 200 AD religiously applied cannabis application in China is retreatingala, the opposite was happening in India. In India, cannabis was seen as a heavenly gift, sent by gods as an act of mercy - to help people free themselves from fear, achieve pleasure, and increase sexual desires. Next Hindu superstition speaks of cannabis as a plant that has grown from divine nectar fallen from heaven.
A very popular theory associated with Hinduism is also the story in which cannabis originated as a result of the efforts of gods and demons to gain amrity - sanskrit, through which immortality can be achieved. Whatever we choose to believe, it is quite clear that cannabis has a very sacred position in Hinduism.
In PRAxi was offered to the gods in India in the form of a sacred drink during ritual ceremonies and also used among their participants.
Cannabis in the Tibetan religion
India and Tibet share not only borders, but also long-standing religious traditions along with ritual use of cannabis. Tibet is a historically Buddhist nation. In one of the two main religious streams of Buddhism, the so-called Mahayana of Buddhism, it is said that Gautama Buddha was following a diet consisting of from one hemp seeds daily.
The Buddha is also often depicted in the way he holds the bowl, in which he is holdingré is "soma" - cannabis leaves. Buddhist trainees often used cannabis before meditating to achieve a higher state of consciousness.
Cannabis in the Religion of Ancient Greece
Ancient cultures of the Kingdom of Scotland and Assyria used cannabis as incense in their religious ceremonies. Herodotus, a Greek historian, also known as the "father of history" of the fifth century BC, describes in his notes how the Skeptics performed religious ceremonies in tents quite similar to the typical American Indians tip (see below), where they ritually inhale cannabis fumes that slowly burned in pre-prepared censers.
It is believed that the people of ancient Assyria conthey have been ritually used since the 9th century BC, but historians are not quite sure about it yet. But what is certain is that at some point the Assyrians began to use cannabis vapors to repel evil spirits both during funerals and during birth.
Cannabis in the Old Testament
Cannabis is an integral part of Exhowever, there are also experts who believe that cannabis is also associated with Christianity and Judaism. For example, in 1936, Sula Benet, a Polish Ethologist, introduced a radically altered interpretation of the Old Testament. According to Sula, historians have confused the old Hebrew word kaneh bosm , which they hopedthey lived like a calamus - a traditionally used aromatic plant. However, according to this ethyl term, kaneh bosm actually means cannabis. If the interpretation of Sula is correct, it means that we should radically change our understanding of the Old Testament.
Reference about kaneh bosmthey are in the Song of the Songs, the Book of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of Exodus.
Cannabis in the Jamaican religion
Modern research on the religious use of cannabis has so far dealt mainly with its connection with rastafarianism.
Thisthe traditional Jamaican religion was popularized first by Bob Marley and recently by American artist Snoop Lion, formerly known as Snoop Dog. Rastafarianism focuses mainly on Jah and ritual use of cannabis along with rejection of any form of oppression. Religious use of Rastafarian cannabis has been investigated during the 20th century. However, in 1993, the whole thing culminated in a new law on religious freedom that allowed cannabis use for religious and spiritual practices in the US.
So what have we learned today? Cannabis is part of humanity aftera lot, really a long time. Historically, it has been used as an accounttreatment, as well as for religious and spiritual practices.