In Hebrew the word for hash also means incense...
Alter-Nativity/n/a-.marihemp
THE NECTAR OF DELIGHT
The Indian vadas sang of Cannabis as one of the divine nectars, able to give man anything from good health and long life to visions of the gods. The Zend-Avesta of 600 B.C. mentions an intoxicating resin, and the Assyrians used Cannabis as an incense as early as the ninth century B.C..
Knowledge and use of the intoxicating properties eventually spread to Asia Minor. Hemp was employed as an incense in Assyria in the first millennium B.C., suggesting its use as an inebriant.
Folklore maintians that the use of Hemp was introduced to Persia during the reign of Khursu (A.D. 531-579), but it is known that the Assyrians used Hemp as an incense during the first millennium B.C..
The Emperor Wears No Clothes
Chapter 10 Myth, Magic & Medicine :
A Look at the Sociology of Cannabis Use Throughout World History
Contrary to popular conception, "marijuana" is not a phenomenon rooted in the 1960s. Cannabis hemp is part of our heritage and was the backbone of our most stable and longest surviving cultures. Recent psycho-pharmacological studies have discovered THC has its own unique receptor sites in the brain, indicating man and marijuana have a pre-cultural relationship indeed, human culture could very well prove to be the blossom of our symbiosis with cannabis.
The Mystic Philosophers
Cannabis legend and consumption are fundamental aspects of many of the world's great religions.
Enthogentic Works
In Hebrew the word for hash also means incense...
Incense, cannibas, is the communion by fire spoken of in the Bible. Fire is inspiration, and hemp is the incense that brings us closer to GOD.
Hemp Throughout Holy Texts
In the begining, God created all seed producing plants, and they were good. The law reconized their goodness, and made them illegal. After Adam ate the apple, he offered incense to the Lord to try and appease him. Moses met GOD in clouds of smoke, it reeked of incense, and the Almighty was aflame. The herb was no doubt at the table of Jesus, and the wine he created was and is more harmful than hemp. Mohammed ate hash and spoke with GOD. The ancient Incas called it "that which makes us speak" and, when drug tested, T.H.C. was found in Pharoe's system. Hemp is not GOD, it is his gift, and it inspires thought, prayer, and medition. Thought is dangerous, and thus, hemp is illegal.
Cannabis and The Christ
Hash is a vital ingrediant in Catholic holy annoiting oil
Book: HASHISH!
Robert Connell Clarke
investigates natural processes, both ancient and modern, for the growth, collection, and purification of Cannabis resin glands, the plant parts that contain the psychoactive constituents in hashish.
Incense Makers ... 51
Part I, Hashish History
, speculates on the prehistoric discovery of the euphoric properties of Cannabis , then surveys the history of hashish from ancient times up to about 1850.
When Smoke Gets In My I By Chris Bennet
The First Cultivated Crop
Ancient and modern historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and philologists all agree that cannabis is one of mankind's oldest cultivated crops. The weaving of hemp fibre began 10,000 years ago, at approximately the same time as pottery making and prior to metal working.1
Not surprisingly, records of the use of cannabis as both a drink and an incense can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations and cultures, as we shall see with a look at cannabis incense in the Ancient World.
The Encyclopedia Britannica makes the following comments about the use of incense in religious ritual: ...the ceremonial use of incense in contemporary ritual is most likely a relic of the time when the psychoactive properties of incense brought the ancient worshipper into touch with supernatural forces.15
Lacking the invention of pipes for smoking marijuana, the ancients would burn dried hemp on enclosed alters and inhale the fumes. Or they would make hashish by rubbing their hands on sticky cannabis tops, and collecting the resin for pressing into balls of incense, sometimes with other fragrant plants.
Cannabis as an incense was... used in the Temples of Assyria and Babylon `because its aroma was pleasing to the gods.'18
It is said that the Assyrians used hemp as incense in the seventh and eighth century before Christ and called it `Qunubu', a term apparently borrowed from an old East Iranian word `Konaba'. the same as the Scythian name `cannabis'.19
Unpleasant Thoughts
This information clearly documents the use of cannabis incense to the very beginnings of recorded history, and shows that it could well have played a pivotal role in the development of the wonderful mind that so many of today's people take for granted and don't use. You need only look around at the sorry state of our once pristine planet to see that most modern people have lost the ability to think for themselves, and are more than willing to be led around by despicable leaders, and work their lives away in the name of consumerism.
1.Columbia History of the World; Harper & Rowe, NY, 1981
15.Encyclopedia Brittanica; 15th edition, "Pharmacological Cults", 1978
18.Cannabis and Culture; Sula Benet, edited by Vera Rubin, The Hague: Moutan, 1975
19.Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers; Richards Evans Schultes & Albert Hoffman, Healing Arts Press, Vermont, 1992
Kaneh Bosm: Cannabis in the Old Testament
The word cannabis was generally thought to be of Scythian origin, but Benet showed that it has a much earlier origin in Semitic languages like Hebrew, and that it appears several times throughout the Old Testament. Benet explained that "in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament there are references to hemp, both as incense, which was an integral part of religious celebration, and as an intoxicant (2)."
The shamanistic Ashera priestesses of pre-reformation Jerusalem mixed cannabis resins with those from myrrh, balsam, frankincense, and perfumes, and then anointed their skins with the mixture as well as burned it (6).
Moses and his priests burned incense and used the holy ointment in a portable 'tent of meeting', the famous Tent of the Tabernacle. As cannabis is listed directly as an incense later in the Bible, it seems likely that Moses and the Levite priesthood would have burned cannabis flowers and pollen along with the ointment and incense which God commanded them to make.
2 All quotations from Sula Benet in this article are taken from Early Diffusions and Folk Uses of Hemp, reprinted in Cannabis and Culture, Vera Rubin, Ed. (back)
6 William A.Emboden Jr., Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L.: A Historic-Ethnographic Survey, printed in Flesh of the Gods, edited by P.T.Furst, published by Praeger in 1972. (back)
hemp and the bible
The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
According to "Licit and Illicit Drugs" by the Consumer Union, page 397-398:
"Ashurbanipal lived about 650 B.C., but the cuneiform descriptions of marijuana in his library "are generally regarded as obvious copies of much older texts." Says Dr. Robert P. Walton, an American physician and authority on marijuana, "This evidence serves to project the origin of hashish back to the earliest beginnings of history."
Ancient Egyptian medicine: In Sickness and in Health
Some of the medicines were made from plant materials imported from abroad. Frankincense, containing tetrahydrocannabinol and used like hashish as painkiller, was imported from Punt.
THE INCENSE OF THE SAINTS
Both the Gnostic and Book of Revelation references to the incense mention it being related to the Saints, possibly indicating those who used the holy incense felt it provided them with some sort of kinship with those members of their faith who had used it before them in a similar spirit. In some mysterious and subtle way, when we burn cannabis with a certain spiritual focus and specific symbols in mind, we are able to tap into a memory that goes far beyond our personal experience.
In relation to this it is interesting to note the words of Dr Robert de Ropp, who wrote of an initiate1s experience with cannabis that "unlocked the doors of memory, a memory that can be as impersonal as the memory of the race, linking him to the great patterns of living forms, green plants and fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. Against so expansive a back ground personal memories appeared trivial"(de Ropp 1968). De Ropp considered cannabis sacred (de Ropp, 1974), and had a keen interest in Gnostic scriptures (de Ropp, 1988). Similarly, Shaivite scholar Alain Danielou wrote that “Some plants are, by their very nature, connected with what are called spirits or gods. They embody certain aspects of the divine [and] serve as a means of contact [with it]” (Danielou, 1984/92). The same sensibility is reflected Dr Rupert Sheldrake’s profound new scientific model, “Morphic Resonance,” which describes the human DNA molecule as being a receiver for the “human being signal,” which contains not only the necessary genetic information needed for the creation and maintenance of the material body but also contains a record of all accumulated human knowledge and experience (Sheldrake 1984).
Sheldrake goes onto suggest, using the psilocybin mushroom as an example, that the previous users of such a substance may have left a resonance in the morphic field surrounding its vibration that could be tuned into by later users. When one considers the extensive religious use of cannabis throughout the ages by a variety of cultures, and the modern Renaissance surrounding the plant, Sheldrake1s theory becomes more than plausible.
CANNABIS AS TRUE RELIGION
Cannabis is a true religion, springing from the instinctual recognition of cannabis as sacrament, as the Tree of Life. Consider the case of the African Bashilenge, who after becoming acquainted with cannabis sometime during the nineteenth century, began using it sacramentally, and convinced other tribes to join them in their sacred smoke. This Holy communion lead them to put away their weapons, and rename their land 3Lubuku2, meaning “Friendship”, greeting "each other with the expression 'Moio', meaning both 'hemp' and 'life'"(Benet 1975). Consider the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica, where independently, black descendants of slaves who had began using marijuana likely from an influence of Indian migrant workers, intuitively began to apply its use to a Biblical tradition, long acknowledging the sacred plant as the Tree of Life, and 'burning bush', sharing it as a Eucharist in a chillum-Chalice in order to awaken the "I" spirit that is common in us all.
The Scythians High Plains Drifters
The sorcerers of these Thracian tribes were known to have burned female cannabis flowers (and other psychoactive plants) as a mystical incense to induce trances. Their special talents were attributed to the "magical heat" produced from burning the cannabis and other herbs, believing that the plants dissolved in the flames, then reassembled themselves inside the person who inhaled the vapors.
It could well be that in later times the cannabis smoke had somewhat mellowed the Scythians, and their spiritual leaders directed them towards becoming a more civilized people. The ancient Greek historian Ephorus wrote in the fourth century BC that the Scythians 'feed on mares milk and excel all men in justice'. His comments were followed in the first century BC by Strabo, who wrote that 'we regard the Scythians as the most just of men and the least prone to mischief, as also far more
frugal and independent of others than we are.'
The Scythian Queens
Like the Scythian shamans, the Thracians used cannabis in a similar manner. Dr Sumach explains in A Treasury of Hashish that: The sorcerers of these Thracian tribes were known to have burned female cannabis flowers (and other psychoactive plants) as a mystical incense to induce trances. Their special talents were attributed to the "magical heat" produced from burning the cannabis and other herbs, believing that the plants dissolved in the flames, then reassembled themselves inside the person who inhaled the vapors.
Marijuana: Shamanic Tool of Ancient Cultures
Lord Balarama & Ganja
Worshipers of Shiva traditionally offer their ganja to Shiva before smoking, but what about followers of Krishna? Krishna generally does not accept ganja offerings, although He clearly states that He is the healing essence of all herbs. In ancient India, the temple incense was infused with hashish so worshipers could inhale the sacred smoke and experience love of God. Although hash incense is no longer available, Krishna worshipers offer ganja smoke to Krishna's brother, Balarama, and receive the Lord's blessings.
Mantra for offering ganja to Balarama: Baladev Baladev Hara Hara Ganja.
Wiccan Incense Spells
INCENSE FOR BAST
6 parts marijuana buds, marijuana leaves, skunk or hashish - use legal hemp for rope making.
4 parts frankincense 3 parts acacai gum 2 parts myrrh 1 part catnip
1 part cedar wood shavings 1 part cinnamon 1/2 part juniper berries
2 drops civet oil - use musk if you cannot get it.
Grind up with mortar and pestle or coffee grinder and store in airtight container.
kronos history 0000-0499 About 685 BCE
An Assyrian letter writer describes the hallucinogenic properties of kunubu, or orally ingested hashish. The Greek translation of this term subsequently provides the basis for the English word "cannabis."
Sacramental Cannabis
Chris Bennett a collection of writings and video
The smoking solstice sun gods
Cannabis Culture Archives: Sacrament
The Anti-Pat Robertson/Christian Coalition Site
Pat&Jer's Brand New Testament cannabinoid.com
What Would Jesus Do About Dope?
Give Us This Day Our Daily Rant
Hemp in Japanese Religion
The priests' clothes were made from hemp linen and and bell ropes in shrines (see image to the right) were made from hemp too. Hemp for bell ropes is still grown in Nagano prefecture today. Several hemp fields are cultivated on Shikoku (one of the four main islands of Japan) to make ceremonial linen clothes for the Imperial family and for Shinto priests.
Hempen culture in Japan
Hemp fibre attached to a wooden stick called a gohei is used in Shinto cleansing ceremonies, such as Shichigosan. Hemp ropes and hemp paper are often seen as decorations in shrines as they are believed to keep away evil.
At Japanese weddings so called Shishimai dragon dances are sometimes performed. The thick white "hair" of these dragons is hemp fibre, and so is the "hair" of fox masks and other costumes worn at o-matsuri (festivals). The heavy carts pulled trough villages in o-matsuri are pulled on hemp ropes.
Believers in Shinto sought the protection of a certain group of gods, the Sahe no Kami: "Travellers prayed to them before setting out on a journey and made a little offering of hemp leaves and rice to each one they passed." (Moore) We are not surprised that rice was a standard travel fare, but this passage tells us that medieval Japanese used to travel carrying hemp leaves, nowadays called marijuana. If travellers were to practice their religion this way today they could face as much as 5 years in prison.
Asa, hemp in Japanese
Emperor (left), priest, hemp fibre (right) at funeral of Emperor's mother
Liberation from Occupation!
From an interview with Pon (Yamada Kaiya)
"Well, the prayer given at the Ise Jingu, which is the shrine to Amaterasu, the founding god of the imperial family, is called taima, or marijuana. Hemp and rice are two sacred things which are part and parcel of the rites conducted at Ise Jingu. This is because hemp and rice were the staple products of the Jomon and Yayoi cultures, respectively. This means they were the most sacred things to these people. The imperial tribe, which was an invading people, took possession of these two sacred things and made them into instruments of control."
During the sumo ritual of dôyo-iri a yokozuna, the highest ranking sumo wrestler, will ritually cleanse the dôyo (sumo ring) to exorcise evil, wearing a hemp rope weighing several kg around his belly.
The choice of material is no coincidence. The reason for it is hemp's association with purity, with driving out evil spirits. One such hemp belt was presented by Japanese prime minister Obuchi to French President Chirac, a sumo fan and, ironically, a staunch supporter of marijuana prohibition.
Presently, farmers in over 30 countries -- including Canada, France,England, Germany, Japan, and Australia -- grow hemp for industrial purposes.
Shinto priests carrying cannabis plants in the mountains of Gunma prefecture (1990)
http://www.taima.org/img/gunma/gnm2028.jpg
Cannabis in Japan Cannabis(Taima) / Hemp(Asa) ¶8)
A Chronology of Psychoactive Substance Use
Hemp in other religions
Islam: The Koran prohibits Muslims from drinking wine but it does not specifically mention any other intoxicants. While some Muslim liberals say that what the prophet really objected to was drunkenness, i.e. excessive drinking, other, very conservative scholars claim that the prohibition encompasses various kinds of substances, from opium to coffee. Hemp was prohibited in Egypt on that basis, and so was coffee in the Ottoman Turkish empire (see A Chronology of Psychoactive Substance Use).
http ://www.taima.org/en/psychoactive.htm
In 1925 the Egyptian government asked England to support adding Indian hemp to an international list of substances to be controlled. The Egyptian government was opposed to alcohol too, but that was not made illegal in Western countries. Opposition to cannabis on religious grounds in Islamic countries has essentially been based on narrow-minded dogma that seeks to regulate all private pleasure in the name of religion.
Many Islamic societies were tolerant of cannabis until international politics forced them to copy western prohibition laws. In Morocco cannabis became illegal in 1960 because the government was bribed through large payments from foreign governments. The new law hasn't stopped the cultivation, it has simply allowed the government and its officials to accepts bribes from both sides. Cannabis from Morrocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan and India was widely used in the Muslim world. Soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte brought back hashish from a war in Egypt to 19th century France. The Mogul emperors of India who left us the beautiful Taj Mahal were cannabis smokers too.
Cannabis is still widely grown and used in Islamic countries, from the "kif" plantations of the Rif mountains in Morrocco to the jungles of Aceh in Indonesia. Even draconic laws at certain times and in certain countries have not been able to stamp out the custom.
Hinduism: There is so much to be said about Cannabis in Indian religion that we recommend studying the corresponding chapter of the Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Comission, published by the British government when India was one of its colonies:
See also: Cannabis in Indian religion * druglibrary.org
Christianity: There are no prohibitions against cannabis stated in the Bible, the holy book of Christians. According to the Book of Genesis which describes the creation of the earth, God created all plants, which would include cannabis. It states specifically that God gave humans "all plants bearing seeds" for their use.
It is said that the Mexican word "marijuana" has a Christian origin. "Maria" (Mary) and "Juan" (John) are the names of the mother and of one disciple of Iesus. When he was crucified they were the only people not to desert him. I think the idea behind this is that marijuana has often been used by poor and disadvantaged people to make tolerable what is otherwise hard to bear. In many countries marijuana was a drug of the poor (e.g. Jamaica, South Africa, Egypt, USA before 1960s) while rich people drank alcohol. Rich and powerful people have always been suspicious of poor people and their habits.
See also: The War on Drugs is Un-Christian *olywa.net/when
Pray For Peace: End the War on Drugs
Cannabis and the Christ: Jesus used Marijuana
cannabisculture. com
Marijuana and the Bible by The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
Rastafarianism: is a biblical religion originating from Jamaica and the Caribbean. It was popularized across the world by reggae musicians, including Bob Marley (1945-1981). Cannabis was introduced into Jamaica by Asian Indian plantation workers brought there to work the sugar plantations after the end of slavery. Marijuana is still known by it's Indian name "ganja" in Jamaica. Rastafarians consider smoking marijuana a sacrament, like eating bread and drinking wine is during mass in Christianity. As Rastafarianism has been more accepted into the mainstream of Jamaican culture and has gained respect, the push for legalisation of ganja in Jamaica has grown in strength.
A 1975 study by Rubin and Comitas, "Ganja in Jamaica" found no demonstratable negative effects of cannabis use in Jamaica. Users were socially well integrated, productive and healthy.
See also: Ganja in Jamaica
1975 by Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas ISBN: 9027977313
7. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 18.
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly
resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948
Marijuana / Hemp Historical Information
Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?
Cannabis Spirituality
Marijuana Books, Growers Guides, History & Law.
CSP: Green Gold The Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion
by Chris Bennett, Lynn Osburn, Judy Osburn
Excerpt(s): Hemp has played a prominent role in the development of the religions and civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The insights gained from the marijuana high by the ancient worshippers were considered to be of divine origin and the plant itself an "angel" or messenger of the gods. The sacramental use of marijuana predates written history and this tradition continues with diverse tribes in Africa, certain Hindu sects, Moslem fakirs and Rastafarians, as well as modern Occultists and Pagans. Indeed, marijuana has been employed for insights and ecstasy by members of virtually every major religion in history. (page 4)
Knowledge and use of the sacred cannabis Tree of Life predates the oldest deciphered written records. The Hindus of India took this knowledge with them when they left the Hindu Kush mountains. The traditions continued with the ancient Egyptians, the Zoroastrians ( Persia revered cannabis, the white Haoma, along with the Tree of All Seed. The Scythians, enigmatic Magi of the North, and their trading partners the Thracians, spread this information throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. (page 422)
Perhaps, as Dr. Aldrich seems to suggest, our quest to partake in the cannabis Tree of Life unmolested, is the same story that has been told since Gilgamesh found and lost the flower of eternity over five thousand years ago. Perhaps it is the same story depicted on the Scythian carpet found with two censers containing burnt cannabis residues, which has the repeated design of a horseman approaching the Great goddess who holds the Tree of Life in one hand. Perhaps it is the same story as that of Parzifal's Quest for the Holy Grail.
The collective desire to obtain the Tree of Life is an expression of our deepest yearnings to know the Great Mystery beyond beginnings and endings, compounded with the desire to escape the endless cycle of titillations and antagonisms of the senses teasing us in the Great Mysterious Cosmos of Existence. (pages 422-423)
Archeology is archeology, theoriology is theoriology. The ship sails were cannabis canvas, the burlap sackcloth and ropes and riggings. Carpets and Tapestry, tents, "tow"els and those famous fishnets. Mortar from the hurds and feed for the animals. The seeds are still gruel, and as nutritious. The flowers were used by everyone in the region. And since none of its mentioned, it must have been censored. The same as American schools and media. The covered wagons or canvas for portraits. The army tents, backpacks, uniforms and leggings. The medicine still rolled into joints by the government. Denied and avoided and then pray it goes away. More abortions from the chemicals used to eradicate it, and used in competition to it than Roe v Wade. While $7 - 10 billion is diverted from safety nets to arrest Ganja users. Money going into the same pockets perpetuating this hideous Ganjawar. Including the church, always in concordance. I'd say he most definitely inhaled...
It's arrogant and ignorant for Religionists and Atheists to draw conclusions. Science hasn't scratched the surface of subatomic grids and particles in-between the atoms. Science is determined by research funding and that is mostly determined by corporations seeking products for profits by manipulating atoms and governments military industrial complex requires war toys. Pharma sells "treatments" for profit, not prevention or cures one might discover in the vast universe of smaller. Outer space is for the sos searching more commodities to sell. The ¿quirtz/kwirtz?, photons, Pheromones, Cannabinoids and other unknowns could explain miracles, prayers and bring cures and prevention not just greed, torment, and profits. Healing potentials that could make anyone a jesus.
So I guess religion does have vested ignorance in not discovering an answer that would make them blacksmiths in Detroit. I have found many Atheists abnormally afraid and angry at cannabis and reforming the policies as outrageous and draconian as they are. I suspect Ganja historically has been associated with a spiritual awareness or assumption. I think they're afraid they might catch something. To focus locally in our buying and the eternal expanse of inner-space in our labs. Create better microscopes and not monopolize energy looking at pretty pictures trying to figure out history. Be here now. Now is when we need to stop doing harmful things not kill the Band-Aids while increasing lacerations. If the incentive is to profit who wants a cure? Jesus said to be "child like, not childish. Maintain an innocence and excitement for things nature has provided. Not for us to slaughter wholesale or domesticate into factory farms and spraying poisons, frankenfoods, terminator seeds, fluoridation or prohibitions. Most wailing prayers on street corners judging, caging, killing, bombing, shooting, forfeiting, confiscating, or nullifying the Constitution cherry picking verses from the KJV.
Peace, Love and Liberty or D.E.A.th
DdC
Alter-Nativity/n/a-.marihemp
THE NECTAR OF DELIGHT
The Indian vadas sang of Cannabis as one of the divine nectars, able to give man anything from good health and long life to visions of the gods. The Zend-Avesta of 600 B.C. mentions an intoxicating resin, and the Assyrians used Cannabis as an incense as early as the ninth century B.C..
Knowledge and use of the intoxicating properties eventually spread to Asia Minor. Hemp was employed as an incense in Assyria in the first millennium B.C., suggesting its use as an inebriant.
Folklore maintians that the use of Hemp was introduced to Persia during the reign of Khursu (A.D. 531-579), but it is known that the Assyrians used Hemp as an incense during the first millennium B.C..
The Emperor Wears No Clothes
Chapter 10 Myth, Magic & Medicine :
A Look at the Sociology of Cannabis Use Throughout World History
Contrary to popular conception, "marijuana" is not a phenomenon rooted in the 1960s. Cannabis hemp is part of our heritage and was the backbone of our most stable and longest surviving cultures. Recent psycho-pharmacological studies have discovered THC has its own unique receptor sites in the brain, indicating man and marijuana have a pre-cultural relationship indeed, human culture could very well prove to be the blossom of our symbiosis with cannabis.
The Mystic Philosophers
Cannabis legend and consumption are fundamental aspects of many of the world's great religions.
Enthogentic Works
In Hebrew the word for hash also means incense...
Incense, cannibas, is the communion by fire spoken of in the Bible. Fire is inspiration, and hemp is the incense that brings us closer to GOD.
Hemp Throughout Holy Texts
In the begining, God created all seed producing plants, and they were good. The law reconized their goodness, and made them illegal. After Adam ate the apple, he offered incense to the Lord to try and appease him. Moses met GOD in clouds of smoke, it reeked of incense, and the Almighty was aflame. The herb was no doubt at the table of Jesus, and the wine he created was and is more harmful than hemp. Mohammed ate hash and spoke with GOD. The ancient Incas called it "that which makes us speak" and, when drug tested, T.H.C. was found in Pharoe's system. Hemp is not GOD, it is his gift, and it inspires thought, prayer, and medition. Thought is dangerous, and thus, hemp is illegal.
Cannabis and The Christ
Hash is a vital ingrediant in Catholic holy annoiting oil
Book: HASHISH!
Robert Connell Clarke
investigates natural processes, both ancient and modern, for the growth, collection, and purification of Cannabis resin glands, the plant parts that contain the psychoactive constituents in hashish.
Incense Makers ... 51
Part I, Hashish History
, speculates on the prehistoric discovery of the euphoric properties of Cannabis , then surveys the history of hashish from ancient times up to about 1850.
When Smoke Gets In My I By Chris Bennet
The First Cultivated Crop
Ancient and modern historians, archaeologists, anthropologists and philologists all agree that cannabis is one of mankind's oldest cultivated crops. The weaving of hemp fibre began 10,000 years ago, at approximately the same time as pottery making and prior to metal working.1
Not surprisingly, records of the use of cannabis as both a drink and an incense can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations and cultures, as we shall see with a look at cannabis incense in the Ancient World.
The Encyclopedia Britannica makes the following comments about the use of incense in religious ritual: ...the ceremonial use of incense in contemporary ritual is most likely a relic of the time when the psychoactive properties of incense brought the ancient worshipper into touch with supernatural forces.15
Lacking the invention of pipes for smoking marijuana, the ancients would burn dried hemp on enclosed alters and inhale the fumes. Or they would make hashish by rubbing their hands on sticky cannabis tops, and collecting the resin for pressing into balls of incense, sometimes with other fragrant plants.
Cannabis as an incense was... used in the Temples of Assyria and Babylon `because its aroma was pleasing to the gods.'18
It is said that the Assyrians used hemp as incense in the seventh and eighth century before Christ and called it `Qunubu', a term apparently borrowed from an old East Iranian word `Konaba'. the same as the Scythian name `cannabis'.19
Unpleasant Thoughts
This information clearly documents the use of cannabis incense to the very beginnings of recorded history, and shows that it could well have played a pivotal role in the development of the wonderful mind that so many of today's people take for granted and don't use. You need only look around at the sorry state of our once pristine planet to see that most modern people have lost the ability to think for themselves, and are more than willing to be led around by despicable leaders, and work their lives away in the name of consumerism.
1.Columbia History of the World; Harper & Rowe, NY, 1981
15.Encyclopedia Brittanica; 15th edition, "Pharmacological Cults", 1978
18.Cannabis and Culture; Sula Benet, edited by Vera Rubin, The Hague: Moutan, 1975
19.Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred Healing and Hallucinogenic Powers; Richards Evans Schultes & Albert Hoffman, Healing Arts Press, Vermont, 1992
Kaneh Bosm: Cannabis in the Old Testament
The word cannabis was generally thought to be of Scythian origin, but Benet showed that it has a much earlier origin in Semitic languages like Hebrew, and that it appears several times throughout the Old Testament. Benet explained that "in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament there are references to hemp, both as incense, which was an integral part of religious celebration, and as an intoxicant (2)."
The shamanistic Ashera priestesses of pre-reformation Jerusalem mixed cannabis resins with those from myrrh, balsam, frankincense, and perfumes, and then anointed their skins with the mixture as well as burned it (6).
Moses and his priests burned incense and used the holy ointment in a portable 'tent of meeting', the famous Tent of the Tabernacle. As cannabis is listed directly as an incense later in the Bible, it seems likely that Moses and the Levite priesthood would have burned cannabis flowers and pollen along with the ointment and incense which God commanded them to make.
2 All quotations from Sula Benet in this article are taken from Early Diffusions and Folk Uses of Hemp, reprinted in Cannabis and Culture, Vera Rubin, Ed. (back)
6 William A.Emboden Jr., Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L.: A Historic-Ethnographic Survey, printed in Flesh of the Gods, edited by P.T.Furst, published by Praeger in 1972. (back)
hemp and the bible
The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
According to "Licit and Illicit Drugs" by the Consumer Union, page 397-398:
"Ashurbanipal lived about 650 B.C., but the cuneiform descriptions of marijuana in his library "are generally regarded as obvious copies of much older texts." Says Dr. Robert P. Walton, an American physician and authority on marijuana, "This evidence serves to project the origin of hashish back to the earliest beginnings of history."
Ancient Egyptian medicine: In Sickness and in Health
Some of the medicines were made from plant materials imported from abroad. Frankincense, containing tetrahydrocannabinol and used like hashish as painkiller, was imported from Punt.
THE INCENSE OF THE SAINTS
Both the Gnostic and Book of Revelation references to the incense mention it being related to the Saints, possibly indicating those who used the holy incense felt it provided them with some sort of kinship with those members of their faith who had used it before them in a similar spirit. In some mysterious and subtle way, when we burn cannabis with a certain spiritual focus and specific symbols in mind, we are able to tap into a memory that goes far beyond our personal experience.
In relation to this it is interesting to note the words of Dr Robert de Ropp, who wrote of an initiate1s experience with cannabis that "unlocked the doors of memory, a memory that can be as impersonal as the memory of the race, linking him to the great patterns of living forms, green plants and fungi, invertebrates and vertebrates. Against so expansive a back ground personal memories appeared trivial"(de Ropp 1968). De Ropp considered cannabis sacred (de Ropp, 1974), and had a keen interest in Gnostic scriptures (de Ropp, 1988). Similarly, Shaivite scholar Alain Danielou wrote that “Some plants are, by their very nature, connected with what are called spirits or gods. They embody certain aspects of the divine [and] serve as a means of contact [with it]” (Danielou, 1984/92). The same sensibility is reflected Dr Rupert Sheldrake’s profound new scientific model, “Morphic Resonance,” which describes the human DNA molecule as being a receiver for the “human being signal,” which contains not only the necessary genetic information needed for the creation and maintenance of the material body but also contains a record of all accumulated human knowledge and experience (Sheldrake 1984).
Sheldrake goes onto suggest, using the psilocybin mushroom as an example, that the previous users of such a substance may have left a resonance in the morphic field surrounding its vibration that could be tuned into by later users. When one considers the extensive religious use of cannabis throughout the ages by a variety of cultures, and the modern Renaissance surrounding the plant, Sheldrake1s theory becomes more than plausible.
CANNABIS AS TRUE RELIGION
Cannabis is a true religion, springing from the instinctual recognition of cannabis as sacrament, as the Tree of Life. Consider the case of the African Bashilenge, who after becoming acquainted with cannabis sometime during the nineteenth century, began using it sacramentally, and convinced other tribes to join them in their sacred smoke. This Holy communion lead them to put away their weapons, and rename their land 3Lubuku2, meaning “Friendship”, greeting "each other with the expression 'Moio', meaning both 'hemp' and 'life'"(Benet 1975). Consider the Rastafarian movement in Jamaica, where independently, black descendants of slaves who had began using marijuana likely from an influence of Indian migrant workers, intuitively began to apply its use to a Biblical tradition, long acknowledging the sacred plant as the Tree of Life, and 'burning bush', sharing it as a Eucharist in a chillum-Chalice in order to awaken the "I" spirit that is common in us all.
The Scythians High Plains Drifters
The sorcerers of these Thracian tribes were known to have burned female cannabis flowers (and other psychoactive plants) as a mystical incense to induce trances. Their special talents were attributed to the "magical heat" produced from burning the cannabis and other herbs, believing that the plants dissolved in the flames, then reassembled themselves inside the person who inhaled the vapors.
It could well be that in later times the cannabis smoke had somewhat mellowed the Scythians, and their spiritual leaders directed them towards becoming a more civilized people. The ancient Greek historian Ephorus wrote in the fourth century BC that the Scythians 'feed on mares milk and excel all men in justice'. His comments were followed in the first century BC by Strabo, who wrote that 'we regard the Scythians as the most just of men and the least prone to mischief, as also far more
frugal and independent of others than we are.'
The Scythian Queens
Like the Scythian shamans, the Thracians used cannabis in a similar manner. Dr Sumach explains in A Treasury of Hashish that: The sorcerers of these Thracian tribes were known to have burned female cannabis flowers (and other psychoactive plants) as a mystical incense to induce trances. Their special talents were attributed to the "magical heat" produced from burning the cannabis and other herbs, believing that the plants dissolved in the flames, then reassembled themselves inside the person who inhaled the vapors.
Marijuana: Shamanic Tool of Ancient Cultures
Lord Balarama & Ganja
Worshipers of Shiva traditionally offer their ganja to Shiva before smoking, but what about followers of Krishna? Krishna generally does not accept ganja offerings, although He clearly states that He is the healing essence of all herbs. In ancient India, the temple incense was infused with hashish so worshipers could inhale the sacred smoke and experience love of God. Although hash incense is no longer available, Krishna worshipers offer ganja smoke to Krishna's brother, Balarama, and receive the Lord's blessings.
Mantra for offering ganja to Balarama: Baladev Baladev Hara Hara Ganja.
Wiccan Incense Spells
INCENSE FOR BAST
6 parts marijuana buds, marijuana leaves, skunk or hashish - use legal hemp for rope making.
4 parts frankincense 3 parts acacai gum 2 parts myrrh 1 part catnip
1 part cedar wood shavings 1 part cinnamon 1/2 part juniper berries
2 drops civet oil - use musk if you cannot get it.
Grind up with mortar and pestle or coffee grinder and store in airtight container.
kronos history 0000-0499 About 685 BCE
An Assyrian letter writer describes the hallucinogenic properties of kunubu, or orally ingested hashish. The Greek translation of this term subsequently provides the basis for the English word "cannabis."
Sacramental Cannabis
Chris Bennett a collection of writings and video
The smoking solstice sun gods
Cannabis Culture Archives: Sacrament
The Anti-Pat Robertson/Christian Coalition Site
Pat&Jer's Brand New Testament cannabinoid.com
What Would Jesus Do About Dope?
Give Us This Day Our Daily Rant
Hemp in Japanese Religion
The priests' clothes were made from hemp linen and and bell ropes in shrines (see image to the right) were made from hemp too. Hemp for bell ropes is still grown in Nagano prefecture today. Several hemp fields are cultivated on Shikoku (one of the four main islands of Japan) to make ceremonial linen clothes for the Imperial family and for Shinto priests.
Hempen culture in Japan
Hemp fibre attached to a wooden stick called a gohei is used in Shinto cleansing ceremonies, such as Shichigosan. Hemp ropes and hemp paper are often seen as decorations in shrines as they are believed to keep away evil.
At Japanese weddings so called Shishimai dragon dances are sometimes performed. The thick white "hair" of these dragons is hemp fibre, and so is the "hair" of fox masks and other costumes worn at o-matsuri (festivals). The heavy carts pulled trough villages in o-matsuri are pulled on hemp ropes.
Believers in Shinto sought the protection of a certain group of gods, the Sahe no Kami: "Travellers prayed to them before setting out on a journey and made a little offering of hemp leaves and rice to each one they passed." (Moore) We are not surprised that rice was a standard travel fare, but this passage tells us that medieval Japanese used to travel carrying hemp leaves, nowadays called marijuana. If travellers were to practice their religion this way today they could face as much as 5 years in prison.
Asa, hemp in Japanese
Emperor (left), priest, hemp fibre (right) at funeral of Emperor's mother
Liberation from Occupation!
From an interview with Pon (Yamada Kaiya)
"Well, the prayer given at the Ise Jingu, which is the shrine to Amaterasu, the founding god of the imperial family, is called taima, or marijuana. Hemp and rice are two sacred things which are part and parcel of the rites conducted at Ise Jingu. This is because hemp and rice were the staple products of the Jomon and Yayoi cultures, respectively. This means they were the most sacred things to these people. The imperial tribe, which was an invading people, took possession of these two sacred things and made them into instruments of control."
During the sumo ritual of dôyo-iri a yokozuna, the highest ranking sumo wrestler, will ritually cleanse the dôyo (sumo ring) to exorcise evil, wearing a hemp rope weighing several kg around his belly.
The choice of material is no coincidence. The reason for it is hemp's association with purity, with driving out evil spirits. One such hemp belt was presented by Japanese prime minister Obuchi to French President Chirac, a sumo fan and, ironically, a staunch supporter of marijuana prohibition.
Presently, farmers in over 30 countries -- including Canada, France,England, Germany, Japan, and Australia -- grow hemp for industrial purposes.
Shinto priests carrying cannabis plants in the mountains of Gunma prefecture (1990)
http://www.taima.org/img/gunma/gnm2028.jpg
Cannabis in Japan Cannabis(Taima) / Hemp(Asa) ¶8)
A Chronology of Psychoactive Substance Use
Hemp in other religions
Islam: The Koran prohibits Muslims from drinking wine but it does not specifically mention any other intoxicants. While some Muslim liberals say that what the prophet really objected to was drunkenness, i.e. excessive drinking, other, very conservative scholars claim that the prohibition encompasses various kinds of substances, from opium to coffee. Hemp was prohibited in Egypt on that basis, and so was coffee in the Ottoman Turkish empire (see A Chronology of Psychoactive Substance Use).
http ://www.taima.org/en/psychoactive.htm
In 1925 the Egyptian government asked England to support adding Indian hemp to an international list of substances to be controlled. The Egyptian government was opposed to alcohol too, but that was not made illegal in Western countries. Opposition to cannabis on religious grounds in Islamic countries has essentially been based on narrow-minded dogma that seeks to regulate all private pleasure in the name of religion.
Many Islamic societies were tolerant of cannabis until international politics forced them to copy western prohibition laws. In Morocco cannabis became illegal in 1960 because the government was bribed through large payments from foreign governments. The new law hasn't stopped the cultivation, it has simply allowed the government and its officials to accepts bribes from both sides. Cannabis from Morrocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Persia (Iran), Afghanistan and India was widely used in the Muslim world. Soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte brought back hashish from a war in Egypt to 19th century France. The Mogul emperors of India who left us the beautiful Taj Mahal were cannabis smokers too.
Cannabis is still widely grown and used in Islamic countries, from the "kif" plantations of the Rif mountains in Morrocco to the jungles of Aceh in Indonesia. Even draconic laws at certain times and in certain countries have not been able to stamp out the custom.
Hinduism: There is so much to be said about Cannabis in Indian religion that we recommend studying the corresponding chapter of the Report of the Indian Hemp Drugs Comission, published by the British government when India was one of its colonies:
See also: Cannabis in Indian religion * druglibrary.org
Christianity: There are no prohibitions against cannabis stated in the Bible, the holy book of Christians. According to the Book of Genesis which describes the creation of the earth, God created all plants, which would include cannabis. It states specifically that God gave humans "all plants bearing seeds" for their use.
It is said that the Mexican word "marijuana" has a Christian origin. "Maria" (Mary) and "Juan" (John) are the names of the mother and of one disciple of Iesus. When he was crucified they were the only people not to desert him. I think the idea behind this is that marijuana has often been used by poor and disadvantaged people to make tolerable what is otherwise hard to bear. In many countries marijuana was a drug of the poor (e.g. Jamaica, South Africa, Egypt, USA before 1960s) while rich people drank alcohol. Rich and powerful people have always been suspicious of poor people and their habits.
See also: The War on Drugs is Un-Christian *olywa.net/when
Pray For Peace: End the War on Drugs
Cannabis and the Christ: Jesus used Marijuana
cannabisculture. com
Marijuana and the Bible by The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
Rastafarianism: is a biblical religion originating from Jamaica and the Caribbean. It was popularized across the world by reggae musicians, including Bob Marley (1945-1981). Cannabis was introduced into Jamaica by Asian Indian plantation workers brought there to work the sugar plantations after the end of slavery. Marijuana is still known by it's Indian name "ganja" in Jamaica. Rastafarians consider smoking marijuana a sacrament, like eating bread and drinking wine is during mass in Christianity. As Rastafarianism has been more accepted into the mainstream of Jamaican culture and has gained respect, the push for legalisation of ganja in Jamaica has grown in strength.
A 1975 study by Rubin and Comitas, "Ganja in Jamaica" found no demonstratable negative effects of cannabis use in Jamaica. Users were socially well integrated, productive and healthy.
See also: Ganja in Jamaica
1975 by Vera Rubin and Lambros Comitas ISBN: 9027977313
7. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 18.
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly
resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948
Marijuana / Hemp Historical Information
Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale?
Cannabis Spirituality
Marijuana Books, Growers Guides, History & Law.
CSP: Green Gold The Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion
by Chris Bennett, Lynn Osburn, Judy Osburn
Excerpt(s): Hemp has played a prominent role in the development of the religions and civilizations of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The insights gained from the marijuana high by the ancient worshippers were considered to be of divine origin and the plant itself an "angel" or messenger of the gods. The sacramental use of marijuana predates written history and this tradition continues with diverse tribes in Africa, certain Hindu sects, Moslem fakirs and Rastafarians, as well as modern Occultists and Pagans. Indeed, marijuana has been employed for insights and ecstasy by members of virtually every major religion in history. (page 4)
Knowledge and use of the sacred cannabis Tree of Life predates the oldest deciphered written records. The Hindus of India took this knowledge with them when they left the Hindu Kush mountains. The traditions continued with the ancient Egyptians, the Zoroastrians ( Persia revered cannabis, the white Haoma, along with the Tree of All Seed. The Scythians, enigmatic Magi of the North, and their trading partners the Thracians, spread this information throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. (page 422)
Perhaps, as Dr. Aldrich seems to suggest, our quest to partake in the cannabis Tree of Life unmolested, is the same story that has been told since Gilgamesh found and lost the flower of eternity over five thousand years ago. Perhaps it is the same story depicted on the Scythian carpet found with two censers containing burnt cannabis residues, which has the repeated design of a horseman approaching the Great goddess who holds the Tree of Life in one hand. Perhaps it is the same story as that of Parzifal's Quest for the Holy Grail.
The collective desire to obtain the Tree of Life is an expression of our deepest yearnings to know the Great Mystery beyond beginnings and endings, compounded with the desire to escape the endless cycle of titillations and antagonisms of the senses teasing us in the Great Mysterious Cosmos of Existence. (pages 422-423)
Archeology is archeology, theoriology is theoriology. The ship sails were cannabis canvas, the burlap sackcloth and ropes and riggings. Carpets and Tapestry, tents, "tow"els and those famous fishnets. Mortar from the hurds and feed for the animals. The seeds are still gruel, and as nutritious. The flowers were used by everyone in the region. And since none of its mentioned, it must have been censored. The same as American schools and media. The covered wagons or canvas for portraits. The army tents, backpacks, uniforms and leggings. The medicine still rolled into joints by the government. Denied and avoided and then pray it goes away. More abortions from the chemicals used to eradicate it, and used in competition to it than Roe v Wade. While $7 - 10 billion is diverted from safety nets to arrest Ganja users. Money going into the same pockets perpetuating this hideous Ganjawar. Including the church, always in concordance. I'd say he most definitely inhaled...
It's arrogant and ignorant for Religionists and Atheists to draw conclusions. Science hasn't scratched the surface of subatomic grids and particles in-between the atoms. Science is determined by research funding and that is mostly determined by corporations seeking products for profits by manipulating atoms and governments military industrial complex requires war toys. Pharma sells "treatments" for profit, not prevention or cures one might discover in the vast universe of smaller. Outer space is for the sos searching more commodities to sell. The ¿quirtz/kwirtz?, photons, Pheromones, Cannabinoids and other unknowns could explain miracles, prayers and bring cures and prevention not just greed, torment, and profits. Healing potentials that could make anyone a jesus.
So I guess religion does have vested ignorance in not discovering an answer that would make them blacksmiths in Detroit. I have found many Atheists abnormally afraid and angry at cannabis and reforming the policies as outrageous and draconian as they are. I suspect Ganja historically has been associated with a spiritual awareness or assumption. I think they're afraid they might catch something. To focus locally in our buying and the eternal expanse of inner-space in our labs. Create better microscopes and not monopolize energy looking at pretty pictures trying to figure out history. Be here now. Now is when we need to stop doing harmful things not kill the Band-Aids while increasing lacerations. If the incentive is to profit who wants a cure? Jesus said to be "child like, not childish. Maintain an innocence and excitement for things nature has provided. Not for us to slaughter wholesale or domesticate into factory farms and spraying poisons, frankenfoods, terminator seeds, fluoridation or prohibitions. Most wailing prayers on street corners judging, caging, killing, bombing, shooting, forfeiting, confiscating, or nullifying the Constitution cherry picking verses from the KJV.
Peace, Love and Liberty or D.E.A.th
DdC
