Pay attention that growing marijuana may be subject to special restrictions and regulation in your country or state. Please contact your attorney to obtain advice before cultivating cannabis.
Disclaimer
Pay attention that growing marijuana may be subject to special restrictions and regulation in your country or state. Please contact your attorney to obtain advice before cultivating cannabis.
Psychedelic substances have always been the gateway to mysticism for our ancestors. Any "supernatural" experiences are likely to have been triggered by hallucinatory or psychedelic substances. And although cannabis is the mildest of the substances with such effects, it has been used for various religious or healing rituals for centuries in Asia, Africa, and America. But how did it work?
Discovery of the supernatural
Psychedelic substances supposedly helped people discover God in themselves. They seemed to open their minds to other forms of consciousness. Thus, people often used cannabis with spiritual practices such as prayer, song, and meditation. It helped them to experience completely new realities.
Maslow argued that marijuana rituals contributed to some blissful moments that could turn the lives of many people. According to him, after consuming weed, we become more detached, more indifferent. Therefore, we can evaluate the world in its complete form, not through the prism of emotions.
Ancient testimonies
In Asia, the use of marijuana preceded any emergence of writing, and therefore this "habit" took root for a long time where there was no place for an "established" religion. But people had faith in a shaman who could contact nature and God; heal the wounded; predict the future, and so on. Even the word "shaman" itself is still controversial in its origin. The Tungus word "saman" means "excited, uplifted," which is very reminiscent of the effects of Sativa, which was widespread in Asia.
Interestingly, marijuana was found in the tombs of shaman Yanghai not far from Turpan, Central Asia. The crypt is approximately 2700 years! A small cache of hemp was found within the other ritual objects (and was perfectly preserved). Glosecki (in Znamenski’s work “Shamanism: Critical concepts in sociology”) also adds that besides using weed, shamans also used sound repetition, breath manipulation, fasting, and even sexual abstinence. The loss of the standard model of self-awareness in space allowed shamans to rebuild themselves as if. At the same time, they died and were mentally resurrected, and that process was bringing them the purest ecstasy.
Cannabis was widespread throughout Asia. Although in China, it has long been used as a raw material for fibers. Over time, Chinese necromancers used weed to travel through time. It is also known that shamanism was prohibited in China a bit later, so it merged with Taoist teaching to avoid its "extinction."
The famous historian Herodotus mentioned in his writings the Sythian tribes who burned cannabis during funeral rites for their kings. That is approximately 450 BC. Excavations confirmed the historian's words as archaeologists found roasted cannabis seeds. The people of Kurgans, who lived in the territory of modern Romania, used marijuana in their religious rituals as well.
How does marijuana relate to the Bible?
Some sources state that the "manna from heaven," the mystical bread described in the Bible, was actually psychoactive. And for a long time, readers and commentators of this sacred text understood what substances were being discussed. How do you like that?
It is also claimed that cannabis was the plant from which Jesus made oil. With this very liquid, he anointed his apostles and then performed miraculous healings. The recipe for such oil (according to Exodus) included cannabis, myrrh, cassia, and cinnamon.
And today, science has proven that the properties of cannabis are pretty capable of alleviating those conditions that Jesus Christ observed and healed.
Other magical rituals
Not only shamans used cannabis in their rituals, various fortune-tellers did it as well. However, unlike shamanism, divination rituals did not involve smoking. For example, fortune tellers added buds, seeds, and tops to incense to predict fate. Interestingly, marijuana seeds were used in love spell rituals.
Final thoughts
For many years, cannabis has been a kind of spiritual ally of different people. This substance helped not only to heal others, but also discover the very essence of being "human." Marijuana helped to realize its place in the earthly world. It has been healing wounds and soothing the souls for thousands of years.
