Religious use of psychedelics!
From the beginning of recorded history, religious traditions throughout
our
planet have known of and used psychedelic plants and chemicals as material
aids to religious practice, or sacraments.
Taoists of ancient China, Hindus of India, and the ancient religions
of
Ethiopia and Egypt are known to have honored and used Cannabis and
other
sacred herbs.
Other ancient Cannabis users included the Persian Zoroastrians (a/k/a
the
Magi), and the Scythians, whose use of Cannabis in funeral rites is
described in the Histories of Herodotus.
The Sanskrit Vedas, among the Earth’s oldest extant sacred scriptures,
speak
of Soma, a psychedelic elixir which may have contained Cannabis and/or
psilocybin or other psychedelic mushrooms.
The ancient Greek Initiate movements, including the Dionysian, Elusinian,
and Delphic, combined “secret herbs” with their ceremonial wine, perhaps
including ergot, the source of lysergic acid (from which LSD is made).
The ancient Hebrews evidently knew of the spiritual uses of Cannabis,
and in
fact the Greek word cannabis may ultimately derive from the Hebrew
kanneh
bosm, literally “sweet cane”, given in the Bible as an ingredient of
Yahweh’s “holy anointing oil” (Exodus 30:23).
Many of the indigenous religions of the Americas used peyote (mescaline),
“magic mushrooms” (psilocybin), and certain types of Morning Glory
plants,
which contain lysergic acid.
In the early centuries of the common era, the Buddhists of Tibet honored
Cannabis and used it as an aid to meditation and illumination, as did
the
Sufi and Ishmaili sects of Islam.
In India, Patanjali cited “the yoga of light-containing herbs” as one
valid
path to mystical attainment in his Yoga Sutras (recognized by our Church
as
being among the cannonical scriptures).
In the medieval and renaissance period, many of the persecuted “witches”
were users of the sacred herbs, including the hallucinogenic daturas
and
nightshades as well as Cannabis and many others.
The alchemists of Europe respected the Elixirs of Light, and Paracelsus
places Cannabis at the head of his list of spiritually efficacious
herbs.
The Coptic Christians who fled to Egypt to escape Roman persecution
in the
first century used Cannabis as a sacrament from the beginning, and
still do
to this day.
American Rastafarians who use marijuana are persecuted by the US Gover-
nment, inspite of Constitutional gaurantee's of Religious freedom,
thru the
"FREE EXERCISE" clause of the first amendment, or Bill of Rights!
There are a number of other extant religions that recognize the spiritual
use of psychedelics, some officially incorporated and recognized by
the State,
and others awaiting relief from persecution to take their rightful
place in
the public forum.
The Christian US government
thru it's
-"War on Drugs" -
Is commiting religious persecution.
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