It has long been known that the religious cults of many peoples in Africa and Central and South America are associated with the consumption of psychedelics. Thanks to Carlos Castaneda and the hippie era, the image of the tripping shaman has been enshrined in Western pop culture.
However, the links between drugs and religion are much more extensive. Zoroastrian priests and the authors of the Vedas gorged themselves on a divine stimulant drink, the Old Testament God dictated to Moses a recipe for an anointing mixture that may have contained marijuana, and one bizarre scholar even suggested that Jesus Christ was a fly swatter.
However, the links between drugs and religion are much more extensive. Zoroastrian priests and the authors of the Vedas gorged themselves on a divine stimulant drink, the Old Testament God dictated to Moses a recipe for an anointing mixture that may have contained marijuana, and one bizarre scholar even suggested that Jesus Christ was a fly swatter.
Entheogen theory
Entheogens are a class of psychedelics that can induce a sense of contact with the transcendent or even communion with a deity. The first to notice the «spiritual» properties of psychedelics was the German pharmacist Louis Lewin.
He studied mescaline, a hallucinogen found in several species of Central American cacti. In 1924, in his work «Fantastica» (he called psychedelics by this word), he described the mescaline trip of a native American and drew attention to the entheogenic effect of the substance:
Entheogens are a class of psychedelics that can induce a sense of contact with the transcendent or even communion with a deity. The first to notice the «spiritual» properties of psychedelics was the German pharmacist Louis Lewin.
He studied mescaline, a hallucinogen found in several species of Central American cacti. In 1924, in his work «Fantastica» (he called psychedelics by this word), he described the mescaline trip of a native American and drew attention to the entheogenic effect of the substance:
«Taken for a few hours out of his world of primitive perceptions, material wants and needs, such an Indian feels himself transported into a world of entirely new sensations. He hears, sees, and feels things which, however pleasant they may be, inevitably surprise him because they do not correspond in the slightest degree to his ordinary existence, and their strangeness gives the impression of supernatural intervention. Thus the mescaline cactus becomes God».
This is not the first description of a Native American under the influence of entheogens by a member of Western culture. The Dominican friar Diego Duran, in his History of the Indies of New Spain, written 60 years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, described a feast in an Aztec town as follows:
«The sacrifice was over, and the steps of the temple and the courtyard were left covered with human blood, and they all went to eat raw mushrooms, from eating these they all lost their senses and looked worse than if they had drunk much wine; they were so drunk and acted so senseless that many of them committed suicide, and with the help of these mushrooms they saw visions and the future was revealed to them, the Devil spoke to them in this drunken state».
In 1962, psychologist and main apologist of consciousness expansion Timothy Leary reproduced Levin's experiment with the participation of his students, but fed them not mescaline, but mushrooms containing psilocybin. The effect was similar: the subjects experienced a feeling of unity with the divine.
After the discovery of psychedelic cults in South America, Western scientists noticed that hallucinogens were being used in rituals by people in many other parts of the world. Robert Gordon Wasson (1898-1986), an American ethnomycologist (a researcher of the relationship between mankind and mushrooms), devoted his life to studying the cultural influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms on the religious practices of peoples around the world. Wasson was most interested in fly agaric mushrooms containing muscimol, also a psychedelic and entheogen.
After the discovery of psychedelic cults in South America, Western scientists noticed that hallucinogens were being used in rituals by people in many other parts of the world. Robert Gordon Wasson (1898-1986), an American ethnomycologist (a researcher of the relationship between mankind and mushrooms), devoted his life to studying the cultural influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms on the religious practices of peoples around the world. Wasson was most interested in fly agaric mushrooms containing muscimol, also a psychedelic and entheogen.
The scientist found religious cults that used fly agaric in their rituals all over the planet: among the Koryaks in Kamchatka, the Papuans in New Guinea and the Mazatec tribe in Mexico.
In 1986, Wasson, together with LSD inventor Albert Hoffman and historian Karl Ruck, published a book, The Persephone Question, in which he definitively formulated the entheogen theory. The researchers found traces of ancient cults based on the use of hallucinogens in the cultures of almost all Indo-European peoples.
Scientists have concluded that religion arose precisely because of entheogens, which gave the human imagination the very concept of the divine and transcendent. Modern scientists are often critical of the works of Wasson and Hoffman. However, among the proponents of the entheogen theory there was sometimes room for much more bizarre and radical views.
Biblical cannabis
Allegro's theory sounds like surreal trolling. However, the Judeo-Christian tradition was not without psychotropic substances. Many researchers (much more serious and respected than Allegro) suggest that the ancient Jews, like many other ancient peoples, actively used a psychoactive substance — marijuana — in rituals.
In 1986, Wasson, together with LSD inventor Albert Hoffman and historian Karl Ruck, published a book, The Persephone Question, in which he definitively formulated the entheogen theory. The researchers found traces of ancient cults based on the use of hallucinogens in the cultures of almost all Indo-European peoples.
Scientists have concluded that religion arose precisely because of entheogens, which gave the human imagination the very concept of the divine and transcendent. Modern scientists are often critical of the works of Wasson and Hoffman. However, among the proponents of the entheogen theory there was sometimes room for much more bizarre and radical views.
Biblical cannabis
Allegro's theory sounds like surreal trolling. However, the Judeo-Christian tradition was not without psychotropic substances. Many researchers (much more serious and respected than Allegro) suggest that the ancient Jews, like many other ancient peoples, actively used a psychoactive substance — marijuana — in rituals.
Proponents of this theory refer to the Old Testament book of Exodus. After God's chosen people leave Egypt, the Lord teaches Moses how to perform religious rituals correctly. Among other things, he tells him the recipe for a fragrant mixture to be applied to everything — the Tent of Meeting (the traveling temple), the Ark of the Covenant, the smokestacks, and the Jews themselves.
This mixture contains the plant «qaneh-bosm» — «fragrant reed» - which some scholars mistake for marijuana. The canonical translation of this fragment reads as follows:
This mixture contains the plant «qaneh-bosm» — «fragrant reed» - which some scholars mistake for marijuana. The canonical translation of this fragment reads as follows:
«Take the best spices: twelve and a half pounds of liquid myrrh; half that much, six and a quarter pounds, of fragrant cinnamon; six and a quarter pounds of fragrant cane; twelve and a half pounds of cassia—using the standard Sanctuary weight for all of them—and a gallon of olive oil.
Make these into a holy anointing oil, a perfumer’s skillful blend. Use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Chest of The Testimony, the Table and all its utensils, the Lampstand and its utensils, the Altar of Incense, the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offerings and all its utensils, and the Washbasin and its base. Dedicate them so they’ll be soaked in holiness, so that anyone who so much as touches them will become holy».
Make these into a holy anointing oil, a perfumer’s skillful blend. Use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Chest of The Testimony, the Table and all its utensils, the Lampstand and its utensils, the Altar of Incense, the Altar of Whole-Burnt-Offerings and all its utensils, and the Washbasin and its base. Dedicate them so they’ll be soaked in holiness, so that anyone who so much as touches them will become holy».
Sula Benet, a Polish-Jewish anthropologist and Torah scholar, first wrote in 1936 that the plant could have been marijuana. She suggested that the dominant version, that the plant was a marsh reed with fragrant airah roots, could have been the result of an error by one of the early translators of the Bible.
According to Benet, in the Hebrew of that period, the word qaneh referred to both cane and hemp. Many ancient languages have similar names for marijuana: qunnabu in Assyrian, kenab in Persian, kannab in Arabic, kanbun in Chaldean and cana in Sanskrit.
Benet connects the appearance of marijuana on the territory of ancient Israel with modern tribes of the Eurasian steppes, who used it in funeral rituals — according to the researcher, the peoples of the two regions actively contacted and traded.
The widespread addiction to cannabis among the Scythians was described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus:
Benet connects the appearance of marijuana on the territory of ancient Israel with modern tribes of the Eurasian steppes, who used it in funeral rituals — according to the researcher, the peoples of the two regions actively contacted and traded.
The widespread addiction to cannabis among the Scythians was described by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus:
«In the Scythian land grows hemp, a plant very similar to flax, but much thicker and larger. <...> Taking this hemp seed, the Scythians climb under a felt yurt and then throw it on hot stones. This raises such a strong smoke and steam that no Hellenic steam bath can compare with such a bath. Enjoying it, the Scythians scream loudly with pleasure».
This information is confirmed by archaeological findings — burnt seeds and inflorescences of marijuana are found in Scythian burials. Back in 1947, Soviet archaeologists discovered in the Scythian burial site of Pazyryk in the Altai Mountains special cauldrons and fryers designed for smoking marijuana, which the Scythians mixed with coriander.
Herodotus described the Scythians who lived in the 5th century BC, and the Pazyryk finds belong to about the same time. However, according to Benet, the nomads practiced similar rituals a thousand years earlier, just in the time of Moses.
With the development of Hebrew, qanem-bosm became one word — cannabis. In the form kanabos or kannabus, it is found in the Mishnah, the holy law of Judaism, written in the second and third centuries A.D., and there it denotes hemp.
Until recently, Benet's hypothesis sounded quite extravagant, but in May 2020 it was suddenly confirmed by an archaeological find. Scientists found traces of marijuana in the temple smoker of the ancient Judean city of Arad. The temple, which is a complete replica of the First Temple in Jerusalem, was active in the 8th century BC, but was then abandoned — most likely due to the Assyrian invasion.
Intoxicating Soma
Despite this finding, there is no evidence that marijuana was actually used by ancient Jews in such quantities as to produce a narcotic effect that affected their religious beliefs. The best known instance of the use of narcotic substances in religious rituals recorded in writing is the Indo-Iranian cult of the soma-haoma drink described in the Rigveda and Avesta.
The Rigveda is a collection of divine hymns of the ancient Indians. Its different parts were written during the second millennium BC — several centuries after the Aryan tribes moved from the steppes of Eurasia to the territory of modern North India.
The Rigveda is the holy book of a religion that modern scholars call the Vedic religion. Vedic religion is the direct ancestor of modern Hinduism, although it is quite different from it. For example, in the Rigveda one can find echoes of the ancient pan-Indo-European cult of Dyaus, a deity associated with the sky. The root -divа in many European languages is still associated with the divine. In Greek paganism, Dyaus became Zeus, in Latin it became the word Deus, which denotes any god, and in modern English it can be found in the word divine.
In many pagan traditions, gods «age» and fall into the background, giving way to new generations. That is why in the Rigveda, the ancient Dyaus is a deity of the second plan, and modern Hindus do not honor the gods of the Rigveda very much.
The main deities of the Rigveda are the Aditya brothers: Varuna, ruler of the world and guardian of justice, and Indra, the thunderer and slayer of the evil serpent Vritra. The third most mentioned god of the Rigveda is Soma. The hymns describe him as Indra's faithful friend and helper, who gave the gods and humans a magic drink, also called Soma.
What could soma haoma have been?
In classical Ayurveda, soma is one of the varieties of sarcostemma. It is a succulent, leafless shrub that grows mainly in the Himalayas. Its thick sap resembles milk. This plant is widely used in traditional Indian medicine, but its properties are poorly understood - it is only known to have certain psychoactive effects.
Modern Zoroastrian Parsis, who migrated to India after the Muslim invasion, prepare chaoma from conifer, or ephedra.
In many pagan traditions, gods «age» and fall into the background, giving way to new generations. That is why in the Rigveda, the ancient Dyaus is a deity of the second plan, and modern Hindus do not honor the gods of the Rigveda very much.
The main deities of the Rigveda are the Aditya brothers: Varuna, ruler of the world and guardian of justice, and Indra, the thunderer and slayer of the evil serpent Vritra. The third most mentioned god of the Rigveda is Soma. The hymns describe him as Indra's faithful friend and helper, who gave the gods and humans a magic drink, also called Soma.
What could soma haoma have been?
In classical Ayurveda, soma is one of the varieties of sarcostemma. It is a succulent, leafless shrub that grows mainly in the Himalayas. Its thick sap resembles milk. This plant is widely used in traditional Indian medicine, but its properties are poorly understood - it is only known to have certain psychoactive effects.
Modern Zoroastrian Parsis, who migrated to India after the Muslim invasion, prepare chaoma from conifer, or ephedra.
It contains ephedrine, a psychoactive substance resembling amphetamine, which has a stimulating effect on the nervous system. The modern tribes of Afghanistan, from whom the Parsis purchase the conifer, call this plant Hum, Huma or Yehma.
Conifer is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat runny noses and psychological problems. Ephedrine, a close relative of ephedrone, is familiar to the people of South Arabia as the active ingredient in khat leaves. Ephedrine, in turn, is related to methamphetamine.
Scientists have not reached a consensus on whether the ephedrine drink of modern Parsis is analogous to what their ancestors used three thousand years ago. Researchers argue about whether the stimulating effect of ephedrine corresponds to that described in ancient books.
On the one hand, soma is the fuel of Indra's warrior going into battle, a drink that gives inspiration, focus and energy, which is very similar to the effects of stimulants. On the other hand, the effect of «joining the divine» brings to mind hallucinogens and entheogens.
Conifer is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat runny noses and psychological problems. Ephedrine, a close relative of ephedrone, is familiar to the people of South Arabia as the active ingredient in khat leaves. Ephedrine, in turn, is related to methamphetamine.
Scientists have not reached a consensus on whether the ephedrine drink of modern Parsis is analogous to what their ancestors used three thousand years ago. Researchers argue about whether the stimulating effect of ephedrine corresponds to that described in ancient books.
On the one hand, soma is the fuel of Indra's warrior going into battle, a drink that gives inspiration, focus and energy, which is very similar to the effects of stimulants. On the other hand, the effect of «joining the divine» brings to mind hallucinogens and entheogens.
It is possible that soma and chaoma were made in different ways - despite the common name, several centuries passed between the period of division of Indo-Iranians into Indians and Iranians proper and the time of creation of the Rigveda and Avesta, and the peoples lived in different climatic zones and dealt with different plants. This is partly indicated by the different descriptions of the two drinks - for example, in the Rigveda there is nothing about yellow flowers.
Among modern researchers, supporters of the sarcostemma and conifer versions dominate, but there are many alternative hypotheses. German and French anthropologists of the early 20th century assumed that soma-haoma was just a strong alcoholic drink, which was prepared from herbal juice.
Modern researchers consider this theory untenable - the effect of soma-haoma does not resemble alcoholic intoxication at all. Besides, alcoholic drinks are described separately in the Rigveda. However, it is possible that some alcohol was present in the fermented soma-haoma and its effect was mixed with the effects of other psychoactive substances.
Robert Wasson, ethnomycologist and author of the entheogen theory, believed that soma was also made from fly agaric. His theory has been criticized - he interpreted the Rigveda in a very unusual way, turning the most abstract praises of soma and allegories of ancient Brahmans into indications of a specific place where the raw material for it grew.
In addition, the fly agaric trip sometimes makes people faint or simply «presses» them to the ground, while soma always gives vigor and energy.
One of the main religious scholars of the 20th century, Mircea Eliade, suggested that the cult of soma was the domain of a small group of priests and rich donors. He wrote that the psychoactive beverage was one of the first options for achieving the ecstatic experience of union with the divine.
Today, many religious practitioners have begun to seek to achieve such ecstatic, borderline states in more sophisticated ways - meditation, yoga, asceticism, and mystical dedication. Nevertheless, the soma of the Hindus and Parsis, the qaneh-bosm of the Scythians and ancient Jews, and the sacred mushrooms of the Indians and peoples of the North of Eurasia have all been an integral component of spiritual practices that have become an important part of humanity's cultural baggage.
«Spiritual experience» — is it myth, reality, or just a trip report?
In addition, the fly agaric trip sometimes makes people faint or simply «presses» them to the ground, while soma always gives vigor and energy.
One of the main religious scholars of the 20th century, Mircea Eliade, suggested that the cult of soma was the domain of a small group of priests and rich donors. He wrote that the psychoactive beverage was one of the first options for achieving the ecstatic experience of union with the divine.
Today, many religious practitioners have begun to seek to achieve such ecstatic, borderline states in more sophisticated ways - meditation, yoga, asceticism, and mystical dedication. Nevertheless, the soma of the Hindus and Parsis, the qaneh-bosm of the Scythians and ancient Jews, and the sacred mushrooms of the Indians and peoples of the North of Eurasia have all been an integral component of spiritual practices that have become an important part of humanity's cultural baggage.
«Spiritual experience» — is it myth, reality, or just a trip report?