Cannabis has been linked with spirituality for a long time. The Hindu god Shiva in the east and the West’s shamans all used to take cannabis for their religious and spiritual experiences.
Nowadays, there are very few people that can connect spiritual experiences with marijuana. Still, a quick history lesson definitely shows that the connection goes further than we think that it does.
Let us talk about shamans first. Shamans were native American spiritual guides that helped their community reach heights of spiritual and religious experiences. Evidence shows that these people in their individual acts of worship and dances used cannabis for a multitude of reasons, including:
States of personal trance
Consuming cannabis and following it with dancing led shamans into a relaxed, stable state and concentrated on their meditation and trance. It enabled them to set themselves on a quest for a spiritual realm through which they could find wisdom in a higher power.
Subjects who would come to Shamans for healing from demons and evil spirits sometimes used cannabis for treatment. Other people who were suffering from pain or other physical illnesses also used cannabis as medicine.
Broadening their experiences
Indigenous tribes in America believed that they could enjoy their special experiences better as a community, and so they would hold their rights and rituals that way. That led to having a special bond between shamans and the local people who could ascend to spiritual planes together.
This made their worship experience much more profound. When negotiating for peace between tribes, cannabis was an important factor and was used very regularly in meetings.
Curing mental illnesses and various fears
Similar to the ways in which psychiatrists of today treat their patients with medicine, shamans in North America used to treat their subjects to alleviate their physical and mental pain.
Illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety were commonly countered with cannabis and THC products to provide temporary relief to patients who were having trouble sleeping and performing other basic tasks.
The shamans thought that cannabis was a magic cure because of its healing properties and herbal qualities used to hold it in the highest regard.
Funeral pyres
When it came to funerals, cannabis was used so that that people could make a peaceful exchange into their afterlife. Funeral rites involved many weed and shamans covering the dead person’s body in cannabis herbs and seeds to compare it to a dying tree.
They believed that this protected the dead bodies from evil spirits and demons and in power down to rest peacefully hereafter. Small jars filled with cannabis were also discovered beside the bodies of shamans themselves. These trinkets were believed to help carry the shaman’s good work on in the afterlife.
Besides the shamans, weed was also used in many other parts of the world. There has been a lot of evidence that points out cannabis rituals being carried out in India, Israel, and China. The Lord of Bhang in India, a demigod of Shiva, was literally the God of weed. Imagine that!
From these places, cannabis spread out to areas like the West Indies and Jamaica, where it remained an essential aspect of spiritual activities.
Spirituality in recent times
Recently, using cannabis for spiritual activities has become extremely popular in the west. Smoking weed was seen as an act of starting a religious experience where people could bond and form communities within themselves that helped them stay connected with similar people.
Several philosophers endorsed the use of cannabis because they felt that a state of trance and philosophical thinking was made easier due to its consumption (why philosophy students do the most drugs).
A lot of cannabis also goes into activities like mindful yoga and meditation. Organizations and churches sometimes use cannabis and help people become closer to God. Some of these churches include the healing church of Rhode Island, the first church of cannabis in Indiana, and the international church of cannabis in Colorado.
Nowadays, it’s easy to get high-quality cannabis products from reliable sources. Not only that, more and more orders are being done online. The range of products is very large. Many online dispensaries also provide guides and educational videos to spart the interest of cannabis users (e.g., on smoking hash or how to use dab rig).
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