1634 lines
77 KiB
Plaintext
1634 lines
77 KiB
Plaintext
MARIJUANA AND THE BIBLE
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by
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The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church
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OFFERINGS OF DEVOTION
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With offerings of devotion, ships from the isles will meet to
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pour the wealth of the nations and bring tribute to his feet. The
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Coptic Church believes fully the teachings of the Bible, and as
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such we have our daily obligations, and offer our sacrifices, made
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by fire unto our God with chants and Psalms and spiritual hymns,
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lifting up holy hands and making melody in our hearts.
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Herb (marijuana) is a Godly creation from the beginning of
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the world. It is known as the weed of wisdom, angel's food, the
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tree of life and even the "Wicked Old Ganja Tree". Its purpose in
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creation is as a fiery sacrifice to be offered to our Redeemer
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during obligations. The political worldwide organizations have
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framed mischief on it and called it drugs. To show that it is not
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a dangerous drug, let me inform my readers that it is used as food
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for mankind, and as a medicinal cure for diverse diseases. Ganja
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is not for commerce; yet because of the oppression of the people,
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it was raised up as the only liberator of the people, and the only
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peacemaker among the entire generation. Ganja is the sacramental
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rights of every man worldwide and any law against it is only the
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organized conspiracy of the United Nations and the political
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governments who assist in maintaining this conspiracy.
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The Coptic Church is not politically originated, and this was
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firmly expressed when we met with the political directorate of the
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land during the period of pre-incorporation. We support no
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political organization, pagan religion, or commercial institution,
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seeing that religion, politics, and commerce are the three unclean
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spirits which separate the people from their God. Because of our
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non-political stand, the church has received tremendous opposition
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from the politicians, who do not want the eyes of the people to be
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opened. Through its agency, the police force, the church has been
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severely harassed, victimized, and discriminated. Our members have
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passed through several acts of police brutality, our legal
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properties maliciously destroyed, members falsely imprisoned,
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divine services broken up and all these atrocities performed upon
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the Church, under the name of political laws and their justice.
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Walter Wells -- Elder Priest of the
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Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church of
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Jamaica, West Indies
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THE USE OF MARIJUANA IN ANCIENT TIMES
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The use of marijuana is as old as the history of man and dates
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to the prehistoric period. Marijuana is closely connected with the
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history and development of some of the oldest nations on earth.
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It has played a significant role in the religions and cultures of
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Africa, the Middle East, India, and China
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Richard E. Schultes, a prominent researcher in the field of
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psychoactive plants, said in an article he wrote entitled "Man and
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Marijuana":
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"...that early man experimented with all plant materials that
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he could chew and could not have avoided discovering the
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properties of cannabis (marijuana), for in his quest for seeds
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and oil, he certainly ate the sticky tops of the plant. Upon
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eating hemp the euphoric, ecstatic and hallucinatory aspects
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may have introduced man to an other-worldly plane from which
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emerged religious beliefs, perhaps even the concept of deity.
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The plant became accepted as a special gift of the gods, a
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sacred medium for communion with the spiritual world and as
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such it has remained in some cultures to the present."
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The effects of marijuana was proof to the ancients that the
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spirit and power of the god(s) existed in this plant and that it
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was literally a messenger (angel) or actually the Flesh and Blood
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and/or Bread of the god(s) and was and continues to be a holy
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sacrament. Considered to be sacred, marijuana has been used in
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religious worship from before recorded history.
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According to William A. Embolden in his book Ritual Use of
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Cannabis Sativa L, p. 235:
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"Shamanistic traditions of great antiquity in Asia and the
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Near East has as one of their most important elements the
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attempt to find God without a vale of tears; that cannabis
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played a role in this, at least in some areas, is born out in
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the philology surrounding the ritualistic use of the plant.
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Whereas Western religious traditions generally stress sin,
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repentance, and mortification of the flesh, certain older non-
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Western religious cults seem to have employed Cannabis as a
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euphoriant, which allowed the participant a joyous path to the
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Ultimate; hence such appellations as "heavenly guide".
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According to "Licit and Illicit Drugs" by the Consumer Union,
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page 397-398:
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"Ashurbanipal lived about 650 B.C., but the cuneiform
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descriptions of marijuana in his library "are generally
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regarded as obvious copies of much older texts." Says Dr.
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Robert P. Walton, an American physician and authority on
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marijuana, "This evidence serves to project the origin of
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hashish back to the earliest beginnings of history."
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THE USE OF MARIJUANA AS INCENSE
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According to the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Pharmacological
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Cults"
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"...the ceremonial use of incense in contemporary ritual is
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most likely a relic of the time when the psychoactive
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properties of incense brought the ancient worshipper in touch
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with supernatural forces."
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In the temples of the ancient world, the main sacrifice was
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the inhalation of incense. Incense is defined as the perfume or
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smoke from spices and gums when burned in celebrating religious
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rites or as an offering to a deity. Bronze and gold incense
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burners were cast very early in history and their forms were often
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inspired by cosmological themes representing the harmonious nature
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of the universe.
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The following piece was taken from "Licit and Illicit Drugs",
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page 31.
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"In the Judaic world, the vapors from burnt spices and
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aromatic gums were considered part of the pleasurable
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act of worship. In proverbs (27:9) it is said that
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'Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart.' Perfumes were
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widely used in Egyptian worship. Stone altars have been
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unearthed in Babylon and Palestine, which have been used
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for burning incense made of aromatic wood and spices.
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While the casual readers today may interpret such
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practices as mere satisfaction of the desire for pleasant
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odors, this is almost certainly an error; in many or most
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cases, a psychoactive drug was being inhaled. In the
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islands of the Mediterranean 2,500 years ago and in
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Africa hundreds of years ago, for example leaves and
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flowers of a particular plant were often thrown upon
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bonfires and the smoke inhaled; the plant was marijuana."
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(Edward Preble and Gabriel V. Laurey, Plastic Cement: The
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Ten Cent Hallucinogen, International Journal of the
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Addictions, 2 (Fall 2967): 271-272.
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"The earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia brewed
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intoxicating beer of barley more than 5,000 years ago;
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is it too much to assume that even earlier cultures
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experienced euphoria, accidentally or deliberately,
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through inhalation of the resinous smoke of Cannabis?"
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(Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L, p. 216.)
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"It is said that the Assyrians used hemp (marijuana) as
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incense in the seventh or eighth century before Christ
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and called it 'Qunubu', a term apparently borrowed from
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an old East Iranian word 'Konaba', the same as the
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Scythian name 'cannabis'." (Plants of the Gods -- Origin
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of Hallucinogenic Use by Richard E. Schultes and Albert
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Hoffman)
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"It is recorded that the Chinese Taoist recommended the
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addition of cannabis to their incense burners in the 1st
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century as a means of achieving immortality." (Marijuana,
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the First Twelve Thousand Years by Earnest Abel, page 5)
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"There is a classic Greek term, cannabeizein, which means
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to smoke cannabis. Cannabeizein frequently took the form
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of inhaling vapors from an incense burner in which these
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resins were mixed with other resins, such as myrrh,
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balsam, frankincense, and perfumes." (Ritual Use of
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Cannabis Sativa L)
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"Herodotus in the fifth century B.C. observed the
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Scythians throwing hemp on heated stone to create smoke
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and observed them inhaling this smoke. Although he does
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not identify them, Herodotus states that when they "have
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parties and sit around a fire, they throw some of it into
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the flames. As it burns, it smokes like incense, and the
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smell of it makes them drunk, just as wine does us. As
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more fruit is thrown on, they get more and more
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intoxicated until finally they jump up and start dancing
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and singing." (Herodotus, Histories 1.202.)
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EVIDENCE INDICATING THE SEMITIC ORIGIN OF CANNABIS
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The name cannabis is generally thought to be of Scythian
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origin. Sula Benet in Cannabis and Culture argues that it has a
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much earlier origin in Semitic languages like Hebrew, occurring
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several times in the Old Testament. He states that in Exodus 30:23
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that God commands Moses to make a holy anointing oil of myrrh,
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sweet cinnamon, kaneh bosm, and kassia. He continues that the word
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kaneh bosm is also rendered in the traditional Hebrew as kannabos
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or kannabus and that the root "kan" in this construction means
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"reed" or "hemp", while "bosm" means "aromatic". He states that
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in the earliest Greek translations of the old testament "kan" was
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rendered as "reed", leading to such erroneous English translations
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as "sweet calamus" (Exodus 30:23), sweet cane (Isaiah 43:24;
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Jeremiah 6:20) and "calamus" (Ezekiel 27:19; Song of Songs 4:14).
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Benet argues from the linguistic evidence that cannabis was known
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in Old Testament times at least for its aromatic properties and
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that the word for it passed from the Semitic language to the
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Scythians, i.e. the Ashkenaz of the Old Testament.
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Sara Benetowa of the Institute of Anthropological Sciences in
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Warsaw is quoted in the Book of Grass as saying:
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"The astonishing resemblance between the Semitic 'kanbos'
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and the Scythian 'cannabis' leads me to suppose that the
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Scythian word was of Semitic origin. These etymological
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discussions run parallel to arguments drawn from history.
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The Iranian Scythians were probably related to the Medes,
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who were neighbors of the semites and could easily have
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assimilated the word for hemp. The Semites could also
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have spread the word during their migrations through Asia
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Minor.
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Taking into account the matriarchal element of Semitic
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culture, one is led to believe that Asia Minor was the
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original point of expansion for both the society based
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on the matriarchal circle and the mass use of hashish."
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The Ancient Israelites were a Semitic people. Abraham, the
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father of the Israelite nation, came from Ur, a city of Babylonia
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located in mesopotamia. The Israelites migrated throughout Asia
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Minor and could easily have spread the religious use of marijuana.
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THE ISRAELITE USE OF INCENSE
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It was said that Moses, at the direction of Almighty God,
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first brought in the use of incense in public worship, and that
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the other nations of antiquity copied the practice from him. It
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was however a practice that began with Adam. The "Book of
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Jubilees", an Apocryphal book, (the Apocrypha was considered
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canonical by the early church and is to this day by the Ethiopian
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Zion Coptic Church) states that "on the day when Adam went forth
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from the Garden of Eden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering
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of frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices, in the morning
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with the rising of the sun, from the day when he covered his
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shame." And of Enoch we read that "he burnt the incense of the
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sanctuary, even sweet spices, acceptable before the Lord, on the
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Mount."
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Incense was assigned miraculous powers by the Israelites. It
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was burned in golden bowls or cauldrons placed on or beside the
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altar. It was also burned in hand-held censers. In the Blessing
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of Moses, a poem belonging to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and
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written about 760 B.C., the sacrificial smoke is offered to the God
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of Israel.
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Let them teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law;
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Let them offer sacrificial smoke to thy nostrils, and
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whole burnt sacrifice upon thy altar.
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Throughout the Bible the ancient patriarchs were brought into
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communion with God through smoking incense and at Mt. Sinai God
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talked to Moses out of a bush that burned with fire (Exodus 3:1-
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12). After Moses brought the Israelite people out of Egypt he
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returned to Mt. Sinai at which time God made a covenant with Moses
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in which the Ten Commandments were revealed. Exodus 19:8 describes
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the conditions at the time of this covenant.
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Exodus 19:8 "And Mount Sinai was altogether on smoke,
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because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke
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thereof ascended as smoke of a furnace, and the whole
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mount quaked greatly.
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The Mysterious smoke mentioned in the covenant on Mt. Sinai
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is also referred to as a cloud.
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Exodus 24:15 "And Moses went up into the mount, and a
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cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the Lord
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abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six
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days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of
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the midst of the cloud.
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Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the clouds and the
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smoke are related to the burning of incense. Exodus 40:26
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describes Moses burning incense, a cloud covering the tent of the
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congregation and the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle.
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Leviticus 16:2-13 describes how God appeared in a cloud and refers
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to it as the clouds of incense. Numbers 16:17-19 describes how
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every man of the congregation had a censer full of burning incense
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and that the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation.
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Isaiah 6:4 describes how Ezekial saw God in a smoke-filled inner
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court. Numbers 11:25 describes how God was revealed to moses and
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the seventy elders in a cloud; that the spirit rested upon them and
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that they prophesied and ceased not.
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The Book of Grass by Andrew and Vinkenoog includes a section
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on Ancient Scythia and Iran by Mircea Eliade, one of the foremost
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experts on the history of religions. On pages 11 and 12 is the
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following:
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"On one document appears to indicate the existence of a
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Getic shamanism: It is Straho's account of the Myssian
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KAPNOBATAI, a name that has been translated, by analogy
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with Aristophanes' AEROBATES, as 'those who walk in
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clouds'; but it should be translated as 'those who walk
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in smoke'! Presumably the smoke is hemp smoke, a
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rudimentary means of ecstasy known to both the Tracians
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and the Scythians..."
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This passage should be carefully noted. Biblical passages
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make it abundantly clear that the ancient Isrealites also walked
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in clouds and in smoke. In fact it was in the clouds of smoke that
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God was revealed to the ancient Isrealites. The words "smoke" and
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"smoking" appear fifty times in the King James Version of the Bible
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and two separate times the Bible says of the Lord, "There went up
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a smoke out of his nostrils." II Samuel 22:9, Psalms 18:8.
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There are numerous other places in the Bible that mention the
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burning of incense, the mysterious cloud, and smoke. This common
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thread is found throughout the Bible, including the New Testament.
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St. Matthew 24:30 "And then shall appear the sign of the
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Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of
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the Earth morn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming
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in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."
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Revelations 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every
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eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and
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all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
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Even so, Amen."
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Revelations 8:3 "And another angel came and stood at the
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altar, having a golden censer: and there was given unto
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him much incense, that he should offer it with the
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prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was
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before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, which
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came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before
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God out of the Angel's hand."
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Revelations 15:8 "And the temple was filled with smoke
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from the glory of God, and from his power."
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THE SYMBOLISM OF FIRE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
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The word "fire" is mentioned several hundred times in the King
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James version of the Bible. The sacrifice of the Lord is made by
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fire (Exodus 29:18, 25; Leviticus 2:10-11; Leviticus 6:13; Numbers
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28:6; Deuteronomy 4:33; Joshua 13:14; I Samuel 2:28; II Chronicles
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2:4; Isaiah 24:15; Matthew 3:11; Luke 1:9; Revelations 8:4-5)
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Abraham, the father of the Israelite nation, came from Ur
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which was a city of Ancient Sumer in South Babylonia. For the
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Babylonians, fire was essential to sacrifice and all oblations were
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conveyed to the gods by the fire god Girru-Nusku, whose presence
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as an intermediary between the gods and man was indispensable.
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Girru-Nusku, as the messenger of the gods, bore the essence of the
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offerings upward to them in the smoke of sacrificial fire.
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At Babylon: "The glorious gods smell the incense, noble
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food of heaven; pure wine which no hand has touched do
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they enjoy." (L. Jeremias, in Encyclopedia Biblica, i.v.
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4119, quoting Rawlinson, Cuneif. Inscrip. IV, 19 (59).)
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The most important of the ancient Indian gods was Agni, the
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god of fire, who like the Babylonian god Girru-Nusku acted as a
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messenger between men and the gods. The fire (Agni) upon the altar
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was regarded as a messenger, their invoker.
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"...For thou, O sage, goest wisely between these two
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creations like a friendly messenger between two hamlets."
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According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the section on
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"mysticism":
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"The Vedas (Hindu sacred writings) are hymns to the
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mystic fire and the inner sense of sacrifice, burning
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forever on the 'altar Mind'. Hence the abundance of
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solar and fire images: birds of fire, the fire of the
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sun, and the isles of fire. The symbol system of the
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world's religions and mysticisms are profound
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illuminations of the human-divine mystery. Be it the
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cave of the heart or the lotus of the heart, 'the
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dwelling place of that which is the Essence of the
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Universe, "the third eye", or the eye of wisdom' -- the
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symbols all refer back to wisdom entering the aspiring
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soul on its way to progressive self-understanding. 'I
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saw the Lord with the Eye of the Heart. I said, "Who
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art thou?" and he answered, "Thou"'."
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The ancient Indian mystics said,
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"...that in the ecstasy of bhang (marijuana) the spark
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of the Eternal in man turns into light the murkiness of
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matter or illusion and the self is lost in the central
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soul fire. Raising man out of himself and above mean
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individual worries, bhang makes him one with the divine
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force of nature and the mystery 'I am he' grew plain.
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(Taken from the Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report which
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was written at the turn of the twentieth century.)
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The concept of spiritual or inner light was found throughout
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the ancient world. As we shall see that spiritual light was
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directly related to the burning of incense. According to Lucie
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Lamy in "Egyptian Mysteries", page 24:
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"The Pharaonic word for light is akh. This word, often
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translated as 'transfigured', designated transcendental
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light as well as all aspects of physical light; and in
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the funerary text it denotes the state of ultimate
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sublimation.
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"The word akh, first of all, is written with a glyph
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showing a crested ibis, ibis comata. This bird -- the
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name of which was also akh -- lived in the southern part
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of the Arabian side of the Red Sea (near Al Qunfidhah)
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and migrated to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) during the winter.
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Both these places are near the regions from which sacred
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incense came, and were called the "Divine Land". The
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bird's crest, together with its dark green plumage shot
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with glittering metallic specks justifies the meanings
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'to shine', 'to be resplendent', 'to irradiate'; of the
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root akh in the hieroglyphic writing.
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"Akh indeed expresses all notions of light, both
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literally and figuratively, from the Light which comes
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forth from Darkness to the transcendental light of
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transfiguration. It is also used to designate the 'third
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eye', the ureaeus, related in old tradition to the pineal
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body and to the spirit."
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In the next chapter we will see that the sacred cloud of
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incense was instrumental in the transfiguration of Christ.
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Note that Ethiopia was referred to as the "Divine Land" and
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that it was the source for the sacred incense. The ancients also
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referred to Ethiopia as the "Land of God".
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The ancient Egyptians believed that they had received their
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divinities from Ethiopia and have always held to the ancient and
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honored tradition of their southern origin. Ethiopia is so
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important in ancient history that it is mentioned as being in the
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Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:12).
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The ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote:
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|
"The Ethiopians conceived themselves to be of greater
|
|
antiquity than any other nation; and it is probable that,
|
|
born under the sun's path, its warmth may have ripened
|
|
them earlier than other men. They supposed themselves
|
|
to be the inventors of worship, of festivals, of solemn
|
|
assemblies, of sacrifice, and every religious practice."
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA AS THE CHRISTIAN SACRAMENT
|
|
|
|
According to Jack Herer in The Emperor Wears No Clothes or
|
|
Everything You Wanted to Know About Marijuana But Were Not Taught
|
|
in School, "The Essenes, a kabalistic priest/prophet/healer sect
|
|
of Judaism dating back to the era of the Dead Sea Scrolls, used
|
|
hemp, as did the Theraputea of Egypt, from where we get the term
|
|
'therapeutic'."
|
|
|
|
The Theraputea of Egypt were Jewish ascetics that dwelt near
|
|
Alexandria and described by Philo (1st century B.C.) as devoted to
|
|
contemplation and meditation. Alexandria is where St. Mark is
|
|
traditionally held to have established the Coptic Church in 45 A.D.
|
|
|
|
The Coptic Church has been neglected by Western scholars
|
|
despite its historical significance. This has been due to the
|
|
various biases and interest of the Catholic Church which claimed
|
|
Christianity for its own. The result is that for the Coptic Church
|
|
there is very little history. It is however assumed that the
|
|
Coptic religious services have their roots in the earliest layers
|
|
of Christian ritual in Jerusalem and it is known that the Coptic
|
|
church is of ancient origin going back to the time of the first
|
|
Christian communities and even before.
|
|
|
|
Tradition states that "Coptic" was derived from "Kuftaim",
|
|
son of Mizraim, a grandchild of Noah who first settled in the Nile
|
|
valley, i the neighborhood of Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt.
|
|
At one time Thebes was the greatest city in the world and history
|
|
records that by 2200 B.C. the whole of Egypt was united under a
|
|
Theban prince. The splendor of Thebes was known to Homer, who
|
|
called it "the city with a hundred gates". (Richard Schultes
|
|
states that in ancient Thebes marijuana was made into a drink.)
|
|
|
|
According to E.A. Wallis Budge in The Divine Origin of the
|
|
Herbalist, page 79, "The Copts, that is to say the Egyptians who
|
|
accepted the teachings of St. Mark in the first century of our era,
|
|
and embraced Christianity, seem to have eschewed medical science
|
|
as taught by the physicians of the famous School of Medicine of
|
|
Alexandria, and to have been content with the methods of healing
|
|
employed by their ancestors."
|
|
|
|
The Essenes were an ascetic sect closely related to the
|
|
Theraputea that had established a monastic order in the desert
|
|
outside of Palestine and were known as spiritual healers. It has
|
|
been suggested that both John the Baptist and Jesus may have been
|
|
of the Essene sect as they were both heavily dependent on Essene
|
|
teachings. The scripture makes no mention of the life of Jesus
|
|
from the age of 13 to 30. Certain theologians speculate that Jesus
|
|
was being initiated by the Essenes, the last fraternity to keep
|
|
alive the ancient traditions of the prophets.
|
|
|
|
Every prophet, however great, must be initiated. His higher
|
|
self must be awakened and made conscious so that his mission can
|
|
be fulfilled. Amongst the Essenes' ritual lustrations preceded
|
|
most liturgical rites, the most important one of which was
|
|
participation in a sacred meal -- an anticipation of the Messianic
|
|
banquet.
|
|
|
|
Throughout the ancient world sacrifice was a sacramental
|
|
communal meal involving the idea of the god as a participant in
|
|
the meal or as identical with the food consumed. The communion
|
|
sacrifice was one in which the deity indwells the oblation so that
|
|
the worshippers actually consume the divine. The original motive
|
|
of sacrifice was an effort toward communion among the members of
|
|
a group, on one hand, and between them and their god, on the other.
|
|
At its best, sacrifice was a "sacrament" and in one form or another
|
|
life itself.
|
|
|
|
The central focus of the early Christian church was the
|
|
Eucharist or the "body and blood" of the Lord. This was
|
|
interpreted as a fellowship meal with the resurrected Christ. In
|
|
meeting the Resurrected One in the Eucharist meal the Christian
|
|
community had the expectation of the Kingdom of God and salvation.
|
|
|
|
Christ communicated life to his disciples through the
|
|
Eucharist or Christian sacrament. Christ said in describing the
|
|
sacrament, "Take, eat, this is my body, this is my blood. Do this
|
|
as often as you will in remembrance of me." (I Corinthians 11:24-
|
|
25)
|
|
|
|
Baptism is defined as the Christian sacrament used in
|
|
purification and the spiritual rebirth of the individual. I
|
|
Corinthians 10:1 makes it clear that the smoking cloud of incense
|
|
was directly related to baptism.
|
|
|
|
I Corinthians 10:1 "Moreover, brethren, I would not that
|
|
ye should be ignorant, how that our fathers were under
|
|
the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all
|
|
baptized unto Moses in the Cloud and in the sea; 3 And
|
|
did all eat the same spiritual meat: for they drank of
|
|
that Spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
|
|
Christ.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the Biblical story of Creation, God said, "Behold, I have
|
|
given you every herb bearing seed and to you it will be for meat."
|
|
(Genesis 1:29) Marijuana is technically an herb and was considered
|
|
a spiritual meat in the ancient world.
|
|
|
|
From this passage in Corinthians we see that the spiritual
|
|
cloud resulting from the burning of incense was instrumental in
|
|
the baptism of the Israelites. This baptism is also compared to
|
|
the "eating and drinking" of the spirit of Christ.
|
|
|
|
Spirit is defined as the active essence of the Deity serving
|
|
as an invisible and life-giving or inspiring power in motion.
|
|
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that the sacrificial cloud or
|
|
smoke contained the Spirit of God (Christ) and was instrumental in
|
|
inspiring, sanctifying, and purifying the patriarchs.
|
|
|
|
In Numbers 11:25 the cloud results in the Spirit resting upon
|
|
Moses and the seventy elders. This passage indicates that they
|
|
prophesied ecstatically. "Prophesy" is defined as follows: to
|
|
utter or announce by or as if by divine inspiration; to speak for
|
|
God or a deity; to give instruction in religious matters.
|
|
Throughout the Holy Bible prophets of God spake as they were moved
|
|
by the Holy Spirit. The smoking burning cloud of incense contained
|
|
the spirit and was instrumental in bringing about the spiritual
|
|
revelations of the prophets. In the ancient world marijuana was
|
|
used to reveal the future. The virtues of marijuana include
|
|
speech-giving and inspiration of mental powers.
|
|
|
|
"Psychoactive" is defined as effecting the mind or behavior.
|
|
When we of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church think of mind or
|
|
behavior we think of that inward essence or element that makes up
|
|
the individual. This is the person's spirit. We are all spiritual
|
|
beings. It is just as important to keep the spiritual part of a
|
|
person healthy as it is to keep the physical body healthy and in
|
|
fact they are related. Hence marijuana and its relationship to
|
|
spiritual food.
|
|
|
|
In the Apocrypha (Book of Jubilees), Chapter 10, God tells an
|
|
angel to teach Noah the medicines which heal and protect from evil
|
|
spirits. Surely God taught Noah about marijuana. In the ancient
|
|
world marijuana played an important role in purification and
|
|
protecting from evil influences.
|
|
|
|
Note the following concerning the transfiguration of Christ:
|
|
|
|
St. Matthew 17:1 "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter,
|
|
James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into
|
|
a high mountain apart. 2 And he was transfigured before
|
|
them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
|
|
was white as light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto
|
|
them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered
|
|
Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to
|
|
be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three
|
|
tabernacles; one for thee, one for Moses, and one for
|
|
Elias. 5 When yet he spake, behold a bright cloud
|
|
overshadowed them; and behold a voice out of the cloud,
|
|
which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
|
|
pleased; hear ye him."
|
|
|
|
The Bible Dictionary by John McKenzie, page 898, says
|
|
concerning the transfiguration that the cloud and the formula of
|
|
the utterance of the Father are derived from the baptism of Jesus.
|
|
He says that the change described in the appearance of Jesus
|
|
suggests the change which is implied in the resurrection
|
|
narratives.
|
|
|
|
Some of the synonyms for transfiguration are transformation,
|
|
metamorphosis, transubstantiation, and avatar. These terms imply
|
|
the change that accompanies resurrection or deification. Across
|
|
the world, legends of godlike men who manage to rise, in a state
|
|
of perfection go back to an era before human beings had cast away
|
|
from the divine source. Hence the gods were beings which once were
|
|
men, and the actual race of men will in time become gods. Christ
|
|
revealed this to the people of his day when he told them to whom
|
|
the word of God came, "Ye are gods." (St. John 10:34)
|
|
|
|
St. Matthew 17:2 says that during the transfiguration of
|
|
Christ that his face did shine as the sun. The face of Moses also
|
|
shone when he returned from the cloud on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 30:34).
|
|
The shining countenances are the result of their resurrections, of
|
|
their being spiritually illumined in the cloud of smoking incense.
|
|
|
|
Most people are under the impression that Christ baptized with
|
|
water. As you can see from the following account of John the
|
|
Baptist this isn't so. John the Baptist baptized with water and
|
|
Christ baptized with fire.
|
|
|
|
St. Matthew 3:11 "I indeed baptize you with water into
|
|
repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than
|
|
I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize
|
|
you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
|
|
|
|
It is only logical that this baptism with the Holy Spirit and
|
|
with fire is related to the baptism of Christ in the burning,
|
|
smoking cloud of incense and to the baptism of the patriarchs in
|
|
which the patriarchs did all eat of the same spiritual meal
|
|
(incense). In the section dealing with the "Holy Spirit" the
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica states that Christian writers have seen in
|
|
various references to the Spirit of Yahweh in the Old Testament an
|
|
anticipation of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. It also says that
|
|
the Holy Spirit is viewed as the main agent of man's restoration
|
|
to his original natural state through communion in Christ's body
|
|
and, thus, as the principle of life in the Christian community.
|
|
|
|
The patriarchs were recipients of a revelation coming directly
|
|
from the Spirit (incense) and this was expressed in the heightening
|
|
and enlargement of their consciousness. It is clear from Scripture
|
|
that this spiritual dimension was also evident in the life of
|
|
Jesus, in whom the experience of the Hebrew prophets was renewed.
|
|
Through the Eucharist Christ passed this spiritual dimension on to
|
|
his apostles. One of the apostles even makes mention in
|
|
Philippians 4:18 of a sweet smelling sacrifice that is well
|
|
pleasing to God.
|
|
|
|
Christ compares this baptism to the drinking of a cup.
|
|
|
|
St. Mark 10:38 "But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not
|
|
what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of?
|
|
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
|
|
with?"
|
|
|
|
This cup is referred to as the cup of salvation in Psalms
|
|
116:12.
|
|
|
|
Psalms 116:12 "What shall I render unto the Lord for all
|
|
his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
|
|
and call upon the name of the Lord.
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is called the cup of blessing in connection in connection
|
|
with the eucharist.
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 10:16 "The cup of blessing which we bless,
|
|
is it not the communion of the blood and the body of
|
|
Christ? 17 For we being many are one bread, and one body;
|
|
for we are all partakers of one bread.
|
|
|
|
Here we see a connection between the cup of blessing and the
|
|
communion of the blood of Christ. Blood is the life-giving
|
|
substance of the living being. Christ communicated life to his
|
|
disciples through the Eucharist or Christian sacrament.
|
|
|
|
In I Corinthians 10:16 we note the mention of bread as the
|
|
communion of the body of Christ and that we are all partakers of
|
|
one bread. This is the spiritual bread or food used by Christ and
|
|
his disciples. (A synonym for the Eucharist or the Body and Blood
|
|
of the Lord is the bread of life.) It is interesting to note that
|
|
the finest marijuana in Jamaica is called Lamb's bread.
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all
|
|
baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentiles,
|
|
whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to
|
|
drink into one Spirit.
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 11:25 "After the same manner also he took
|
|
the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New
|
|
Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it,
|
|
in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this
|
|
bread and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death
|
|
till he come.
|
|
|
|
If these passages are compared to 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, it is
|
|
plain that the "eating of one bread" is the same as the patriarchs
|
|
"eating the same spiritual meat" and the "drinking of one Spirit"
|
|
(the cup) is the same as the patriarchs "drinking of the Spiritual
|
|
Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." By making this
|
|
comparison we see that the terminology of the Eucharist is directly
|
|
related to the smoking cloud of incense used in the baptism of
|
|
Christ and the patriarchs.
|
|
|
|
It is interesting to note that smoking was referred to as
|
|
"eating" or "drinking" by the early American Indians. Peter J.
|
|
Furst in Hallucinogen and Culture states the following:
|
|
|
|
"Considering its enormous geographic spread in the
|
|
Americas at the time of European discovery, as well as
|
|
the probable age of stone tobacco pipes in California,
|
|
the inhaling (often called "drinking" or "eating") of
|
|
tobacco smoke by the Shaman, as a corollary to
|
|
therapeutic fumigation and the feeding of the gods with
|
|
smoke, must also be of considerable antiquity."
|
|
|
|
In Licit and Illicit Drugs, page 209, the following is quoted:
|
|
|
|
"Columbus and other early explorers who followed him were
|
|
amazed to meet Indians who carried rolls of dried leaves
|
|
that they set afire -- and who then "drank the smoke"
|
|
that emerged from the rolls. Other Indians carried pipes
|
|
in which they burned the same leaves, and from which they
|
|
similarly "drank the smoke".
|
|
|
|
The Encyclopedia Britannica states in the section on
|
|
"Sacrifice" that the interpretation of sacrifice and particularly
|
|
of the Eucharist as sacrifice has varied greatly within the
|
|
different Christian traditions because of the sacrificial
|
|
terminology in which the Eucharist was originally described became
|
|
foreign to Christian thinkers.
|
|
|
|
We of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church declare that the true
|
|
understanding of the Eucharist has been passed down from generation
|
|
to generation so that we are able to give an accurate
|
|
interpretation of the sacrificial terminology used to describe the
|
|
Eucharist. We have shown, using history and Biblical passages,
|
|
that his terminology is directly related to burning smoking
|
|
incense. We have shown that the "eating" or "drinking" contained
|
|
in the terminology concerning the Eucharist is associated with the
|
|
inhalation of smoke. We have shown that marijuana was used as
|
|
incense and that it was the number one spiritual plant of the
|
|
ancient world.
|
|
|
|
We of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church declare that the cup
|
|
that Christ baptized his disciples with in the baptism of the Holy
|
|
Spirit and fire was in fact a pipe or chillum in which marijuana
|
|
was smoked. This is a bottomless cup and soon as it is emptied,
|
|
it is filled again and passed in a circle. There is a picture of
|
|
this cup or pipe below, as well as on the cover. Like the pipe of
|
|
the ancient North American Indians, this cup was a portable altar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christ was the Father of the doctrine of the Eucharist which
|
|
is the communion that Jesus gave his brethren. Jesus taught that
|
|
the communion is his body and blood. Jesus was not speaking of His
|
|
physical body and blood. He was speaking of His spiritual body and
|
|
spiritual blood that was the communion of his holy church. The
|
|
supper that Jesus celebrated with his disciples "on the night that
|
|
he was betrayed" (1 Corinthians 11:23) inaugurated the heavenly
|
|
meal that was to be continued.
|
|
|
|
1 Corinthians 11:23 "For I have received of the Lord that
|
|
which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night
|
|
in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given
|
|
thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is
|
|
broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same
|
|
manner also he took the cup, which he had supped, saying, This cup
|
|
is the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink
|
|
it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and
|
|
drink of this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. 27
|
|
Wherefore whosoever shall eat of this bread, and drink of this cup
|
|
of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of
|
|
the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and let him eat of the
|
|
bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh
|
|
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not
|
|
discerning the Lord's body.
|
|
|
|
Christ said, "Do this in remembrance of me." Here the
|
|
original unity of man with God is restored. In general the
|
|
reception of the Holy Spirit is connected with the actual
|
|
realization, the inward experiencing of God.
|
|
|
|
Marijuana has been referred to as a mild euphoric (the
|
|
producer of a feeling of well-being) that produces a profound
|
|
religious experience of a mystical and transcendental nature. This
|
|
religious experience is said to be brought about by the stirring
|
|
of deeply buried, unconscious sensitivities so that one experiences
|
|
ultimate reality or the divine and confirms the feeling of the
|
|
worshipper that he has been in the presence of God and has
|
|
assimilated some of His powers.
|
|
|
|
To be lifted above sense to behold the beatific vision and
|
|
become "incorporate" in God is the end sought in ecstasy. The
|
|
priest or mystic in enthusiasm or ecstasy enjoys the beatific
|
|
vision by entering into communion with God and by undergoing
|
|
deification. The experience of ecstasy, states Mircea Eliade, one
|
|
of the foremost authorities on religion, is a timeless primary
|
|
phenomenon. Psychological experience of rapture, he continues, are
|
|
fundamental to the human condition and hence known to the whole of
|
|
archaic humanity. (Some of the synonyms of rapture are bliss,
|
|
beatitude, transport, exaltation.)
|
|
|
|
Baudelaire, a member of the Club Des Hashichins (Hashish Club)
|
|
founded in Paris around 1835 and writer of Artificial Paradises
|
|
states the following about hashish: Hashish is the unadulterated
|
|
resin from the flowering tops of the female hemp plant.
|
|
|
|
"One will find in hashish nothing miraculous, absolutely
|
|
nothing but an exaggeration of the natural. The brain
|
|
and organisms on which hashish operates will produce only
|
|
the normal phenomena peculiar to that individual --
|
|
increased, admittedly, in number and force, but always
|
|
faithful to the original. A man will never escape from
|
|
his destined physical and moral temperament: hashish will
|
|
be a mirror of his impression and private thoughts -- a
|
|
magnifying mirror, it is true, but only a mirror.
|
|
|
|
He cautions that the user must be in the right frame of mind
|
|
to take hashish, for just as it exaggerates the natural behavior
|
|
of the individual, so too does hashish intensify the user's
|
|
immediate feelings. Baudelaire describes three successive phases
|
|
a hashish user will pass through. He says the final stage is
|
|
marked by a feeling of calmness, in which time and space have no
|
|
meaning, and there is a sense that one has transcended matter. He
|
|
says that in this state, one final supreme thought breaks into
|
|
consciousness. "I have become God."
|
|
|
|
Realization of one's union with God is necessary in
|
|
understanding the true Christian sacrament. The understanding of
|
|
man's relationship to God and God's relationship to man (God in
|
|
Man and Man in God) was quite prevalent in the ancient world,
|
|
particularly among the religions that utilized marijuana as part
|
|
of their religious practice.
|
|
|
|
Said the great Hindu sage, Manu, "He who in his own soul
|
|
perceives the Supreme Soul in all beings and acquires equanimity
|
|
toward them all, attains the highest bliss." To recognize oneness
|
|
of self with God was contained in all the teachings of Gautama
|
|
Buddha. In the Liturgy of Mithra (the Persian god of light and
|
|
truth) the suppliant prays "abide with me in my soul; leave me
|
|
not," and "that I may be initiated and the Holy Spirit may breathe
|
|
within me." The communion became so intimate as to pass into
|
|
identity: "I am thou and thou art I." Athanasius, a theologian,
|
|
ecclesiastical statesman, and Egyptian national leader who was
|
|
closely tied to the Coptic Church in Egypt said, "Even we may
|
|
become gods walking in the flesh," and "God became man that man
|
|
might become God."
|
|
|
|
Western theology (Catholic and Protestant) teaches that the
|
|
spirit created matter but remained aloof of it. In Hinduism and
|
|
other Eastern religions, the spirit is the inside, the matter is
|
|
the outside; the two are inseparable. Eastern theologians hive
|
|
rightly perceived that the God one worships must posses all the
|
|
aspects of his worshippers' nature as well as his own divine
|
|
nature. Otherwise, how can he create beings whose nature is
|
|
entirely foreign to his own? What, then, would be the meaning of
|
|
the Biblical phrase: "God made man in his own image"?
|
|
|
|
The fact that modern Christendom has no sense of union with
|
|
God has led to numerous churches without the understanding for
|
|
building a Christian culture and kingdom to replace the confusion
|
|
of modern politics. This lack of understanding was not lacking in
|
|
the ancient church and was a major source of enthusiasm for the
|
|
prophets of old. In fact, the power of the early church was
|
|
manifested due to this understanding of the spirit of God dwelling
|
|
in man, the temple of God. To the ancient prophets it was not a
|
|
God above, nor a God over yonder, but a God within. "Be still and
|
|
know that I am God" -- for the visionaries and mystics of every
|
|
time and place, this has been the first and greatest of the
|
|
commandments.
|
|
|
|
In 1 Corinthians 11:28 Christ said, "Let a man examine
|
|
himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup."
|
|
Probably the most relevant study to date about what might be
|
|
considered typical marijuana experience concludes that marijuana
|
|
gives spontaneous insights into self (Dr. Charles Tart, "On Being
|
|
Stoned: A Psychological Study of Marijuana Intoxication", Science
|
|
and Behavior, 1971).
|
|
|
|
The sacramentality of marijuana is declared by Christ himself
|
|
and can be understood only when a person partakes of the natural
|
|
divine herb. The fact is communion of Jesus cannot be disputed or
|
|
be destroyed. Marijuana is the new wine divine and cannot be
|
|
compared to the old wine, which is alcohol. Jesus rejected the old
|
|
wine and glorified the "new wine" at the wedding feast of Cana.
|
|
Cana is a linguistic derivation of the present day cannabis and so
|
|
it is. (Some Biblical scholars -- and there is a certain amount
|
|
of support in early tradition of the view -- have looked upon the
|
|
miracle of Cana as a sign of the Eucharist.)
|
|
|
|
Note the references to new wine in the Bible:
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 65:8 "Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine is
|
|
found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for
|
|
a blessing is in it; so will I do for my servant's sake"
|
|
|
|
Acts 2:13 "Others mocking said, "These men are full of new
|
|
wine."
|
|
|
|
Isaiah 65:8 declares that the new wine is found in the cluster
|
|
and that a blessing is in it. When one mentions clusters, one
|
|
thinks of clusters of grapes. Webster's New Riverside Dictionary,
|
|
Office Edition, defines marijuana: 1. Hemp 2. The dried flower
|
|
clusters and leaves of the hemp plant, esp. when taken to induce
|
|
euphoria.
|
|
|
|
The Encyclopedia Britannica says the following about hemp:
|
|
Seed producing flowers form elongate, spike like clusters growing
|
|
on the pistillate, or female plants; pollen producing flowers form
|
|
many branched clusters or staminate, on male plants. Here and in
|
|
Webster's, marijuana fits the description of the new wine and as
|
|
history has shown a blessing is in it.
|
|
|
|
Baudelaire said the following about the effects of hashish:
|
|
|
|
"This marvelous experience often occurs as if it were
|
|
the effect of superior and invisible power acting on the
|
|
person from without...This delightful and singular
|
|
state...gives no advance warning. It is as unexpected
|
|
as a ghost, an intermittent haunting from which we must
|
|
draw, if we are wise, the certainty of a better
|
|
existence. This acuteness of thought, this enthusiasm
|
|
of the senses and the spirit must have appeared to man
|
|
through the ages as the first blessing."
|
|
|
|
In the books of Acts the apostles were accused of being full
|
|
of new wine. Acts 2:13 was the time of pentecost when the Holy
|
|
Spirit descended upon the apostles. Numerous outpourings of the
|
|
Spirit are mentioned in the Acts of the apostles in which healing,
|
|
prophesy, and the expelling of demons are particularly associated
|
|
with the activity of the Spirit. Incense (marijuana) was used by
|
|
the ancients for healing, prophesy, and the expelling of demons.
|
|
|
|
When Christ ascended into heaven in the cloud (Acts 1:9-11)
|
|
he sent his disciples the Holy Spirit with the "gift of tongues"
|
|
(Acts 2:3) and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a
|
|
fire, and it sat upon each of them, and they were filled with the
|
|
Holy Spirit and were given the power to prophesy or witness.
|
|
(Marijuana has been credited with speech giving and inspiration of
|
|
mental powers.)
|
|
|
|
The first two gifts of the Holy Spirit are traditionally said
|
|
to be wisdom and understanding, which no doubt are the two things
|
|
most needed by the human race. In Jamaica today marijuana is
|
|
referred to as the "weed of wisdom" and is reputed to be the plant
|
|
that grew on Solomon's grave, a man known for his great wisdom.
|
|
Marijuana expands consciousness and enhances the capacity for
|
|
mystical and creative inspiration.
|
|
|
|
In Acts 2:3 Fire speaks figuratively of the Holy Spirit. Fire
|
|
was also a means which to transport a saint to heaven.
|
|
|
|
2 Kings 2:11 "And it came to pass, as they still went
|
|
on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot
|
|
of fire, and horses of fire, and parted asunder; and
|
|
Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
|
|
|
|
Recent writers have speculated that this passage was in
|
|
reference to flying saucers. That is because they look at this
|
|
passage physically. This ascension of Elijah like the ascension
|
|
of Christ in the cloud into heaven is the "withdrawal" from the
|
|
external or physical world, to be the inmost reality of all. This
|
|
can be referred to as ecstasy, rapture, or transport and is a
|
|
result of the Holy Spirit. Ecstasy, rapture, or transport therefor
|
|
agree in designating a feeling or state of intense, often extreme
|
|
mental and emotional exaltation. Rapture is defined as ecstatic
|
|
joy or delight; joyful ecstasy. Some of the synonyms of rapture
|
|
are bliss, beatitude, transport, and exultation. The true rapture
|
|
is therefore one in which one is spiritually transported to the
|
|
heavens. Don't expect to float up into the sky.
|
|
|
|
Marijuana as history has shown is the catalyst used to achieve
|
|
the spiritual journey into the heavens. That is why in India it
|
|
was referred to as the Heavenly-Guide, the Poor Man's Heaven, and
|
|
the Sky-flier. That is why Professor Mircea Eliade, perhaps the
|
|
foremost authority on the history of religion, suggested that
|
|
Zoroaster may have caused hemp to bridge the metaphysical gap
|
|
between heaven and earth.
|
|
|
|
One dictionary defines marijuana as the leaves and flowering
|
|
tops when taken to induce euphoria. Euphoria is defined by the
|
|
same dictionary as great happiness or bliss. (In India, marijuana
|
|
has been referred to as the joy-giver and the soother of grief.)
|
|
Bliss is defined as the ecstasy of salvation, spiritual joy. Some
|
|
of the synonyms of bliss are beatitude, transport, rapture,
|
|
ecstasy, paradise, heaven.
|
|
|
|
Throughout the ancient world there is mention of "magical
|
|
flight", "ascent to heaven", and "mystical journey". All these
|
|
mythological and folklore traditions have their point of departure
|
|
in an ideology and technique of ecstasy that imply "journey in
|
|
spirit".
|
|
|
|
The pilgrimage from earth to heaven is not a journey to some
|
|
other place or some other time, but is a journey within. One must
|
|
realize that "death" through which we must pass before God can be
|
|
seen does not lie ahead of us in time. Rather it is now that we
|
|
have a man of sin within us that must be killed and a new man free
|
|
from sin that must be born. This is actualized in baptism and the
|
|
sacramental life in the church. For as many of you as have been
|
|
baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). The
|
|
effect of baptism is spiritual regeneration or rebirth, whereby one
|
|
is "enChristened", involving both union with Christ and remission
|
|
of sins. In Titus 3:5 baptism is the "bath of regeneration"
|
|
accompanying renewal by the Spirit. Some of the synonyms of
|
|
regeneration are beatification, conversion, sanctification,
|
|
salvation, inspiration, bread of life, Body and Blood of Christ.
|
|
|
|
Sara Benetowa of the Institute of Anthropological Sciences in
|
|
Warsaw is quoted in the Book of Grass as saying:
|
|
|
|
"By comparing the old Slavic word 'Kepati' and the
|
|
Russian 'Kupati' with the Scythian 'cannabis' Shrader
|
|
developed and justified Meringer's supposition that there
|
|
is a link between the Scythian baths and Russian vapor
|
|
baths.
|
|
|
|
"In the entire Orient even today to 'go to the bath'
|
|
means not only to accomplish an act of purification and
|
|
enjoy a pleasure, but also to fulfill the divine law.
|
|
Vambery calls 'bath' any club in which the members play
|
|
checkers, drink coffee, and smoke hashish or tobacco."
|
|
|
|
St. Matthew's account of the institution of the Eucharist
|
|
attaches to the Eucharist cup these words: "Drink of it, all of,
|
|
for this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
|
|
for the remission of sins (st. Matthew 26:27). Drinking the
|
|
sacramental cup therefor serves like baptism (Acts 2:38) where
|
|
Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in
|
|
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
|
|
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We of the Ethiopian Zion
|
|
Coptic Church declare a three-part doctrine of the Holy Herb, the
|
|
Holy Word, and the Holy Man (Woman).
|
|
|
|
The present and future benefits to the individual communicant
|
|
have their importance given them by Jesus, who said, "He who eats
|
|
my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
|
|
them up at the last day." (John 6:54) As such we must see that the
|
|
divine person who is active in creation, in renewal, and in human
|
|
rebirth and resurrection, is also active in the Eucharist.
|
|
|
|
There was a profound change in America when marijuana smoking
|
|
started on a large scale in the late 1960's. A large number of
|
|
people resisted the draft, resisted the war ... started letting
|
|
their hair and beards grow ... became interested in natural
|
|
foods... the ecology and the environment. What we really saw was
|
|
the awakening of our generation to the beginning of Christian
|
|
mentality through marijuana smoking. The earmarks of this
|
|
mentality are: I don't want to go to war; I really don't want to
|
|
be part of the political-military-economic fiasco you call society.
|
|
|
|
Like the Indians Hemp Drug Commission three quarters of a
|
|
century earlier, the Canadian Le Dain Commission conducted an
|
|
inquiry into the use of marijuana. On page 156 of the report is
|
|
the following:
|
|
|
|
"In the case of cannabis, the positive points which are
|
|
claimed for it include the following: It is a relaxant;
|
|
it is disinhibiting; it increases self-confidence and
|
|
the feeling of creativity (whether justified by creative
|
|
results or not); it increases sensual awareness and
|
|
appreciation; it facilitates self acceptance and in this
|
|
way makes it easier to accept others; it serves a
|
|
sacramental function in promoting a sense of spiritual
|
|
community among users; it is a shared pleasure; because
|
|
it is illicit and the object of strong disapproval from
|
|
those who are, by and large, opposed to social change,
|
|
it is a symbol of protest and a means of strengthening
|
|
the sense of identity among those who are strongly
|
|
critical of certain aspects of our society and value
|
|
structure today."
|
|
|
|
On page 144 of the Report, marijuana is associated with peace.
|
|
|
|
"In our conversation with (students and young people)
|
|
they have frequently contrasted marijuana and alcohol
|
|
effects to describe the former as a drug of peace, a drug
|
|
that reduces tendencies to aggression while suggesting
|
|
that the latter drug produces hostile, aggressive
|
|
behavior. Thus marijuana is seen as particularly
|
|
appropriate to a generation that emphasizes peace and is,
|
|
in many ways, anticompetitive."
|
|
|
|
In a magazine article by G. S. Chopra entitled "Man and
|
|
Marijuana" on page 235 is a section dealing with Human Experiments.
|
|
One hundred persons with an established marijuana smoking habit
|
|
smoked marijuana. They described the symptoms as follows: "I have
|
|
done things today which I usually dislike but which I rather
|
|
enjoyed doing today." "Nothing seemed impossible to accomplish."
|
|
"I assumed a cool and composed attitude and forgot all mental
|
|
worries." "I behaved in a childish and foolish manner." "It
|
|
relieves sense of fatigue and gives rise to feelings of happiness."
|
|
"I feel like laughing." "My head is dizzy." "I feel like taking
|
|
more food." "The world is gay around me." "I feel inclined to
|
|
work." "I am a friend to all and have no enemy in the world."
|
|
|
|
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in the section on
|
|
"Roman Catholicism":
|
|
|
|
"To understand the meaning and use of the Eucharist we
|
|
must see it as an act of universal worship, of
|
|
cooperation, of association else it loses the greater
|
|
part of its significance. Neither in Roman Catholic nor
|
|
in Protestant Eucharistic practice does the sacrament
|
|
retain much of the symbolism of Christian unity, which
|
|
clearly it has. Originally, the symbolism was that of
|
|
a community meal, an accepted social symbol of community
|
|
throughout the whole of human culture."
|
|
|
|
Marijuana has been used as sacrifice, a sacrament, a ritual
|
|
fumigant (incense), a good-will offering, and as a means of
|
|
communing with the divine spirit. It has been used to seal
|
|
treaties, friendships, solemn binding agreements and to legitimize
|
|
covenants. It has been used as a traditional defense against evil
|
|
and in purification. It has been used in divinations (1. the art
|
|
or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or
|
|
discover hidden knowledge; 2. unusual insight; intuitive
|
|
perception.) It has been used in remembrance of the dead and
|
|
praised for its medicinal properties.
|
|
|
|
Most Christians agree that participation in the Eucharist is
|
|
supposed to enhance and deepen communion of believers not only with
|
|
Christ but also with one another. We must therefor ask the
|
|
question, "What substance did the ancients use as a community meal
|
|
to facilitate communion with the Lord?" The answer to that
|
|
question is marijuana. Hemp as originally used in religious
|
|
ritual, temple activities, and tribal rites, involved groups of
|
|
worshippers rather than the solitary individual. The pleasurable
|
|
psychoactive effects were then, as now, communal experiences.
|
|
|
|
Practically every major religion and culture of the ancient
|
|
world utilized marijuana as part of their religious observance.
|
|
Marijuana was the ambrosia of the ancient world. It was the food,
|
|
drink, and perfume of the gods. It was used by the Africans, the
|
|
Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Asians, the Europeans, and possibly
|
|
the Indians of the Americas. Would it be too much to suggest that
|
|
the ancient Israelites also utilized marijuana?
|
|
|
|
The following information was taken from the most
|
|
authoritative books dealing with the history of marijuana. They
|
|
are mentioned at the end of this work.
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN INDIA
|
|
|
|
In Indian tradition marijuana is associated with immortality.
|
|
There is a complex myth of the churning of the Ocean of Milk by the
|
|
gods, their joint act of creation. They were in search of Amrita,
|
|
the elixir of eternal life. When the gods, helped by demons,
|
|
churned the ocean to obtain Amrita, one of the resulting nectars
|
|
was cannabis. After churning the ocean, the demons attempted to
|
|
gain control of Amrita (marijuana), but the gods were able to
|
|
prevent this seizure, giving cannabis the name Vijaya ("victory")
|
|
to commemorate their success.
|
|
|
|
Other ancient Indian names for marijuana were "sacred grass",
|
|
"hero leaved", "joy", "rejoicer", "desired in the three worlds"'
|
|
"gods' food", "fountain of pleasures"' and "Shiva's plant".
|
|
|
|
Early Indian legends maintained that the angel of mankind
|
|
lived in the leaves of the marijuana plant. It was so sacred that
|
|
it was reputed to deter evil and cleanse its user of sin. In Hindu
|
|
mythology hemp is a holy plant given to man for the "welfare of
|
|
mankind" and is considered to be one of the divine nectars able to
|
|
give man anything from good health, to long life, to visions of the
|
|
gods. Nectar is defined as the fabled drink of the gods.
|
|
|
|
Tradition maintains that when nectar or Amrita dropped from
|
|
heaven, that cannabis sprouted from it. In Hindu mythology Amrita
|
|
means immortality; also, the ambrosial drink which produced it.
|
|
In India hemp is made into a drink and is reputed to be the
|
|
favorite drink of Indra (the King of Indian gods.) Tradition
|
|
maintains that the god Indra gave marijuana to the people so that
|
|
they might attain elevated states of consciousness, delight in
|
|
worldly joy, and freedom from fear.
|
|
|
|
According to Hindu legends, Siva, the Supreme God of many
|
|
Hindu sects, had some family squabble and went off to the fields.
|
|
He sat under a hemp plant so as to be sheltered from the heat of
|
|
the sun and happened to eat some of its leaves. He felt so
|
|
refreshed from the hemp plant that it became his favorite food,
|
|
and that is how he got his title, the Lord of Bhang.
|
|
|
|
Cannabis is mentioned as a medicinal and magical plant as well
|
|
as a "sacred grass" in the Atharva Veda (dated 2000 - 1400 B.C.)
|
|
It also calls hemp one of the five kingdoms of herbs...which
|
|
releases us from anxiety and refers to hemp as a "source of
|
|
happiness", "joy-giver" and "liberator". Although the holy books,
|
|
the Shastras, forbid the worship of the plant, it has been
|
|
venerated and used as a sacrifice to the deities.
|
|
|
|
Indian Tradition, writing, and belief is that the "Siddhartha"
|
|
(the Buddha), used and ate nothing but hemp and its seeds for six
|
|
years prior to announcing (discovering) his truths and becoming the
|
|
Buddha.
|
|
|
|
Cannabis held a preeminent place in the Tantric religion which
|
|
evolved in Tibet in the seventh century A.D. Tantrism was a
|
|
religion based on fear of demons. To combat the demonic threat to
|
|
the world, the people sought protection in plants such as cannabis
|
|
which were set afire to overcome evil forces.
|
|
|
|
In the tenth century A.D. hemp was extolled as indracanna,
|
|
the "food of the gods". A fifteenth-century document refers to
|
|
cannabis as "light-hearted", "joy-full" and "rejoices", and claimed
|
|
that among its virtues are "astringency", "heat", "speech-giving",
|
|
"inspiration of mental powers", "excitability" and the capacity to
|
|
"remove wind and phlegm".
|
|
|
|
Today in the Tantric Buddhism of the Himalayas of Tibet,
|
|
cannabis plays a very significant role in the meditative ritual to
|
|
facilitate deep meditation and heighten awareness. In modern India
|
|
it is taken at Hindu and Sikh temples and Mohammedan shrines.
|
|
Among fakirs (Hindu ascetics) bhang is viewed as the giver of long
|
|
life and a means of communion with the divine spirit. Like his
|
|
Hindu brother, the Musalman fakir reveres bhang as the lengthener
|
|
of life and the freer from the bonds of self.
|
|
|
|
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Indian Hemp Drugs
|
|
Commission set up to study the use of hemp in India contains the
|
|
following report:
|
|
|
|
"...It is inevitable that temperaments would be found to
|
|
whom the quickening spirit of bhang is the spirit of
|
|
freedom and knowledge. In the ecstasy of bhang the spark
|
|
of the Eternal in man turns into the light the murkiness
|
|
of matter.
|
|
|
|
"...Bhang is the Joy-giver, the Sky-filler, the Heavenly-
|
|
Guide, the Poor Man's Heaven, the Soother of Grief...No
|
|
god or man is as good as the religious drinker of
|
|
bhang...The supporting power of bhang has brought many
|
|
a Hindu family safe through the miseries of famine. To
|
|
forbid or even seriously restrict the use of so gracious
|
|
an herb as the hemp would cause widespread suffering and
|
|
annoyance and to large bands of worshipped ascetics,
|
|
deep-seated anger. It would rob the people of a solace
|
|
on discomfort, of a cure in sickness, of a guardian whose
|
|
gracious protection saves them from the attacks of evil
|
|
influences...
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN CHINA
|
|
|
|
Hemp was so highly regarded in ancient China that the Chinese
|
|
called their country "the land of mulberry and hemp". Hemp was a
|
|
symbol of power over evil and in emperor Shen Nung's pharmacopoeia
|
|
was known as the "liberator of sin". The Chinese believed that the
|
|
legendary Shen Nung first taught the cultivation of hemp in the
|
|
28th century B.C. Shen Nung is credited with developing the
|
|
sciences of medicine from the curative power of plants. So highly
|
|
regarded was Shen Nung that he was deified and today he is regarded
|
|
as the Father of Chinese medicine. Shen Nung was also regarded as
|
|
the Lord of fire. He sacrificed on T'ai Shan, a mountain of hoary
|
|
antiquity.
|
|
|
|
A statement in the Pen-ts'ao Ching of some significance is
|
|
that Cannabis "grows along rivers and valleys at T'ai-shan, but it
|
|
is now common everywhere." Mount T'ai is in Shangtung Privince,
|
|
where the cultivation of the hemp plant is still intensive to this
|
|
day. Whether or not this early attribution indicates the actual
|
|
geographic origin of the cultivation of the Cannabis plant remains
|
|
to be seen. (An Archeological and Historical Account of Cannabis
|
|
in China by Hui-Lin Li)
|
|
|
|
A chines Taoist priest wrote in the fifth century B.C. that
|
|
cannabis was used in combination with Ginseng to set forward time
|
|
in order to reveal future events. It is recorded that the Taoist
|
|
recommended the addition of cannabis to their incense burners in
|
|
the 1st century A.D. and that the effects thus produced were highly
|
|
regarded as a means of achieving immortality. In the early Chinese
|
|
Taoist ritual the fumes and odors of incense burners were said to
|
|
have produced a mystic exaltation and contribution to well-being.
|
|
|
|
Webster's New Riverside Dictionary defines marijuana: 1. Hemp
|
|
2. The dried flower clusters and leaves of the hemp plant, esp.
|
|
when taken to induce euphoria. Euphoria is defined as a strong
|
|
feeling of elation or well-being.
|
|
|
|
Like the practice of medicine around the world, early Chinese
|
|
doctoring was based on the concept of demons. The only way to cure
|
|
the sick was to drive out the demons. The early priest doctors
|
|
used marijuana stalks into which snake-like figures were carved.
|
|
Standing over the body of the stricken patient, his cannabis stalk
|
|
poised to strike, the priest pounded the bed and commanded the
|
|
demon to be gone. The cannabis stalk with the snake carved on it
|
|
was the forerunner to the sign of modern medicine (the staff with
|
|
the entwined serpents.)
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN JAPAN
|
|
|
|
Hemp was used in Ancient Japan in ceremonial purification
|
|
rites and for driving away evil spirits. In Japan, Shinto priests
|
|
used a gohei, a short stick with undyed hemp fibers (for purity)
|
|
attached to one end. According to Shinto beliefs, evil and purity
|
|
cannot exist alongside one another, and so by waving the gohei
|
|
(purity) above someone's head the evil spirit inside him would be
|
|
driven away. Clothes made of hemp were especially worn during
|
|
formal and religious ceremonies because of hemp's traditional
|
|
association with purity.
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN ANCIENT IRAN
|
|
|
|
Ancient Iran was the source for the great Persian empire,
|
|
Iran is located slightly to the northeast of the ancient kingdoms
|
|
of Sumeria, Babylonia, and Assyria. According to Mircea Eliade,
|
|
"Shamanistic ecstasy induced by hemp smoke was known in ancient
|
|
Iran." Professor Eliade has suggested that Zoroaster, the Persian
|
|
prophet, said to have written the Zend-Avesta, was a user of hemp.
|
|
In the Zend-Avesta hemp occupies the first place in a list of
|
|
10,000 medicinal plants.
|
|
|
|
One of the few surviving books of the Zend-Avesta, called the
|
|
Venidad, "The Law Against Demons", calls bhanga (marijuana)
|
|
Zoroaster's "good narcotic", and tells of two mortals who were
|
|
transported in soul to the heavens where, upon drinking from a cup
|
|
of bhang, they had the highest mysteries revealed to them.
|
|
Professor Eliade has theorized that Zoroaster may have used hemp
|
|
to bridge the metaphysical gap between heaven and earth.
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN ANCIENT EGYPT
|
|
|
|
In the book, Plants of the Gods: Origin of Hallucinogenic Use
|
|
by Richard E. Schultes and Albert Hofman, page 72, it is stated
|
|
that the specimens of marijuana nearly 4,000 years old have turned
|
|
up in an Egyptian site and that in ancient Thebes the plant was
|
|
made into a drink.
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN EUROPE
|
|
|
|
According to Nikolaas j. van der Merwe (Department of
|
|
Archaeology, University of Cape Town, South Africa) the peasants
|
|
of Europe have been using cannabis as medicine, ritual material,
|
|
and to smoke or chew as far back as oral traditions go.
|
|
|
|
Marijuana was an integral part of the Scythian cult of the
|
|
dead wherein homage was paid to the memory of their departed
|
|
leaders. This use of cannabis was found in frozen Scythian tombs
|
|
dated from 500 to 300 B.C. Along with the cannabis a miniature
|
|
tripod-like tent over a copper censer was found in which the sacred
|
|
plant was burned.
|
|
|
|
It is interesting to note that two extraordinary rugs were
|
|
also found in the frozen Scythian tombs. One rug had a border
|
|
frieze with a repeated composition of a horseman approaching the
|
|
Great Goddess who holds the "Tree of Life" in one hand and raises
|
|
the other hand in welcome.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN AFRICA
|
|
|
|
The African continent is probably the zone showing the widest
|
|
prevalence of the hemp drug habit. When white men first went to
|
|
Africa, marijuana was part of the native way of life. Africa was
|
|
a continent of marijuana cultures where marijuana was an integral
|
|
part of religious ceremony. The Africans were observed inhaling
|
|
the smoke from piles of smoldering hemp. Some of these piles had
|
|
been placed upon altars. The Africans also utilized pipes. The
|
|
African Dagga (marijuana) cults believed that Holy Cannabis was
|
|
brought to earth by the gods. (Throughout the ancient world
|
|
Ethiopia was considered the home of the gods.)
|
|
|
|
In south central Africa, marijuana is held to be sacred and
|
|
is connected with many religious and social customs. Marijuana is
|
|
regarded by some sects as a magic plant possessing universal
|
|
protection against all injury to life, and is symbolic of peace
|
|
and friendship. Certain tribes consider hemp use a duty.
|
|
|
|
The earliest evidence for cannabis smoking in Africa outside
|
|
of Egypt comes from fourteenth century Ethiopia, where two ceramic
|
|
smoking-pipe bowls containing traces of excavation. In many parts
|
|
of East Africa, especially near Lake Victoria (the source for the
|
|
Nile), hemp smoking and hashish snuffing cults still exist.
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA IN THE NEW WORLD
|
|
|
|
According to Richard L. Lingeman in his book Drugs from A to
|
|
Z, page 146, "Marijuana smoking was known by the Indians before
|
|
Columbus." After the Spanish conquest in 1521 the Spaniards
|
|
recorded that the Aztecs (Mayans) used marijuana.
|
|
|
|
The present day Cuna Indians of Panama use marijuana as a
|
|
sacred herb and the Cora Indians of the Sierra Madre Occidental of
|
|
Mexico smoke marijuana in this course of their sacred ceremonies.
|
|
|
|
In the Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L by William A Emboden,
|
|
Jr., pages 229 and 231, is the following:
|
|
|
|
"A particularly interesting account of a Tepehua (no
|
|
relationship to "Tepecana") Indian ceremony with cannabis
|
|
was published in 1963 by the Mexican ethnologist Roberto
|
|
William Garcia of the University of Veracruz,
|
|
northernmost branch of the Maya language family.
|
|
|
|
"In his account of Teehua religion and ritual, Willianm
|
|
Garcia (1963:215-21) describes in some detail a communal
|
|
curing ceremony focused on a plant called santa rose,
|
|
"The Herb Which Makes One Speak", which he identified
|
|
botanically as Cannabis Sativa: According to Garcia it
|
|
is worshipped as an earth deity and is thought to be
|
|
alive and comparable to a piece of the heart of God."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MARIJUANA USE BY THE MOSLEMS
|
|
|
|
It is interesting to note that the use of hemp was not
|
|
prohibited by Mohammed (570-632 A.D.) while the use of alcohol was.
|
|
Moslems considered hemp as a "Holy Plant" and medieval Arab doctors
|
|
considered hemp as a sacred medicine which they called among other
|
|
names kannab. The Sufis (a Moslem sect) originating in 8th century
|
|
Persia used hashish as a means of stimulating mystical
|
|
consciousness and appreciation of the nature of Allah. Eating
|
|
hashish to the Sufis was "an act of worship". They maintained that
|
|
hashish gave them otherwise unattainable insights into themselves,
|
|
deeper understanding and that it made them feel witty. They also
|
|
claimed that it gave happiness, reduced anxiety, reduced worry, and
|
|
increased music appreciation.
|
|
|
|
According to one Arab legend Haydar, the Persian founder of
|
|
the religious order of Sufi came across the cannabis plant while
|
|
wandering in the Persian mountains. Usually a reserved and silent
|
|
man, when he returned to his monastery after eating some cannabis
|
|
leaves, his disciples were amazed at how talkative and animated
|
|
(full of spirit) he seemed. After cajoling Haydar into telling
|
|
them what he had done to make him feel so happy, his disciples went
|
|
out into the mountains and tried the cannabis themselves. So it
|
|
was, according to the legend, that the Sufis came to know the
|
|
pleasures of hashish. (Taken from the Introduction to A
|
|
Comprehensive Guide to Cannabis Literature by Earnest Abel.)
|
|
|
|
SUMMARY
|
|
|
|
Due to the prosecution of God's church from the beginning of
|
|
the Christian era and due to the persecution against marijuana the
|
|
true understanding of the Eucharist has remained hidden from
|
|
Christendom and the world, only to be revealed in these times, the
|
|
culmination of all human history.
|
|
|
|
We of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church declare marijuana for
|
|
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and for the
|
|
resurrection of mankind. The fruits of the mystery are remembrance
|
|
of the passions and death of Christ, propitiation for sins, defense
|
|
against temptation, and the indwelling of Christ in the faithful.
|
|
|
|
Preparations for communion consist of confession of sins,
|
|
fasting from sin, and reconciliation with all mankind. As such
|
|
the participant in the Eucharist will be in a condition in which
|
|
prayer and meditation are easy and fruitful. He will find his
|
|
emotion purified and stimulated, his spirituality quickened and
|
|
his heart filled with love.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SOURCES
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Schultes, article: "Man and Marijuana"
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Schultes and Albert Hofman, Plants of the Gods -- Origin
|
|
of Hallucinogenic Use (McGraw-Hill Book Co. [U.K.] Limited,
|
|
Maidenhead, England [1979]).
|
|
|
|
G.S. Chopra, article: "Man and Marijuana", International Journal
|
|
of the Addict,1969, 4, 215-247.
|
|
|
|
Earnest L. Abel, Marijuana, the First Twelve Thousand Years (Phenum
|
|
Press, New York, 1980)
|
|
|
|
Earnest L. Abel, A Comprehensive Guide to Cannabis Literature
|
|
|
|
Earnest L. Abel, Marijuana Dictionary: Words, Terms, Events and
|
|
Persons Relating to Cannabis(Greenwood Press, Westpoint,
|
|
Connecticut [1982])
|
|
|
|
Edward M. Breecher and the Editors of Consumer Reports, The
|
|
Consumer Union Report, "Licit and Illicit Drugs", (Little, Brown,
|
|
and Co.)
|
|
|
|
Louis Lewin, Phantastica, Narcotic and Stimulating Drugs: Their Use
|
|
and Abuse, (London: Kegan, Trench, Turbner and Co., Ltd. Translated
|
|
from the second German edition by P.H.A. Wirth, 1931) (N.Y.,
|
|
Dutton, 1964, reprint, 1924, trans. 1931)
|
|
|
|
Sula Benet, Cannabis and Culture, ed. V. Rubin (The Hague: Moutan,
|
|
1975)
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Lingeman, Drugs from A to Z, A Dictionary (McGraw-Hill
|
|
Book Co., 1969, 74)
|
|
|
|
John R. Glowa, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Drugs (Chelsea
|
|
House Pub., N.Y., New Haven, Philadelphia, 1986)
|
|
|
|
George Andrews and Simon Vinkenoog, The Book of Grass: An Anthology
|
|
on Indian Hemp; Chandler and Sharp Series in Cross Cultural Themes
|
|
(N.Y., Grove Press [1967])
|
|
|
|
Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, 1985, 90, 91, 92.
|
|
|
|
Peter T. Furst, Hallucinogens and Culture (Chandler and Sharp
|
|
Publishers, Inc., 1976)
|
|
|
|
Baudelaire, Artificial Paradises
|
|
|
|
Dr. Charles Tart, "On Being Stoned: A Psychological Study of
|
|
Marijuana Intoxication" (Science and Behavior, 1971)
|
|
|
|
William A. Emboden, Jr. Ritual Use of Cannabis Sativa L
|
|
|
|
S.I. Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia (Dent., London, 1970)
|
|
|
|
Edward Atchley, A History of the Use of Incense in Divine Worship
|
|
|
|
E. A. Wallis Budge, The Divine Origin of the Craft of the Herbalist
|
|
|
|
Egon C. Corti, A history of Smoking, by Count Corti; Translated by
|
|
Paul England (G.G. Harrap, London, England, 1931)
|
|
|
|
Francis Robicsek, The Smoking Gods: Tobacco in Mayan Art, History,
|
|
and Religion (University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1978)
|
|
|
|
Diodurus, Histories 1.97.7
|
|
|
|
Herman Scneider, History of World Civilization, 2v (New York, 1931)
|
|
|
|
M.N. Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization (Oxford University Press,
|
|
N.Y., 1922)
|
|
|
|
Sir Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism 3v. (Routledge & K. Paul,
|
|
London, 1921)
|
|
|
|
A.A. McDonell, India's Past (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1927)
|
|
|
|
Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary (N.Y., Harpers and Brothers,
|
|
1848)
|
|
|
|
G. Maspero, The Dawn of Civilization: Egypt and Chaldea (London,
|
|
1897)
|
|
|
|
Lucy Lamy, Egyptian Mysteries
|
|
|
|
Friedrich Ratzel, History of Mankind (N.Y., Gordon Press)
|
|
|
|
R.H. Charles The Book of Jubilees, cap, iij, (London, 1902)
|
|
|
|
Alfred Wiedemann, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (London, 1987)
|
|
|
|
Geoffrey Wainwright, Eucharist and Eschatology (Epworth Press,
|
|
London, 1971)
|
|
|
|
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1966
|
|
|
|
The Book of the Dead, Edit. E.A.W. Budge, British Museum, 1895, p.
|
|
250
|
|
|
|
J. Jeremias, in Encyclopedia, Iv, 4119, quoting Rawlinson,
|
|
Cuneiform Inscription IV. 19 (59) Cnf. the story of Bel and the
|
|
Dragon.
|
|
|
|
John McKenzie, The Bible Dictionary (N.Y. MacMillan Pub. Co., 1965)
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Holy Spirit" (15th Edition, 1978)
|
|
Micropaedia, Ready Reference and Index
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Sacrifice" (15th Edition, 1978)
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Pharmacological Cults" (15th Edition,
|
|
1978), p. 199
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Coptic"
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Essenes"
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Theraputea"
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Sacred Pipe" (15th Edition)
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Incense"
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Hemp" (Microppaedia Ready Reference and
|
|
Index, p. 1016)
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Roman Catholicism, The Eucharist" (Volume
|
|
15, p. 998)
|
|
|
|
Encyclopedia Britannica, "Mysticism"
|
|
|
|
King James version of The Bible
|
|
|
|
The Apocrypha
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We hope you enjoyed this pamphlet. If you have any questions
|
|
or comments, we would like to see them. Send them to the Ethiopian
|
|
Zion Coptic Church, P.O. Box 1161, Minneola, FL 34755-1161.
|
|
|
|
We of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church decided to publish this
|
|
pamphlet in order to give the public an opportunity to study the
|
|
church and its doctrine; not from inflated and misleading media but
|
|
from historical and Biblical reference. The Church has received
|
|
extensive publicity as "60 Minutes" has done a segment; Life, Omni,
|
|
Science, Rolling Stone, and High Times magazines have all done
|
|
articles, countless newspaper articles have been written, and
|
|
various brothers have been on radio and TV talk shows around the
|
|
country.
|
|
|
|
We of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church revere ganja
|
|
(marijuana) as our "holy" Eucharist and "spiritual intensifier"
|
|
with Biblical, historical and divine associations for its use.
|
|
Ganja is the mystical body and blood of "Jes-us" -- the burnt
|
|
offering made by fire -- which allows a member to see and know the
|
|
"living God", or the "God in man".
|
|
|