HISTORY OF CANNABIS
An ancient plant, cannabis in its many forms has been used continuously by people the world over for thousands of years.
Its evolution stemming from the Tibetan Plateau, cannabis began to find its way to the earliest human civilizations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and all over the ancient world.
Prized for its use as a physical plant for water resistant chordage, nutritious seed (food source), fiber for textile materials (canvas related to the word cannabis), and eventually paper, cannabis was also clearly valued for its medicinal and spiritual effects.
Archaeological records are quite clear that ancient Jewish and proto-orthodox Christian sects partially responsible for what would become the dominant western metaphysical worldview, used cannabis in their religious, spiritual, and medical practices.
Mainstream America and Wesdtern culture is now coming to understand that cannabis is referred to in the Bible and Torah, Exodus 30:23, as well as in recipes for both incense and holy anointing oil reserved only for religious leaders. These spiritual products and practices were extremely important for religious leaders in the communities in which they served.
Spiritually, cannabis was most often used in the form of incense or topical oils to commune with (the feminine aspect of) God.
Often the same spiritual formulations and recipes would be repeated as medicinal remedies.as evidenced by the well documented history of medieval witch hunts and European plagues.
Traditional herbalists and old-world, non-christian, religious leaders, many of whom were women, used cannabis infused recipes considered spiritually wicked by Catholic Church authorities.
The Catholic Church was able to attain these recipies by means of torture and other forms of violent oppression, and found their way into Catholic Church recipes for medicinal treatments, most specifically cures for the plague.
The thirst for alternate knowledge has historically been culturally connected to cannabis knowledge due to the old world knowledge being so criminalized by Church, political powers and culture.
Cannabis played an important role helping ancient empires build their armies and navies as a cheap and fast strategic source of textiles, chordage, food and feed.
Cannabis was also a key to empires expanding its maritime reach. Cannabis and its highly valuable water resistant fibrous properties, was used to make canvas sails and naval ropes, and during exploration, seeds were brought aboard European ships and sewn in newly settled regions for the benefit of the empire builders.
ventually, The British West Indies company introduced cannabis and its form of hashish to many new Western consumers after Napoleon went to Egypt. From there, cannabis made its way to North America as Hemp in the colonies (Indian Hemp) and later as hashish and other forms, and lastly as marijuana culture from Central America.
CANNABIS IS ANCIENT AND SPIRITUAL
- Cannabis was one of earliest cultivated crops for many reasons. Food, Fiber, Medicine, Religious.
- Canvas, paper (China), chordage, early fiber industries.
- Found in sacred texts for many ancient and modern religions(all Abrahamic) and throughout world culture. Kaneh Bosm/Cannabis in Bible, Torah, Zend Avesta (Zoroastrian), 1 of 5 sacred plants in Vedas (Hindu, Shiva, Bhang)
Denying people the freedom to practice their religion safely is against the U.S. Constitution and 1st Amendment.
“Prohibition cannot be enforced for the simple reason that the majority of American people do not want it enforced and are resisting its enforcement.”
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THE HISTORY OF CANNABIS PROHIBITION + TODAY’S LEGALIZATION MOVEMENT
