Talk:Religious and spiritual use of cannabis

Hindu and Buddhist use

Folks - I've deleted this line:

Cannabis continues to play a significant role in the meditation ritual of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, and has been a practice since 500 BCE when cannabis was regarded as a holy plant.[30][35]

Although I wish the information was true, it's not.

Buddhism didn't reach Tibet until at least seven hundred years after the 500BCE figure given. (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/history/tib_timeline.htm)

Although I imagine there are pot smokers among Tibetans living in India and Nepal, in forty years of association with Tib. Buddhist teachers and followers, I have yet to meet one. Much, if not most, of the tradition has been preserved in monastic centers where the use of any intoxicants is prohibited. In lay life, it's alcohol that's used, not cannabis.

The two references cited for the (now) deleted line were a television program and Jack Herer's enthusiastic but less than authoritative "The Emperor Wears No Clothes: The Authoritative Historical Record of Cannabis and the Conspiracy Against Marijuana."

This is the first time I've edited anything on Wikipedia. I apologize if I've made any errors in procedure.

Mark —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluephurba (talk • contribs) 01:14, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Removal of "Ancient African Use" section

I deleted the "Ancient African Use" section. Simple reason: nothing in that section about religious use. It was all about medicinal use. The entire text there was: "Cannabis was used in Africa to restore appetite and relieve pain of hemorrhoids. It was also used as an antiseptic. In a number of countries, it was used to treat tetanus, hydrophobia, delirium tremens, infantile convulsions, neuralgia and other nervous disorders, cholera, menorrhagia, rheumatism, hay fever, asthma, skin diseases, and protracted labor during childbirth" Sure, if the hemorrhoid is really bad, maybe it seems that way, but there was nothing religious there obviously. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 120.17.8.20 (talk) 11:19, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

Regarding first reported sacred use in India

I will repair a part in the article. Reason: I don't doubt that cannabis was used in India religiously from very ancient years, but the first related reports come from Atharva Veda, according to my cited source written sometime around 2000 - 1400 BC. No serious reports saying it was used "as early as 3000 BC" (you disagree? show us a valid reference). Also, regarding cannabis being reported in Rig Veda, this is quite inaccurate, as the identification of the famous "Soma" plant is still highly controversial. Another thing, the two references previously cited in the sentence I will delete now, did not clarify up these issues. Wawawemn (talk) 18:28, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Cannabis in Ancient Israel

I haven't looked into the idea of cannabis being one of the ingredients in the anointing oil, so it is possible. I have my doubts because the Hebrew "bosem" is more correctly translated as fragrant, which to the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge, pot isn't.

In of itself, קנה means "reed" (see Is. 19:6 -unless pot was growing on the sides of the Nile), so even if it is correct the "kene bosem" means "cannabis", not every mention of a reed is referring to "kene bosem".

Additionally, the link provided as a source for kene bosem being cannabis is far from being a primary source.

The more major problem is that in the section discussing the "moral status of marijuana", apparently a number of references to plants in the Bible are taken as referring to cannabis, which is factually incorrect:

• Genesis 1:12, 1:29-31, Psalm 104:14-15, Ezekiel 34:29 all talk about food or plants in general. Especially in Genesis, the purpose of the plants is explicitly for food consumption.

• Is. 18:4-5 is explicitly talking about grapevines.

• Ex. 30:23 -It is possible that this refers to cannabis.

Also, the article states that cannabis is not mentioned in the Decalogue. Big deal -neither are hundreds of other laws in the Bible.

For these reasons, I am removing the supposed references in the Bible, and changing the main article to reflect the fact that as of now the evidence pointing to kene bosem as cannabis is inconclusive.

Ralleigh (talk) 17:46, 13 November 2011 (UTC) In the end I didn't change the article to reflect that the evidence for kene bosem in inconclusive because the article cites a primary source which I cannot refer to at this time. Ralleigh (talk) 18:04, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

Lead pic

The lead pic does not represent the article at all, we need one that depicts cannabis in a spiritual setting and a plant per se isnt that. Thanks, ♫ SqueakBox talk contribs 23:39, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Just reverting me with no explanation is not acceptable. I want to know how exactly this pic illustrates the article, there is no info on this page. Thanks, ♫ SqueakBox talk contribs 15:41, 17 November 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the issue is. Remove the picture. I'm not sure why my edits need to be removed as well. I am reverting the article to what I had. If the picture comes back up, please remove only the picture, and not my edits. Thank you. Ralleigh (talk) 01:17, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Looks okay now. Thanks, ♫ SqueakBox talk contribs 13:03, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Sula Benet

Duplicate section

Cannabis may have been an ingredient in the Holy anointing oil mentioned in various sacred Hebrew texts. Polish anthropologist Sula Benet published etymological arguments that the Aramaic word for hemp can be read as kannabos and appears to be a cognate to the modern word 'cannabis', with the root kan meaning reed or hemp and bosm meaning fragrant. Both cannabis and calamus are fragrant, reed-like plants containing psychotropic compounds. While Benet's conclusion regarding the psychoactive use of cannabis is not at this time universally or generally accepted among most Jewish scholars, there is general agreement that hemp is used in talmudic sources to refer to hemp fibers, as hemp was a vital commodity before linen replaced it. +This lot, moved to Talk: The Unction, Seal, laying on of hands, the Counselor, and the Holy Spirit are all often synonymous with the Holy anointing oil. Many early Christian and Gnostic texts indicate that the Chrism is essential to becoming a Christian.

The Guardian 2003 article might meet WP:notability simply on the persistent urban legend aspect of Sula Benet's idea, but as it stands the rest of this section is WP:OR/WP:FRINGE and it just brings the rest of the article into disrepute. In ictu oculi (talk) 04:51, 1 December 2011 (UTC)