[deep toke]

Pot church takes a hit

https://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/metro/137087

S. Arizona couple face prison for what they say is religious use of
marijuana
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.09.2006
advertisement
PIMA — The Church of Cognizance, which has quietly operated here since 1991,
has an unusual tenet — its worshippers deify and use marijuana as part of
their faith.
Until federal authorities charged them with possessing 172 pounds of their
leafy green sacrament earlier this year, church founders Dan and Mary
Quaintance say they smoked, ate or drank marijuana daily as a way of
becoming more spiritually enlightened.
But now, with added conspiracy charges, the Quaintances face up to 40 years
each in prison in a case they call religious persecution.
Federal prosecutors say religious freedom does not exempt the use of illegal
drugs. The Quaintances say it does. They also say a recent U.S. Supreme
Court decision allowing a religious group's use of a hallucinogenic tea
containing a federally banned substance should nullify the charges against
them.
The couple is scheduled to go on trial in Las Cruces, N.M., on July 18,
though defense lawyers are asking for a delay.
"They have a bona fide religion and the only marijuana they utilize is for
the practice of their religion," said Mary Quaintance's attorney, Mario A.
Esparza. "Our Constitution in the United States guarantees that freedom of
religion, and the Quaintances are being punished for the very thing the
Constitu- tion stands for.
"They did not distribute to anyone outside of the church and they never
profited from it," Esparza said.
The Church of Cognizance, which leaders say has 72 monasteries located in
members' homes nationwide, has a simple motto: "With good thoughts, good
words and good deeds, we honor marijuana; as the teacher, the provider, the
protector."
Dan Quaintance, 54, says the church has 40 to 50 members in Arizona, but
cannot estimate how many there are nationwide. Leaders say members must be
18 to join, and he says the average age of worshippers in Arizona is 35.
Dan, who preaches at weddings and funerals of church members, says the
church does not sell its sacrament or proselytize.
"Laws exist to protect people from injury and we've injured nobody," said
Dan Quaintance, an Iowa native, Vietnam veteran and retired welder who
identifies himself as his church's "chief cognoscente."
"Marijuana is the averter of death," he said. "The energy and spirit that is
in marijuana is God. You consume the plant and you consume God. You are
sacrificing your body to the deity."
The Quaintances were arrested Feb. 22 in Lordsburg, N.M., just seven days
before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a small religious group
based in Santa Fe that combines Christianity and American Indian practices
could use hallucinogenic tea in its ceremonies. The tea, called hoasca,
contains dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, known for its hallucinogenic
properties.
A variety of religious groups representing millions of members filed briefs
supporting O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, or UDV, and its
use of hoasca — among them the Arizona Civil Liberties Union, the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals and
the Union for Reform Judaism. Some supporters likened banning the tea to a
federal ban on sacramental wine.
Graham County Sheriff Frank Hughes says that in his 10 years on the job,
he's never had a complaint about the Quaintances, who live in a small
rectangular home in the sparsely populated rural community of Pima, about 90
miles northeast of Tucson.
Their home sits on a four-acre property that's dotted with old vehicles.
Alongside their house is a wall made out of tires, which the Quaintances say
eventually will form the boundary of an outdoor chapel.
The couple's 31-year-old daughter, Zina; her husband, Tim; and their three
children have a home on the property, as do the Quaintances' 28-year-old
son, Dennis, and his wife, Vanessa, and their son.
Their home bears no resemblance to a traditional church, inside or out. Yet
the Quaintances call it a monastery and are adamant that the church they
founded together is a sincere, legitimate faith — on par with any mainstream
religious denomination.
A tapestry of Bob Marley smoking a large joint decorates the front hallway,
and inside, the couple has a few handmade pipes, some of which have won
ribbons in the glazing division of the Graham County Fair. Most of their
pipes and other sacramental accessories were seized when authorities
searched their home March 3, they say.
The Quaintances do not grow their sacrament but, rather, say they rely on
donations of it, which they pick up from church "couriers." That's what they
say they were about to do when they were arrested.
They smoke the marijuana or sometimes blend it into a milk-like drink,
saying it helps them to become more enlightened and in tune with the
universe. Until they were arrested, the Quaintances say they'd smoked or
ingested the plant every day of their 33-year marriage, even before they
formed their church. Both were marijuana users when they met, and they
credit the plant to helping their marriage survive.
"It makes you better at what you do, enhances who you are. It is the most
beautiful plant on Earth," said Mary Quaintance, 51, a homemaker from
Northern California who married Dan in 1973, when she was 18. They met while
Mary worked as nurse's aide in Chico, Calif., and rented a room from Dan's
parents.
Dan Quaintance, who grew up in the United Methodist faith and once was
president of his church youth group, says finding marijuana helped him
finish high school, later kick a heroin addiction and get through acute
pancreatitis.
It was during his illness that he began researching marijuana's use among
ancient cultures, and he started to think about forming his own church. As
he reread the Bible, he believed many passages that referred to a leaf, tree
or plant were talking about marijuana.
"Religion is basically putting your faith in what you rely on," he said.
"Jesus started his church because of what he believed and learned."
He filed a "declaration of religious sentiment" on behalf of the Church of
Cognizance with the Graham County Recorder's Office in 1994, though Dan, his
family and other members say the church dates to 1991.
Services at the Church of Cognizance aren't scheduled. According to the
Quaintances, members call the monasteries and arrange a worship time, which
typically includes using marijuana and listening to sermons by fellow
cognoscenti that talk about peaceful existence.
"Dan and Mary are two of the most beautiful, wholesome people," said Daniel
Jeffrey, an enlightened cognoscente in Puna, Hawaii. "We're not involved
with herb for any kind of profit gain. If you tell people that, their mind
just can't grasp it."
Still, Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the Virginia-based First
Amendment Center, says any group seeking an exemption to the nation's drug
laws, even for religious purposes, has a "hill to climb."
And he says the federal government is likely in a better position to win
against the religious use of marijuana than it was for the hallucinogenic
tea case, given the prevalence of marijuana and the federal government's
concern about a drug problem in the country.
The hallucinogenic tea is difficult to find and reportedly doesn't taste
very good, Haynes said, noting the same is true for peyote, which also is a
federally banned substance.
A federal exemption for peyote exists when it's used for religious practices
by members of the Native American Church. In Arizona, people using peyote
who aren't members of the Native American Church also are exempt as long as
the peyote is used for a "bona fide religious purpose" in a manner that
doesn't threaten the public. But there are no such exceptions for marijuana.
"Marijuana is difficult, even if they have a sincere religious belief,"
Haynes said. "The federal government has already successfully fought efforts
to get a medical exemption."
The U.S. Constitution contains no legally recognizable definition of
religion, but courts still can apply a test of sincerity, said Jeremy Gunn,
director of the Freedom of Religion and Belief program for the American
Civil Liberties Union, which supported the UDV church.
If, for example, a group of prisoners calling themselves the Church of
Cabernet and Filet Mignon argued religious belief as a reason to be served
wine and better food, the government would have a right to question the
sincerity of their theological belief, he said.
"The UDV case did not open the floodgate," he said. "The government needs to
show why it makes sense to apply the drug laws in that circumstance. In the
UDV case, the hallucinogenic tea is honestly a traditional part of the
religious practice."
The office of the U.S. attorney for New Mexico, David C. Iglesias,
prosecuted the UDV case, and also is prosecuting the Quaintances. His office
declined to comment on a pending case.
The Quaintances have no history of criminal convictions in Arizona, where
they've lived since 1986, but both have prior convictions for marijuana
possession in Washington state, records show. Dan Quaintance says he also
has a 1974 conviction from California for driving under the influence and
spent 30 days in jail for that offense.
The Quaintances spent two weeks in a New Mexico jail after their arrest this
year and, as part of their court-ordered release, must have regular urine
tests to ensure they aren't using any marijuana. Both say that living
without their deity for the first time in more than three decades is
extremely difficult.
The complaint against the couple, which was amended, includes two other
defendants — Timothy Jason Kripner, 23, of Tucson and Joseph Allen Butts,
48, of California.
The revised complaint raised the stakes in the case, adding conspiracy
charges and more than 220 pounds of marijuana. Dan Quaintance says Kripner
and Butts are both certified couriers for the church. Kripner was traveling
with the Quaintances when they were arrested, and authorities say Butts was
involved in a conspiracy with them to distribute marijuana.
"They may take Dan and Mary down but they will never take the church down,"
Mary Quaintance said.
● Contact reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or at
sinnes@azstarnet.com. Go to www.azstarnet.com/faith for other recent
religion coverage.

[deep toke]

Burning Shiva: Cannabis, Zoroaster's Good Narcotic
https://pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1764.html

Host Chris Bennett discusses the Zoroastrians, known popularly as the Magi and referred to as "the drug peddlers of the ancient world", for their use of cannabis to achieve Shamanic revelations. Find out how this ancient Persian cannabis cult influenced the developing Christian cosmology in many profound ways.

[glock23]

Wow, I've known quite a few Parsees...didn't know they used marijuana for religious rites...interesting stuff!

[naga_sadu]

Glock:

Didn't u run into a farsi community in Mumbai? ...the ones who wear the green caps (versus white).

And I'm still looking up ur requested info. The problem is, establishments change faster than a human changes underwear. So plz. bear w/ me for a few days.

[deep toke]

Mystical magic mushroom experience not God in a pill
Last Updated Wed, 12 Jul 2006 12:10:14 EDT

Video: https://www.cbc.ca/story/science/nati...oom-magic.html

CBC News

Magic mushrooms taken by hippies do produce mystical experiences, but they should not be confused with faith, a theologian says.

Critics say that the effect produced by magic mushrooms isn't a true spiritual experience. (CBC) Critics say that the effect produced by magic mushrooms isn't a true spiritual experience. (CBC)

In a recently published study, more than 60 per cent of research subjects who were given capsules of psilocybin derived from mushrooms described the experience as mystical and profound.

But critics of the study say the manufactured spiritual feeling from magic mushrooms should not be confused with a true spiritual experience.

"All this did was stimulate that part of the human personality that produced certain feeling states and altered states of consciousness," said theologian Dave Reed, a professor at the University of Toronto. "Those are no criteria for an authentic encounter with God."

The researchers chose subjects who were religious, believing they would be less troubled by mystic side-effects. They don't yet know what would happen to subjects without spiritual beliefs.

The research is meant to help scientists understand how our thoughts, emotions and behaviour are grounded in biology, the researchers said.

"We're just measuring what can be observed," said Roland Griffiths, a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry and behavioural biology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who led the study. "We're not entering into 'Does God exist or not exist.' This work can't and won't go there."

'Potential is great'

In a commentary on the study, author Huston Smith, an authority in comparative religion, said mystical experience seems to be as old as humankind.

"This is the first scientific demonstration in 40 years, and the most rigorous ever, that profound mystical states can be produced safely in the laboratory. The potential is great."

Smith proposes studying what conditions and practices best help people to hold on to the "moments of revelation."

The research subjects said the experiences led to positive changes in their lives. Two months after taking the drug, 79 per cent said they felt a greater sense of well-being, which they likened to a life-altering event.

"When my eldest daughter was born, that was profoundly meaningful to me, and when my father recently passed away, that moved me very deeply," said Griffiths. "You know, the experience was sort of like that, they would say."

Roland Griffiths says his team will study whether magic mushrooms can help cancer patients. (CBC) Roland Griffiths says his team will study whether magic mushrooms can help cancer patients. (CBC)

Looking inward

During the sessions, volunteers relaxed on a couch while wearing an eye mask and listening to classical music. They were encouraged to focus their attention inward. Some were given a placebo.

Psilocybin is a hallucinogen that hasn't been found to be toxic or addictive in animals or humans. It works by mimicking the effects of message-carrying serotonin on the brain.

Of the 36 healthy volunteers, almost one-third reported they felt anxious, depressed or even frightened after taking the drug, according to the report published in this week's online issue of the journal Psychopharmacology.

For most people, though, magic mushrooms or the compound in them may have therapeutic value.

Griffiths's team plans further studies to test whether the drug can help people with advanced cancer-related depression or anxiety, as well as the role of psilocybin in treating drug dependence.

"In terms of therapeutic uses, some of the things that have been suggested is terminal cancer patients, people with intractable pain," said Wende Wood, a psychiatric pharmacist in Toronto. "It would be for a small population, a very distinct population of people."

[glock23]

hmm...i feel like some shrooms now. sadu..didn't know about the green caps. thanks for being as informative as ever

[deep toke]

Pima couple uses freedom of religion to fight drug charges

By Lindsey Stockton, Assistant Editor

A local couple who claims to practice an ancient religion that deifies and allows them to consume marijuana will be in court next month to fight for freedom to practice their religion.

Dan and Mary Quaintance of Pima are the founders of the Church of Cognizance, which practices the Zoroastrian religion. According to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, the Zoroastrian beliefs are ancient, though its holy book, the Avesta, only dates back to the second century.

Because the church’s members, or cogniscenti, believe that the cannabis plant is an ancient holy entity and use the plant as its holy sacrament, the Quaintances have found themselves in legal trouble because the use, distribution and possession of the substance is illegal in the United States.

In February, the couple was arrested in New Mexico for having 172 pounds of marijuana in their possession. The Drug Enforcement Agency took the Quaintances into custody and executed a search warrant, with help from the Southeastern Arizona Drug Task Force, on their property in Pima.

Though the task force was aware of the group and its activities, it did not have enough evidence for a search warrant until the task force joined with the DEA, Task Force Spokesman Dave Boyd said.

Though the search warrant produced minimal results, the couple were jailed briefly on the possession charges. Released until their dismissal hearing, the Quaintances are dealing with several different release orders, which have made it difficult — if not impossible — for them to be involved with their church.

“The first release order said we couldn’t talk to any members of our church, but we could talk to the press,” Dan said. “That was amended to allow us contact with members of our church, but we weren’t supposed to talk to the press or promote our church in any way. It has been changed again, and we really aren’t sure who we can or cannot talk to.”

The Quaintances were scheduled to go on trial in New Mexico next week, but their lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the charges. That motion will be heard in mid-August, and Dan said his lawyer already has approval from the judge to bring in archaeological and religious experts to testify.

Though federal prosecutors say religious freedom does not exempt the use of illegal drugs, the Quaintances and their attorney, Mario A. Esparza, say differently based on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a small religious group based in Santa Fe, N.M., that combines Christianity and American Indian practices could use hallucinogenic tea in its ceremonies. The decision was based on the 1993 Religious Freedom Resto-ration Act, which says the government needs to justify any action that would substantially burden people from practicing their faith.

“The Arizona Constitution is very clear about providing people with the right to practice their religion unmolested,” Dan said. “We and some of the higher-ups in our church see this as a hate crime against the people who practice our faith.

According to its Web site, the Church of Cognizance preaches: “With good thoughts, good words and good deeds, we honor marijuana as the teacher, the provider and the protector.”

“For us, the marijuana is the protector, provider and teacher, promoting good thoughts, good words and good deeds,” Dan said. “None of that is harmful to the health or safety of society in general.”

He also said, however, he does not refer to cannabis as “marijuana” because “that is the name it has been demonized under.” The plant used in the Church of Cognizance religious rites is Haoma, which is the ancient name for the cannabis plant.

“I did extensive research into this topic before founding the church — I didn’t just jump into this,” Dan said. “Archaeology has shown a correlation between cannabis and the Tree of Life in the Bible.”

Dan said there are scientific studies that show THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, gives people the creativity to think for themselves, better analyze situations and regulate almost every function in the human body.

“We don’t sit around and get intoxicated all day,” Dan said. “We never consume marijuana to the point of impairment, nor do we encourage others to.”

Using the archaeological evidence and information from studies that have come out of respected institutions, such as the University of Arizona and Harvard University, the Quaintances believe they can make a case for the continuance of their church’s practices.

“We filed the founding of the church at the Graham County Recorder’s Office in 1994 and declared our sentiments,” Dan said.

The Quaintances live in Pima with their son and daughter and their families, which is the common practice of members of the church.

“Each group has a family-oriented monastery, and they hold the same beliefs about the sacredness of the haoma plant,” Dan said. “We live close to our family and get to see our grandchildren everyday. We love it, as do our grandchildren, and, hopefully, when we are no longer able to care for ourselves, they will be there to help care for us.”

The church consists of more than 72 registered monasteries in 42 states and several other countries. The average age of a member is 35. Though it seems that the church has grown quickly since its beginning, Mary said the growth is actually very slow compared to others.

[deep toke]

Church of Cognizance out of line with zoroastrian religion

By Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor
Eastern Arizona Courier

https://www.eacourier.com/articles/20...day/news01.txt


Members of the Zoroastrian faith are prepared to defend their religion against claims made by those in Pima's Church of Cognizance.

Dan and Mary Quaintance of Pima claim they use marijuana - often mixed with milk - in their practice of the Zoroastrian faith.

The Quaintances are awaiting trial after being arrested in New Mexico in February for having 172 pounds of marijuana in their possession.

While milk, and goat's milk specifically, can sometimes be used in ceremonies in the Zoroastrian religion, Rustom Kevala, the president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America, said marijuana has never been used as part of their religion.

"We don't want Zoroastrians to be associated with this kind of church," Kevala said. "I guess they (the Quaintances) were trying to find justification for the use."

Kevala was so deeply offended by the Quaintances' claims that he contacted the U.S. District Attorney's Office in New Mexico to see if he can help in the case.

"I can offer one of our priests to testify, if needed," Kevala said.

One of the crucial aspects of the Zoroastrian religion is that members are fire-worshippers and are forbidden to even light a cigarette, much less use drugs, Zoroastrian Association of Arizona secretary Parizad Patel-Pascuicco said.

"It's just such a hoax to me to label our Zoroastrian religion into their little marijuana (church)," Patel-Pascuicco, a Chandler resident, said.

Another strike against the Quaintance's claim is that Zoroastrians must be born into the religion, which can be traced back to before the time of Christ in ancient Persia. The religion, which is still today based mainly out of Iran and India, is very restricted to outside converts.

"You have to be born into the religion and initiated by a Zoroastrian priest when they are 8 or 9 in a navjote," Patel-Pascuicco said. A navjote is akin to a baptism. "My husband is of Italian descent and could not be Zoroastrian even if he wanted to."

There are about 20,000 Zoroastrians living in North America today, Kevala said, and while he said there are some who believe the biblical Tree of Life may be herbs growing in the Himalayas, there has never been the belief that the herbs are marijuana.

Dan Quaintance, who was raised in the Methodist church, told a Courier reporter earlier this month he looked into the history of the marijuana plant, which he refers to as Haoma.

"Archaeology has shown a correlation between cannabis and the Tree of Life in the Bible," Quaintance said.

Kevala said the North American Mobeds Council, a group of zoroastrian priests who serve as an advisory body for the religion, disclaim the theory the Haoma plant belongs to the genus Canna.

"Firstly, we do not know for a fact what species the Haoma plant belonged to," the council states. "There is absolutely no factual evidence that Haoma plant belonged to genus Canna (Cannabis). It is pure speculation."

Patel-Pascuicco was appalled that the Quaintances' church could ever be associated with her religion.

"We've never heard of them," she said. "They are being disingenuous and giving our religion a bad name."


My Response

To the The Eastern Arizona Courier

In response to the article: Church of Cognizance out of line with zoroastrian religion
By Adam Gaub, Assistant Editor

Despite the statements made in Adam Gaub's article by modern day American descendants of the Zoroastrian religion claiming that marijuana was not the plant used in for te sacramental haoma, the reality of the matter is this, the American Zoroastrian community itself acknowledges that the identity of the true haoma has been lost to time. As stated in the article:

"Kevala said the North American Mobeds Council, a group of zoroastrian priests who serve as an advisory body for the religion, disclaim the theory the Haoma plant belongs to the genus Canna.

"Firstly, we do not know for a fact what species the Haoma plant belonged to," the council states. "There is absolutely no factual evidence that Haoma plant belonged to genus Canna (Cannabis). It is pure speculation.""
https://www.eacourier.com/articles/20...day/news01.txt

In the case of Persian references, despite the claims of the North American Mobeds Council a number of orthodox Zoroastrian sources see haoma as "very possibly 'marijuana' or 'hashish' (Cannabis Sativa)",(The Zarathustran Assembly, www.zoroastrian.org). Ali A. Jafarey, who has been writing on the Zoroastrian religion for over forty years, states of the many botanical candidates for the haoma, the "mushroom seems to be farfetched" and the commonly used modern ingredient for the haoma ceremony, Ephedra, is "void of all the qualities described in the Avesta and the Vedas, is definitely a late substitute. The author, a teetotaler, has drunk large glassfuls of hûm juice in Yazd without feeling any side effects. Ephedra supplies 'ephedrine' medically used to treat low blood pressure. Ephedrine is decongestant. It does not push a person 'high' but it does make one feel 'hyper'!"

As Jafarey explains of the soma....

"The description of the plant that it was greenish in color (zairi/hari), grew on mountains well north of the Indus Valley and was traded by outsiders, had a special ritual to prepare, was an instant intoxicant prepared from pounding and extracting its juice, and that the Saka tribes of eastern Central Asia are called "haumavarka" (haoma-gatherers) by Achaemenians; all point, in my opinion, to what is now known as Indian hemp (cannabis sativa)".

"...the ceremony resembles... the present practice of solemnly pounding... extracting and straining its juice, and mixing it with water, milk, poppy seeds, and almonds by sufîs, faqirs, pirs, sadhus, and other Muslim and Hindu mystics of certain orders and circles in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, particularly those connected with shrines and holy places. It still has a halo around it!.... The drink, an instant psychoactive mixture, is greenish in color. It is called "dûgh-e vahdat" (unity milk) by Iranian mystics and "thâdal" (cooling, refreshing) by Sindhi sufis. One description says its addicts "never die," a far echo of "dûraosha" for haoma."(Jafarey 2,000)

Interestingly in our own time the questions around the identity of the haoma has been answered by the archeological find of an ancinet proto-Zoroastrian fire temple in the Kara Kum Desert just outside of Iran. The excavation by Russian archeologist Victor Sarianidi of this site has answered the soma riddle by showing through fossilized plant material and artifacts that soma was a perpeperation of hemp and ephedra. As reported in ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF VEDIC STUDIES (EJVS), Vol. 9 (2003) Issue 1d (May 5) this is a historical fact not speculation.
https://www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs/ej.../ejvs0901d.txt

“[F]or the first time in the world archeological practice, monumental temples were found in which intoxicating beverage of the soma-haoma type were prepared for cult ceremonies…. The excavations documentally proved that poppy, cannabis and ephedra were used for making the soma-haoma drinks, and thickets of these plants were found in excess in the vicinity of the excavated temples of Margiana.”(Sarianidi, 2003)

Soviet archeologists uncovered a large shrine, about the size of a football field dating from 2,000 BC and consisting of two parts, one of which was obviously for public, but the other, as researcher Richard Rudgeley describes "hidden from the gaze of the multitude, an inner sanctum of the priesthood. In one of these private rooms were found three ceramic bowls. Analysis of samples found in these vessels by Professor Mayer-Melikyan revealed the traces of both cannabis and Ephedra. Clearly both these psychoactive substances had been used in conjunction in the making of hallucinogenic drinks. In the adjoining room of the same inner sanctum were found ten ceramic pot-stands which appear to have been used in conjunction with strainers designed to separate the juices from the twigs, stems and leaves of the plants. In another room at the other end of the shrine a basin containing remains of a considerable quantity of cannabis was discovered, as well as a number of pottery stands and strainers that have also been associated with making psychoactive beverages."(Rudgley, 1998)

Remnants from vessels recovered at the site and involved in the preparation of the sacred drink have impressions from cannabis seeds left in the gypsum that settled over the millennia and the remants of ephedra, poppy and mostly cannabis in the white sediment stuck to the sides of ancient pots and pitchers. Russian archeologist Victor Sariandidi sayas this proves these plants “were used for making the soma – haoma drinks...”(Sariandidi 2003)

A slightly later but related site "revealed remains of Ephedra again, but this time in conjunction with the pollen of poppies." As Rudgeley explains "the discovery in the shrines of the remains of opium, cannabis and Ephedra in ritual vessels that are dated between 2000-1000 BC show that soma in its Iranian form haoma may be considered as a composite psychoactive substance comprising of cannabis and Ephedra in one instance and opium and Ephedra in another.” (Rudgley, 1998)

This archeological evidence goes a long way to answering the riddle of the ancient soma, it accounts for the current use of one of the main candidates, ephedra, as it was a part of the original ingredients. As well, the later use of opium poppies indicate other plants may have later been used as a substitute for cannabis, and this may in fact be the source of much of the confusion on this issue. Possibly, when the Aryans left their homeland access to haoma became more difficult and when the original plant was not available other herbs were used as a substitute. This is a suggestion of Mircea Eliade who wrote that, “Whatever plant was used by the Indo-Aryans in the early centuries, it is certain that it was later replaced by other botanical species”(Eliade 1978).

If Eliade’s suggestion is correct, then eventually these continuing substitutions could have caused so much confusion among the ancient worshippers, that over a few generations the original identity of the plant was lost and forgotten and the name became one that referred to a variety of plant drugs, each becoming soma through ritual consecrations. Indications of this later development may be found in the Atharvaveda, written centuries after the original Vedas, in reference to a variety of plants including cannabis, being governed by the god Soma; “We tell of the five kingdoms of herbs headed by Soma: may it and the Kusha grass, and bhanga and barley, and the herb Saha release us from anxiety”.

In the Persian mythology the Haoma, is said to be a foretaste of the White Hom. The institution of the White Hom takes place at a cosmological time identical in many respects with the Christian Apocalypse, when the final savior Sasoyshant, sacrifices the last sacred Ox, and "from the body of the dying victim were born all herbs and health-giving plants.... from is blood the vine, which produces the sacred drink of the mysteries." Interestingly, the Persian creation mythology has it that Ahura-Mazda, (God), eased the pain of the first created Ox with cannabis after it had been poisoned by Angru Mainyu (the devil), who cursed it with death and disease and other maladies(Hinnells 1973). In later times, the figure of Sosyshant merged with the older Persian god Mithra, and a depiction from the Roman period, in which the cults popularity became widespread, clearly shows a cannabis leaf pouring forth from the bull's wound, perhaps indicating that the bull heals the earth and inhabitants, with the same plant that eased its own pain.

When this scenario is looked at symbolically in comparison with our modern plight some interesting analogies can be drawn. In the magical traditon (and let us not forget that the word magic has it's origins with the Magi), the sword represents the power of the intellect. As well, in modern terms, the sacred cow has come to represent ones religious and philosophical beliefs. Perhaps symbolically by taking the itellectual study of the entheogens into the realm of study of the worlds religions, we are in a sense plunging the sword of Mithras into the "sacred cow", and as we do so, the sacred plants of our ancestors pour forth once again, as the soma of the Rig Veda, the haoma of the Gathas, the Kaneh bosem of the Torah and the plant of kindness of the early Christians?

Either way, ironically, in our own age, we find ourselves having to fight for the right to partake of a plant that can in fact offer us many of the qualities of the ancient and mysterious soma\haoma and even may indeed be that very plant. Just as both the industrial and medicinal establishments have been forced to acknowledge the miraculous qualities of hemp, so too, through study of ancient religious texts concerning the herb, and the righteous acts of her many adherents, hopefully the religious establishment shall come to recognize it as the great gift and sacrament that it truly is.

Respectfully
Chris Bennett

[glock23]

very interesting stuff. Thanks deep toke.