HAH! awesome!
I would laugh if a major religious community pushed for worldwide legalization of pot for “religious reasons.”
It also makes me consider that a big reason why alcohol (a more damaging drug then pot imho) is still acceptable in most of society, where pot is not. It’s connection to religion, certainly water to wine, blood of christ and all that, (hilarious to me,) crap.
Yes, after seeing the posts on this subject, I see there are a lot of sources on drugs of medieval and ancient history and ‘suspected’ origins of religions. I’ve quite a bit of history (and science), but lately I’ve been working on my sci fi books. So I haven’t done any serious digging on the subject. It was only a few years ago the concept of drugs influencing religions occurred to me.
I had heard of the Gospel of Mary, and I thought they were called gospels of Peter and another one by Philip. But, as I admitted above, I hadn’t delved into these readings nor the history of drug use and suspected influences on philosophy or religions.
With all the material that seems to be out there, I can see one can get quite rapt by the study of being rapt, ha.
PLUS we were actively discouraged from reading the bible “lest you become confused” (truly, I swear). So naturally I read the whole thing when I was 16.Yep they were right about the confusion.
Generally speaking, Catholics tend not to read the bible. One heard nothing about The Book Of Revelations. It’s embarrassing, so Catholics like to pretend it doesn’t exist.
Best example which comes to mind about drugs and religion is the and the hashishins, (11th-13th centuries) from which comes the English word assassin.—their recruitment method was very inventive, involving massive doses of hashish.
Psychedelic drugs isn’t evidence of anything. They increase the sleep chemical and produce hallucinations.
Religion came from early humans trying to explain our existence, as when Christianity was first born, (Sort To Speak) the world was also flat. Everyone thought we were the center of the universe and that some god or deity created it all. And here’s a spot I can say I don’t know about something, but yet no one really knows what happened. The Big Bang occurred not that anyone can explain it. Time started at the time of The Big Bang, and it took the universe about 9 billion plus years just to get around to our part of it.
When I was a child I thought as a child. And a part of me didn’t grow up until I was 49, when I realized religion is 100% fantasy, fiction. I believe I past the wise-ness of my own deceased father by taking a step into the right direction of not believing in any deity. If one does exist the only thing I ask for is some evidence…
My Two Cents.
AWWWW FUCK … I GIVE UP! *The body of the message is perfectly clear to anyone who is not a bot.
Yes, there was a geocentric view of the solar system, though learned men were fully aware the earth is sphere. Pythagorus proposed a spherical earth in 500 bce. Eratosphenes calculated
the circumference of the earth in 250 bce.
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Eratosthenes of Cyrene (/ɛrəˈtɒsθəniːz/; Greek: Ἐρατοσθένης ὁ Κυρηναῖος, romanized: Eratosthénēs ho Kurēnaĩos , IPA: [eratostʰénɛːs]; c. 276 BC[note 1] – c. 195/194 BC)[note 2] was a Greek polymath: a mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, and music theorist. He was a man of learning, becoming the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His work is comparable to what is now known as the study of geography, and he introduced some of the terminology still used today.[1]
He is best known for being the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth, which he did by using the extensive survey results he could access in his role at the Library; his calculation was remarkably accurate.[2] He was also the first to calculate the tilt of the Earth’s axis, once again with remarkable accuracy.[3] Additionally, he may have accurately calculated the distance from the Earth to the Sun and invented the leap day.[4] He created the first global projection of the world, incorporating parallels and meridians based on the available geographic knowledge of his era.
The Babylonians (well over 3,00 years before jesus) were logging data on star and planet positions. The Egyptians just used the star and planet positions to calculate the spring flood and keep the date for religious events. The Greeks were the first to attempt to construct a model of how the universe worked.
And this is where Eratosthenes comes in, one of many absolutely brilliant Greeks who unravelled many mysteries and established many foundational sciences and philosophies.
Yeah. I’m aware that Babylonians seemed to have invented astronomy. Who first worked out the planets are spheres? I ask because looking at a full moon on a very clear night well away from the reflected lights of a cities, it’s obvious the moon is round, a sphere. BUT it occurs to me that I might see that because I already know the moon is a sphere (conformation bias?).
Getting back to the original post, I want to point out that altered states of consciousness have always been associated with religion . . . whether caused by drugs or other circumstances.
I have the idea that temporal lobe epilepsy, for example, has played a very important role in religion, as Geschind Syndrome (sometimes associated with temporal lobe epilepsy) creates intensely religious feelings, along with a mystical euphoria that makes one feel connected with the Cosmos . . . as well as a compulsion to write.
These altered states of consciousness were actively sought out by religious mendicants all over the world throughout history. Jesus (for example) supposedly retreated into the desert wilderness for 40 days to fast and be tempted by Satan.
Fasting certainly can become hallucinogenic.
As another example from Christianity, consider the ancient practice of self-flagellation, which probably plays biochemical games with the endorphins, dopamine, and seritonin in the brain . . . which is something that–I believe–they have in common with adolescent “cutters” whom deal with stress by slicing themselves with razor blades.
I (and many other people) even do something very similar . . . when we enjoy super spicey foods with lots and lots of cayenne pepper.
While discussing the relationship between religion and altered mental states . . . consider the spinning dervishes of Turkey. They spin in circles with the idea that the practice brings them into a state of religious ecstacy that allows them to commune with Allah. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that people with inner ear issues may be more prone to out-of-body experiences (as was mentioned in another thread on this forum), and that I think that there may be a connection between the practices of the spinning dervish and the idea that inner ear issues may cause mystical experiences.
I also think that sleep paralysis is relevant to this discussion as well. I, myself, have experienced sleep paralysis on four occasions that I remember.
Unlike most people, I found the experience to be interesting and enjoyable . . . rather like taking drugs.
The first time it happened, I was about 17 years old, and it lasted for over 45 minutes.
There is also “Fasting.” This is a key element in many religious cults. The Krishna Consciousness movement was or is founded upon it. You go to a few meetings and they tell you that you have to “Experience” god. The way to experience god is through meditation and very restrictive diets along with fasting and chanting. They litterally get you to hallucinate god. Scientology does the same thing to its volunteers and to anyone who needs re-education. Feed them potatoes and make them work 16 hours a day. People will believe anything you tell them. Kim, Jong Un knows this for a fact. He is, after all, the all knowing God of N. Korea.
There is no doubt that drugs are an important part of many religious practices.
Not sure a claim that religions generally/mostly are based on drugs can be demonstrated as a universal principle. Only one exception is needed to destroy the claim.
I never came across such practices when studying some African and Pacific Island peoples.
My position is that religions meet some important human needs. If this was not the case, religious beliefs would not be universal. With approx 15% of the world population being atheist, it is we who are in the minority
When studying religious beliefs one almost invariably discovers they have their own logic. That the logic is flawed does not necessarily mean the beliefs are not raional.
It’s my observation that many if not most religious beliefs are based on a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy (after this therefore because of this) EG Shaman says prayers and draws pictures of prey on cave wall. The hunt is success. it’s obvious that prayer and drawing gave good luck. Rain is needed. Shaman dances around fire and says prayers. It rains next day. Obviously, the dance and prayers caused the rain.
Today even relatively sophisticated religions rely on the same fallacy .For instance , a disease going away after a priest prays /lays hands. A rational belief based on flawed logic. Such does not even necessarily fall under the heading of a superstition because there is evidence to support the belief. A belief is superstition when based on faith . IE having a belief in that not seen
Personally I do not consider drugs as the origin or necessary for religion. But if you want to convince the masses, getting them pliable with drugs and alcohol makes selling your snake oil a lot easier.
The Book Of Revelations has been part of the christian canon since the fourth century.
I was educated (if you’ll forgive the expression) in the catholic tradition. I was aware of Revelations, but we were actively discouraged from reading it, along with rest of the bible. “Lest you become confused” (I swear)
So naturally I read the whole thing at the first opportunity. Soon become aware why they didn’t want us reading it. Most especially Revelations , which confused the crap out of me. In latter years I became convinced the author was probably suffering from ergot poisoning or under the influence of say magic mushrooms.
Yet there are still minor Christian sects which insist on using ever changing interpretations of Revelations to predict the end of days.