The ancient Indo-European Cannabis Cult

Who were the first cannabis users in history? Cannabis sativa has been cultivated by humans for thousands of years both as a narcotic and also for making hemp fabrics. Brand new genetic and archaeological evidence places the original domestication event in China, but indicates that the plant was mainly spread by Indo-European peoples such as the Yamnaya and the Scythians. Cannabis was used in the funerary and religious rites in many pagan religions as well as in ancient Jewish rites in Israel.

Art

Waking of sky tree - Stonehenge shaman

A Forest of Shadows Art & Illustration  - Arda Viraf's dream

Sources

I was aided in research for this video by Chris Bennett of cannabisculture.com to whom I am very grateful

• Anthony, D., ‘The Horse, the Wheel, and Language’ 2007.
• Bennett, C., ‘Cannabis and the Soma solution’ Trine Day (2010)
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• Eran Arie, Baruch Rosen & Dvory Namdar (2020) Cannabis and Frankincense at the Judahite Shrine of Arad, Tel Aviv
• Haak, W., Lazaridis, I., Patterson, N. et al. Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe. Nature 522, 207–211 (2015).
• Herodotus, The Histories, (Penguin Books,1972)
• Hoffmann, K., Aufsätze zur Indoiranistik II, Wiesbaden, 1976. Georg Holzer, “Namen skythischer und sarmatischer Stämme,” Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klassse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 125, 1988, pp. 193-213.
• Hollard, C. et al. (2018). New genetic evidence of affinities and discontinuities between bronze age Siberian populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 167 (1): 97–107.
• Kershaw, K., ‘The one-eyed god: Odin and the (Indo-)Germanic Männerbünde’ (Journal of Indo-European studies monograph) 2000.
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• Mandihassan, S., “Etymology of Names-Cannabis and Ephedra,” Journal: Studies in the History of Medicine, Vol.6, 1982
• Mallory, J. P. and Adams, Douglas Q., Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, (Taylor & Francis, 1997)
• Merlin, M. 2003. Archaeological record for ancient Old World use of psychoactive plants. Economic Botany 57(3)
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• Ren, M., et al. (2019). The origins of cannabis smoking: Chemical residue evidence from the first millennium BCE in the Pamirs. Science Advances. 5.
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• Rosetti Dinu V. Movilele funerare de la Gurbăneşti (r. Lehliu, reg. Bucureşti) / Les tumulus funéraires de Gurbăneşti. In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°6 1959. pp. 791-816;
• Ruck, Carl, affidavit in Bennett v The Attorney General for Canada and the Minister of Health for Canada, (2009)
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• Sarianidi V., Temples of Bronze Age Margiana: traditions of ritual architecture. Antiquity, (1994)
• Sherratt, Andrew, “Alcohol and its Alternatives:Symbol and substance in Pre-Industrial cultures,” in Consuming Habits: Drugs in History and Anthropology, by Jordan Goodman, Paul E. Lovejoy, Andrew Sherratt, Contributor Jordan Goodman, (Routledge, 1995)
• Sherratt, A. G., “Sacred and profane substances: the ritual use of narcotics in later Neolithic Europe” in E Garwood, D. Jennings, R. Skeates, andJ. Toms, eds., Sacred and profane: proceedings of a conference on archaeology, ritual and religion. Oxford University Committee for Archaeology Monographs. (1995)
• Xie, M. et al, (2013) Interdisciplinary investigation on ancient Ephedra twigs from Gumugou Cemetery (3800 B.P.) in Xinjiang region, northwest China. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23564427
• Yang, Y. (2019), ‘Shifting Memories: Burial Practices and Cultural Interaction in Bronze Age China A study of the Xiaohe-Gumugou cemeteries in the Tarim Basin’
• Zhang He, “Is Shuma the Chinese Analog of Soma/Haoma?” Sino-Platonic Papers, 216 (October, 2011)

Indo-European Pagan use of Psychedelic Drugs

A couple of good talks have come out recently on this subject which you can see below. I also already made a video and a blog post on the Hyperborean Hallucinogen subject a few years back. 

Magic Mushrooms

I took these photos of magic mushrooms growing in my Mum's garden a couple of years ago. The mouse was sitting nearby. I don't like mice so my initial reaction was to stomp on it, but I didn't. I don't know what he was doing there nor why he wasn't afraid of me. It's possible he was a drug user and had lost his natural fear of man. If I ever encounter that mouse again, I will teach it to fear man.

Gomorra

Teenager gangsters involved in drugs, murder and arms dealing. Shocking. Or perhaps not so much anymore? A lot of films deal with this subject for two reasons, firstly these terrible things happen and secondly it’s entertaining. This film directed by Matteo Garrone is based on the book by investigative reporter Roberto Saviano, who experienced the subject mater of the Camorra in Naples which he describes as a “European problem” a Southern Italian organised crime ring, that is connected to countless criminal gangs who kill thousands of people, as many as three a day. The Camorra use their illegally acquired funds to invest in legal activity including the construction of the twin towers.

The cinematography is poetic, skilfully capturing the atmosphere of the diverse Naples environment ranging from abandoned buildings and farms to decaying flats in poverty stricken neighbourhoods. There are several central characters with whom the audience are encouraged to identify including a very young boy employed as a mule by the mob, an ageing mule whose life is in constant danger, a tailor recruited by the mob since childhood and most compelling of all a pair of resourceful teenage hoods, who inspired by Scarface and the arrogance of youth, believe they can take on the mob on their own terms. The various plotlines are taken from 5 separate stories in Saviano’s book, and are skilfully balanced in the format of this film.




Gommora is by no means a revolutionary film, and although it is revealing for those curious about the criminal underworld of Southern Italy, the actual subject matter has been dealt with so frequently in cinema everywhere from Britain with Kidulthood to Brazil with City of God and can be a bit tiresome after awhile. Despite the ‘seen-it-all-before’ aspect I enjoyed the film, the acting is convincing, the mise-en-scene a pleasure to behold, Garrone is clearly a skilful auteur as well as having an eye for the beauty of symmetry. The accuracy of the subject matter has been addressed carefully, and sympathetically. The effect is convincing and entertaining. It has already won the Grand Prize of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and when it is released in Britain on 10th October, is likely to attract more attention.