Hashish and other psychoactive substances in the Islamic World
CANNABIS CULTURE – While there are a number of local differences, the use of cannabis with a varying intensity has had a time-honored role in many Muslim countries.
Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett has been researching the historical role of cannabis in the spiritual life of humanity for more than three decades. He is co-author of Green Gold the Tree of Life: Marijuana in Magic and Religion (1995); Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible (2001); and author of Cannabis and the Soma Solution (2010); Liber 420: Cannabis, Magickal herbs and the Occult (2018); and Cannabis: Lost Sacrament of the Ancient World (2024) . He has also contributed chapters on the the historical role of cannabis in spiritual practices in books such as The Pot Book (2010), Entheogens and the Development of Culture (2013), Seeking the Sacred with Psychoactive Substances (2014), One Toke Closer to God (2017), Cannabis and Spirituality (2016) and Psychedelics Reimagined (1999). Bennett’s research has received international attention from the BBC , Guardian, Sunday Times, Washington Post, Vice and other media sources. He currently resides in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Hashish, Richard Wagner’s Prose, and the Ordo Templi Orientis
CANNABIS CULTURE – Was cannabis the source of inspiration for Richard Wagner’s Holy Grail based operatic masterpieces Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal’?
The Psychedelic Phantasmagoria Shows of the 18th century!
CANNABIS CULTURE – Although little known, in the 18th century certain magicians would utilize drugs in combination with smoke and mirror illusions to convince audiences they had witnessed talking and moving ghosts and apparitions! While researching Liber 420: Cannabis Magickal Herbs and the Occult, one of the things I was most fascinated to learn aboutRead More
Cannabis the Once and Future Tree of Life
CANNABIS CULTURE – A fascinating current archeological theory proposes that a variety of ancient depictions of vegetation as the “Tree of Life” are ancient illustrations identifying cannabis use as an ancient entheogen.
New Archeological Evidence of Cannabis Use in Ancient Civilizations
CANNABIS CULTURE – Two major archeological announcements were made in April 2018 regarding the fascinating and widespread history of Cannabis in the ancient world.
Chris Bennett’s Liber 420: Cannabis, Magickal Herbs and the Occult
Although not widely recognised, cannabis and other psychoactive plants have played a role in magic since ancient times; for who is the primitive shaman but the ancient counterpart of the medieval and renaissance era magician?
420, Lovecraft, Crowley, and Hashish connections!
CANNABIS CULTURE – H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) the oddball impoverished writer of pulp horror fiction, whose work only came to know success after his untimely demise, left a curious story about a time shifting plant and 4:20.
The Devil’s Weed and The Luciferian Freemasonry Hoax of Leo Taxil
CANNABIS CULTURE – In the 19th century European Tabloids were run amuck with stories about a newly revealed form of Luciferian Freemasonry, known as ‘Palladian Masonry’ that allegedly involved cannabis and opium infused initiations and Satanic worship! But was it true?
Cannabis Roots: Humanity’s Ancient Plant Ally
CANNABIS CULTURE – When most people think of the history of cannabis, they generally flash to the “grass” the hippies of the 1960s smoked, or the “reefers” of the Jazz age. However, the fact is, according to current archeological evidence,humanity’s relationship with cannabis goes back tens of thousands of years before even the first wordsRead More
Cannabis, Magick Mirrors and Renaissance Magician Dr. John Dee
CANNABIS CULTURE – Did the Elizabethian Magicians Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly use drugs for magick and scrying?
