Download or read book Cannabis and Spirituality written by Stephen Gray and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-12-09 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to the benefits and challenges of the use of cannabis in spiritual practice • Includes chapters by 18 authoritative and influential voices of the modern cannabis movement, including Kathleen Harrison, Joan Bello, Hamilton Souther, Steven Hager, Chris Bennett, Dee Dussault, Jeremy Wolff, and Roger Christie • Explores the use of marijuana in a wide range of spiritual practices, including meditation, yoga, chanting, visualization, shamanism, group ceremonies, work with other entheogens, and as a creative aid Truly a medicine for body and soul, one of cannabis’s greatest gifts is its remarkable potential for spiritual healing and awakening. In this authoritative guide, editor Stephen Gray and 17 other influential voices of the modern cannabis movement explore the spiritual benefits of cannabis and offer guidance on how to interact with the intelligence of this plant ally, a companion and supporter of humanity for millennia. Exploring cannabis spirituality in practice, Gray’s chapters examine dosage, strains, and methods of intake; the use of cannabis to open the creative channels; how to conduct group ceremonies with cannabis; and cautions and counterindications for cannabis use. We hear from Chris Bennett on the religious and ritual use of cannabis from pre-biblical times to the present, Joan Bello on marijuana and the body-mind connection, Dee Dussault on ganja yoga, Kathleen Harrison on humanity’s co-evolution with cannabis, and cannabis shaman Hamilton Souther on working with the spirit of cannabis. The contributors explore the spiritual future of this plant ally as well as the ritual use of cannabis by the Rastafarians of Jamaica and the Sadhus of India. The chapters from Brazilian ayahuasca shaman Mariano da Silva and ayahuasca apprentice Francisco present wisdom on comingling the sacramental medicines of cannabis and ayahuasca. Revealing the potential of “the people’s plant” to enhance a wide range of spiritual practices, such as meditation, yoga, chanting, visualization, shamanism, spirit work, and explorations with other entheogens, this guide shows how cannabis is an effective ally on the awakening journey, unlocking the receptive energy in us all and helping us to feel connected to nature, to each other, and to ourselves.
Download or read book Liber 420 written by Chris Bennett and published by TrineDay. This book was released on 2018-04-20 with total page 762 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although little known, cannabis and other psychoactive plants held a prominent and important role in the Occult arts of Alchemy and Magic, as well as being used in ritual initiations of certain secret societies. Find out about the important role cannabis played in helping to develop modern medicines through alchemical works. Cannabis played a pivotal role in spagyric alchemy, and appears in the works of alchemists such as Zosimos, Avicenna, Llull, Paracelsus, Cardano and Rabelais. Cannabis also played a pivotal role in medieval and renaissance magic and recipes with instructions for its use appear in a number of influential and important grimoires such as the Picatrix, Sepher Raxiel: Liber Salomonis, and The Book of Oberon. Could cannabis be the Holy Grail? With detailed historical references, the author explores the allegations the Templars were influenced by the hashish ingesting Assassins of medieval Islam, and that myths of the Grail are derived from the Persian traditions around the sacred beverage known as haoma, which was a preparation of cannabis,opium and other drugs. Many of the works discussed, have never been translated into English, or published in centuries. The unparalleled research in this volume makes it a potential perennial classic on the subjects of both medieval and renaissance history of cannabis, as well as the role of plants in the magical and occult traditions.
Download or read book Cannabis Sacred and Profane written by Christopher Partridge and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2024-08-22 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focussing on the ways in which cannabis has been demonized, sacralized and normalized, Christopher Partridge analyses the complex and often difficult relationship Western societies have had with the plant since the nineteenth century. After an introduction to cannabis and its uses, the book discusses how and why it was constructed as a profane influence and a marker of deviance. It then examines the emergence of medicinal cannabis, showing how this has contributed to its normalization and even its sacralization. Finally, there is a discussion of sacred cannabis, which looks at its use within modern occultism, Rastafari and several cannabis churches. Overall, the book provides a cultural history of cannabis in the modern world, which exposes the underlying reasons for the various and changing attitudes to this popular psychoactive substance.
Download or read book Seeking the Sacred with Psychoactive Substances written by J. Harold Ellens and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-10-28 with total page 883 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can drugs be used intelligently and responsibly to expand human consciousness and heighten spirituality? This two-volume work presents objective scientific information and personal stories aiming to answer the question. The first of its kind, this intriguing two-volume set objectively reports on and assesses this modern psycho-social movement in world culture: the constructive medical use of entheogens and related mind-altering substances. Covering the use of substances such as ayahuasca, cannabis, LSD, peyote, and psilocybin, the work seeks to illuminate the topic in a scholarly and scientific fashion so as to lift the typical division between those who are supporters of research and exploration of entheogens and those who are strongly opposed to any such experimentation altogether. The volumes address the history and use of mind-altering drugs in medical research and religious practice in the endeavor to expand and heighten spirituality and the sense of the divine, providing unbiased coverage of the relevant arguments and controversies regarding the subject matter. Chapters include examinations of how psychoactive agents are used to achieve altered states in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism as well as in the rituals of shamanism and other less widely known faiths. This highly readable work will appeal to everyone from high school students to seasoned professors, in both the secular world and in devoted church groups and religious colleges.
Download or read book Cannabis written by Chris Duvall and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thanks to its best-known use, any mention of cannabis tends to bring up jokes about the munchies or debates about marijuana and legalized drug use. But this not-so-innocent flowering plant was one of the first to be domesticated by humans, and it has been used in spiritual, therapeutic, and even punitive applications ever since—in addition to its more recreational purpose. Despite all the hoopla surrounding cannabis, however, we actually understand relatively little about it in the human and ecological past. In Cannabis, Chris Duvall explores the botanical and cultural history of one of our most widely distributed crops, presenting an even-handed look at this heady little plant. Providing a global historical geography of cannabis, Duvall discusses the manufacture of hemp and its role in rope-making, clothing, and paper, as well as cannabis’s use as oil and fuel. His focus, though, is on its most prevalent use: as a psychoactive drug. Without advocating for either the prohibition or legalization of the drug, Duvall analyzes a wide range of works to offer a better understanding of both stances and, moreover, the diversity of human-cannabis relationships across the world. In doing so, he corrects the overly simplistic portrayals of cannabis that have dominated discourse on the subject, arguing that we need to understand the big picture in order to improve how the plant is managed worldwide. Richly illustrated and highly accessible, Cannabis is an essential read to understand the rapidly evolving debate over the legalization of marijuana in the United States and other countries.
Download or read book I Am Not a Man I Am Dynamite written by John Moore and published by Autonomedia. This book was released on 2004 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'As the primary liberatory project, anarchism - the project which aims at the abolition of all forms of power, control, and coercion - remains entitled to appropriate the work of one of the greatest iconoclasts of all time. And although Nietzsche was rather harsh on his anarchist contemporaries - or more precisely on a type of contemporary anarchist - he nevertheless in some respects shared with them a vision of total transformation. The notion of a transvaluation of all values clearly remains not merely compatible with, but an integral component of the anarchist project, and the idea of philosophy with a hammer underlies the anarchist commitment to radical social transformation.'- John Moore, in "Attentat Art"This collection of essays is intended to examine various dimensions of the interactions between anarchism and Nietzsche. The aim of this volume is twofold: first, to provide instances of the historical appropriation of Nietzsche by anarchists, and second, to provide instances of appropriations and readings of Nietzsche by contemporary anarchist thinkers and commentators.The volume is thus divided into two sections, the historical and the contemporary, or in other words the periods of modernity and postmodernity. The historical section comprises four essays which consider historical appropriations of Nietzsche from a variety of ideological perspectives from the early twentieth century. Daniel Colson provides an overview of Nietzsche and the libertarian tradition and focusses on the appropriation of Nietzsche by French anarcho-syndicalists. Leigh Starcross reconstructs the ideas of Emma Goldman on Nietzsche and thus investigates an important intersection between anarchism, individualism and feminism. Allan Antliff considers the synthesis between anarchism, Eastern traditions and Nietzschean thought effected by Ananda Coomaraswamy, providing an important post-colonialist perspective to the topic. Finally, the modernity section includes the neglected but historically significant 1902 essay by the British anarchist Guy Aldred who provides an early and brief but very sophisticated anarchist reading of Nietzsche. The book's second section explores the relevance of Nietzsche to contemporary anarchism. At the core of this section are five essays-by Andrew Koch, Franco Riccio, Salvo Vaccaro, Saul Newman and Max Cafard-which from different perspectives deal with post-structuralist and post-modern readings of Nietzsche, and consider their appropriateness or otherwise for anarchists. These specific engagements with contemporary interpretations of Nietzsche are complemented by two essays focusing on specific aspects of Nietzsche's work from anarchist perspectives: John Moore provides an anarchist, post-situationist interpretation of Nietzsche's aesthetics, and Peter Lamborn Wilson considers the Islamic dimensions of Nietzsche's philosophy.
Download or read book On Hashish written by Walter Benjamin and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On Hashish' is Walter Benjamin's posthumous collection of writings, providing a unique and intimate portrait of the man himself, of his experiences of hashish, and also of his views on the Weimar Republic.
Download or read book Cannabis and the Soma Solution written by Chris Bennett and published by Trine Day. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 1024 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seeking to identify the plant origins of the early sacramental beverages Soma and Haoma, this study draws a connection between the psychoactive properties of these drinks and the widespread use of cannabis among Indo-Europeans during this time. Exploring the role of these libations as inspiration for the Indian Rig Veda and the Persian Avestan texts, this examination discusses the spread of cannabis use across Europe and Asia, the origins of the Soma and Haoma cults, and the shamanic origins of modern religion.
Download or read book Getting High written by John Charles Chasteen and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-06 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noted historian John Chasteen traces the global history of marijuana, exploring its rich heritage with captivating insight. Among the first domesticated plants, Surprisingly, though, only infrequently has it been used as a recreational drug. Instead, there is a vibrant spiritual dimension to its long history that has been continually ignored.
Download or read book Smoke Signals written by Martin A. Lee and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-08-13 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book the author, an investigative journalist, traces the social history of marijuana from its origins to its emergence in the 1960s as a defining force in an ongoing culture war. He describes how the illicit marijuana subculture overcame government opposition and morphed into a multibillion-dollar industry. In 1996, Californians voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Similar laws have followed in several other states, but not without antagonistic responses from federal, state, and local law enforcement. The author draws attention to underreported scientific breakthroughs that are reshaping the therapeutic landscape: medical researchers have developed promising treatments for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes, chronic pain, and many other conditions that are beyond the reach of conventional cures. This book is an examination of the medical, recreational, scientific, and economic dimensions of the world's most controversial plant.
Download or read book The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved written by Sandor Ellix Katz and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2006-11-15 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From James Beard Award winner and New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of Fermentation An instant classic for a new generation of monkey-wrenching food activists. Food in America is cheap and abundant, yet the vast majority of it is diminished in terms of flavor and nutrition, anonymous and mysterious after being shipped thousands of miles and passing through inscrutable supply chains, and controlled by multinational corporations. In our system of globalized food commodities, convenience replaces quality and a connection to the source of our food. Most of us know almost nothing about how our food is grown or produced, where it comes from, and what health value it really has. It is food as pure corporate commodity. We all deserve much better than that. In The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, author Sandor Ellix Katz (Sandor Katz's Fermentation Journeys, The Art of Fermentation, and Wild Fermentation) profiles grassroots activists who are taking on Big Food, creating meaningful alternatives, and challenging the way many Americans think about food. From community-supported local farmers, community gardeners, and seed saving activists, to underground distribution networks of contraband foods and food resources rescued from the waste stream, this book shows how ordinary people can resist the dominant system, revive community-based food production, and take direct responsibility for their own health and nutrition.
Download or read book Commodifying Cannabis written by Bradley J. Borougerdi and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-11-19 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cannabis is a genetically diverse plant that has been commodified for a variety of different purposes by many cultures throughout world history. For thousands of years, people have used its fiber, seed, and flowers to make rope and cloth, rig ships, feed people and livestock, concoct medicines, and alter states of consciousness. Until the nineteenth century, though, most Europeans and Americans were unaware of drug varieties of cannabis. The British encountered them in India and created western-style medicines that sold throughout the Atlantic world by the 1840s, but negative associations with Oriental intoxication and degeneracy sullied the plant’s reputation as a viable commodity. Now, after decades of transatlantic criminalization policies against cannabis in the twentieth century, it is making a comeback. In Commodifying Cannabis, Bradley J. Borougerdi traces the tangled histories of its use for fiber, medicine, and altered states of consciousness across the Atlantic world, focusing on the dynamic interplay between these three different cultural applications to explain why the plant has transformed so many times throughout history. The historical journey spans a vast geographical landscape and includes over three centuries of source material to illuminate the cultural foundations behind the myriad transformations cannabis has endured as a commodity in the Atlantic world.
Download or read book The Tawny One written by Matthew Clark and published by Aeon Books. This book was released on 2020-03-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern exploration of ancient wisdom relating to psychoactive plants. The ancient ritual drink used in religious ceremonies and known as soma in India and as haoma in the Zoroastrian tradition is praised in the highest terms - as a kind of deity - in both Zoroastrian and Vedic texts, which date from around 1,700 - 1,500 BCE. It is said to provide health, power, wisdom and even immortality. Many theories have been published about the possible botanical identity of this 'nectar of immortality', a plant which appears to have psychedelic/entheogenic properties. Matthew Clark spent several years researching and travelling widely in his quest of soma and in his fascinating, original and highly readable book, Clark reviews scholarly research, explores mythology and ritual and shares his extensive knowledge of psychoactive plants and fungi. The author suggests that the visionary soma drink was based on analogues of ayahuasca, using a variety of plants, some of which can now be identified.
Download or read book Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production written by Carole Cusack and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2012-03-28 with total page 821 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume fills a lacuna in the academic assessment of new religions by investigating their cultural products (such as music, architecture, food et cetera). Contributions explore the manifold ways in which new religions have contributed to humanity’s creative output.
Download or read book Regulating Cannabis written by DR Todd Subritzky and published by Cannabis Education Online. This book was released on 2021-07-23 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A 5-year investigation of the implementation of the world’s first fully regulated cannabis market for pleasure in Colorado Kind words for Regulating Cannabis "This book clearly demonstrates authority in the field of international drug policy and draws predominantly on the latest evidence in doing so. It is a substantial contribution to an emerging policy issue with a plethora of new knowledge displayed throughout. Overall, I found this to be a vital addition to the canon of knowledge regarding cannabis policy change" Dr Mark Monaghan Head of the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology University of Birmingham “The author has broadened the understanding of cannabis regulation when it comes to conflicts between consumer protection, private profit, and public health. He has successfully applied and enriched several theoretical concepts in the context of cannabis legalization, especially when it comes to ‘the elephant in the room’ - the wellness potential of cannabis on legal markets” Vendula Belackova, PhD Drug Policy Researcher & Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales Contents at a glance At a time when cannabis legalisation is spreading across an increasing number of jurisdictions globally, this book cuts across the noise and presents a factual account of issues faced by regulators in the real-world context of Colorado. It can be read as an evidence-based handbook for regulators and should be a first port of call for anyone interested in the legalisation of cannabis. In January 2014, Colorado implemented a commercial cannabis market for pleasure - the first jurisdiction globally to implement a regulated, adult-use cannabis supply chain from seed-to-sale. It was reported as an historic occasion that presaged a grand social and economic experiment in drug legalisation. Including analysis of hundreds of pages of government documents, almost 1000 media articles, and interviews in the field with over 30 senior government officials, industry executives, and front-line public health representatives, this book is the definitive account of real-world cannabis policy implementation. The cannabis academic public health literature is examined prodigiously including its potential for harm and benefit together with alternative regulatory approaches. The book also features a number of papers published in academic journals based on the PhD research of the author. The commodification of cannabis vs the craft approach together with the entanglement of the medical and recreational markets are two of many topical themes discussed in detail. Multiple recommendations relevant for other jurisdictions considering the legalisation of cannabis are presented. Recognising the limitations of harm reduction approaches that cannot conceptually conceive beneficial aspects of cannabis consumption, a new framework, the spectrum of wellness is proposed as an alternative in Appendix 1 of the book.
Download or read book Returning to Sacred World written by Stephen Gray and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explains our spiritual predicament in this time of crisis and transformation and offers extensively field tested teachings and tools for awakening including meditation, prayer and sacred plant medicines.
Download or read book Cross Worlds written by Anne Waldman and published by Coffee House Press. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cross Words refers to cultural hybrids, trans-cultural alliances, and associations. This fascinating compendium documents—in essays, conversations, and socratic raps—the vital work poets perform when they write across borders. Anne Waldman is the author of more than forty collections of poetry, the editor of numerous anthologies, and, for The Iovis Trilogy, the winner of the Shelley Memorial Award and the USA PEN Center Award for Poetry. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Laura E. Wright is a poet, translator, and librarian. With Anne Waldman, she co-edited Beats at Naropa (Coffee House Press, 2009).
