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Sacred bliss : a spiritual history of cannabis / Mark S. Ferrara.

by Ferrara, Mark S., author.

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Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., c2016.

Hallucinogenic drugs and religious experience.

9781442271913 (hardback : alkaline paper) :

1442271914 (hardback : alkaline paper)

x, 184 pages ; 24 cm

Introduction: Cannabis, consciousness, and healing -- Vedānta, Sādhu priests, and the "Lord of Bhang" -- Shamans, Sufis, and the "Green Man" -- Chinese pharmacopoeia and the golden flower -- Dagga cults, Coptic churches, and the Rastafari -- Peak-experiences and the ineffable -- Hashish eaters, hobbits' leaf, and the pantagruelion -- Afterword: Fierce bliss.

One of the most important relationships that human beings have with plants is changing our consciousness -- consider the plants that give us coffee, tea, chocolate, and nicotine. Sacred Bliss challenges traditional attitudes about cannabis by tracing its essential role in the spiritual and curative traditions in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas from prehistory to the present day. In highlighting the continued use of cannabis around the globe, Sacred Bliss offers evidence of cannabis as an entheogen used for thousands of years to evoke peak-experiences, or moments of expanded perception or spiritual awareness. Today, the growing utilization of medical cannabis to alleviate the pain and symptoms of physical illness raises the possibility of using cannabis to treat the mind along with the body. By engaging sacred and secular texts from around the world, Sacred Bliss demonstrates that throughout religious history, cannabis has offered access to increased imagination and creativity, heightened perspective and insight, and deeper levels of thought.

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