Cannabis in Cana?

Cannabis mixed into Kaneh Bosm ( קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם ) , or “fragrant cane”?

“If we value rather than vilify the healing power of this versatile plant, we can improve our world by making it a more compassionate, just, and holy place.”

Amen.

That sentence above is the closing phrase of a very cool article by Jane Marcus, Ph.D., retired board member of Women of Reform Judaism.

We all know cannabis has been around for centuries, but due to the ravages of history and, I suspect, that no one (until the madness of prohibition) really thought it important to document the use of this plant, we don’t have a lot of direct, primary source historical artifacts to edify us on this point. Do we have definitive evidence of the first time parsley was used or strong records detailing the history of basil? (Having said that, I want to speak to the random person out there who happens to be an expert on anachonistic herb lore: I’m only trying to make a point, please don’t reply with a long screeding history of mint. Please.)

Marcus’s article gives us a little more detail on the history of this wonderful herb. By delving into the components of a sacred oil used to anoint spiritually significant people and things, we are shown that cannabis may very well have been one of the 4 main ingredients.

They are:
Myrrh
Cinnamon
Cane
Cassia

All of which were added to a base of olive oil.

It is the cane that begs further inquiry. Referred to as “aromatic cane” in most English translations of the Old Testament and as “fragrant cane” (“keneh bosem” in Hebrew, translating to “cannabis” in English and Greek). In fact, Eliezar Ben Yehuda (called the father of modern Hebrew) goes so far as to define the Hebrew word “kanabos” as hemp!

And, while biblical law does state that using the holy oil on profane (here meaning non spiritual, not offensive) items or layfolk, nothing is said about using the components individually. Unless there is some long lost gospel about a wayward disciple who went batshit crazy and killed a bunch of Pharisees after a hard night of freebasing cinnamon.

“Punitive laws passed in the past century have distorted, demonized and suppressed the long history of the practical use, palliative power, and creative and spiritual contribution of this versatile plant. Medical research is only now rediscovering the healing potential of cannabis, and many are taking action to make it available to those who might benefit from it.”

Can’t say it better myself. Sometimes when I see just how far we have come on so many things during the last century, I am just baffled by how far we have regressed on cannabis. It’s a plant that quietly made lives better and facilitated spiritual awakening for thousands of years and America in the 1900’s decided, “nah, we know better than countless generations of evidence.” *sigh* I wish I could say that was atypical.