Posted on 03/04/2008 1:31:40 PM PST by Anti-Hillary
High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week. Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.
"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.
Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.
"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."
He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.
He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.
This infidel must pay! He has blasphemed the name of the holy! We must RIOT! WHERE IS RAGE BOY WHEN WE NEED HIM!
Oh, he said Moses, not Muhammed.......never mind.
Projecting, indeed.
It alsom makes the ancient Israelites out to be a bunch of dumb jerks who couldn’t tell when a guy is high or not.
Your’s Truly,
The Woim
Must have been high when he parted the Red Sea too.
sheesh!
Time to invest in acacia futures ...
What hallucinogenic plants were available in the desert of the Sinai 3000 years ago? It is a DESERT.
Questions are what type of bush was burning and did Moses inhale?
High on Mount Sinai
Well duh, it is 7500 ft high you know.
“... Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.” The boy needs to put the pipe down and step away from the laptop long enough to ... FEAR GOD ... For it is the beginning of wisdom and this sad sack appears to need a mega dose of smarten up before he gets a severe case of ‘whupass’ unleashed on him..
Moses’ adoptive mother and her entourage DEFINITELY had access to “blue lotus” which is commonly and mistakenly referred to today as “white lotus”, it should be called blue water lily, Nymphaea caerulea. None the less it’s extract is a powerful narcotic that was central to Egyptian religious ritual during the age of Moses.
Now was Moses hauling a secret stash he picked up in a souk before fleeing Egypt, and did he use it while on top of Mount Sinai? I’m not saying that.
I had not visited your blog, Dan. Nice job!
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I know you’re joking around, but there hasn’t been any archaeological proof that the elites in Egypt were using cannabis in religious ceremonies at the time of Moses.
Also opium can be ruled out as it wasn’t introduced to Egypt until the 7th or 6th century BC.
So let me get this straight. Benny found the body of Moses, did DNA tests, and empirically found that he was a druggie? Uh, yeah, Benny. Now put down the syringe and nobody will get hurt.
You said what I was going to say. Only they don’t make asbestos that thick nor water bottles large enough.
Logically, the author is asking me to believe that someone in a chemically-induced psychotic state produced a cogent, far-reaching and encompassing set of rules that apply through the ages.
Sorry, my faith isn’t that strong. It is much easier to believe that God gave Moses the 10 Commandments and we would do well to heed them.
Doesn’t peyote or some other such grow in desert environs?
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