Summary: Ritualistic Use Of Hallucinogens

Ritualistic Use of Hallucinogens Hallucinogenic or psychoactive plants have played a significant role in the ideology and religious practices of a wide variety of people throughout the world and in some traditional cultures, continue to play such a role today. Psychoactive substances that are used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context are referred to as Entheogens. Entheogens have been used in a ritualized context for thousands of years; their religious significance is well established in anthropological and modern evidences. Examples of traditional entheogens include: Peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis, and salvia divinorum (Sullum, 2007).
Native American Church, Rastafarians, and the Church of Cognizance are a
few cultures that practice these religious and spiritual effects. That relationship is the legal rationale for the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, which protects "the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians. In 1994 Congress amended the law to specifically include "the use, possession, or transportation of peyote by an Indian for bona fide traditional ceremonial purposes in connection with the practice of a traditional Indian religion," which had been protected by federal regulations since 1965. It 's a remarkable law, not only extending special privileges to a particular church but creating a racial requirement for exercising those privileges, in apparent violation of the First Amendment 's ban on "an establishment of religion" and the right to equal protection of the laws (Sullum, 2007).
The use of mushrooms in the Northern American Continent dates back before written history as well as the use of the peyote cactus. As far back as 6,000 years ago, Indigenous people used peyote. The Native American Church of North America is the largest pan-Native American religion in North America. The use of Entheogens in ceremony is rooted in the native concept of holistic health and harmony with nature. The use of peyote in a structured religious setting, with a socially sanctioned healer, has been reported to be a powerful treatment for alcoholism among Native Americans. Peyote is seen as a medicine by the native people who use it. They believe that the controlled religious use of peyote will allow them to see the truth about their lives and that the peyote spirit is able to give them guidance and direction (McClusky, 1997).
The Rastafarians, like the Hindus believe in a system of reincarnation.
Rasta’s believe that from one birth to another, the same spirit persists. The relationship of Rastafarians to ganja, or marijuana, which was brought to Jamaica by the Indians as an herbal medicine and as a hallucinogen is used as a meditation aid for centuries. The use of ganja is justified by Rastafarians on the basis that it is a plant, which grows from the Earth and was therefore given to man. Many Biblical quotes are employed to demonstrate this point including, from Genesis 1:29, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” From the book of Revelations 22:2, "In the midst of the street there was the tree of life and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Rasta’s believe Ganja to be this tree, and the smoking of it to be in accordance with the natural way (Bishton,
1986).
In 1994, the Church of Cognizance (COC) was founded by Dan and Mary Quaintance in Arizona.
Over the years, COC has grown into an International Religious Organization, comprised of 78 registered monasteries spread across America and five foreign nations. knowledge of ancient wisdom; that proper respect, honor, cultivation, and utilization of Cannabis, the holy sacrament known as Marijuana, is an essential and inseparable part of Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness are the beliefs of the COC. Many people will argue that the founders and members of the COC are simply using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."....ARTICLE 18, UNITED NATIONS. Accepted by Treaty (1947). They believe that the cannabis (Haoma) is the tree of life, the provider, and the protector (Quaintance,
2013).
The religious organizations use drugs, which are otherwise illegal for the majority of the nation, for its natural consciousness exalting properties for their sacramental and sanctifying rites; according to what they know as belonging to the truthful and faithful prophetic way of life. The contradiction in the relationship between the use of illegal substances for religious and spiritualistic purposes will remain controversial for many years to come.

References
Bishton, D. B. (1986) A Journey into the Rasta. Retrieved from http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/david.html

McClusky, John. (1997). Native American Church Peyotism and the Treatment of Alcoholism. Volume VII. Retrieved from http://www.maps.org/news- letters/v07n4/v07n4_3-5_.pdf

Quaintance, Danuel. (2013). Greetings and welcome to Dan & Mary 's Monastery- HEMPorium. Retrieved from http://danmary.org/tiki/tiki-index.php