An updated version of this web page is now available at the new Teen Witch website cannabis.

    Cannabis hemp is a dioecious plant (meaning that an individual plant can be male or female). Both male and female hemp plants produce good quality fiber, but the female produces the best religious quality cannabinoids.

    Also known as hemp or marijuana. Illegal in many places. You may want to seek the assistance of a lawyer to assert your religious rights.

    Legal and Medical Warning: You should consult with and receive a recommendation from both a lawyer and a doctor before associating with cannabis in any way. The legal consequences of cannabis possession can be imprisonment, or even the death penalty, depending on the nation. The possession of mind altering plant substances (herbs) is associated with Witchcraft and illegal under Jewish, Christian, and Islamic laws. The Jewish Torah, Christian Bible, and Islamic Kuran all still call for the death penalty for anyone who practices Witchcraft or possesses materials associated with Witchcraft. Conviction in the U.S. for mere possession of cannabis automatically results in permanent loss of any financial aid for colleges or universities.

    Religious cannabis use occurs or has occurred in many of the world’s largest religions (ancient Egyptian, Asatru (Norse), Assyrian, Australian, Babylonian, Bantu, Brazilian, Buddhism, Canaanite, Celtic Druidism, Chinese, Christianity, Coptic Christianity, Dagga, Essenes, Etruscan, Gypsy (including Tarot), Hellenism (Greek), Hermeticism, Hinduism, Hottentot, Islam, Judaism, Kemetic (ancient Egyptian), Mithraism, Persian, Polynesian, Pygmy, Rastafarian, Roman, Shamanic/Tribal religion, Shintoism, Sufi Islam, Tantra, Taoism, Thai, Theraputea, Wicca, Witchcraft, Zoarastrianism, and Zulu).

• botanical information
• origin
• history
• nutritional information
• magick correspondences and uses
• magick incense
• Goddesses and deities
• health care
• cautions and contraindications

botanical information:

    Botanical name: Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica

    Common name: cannabis, hemp, marijuana

shem-shem-tu sm-sm-t hieroglyphs for cannabis

    Use the botanical name when ordering seeds (bulbs, etc.) or when looking up information in the library. Common names vary by nation, culture, and region, and sometimes the same common name is applied to different plants.

• Cannabis indica shorter plant and thicker leaves than sativa
• Cannabis ruderalis lower quality plant commonly known as “dirt weed”
• Cannabis sativa taller plant and thinner leaves than indica

origin:

    Origin: The place of origin of cannabis hemp is unknown, but is believed to have been somewhere in Asia, possibly in Benghali India.

history:

    History: Cannabis seeds were used for food in China by 6000 B.C.E. and for textiles in China by 4000 B.C.E.

    Cannabis was commonly grown in ancient Egyptian temple gardens.

    Hemp was used for rope and sails as well as fine linens in ancient Egypt. Hemp rope was found in the eighteenth-dynasty tomb of Akhenaten (Amenophis IV) at El Amarna, including a three ply hemp cord in the hole of a stone and a large mat bound with hemp cords.

    In the third century C.E. the Roman emperor Aurelian imposed a tax on Egyptian cannabis.

nutritional information:

    Hemp seed meal is one of the best sources of protein.

Hemp Seed: Hemp seed contains: Protein, Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids, fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Sodium, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, and Niacin.     Hemp seeds contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. No other single plant source has the essential amino acids in such an easily digestible form, nor has the essential fatty acids in as perfect a ratio to meet human nutritional needs.     Nutritionally, Hemp Seed contains by weight: 30.6% Protein, 5.8% Omega-9, 27.56% Linoleic 18:2 (Omega-6), 8.68% Linolenic 18:3 (Omega-3), 6.0% dietary fiber. In milligrams per 100g weight, Hemp Seed contains: Calcium: 139 mg, Phosphorus: 1123 mg, Iron: 13.9 mg; Vitamin A: 518 mg, Thiamine (Vitamin B1): 0.37 mg, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2): 0.2 mg, and Niacin: 2.43 mg.     Plus, it also contains Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Sodium. Sixty-five percent of the protein content in hempseed is in the form of globulin edestin, so that it can actually be used by the body in its raw state (unlike that in soybeans, which have to be cooked or sprouted). Hemp’s ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids is about 4:1 which mirrors the primitive diet the human race evolved on for 2.5 million years. Information courtesy of Mountain Rose Herbs (a source for legal hemp seeds)

magickal correspondences and uses:

    Incense: Cannabis incense or herb is appropriate for burning in love spells, such as the Aphrodite New Moon love spell, Hecate black candle love spell, or Isis Full Moon love spell. Note that cannabis should only be used in locations where there is a legitimate legal right to religious cannabis use.

    Gender: feminine (traditional western European magickal gender)

    Magickal substitutions: Rosemary usually may be safely substituted for any herb in magick spells and rituals. Roses may safely be substituted for any flower.

Magical Uses Hemp: healing, love, meditation, visions information courtesy of

religious use

    Cannabis pollen was found on the mummy of Ramses II (nineteenth dynasty). Initially scholars debated as to whether the cannabis pollen was ancient origin or modern contamination. Additional research showed cannabis pollen in all known royal mummies. No known ancient Egyptian mummies were wrapped in hemp cloth.

    The intoxicating properties of cannabis were virtually unknown among Europeans (other than among witches) until the eighteenth century (1700s) when travellers to Egypt discovered the drug. European witches knew of cannabis from antiquity, when cannabis was one of the most commonly used medications among Celts and Norse.

    The Smoke Eaters at the temple at Thebes used cannabis incense for mortality rituals.

    The ancient Egyptian goddess Seshat (above in her role as the Goddess who measures) is depicted with a hemp leaf in her head dress. Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (1479 to 1425 B.C.E.) called her Sefkhet-Abwy (She of the seven points). Hemp was used to make measuring cords. Seshat was the goddess of libraries, knowledge, and geomancy, among other things. Spell 10 of the Coffin text states “Seshat opens the door of heaven for you”.

deities associated with cannabis:

• Bast (Kemetic/ancient Egyptian Goddess)
• Seshat (Kemetic/ancient Egyptian Goddess)
• Shiva (Hindu God)

health care uses:

    Health Notice: Attempting to be an amateur doctor is potentially dangerous to your health. This web page is not professional medical advice. Nothing on this website should be considered as a substitute or replacement for professional medical advice. Persons should seek the advice of qualified health providers. Self-medication should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care. Please confirm all self-medication with your doctor or health care professional. See the article on healing for recommended healers.

therapeutic uses of cannabis

reprinted with Permission from Jack Herer’s famous The Emperor Wears No Clothes

There are more than 60 therapeutic compounds in cannabis that are healing agents in medical and herbal treatments. The primary known one is THC, and the effectiveness of therapy is directly proportionate to the herb’s potency or concentration of THC. Recent DEA reports of more potent marijuana therefore represent a major medical advance; but, incredibly, the government uses these very numbers to solicit bigger budgets and harsher penalties.     On November 5, 1996, 56% of California citizens voted for the California Compassionate Use Act (medical marijuana initiative) ending all legal state efforts to keep marijuana from being used as a medicine by California citizens, with a doctor’s or physician’s approval or even just an acknowledgment.     Arizona citizens, in November 1996, also passed, by an even greater margin, 65%, a drug declassification initiative that included medical marijuana, backed by, among others, the late U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater.     Arizona’s legislature and governor, exercising their veto override ability on state initiative laws for the first time in 90 years, struck down this popular initiative passed by the people. Arizona citizens angrily responded by recollecting more than 150,000 signatures in a 90 day referendum time and returned the medical marijuana initiative to the ballot for November 1998.     The following explains how people will benefit when the judgment and freedom of choice of doctor and patient are once again respected: WARNING: THIS WRITER [Jack Herer], RESPONSIBLE SCIENTISTS AND DOCTORS ADVISE:     There is no pharmacological free lunch in cannabis or any drug. Negative reactions can result. A small percentage of persons have negative or allergic reactions to marijuana. Heart patients could have problems, even though cannabis generally relieves stress, dilates the arteries, and in general lowers the diastolic pressure. A small percentage of persons get especially high heart rates and anxieties with cannabis. These persons should not use it. Some bronchial asthma sufferers benefit from cannabis; however, for others it may serve as an additional irritant. For the overwhelming majority of persons, cannabis has demonstrated literally hundreds of therapeutic uses. Among them: [1. Asthma; 2. Glaucoma; 3. Tumors]

reprinted with Permission from Chapter 7 of Jack Herer’s famous The Emperor Wears No Clothes

preparations

    Bhang: A beverage made from cannabis.

    Cannabis/marijuana: Flower tops (buds) and leaves of cannabis. Eaten or smoked.

    Hash oil: An oil derived from cannabis.

    Hashish: The resin from cannabis.

    Joints/blunts: Cannabis rolled into a cigarette or cigar paper.

    Pipe: Smoked in pipe, water pipe, or hookah.

    Vaporizer: Vaporizers turn cannabis into a fine mist.

medicinal uses:

    Cannabis was first documented in Kemet (ancient Egyt) around 2000 B.C.E. to treat sore eyes and cataracts. According to Diodorus Siculus (a Sicilian Greek historian who lived from 90 to 21 B.C.E.) Egyptian women used cannabis as a medication to relieve sorrow and bad humour.

    Cannabis is mentioned as a medication in the following ancient Egyptian medical texts: Ramesseum III Papyrus (1700 B.C.E.), Eber’s Papyrus (1600 B.C.E.), the Berlin Papyrus (1300 B.C.E.), and the Chester Beatty VI Papyrus (1300 B.C.E.). The Eber’s Papyrus is the oldest known complete medical textbook in existence. Most scholars believe that it is copy of a much earlier text, probably from around 3100 B.C.E.

section of Eber’s Papyrus, Formula No. 821
Location Plate #96, Lines 7-8

text in Demotic script (the people's script)

    Formula No. 821 translation: “Cannabis is pounded [ground] in honey and administered into her vagina. This is a contraction.” The 1907 Merck Index (page 132) lists emulsions of cannabis seeds to treat the effects of gonorrhea. The 1909 King’s American Dispensatory lists hemp seed infusion for use in after-pains and in the bearing down sensation accompanying prolapsus uteri. The 1927 U.S. Dispensatory lists hemp seed oil for inflammations of the mucous membrane.

section of Eber’s Papyrus, Formula No. 618
Location Plate #78, Lines 10-11

text in Demotic script (the people's script)

    Formula No. 618 translation: “Remedy for toe-nail (or fingernail). Ingredients honey, ochre cannabis, and [other ingredients which have not yet been translated]”

    The example on the left is the oldest known apothecary jar. It contained traces of hashish. The face is of the Pygmy god Bes (who became an Egyptian god of medicine).

    An ancient carving of the Egyptian physician Hesi Re from approximately 2650 B.C.E.

    Also in the Eber’s Papyrus, a mixture of cannabis and carob was used as an enema or combined with other ingredients for use as a poultice.

    The Ramses III Papyrus provides a prescription for cannabis use in the treatment of glaucoma: “A treatment for the eyes: celery, cannabis is ground and left in the dew overnight. Both eyes of the patient are to be washed with it in the morning.”

Hemp Seed: Medicinally, Hemp seed is anodyne, anthelmintic, demulcent, diuretic, emolient, emmenagogue, febrifuge, laxative, and tonic. It is used to treat constipation, nervous diseases, and is shown to be effective at lowering the risk of heart attack, heart disease, cholestrol, and it also has anti-inflamatory effects making it beneficial for arthritis and autoimmune disorders. Information courtesy of Mountain Rose Herbs (a source for legal hemp seeds)

cautions and contraindications:

    Cautions and contraindications: Cannabis is safe.

    The DEA’s own conservative administrative law judge, Francis Young, after taking medical testimony for 15 days and reviewing hundreds of DEA/NIDA documents positioned against the evidence introduced by marijuana reform activists, concluded in September 1988 that “marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” —The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer

    Wild gathering: Avoid wild gathering. Some plants are endangered species. Mere possession of cannabis can have severe legal consequences.

An updated version of this web page is now available at the new Teen Witch website cannabis.

See also: herbs

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