SACRED HERB, SACRED RIGHTS

It is my belief that cannabis should not have been made illegal, and all laws drafted regarding its use contravene international human rights law. When the law upholds sacramental cannabis use, prohibition is dead.

Both the UN Declaration and EU Convention on Human Rights carry the same paragraph in regard to freedom of religion.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance."

In English, anyone stating a sincerely held belief that cannabis aids their spirituality in any way is protected from prosecution. This, as ever, needs to be taken before the ECHR for confirmation, but the CA (Cannabis Assembly) has been working since September of last year to get a religious defence case prosecuted.

You need neither dreadlocks nor a hassock, You do not need to be a member of any recognised religion, and EU law forbids the questioning of religious beliefs.
So, with full legal consultation, we have determined that anyone who can prove Cantheist beliefs prior to arrest will be protected from prosecution. Simple really, ho ho, but we have to get it into court and the authorities are refusing to take the bait.

The Cannabis Assembly was born in September of 2004 following continued disillusion with the capitalistic intent of the US based THC Ministry. Rev. Pete Brown and I, co-founders of the CA, believe any assistance which may be given to protect cannabis users from prosecution should be given freely, and it is stated clearly on our site that the CA will never accept any financial donation of any kind.

To this end we have designed, written, and made freely downloadable, membership documents, a sanctuary sign, plant tags, and ID cards, stating the religious use of cannabis. Once these documents are on display in a person's home arrest for any cannabis offence under UK law immediately triggers the religious defence. You'll find all documents required at http://cannabis-assembly.co.uk

 

We also began a letter writing campaign to inform the authorities we were cultivating and consuming cannabis for religious use, and have written numerous letters to; Mr’s. Blair, Blunkett, and Clarke, and to the Dept. of Constitutional Affairs, various other Ministers and the media.
They may simply be compiling a case but to this date they have chosen not to attempt prosecution. This is annoying, of course, but inevitable nevertheless. We shall have our day in court.

Rev. Pete Brown and I both have previous convictions for cultivation. Pete is confined to a wheelchair and I have spinal arthritis but still get around acceptably with the use of a walking stick. We are both medical consumers of cannabis having found prescription medications no longer viable due to increased side effects.

Sacred Herb, Sacred Rights

The use of cannabis in medicine and religion predates recorded history. 'Kaneh bosem' from ancient Hebrew, the basis of Biblical holy anointing oil and used by Jesus Christ, became the Greek 'Kanabis' which was adopted into Latin as 'Cannabis' and has a local language name in every country on Earth.

We in western cultures often only relate the Rastafarian religion to Sacramental use of cannabis, but as it was used by 'the anointed one', or 'Christ', it also used by Jews, Taoists, Hindus, Shintoists, Buddhists, Muslims, and the healers and shaman of isolated groups worldwide.

Cannabis is an active part of modern religious life and yet, in direct contravention to it's own discrimination laws, governments of the EU continue to persecute it's users. Practices such as these should not be seen to continue in the anti sectarian, multi-faith, society that we hope to build in Europe.

The advocates of cannabis prohibition continue to claim reasons of 'no medicinal use' and 'harmful to public health' to defend this unjust mistake. People throughout Europe however are daily using cannabis to treat Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS, Cancer, Brain Tumours, Glaucoma, Stroke, Nausea, Asthma, Epilepsy, Insomnia, Depression, Chronic Pain, and Migraine. New medical studies seem to appear weekly confirming the claims of those who rely upon cannabis as a medical necessity.

The many harmful side effects of prescription drugs governments and health authorities deem acceptable, yet the pleasant euphoria experienced when using cannabis is not. By preventing normally law abiding, hard working, men and women from using this herb the governments of the European Union are guilty of an act of torture upon its own citizens.

HJ Anslinger, Director of the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics, openly misled the Congress of the United States to achieve a personal agenda that historians have labelled misguided at best and is popularly believed to be a corrupt collaboration between Anslinger, Randolph Hearst, and Du Pont. The newspaper, and timber, magnate, Hearst, published a campaign of anti-'marijuana' propaganda, often penned by himself and Anslinger, based on unacceptable racial intolerance and outlandish medical claims. These articles claimed that one joint of cannabis could cause "insanity, criminality, and death" and made people of "degenerate races" "believe they are equal to white men". In evidence given to a hearing of the US Senate in 1937 Anslinger stated,

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw Marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marihuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

These statements have been available to the governments of Europe for many years yet the citizens see no action taken to rectify this injustice. The fact that such discriminatory and unfounded laws as the prohibition of cannabis can remain on our statute books in the twenty-first century is a barrier to the future harmony of Europe which needs to be dismantled.

Recently we have seen modern examples of the 'reefer madness' stories once again being used to promote personal political agendas. What the majority of the mainstream media fail to put in banner headlines are the quotes from the authors of the latest reports.
Dr Ferguson, head of the New Zealand study, said "the same results would occur in (testing) milk". Prof Van O, of the Dutch report, said "the results affect such a small number of people it should never be used to guide legislation". Van O openly states prohibition does not work.
Yet certain politicians and sections of the media take anecdotal studies that suggest cannabis may be one of many thousands of things that may trigger mental illness in someone already predisposed to that illness, and broadcast it to the public as 'cannabis drives you mad'. Can anyone see a slight discrepancy between headline and fact here?

Our representatives can no longer ignore the wishes of the growing number of cannabis users while allowing far more dangerous drugs, such as tobacco which kills over 50,000 people each year in the UK, and alcohol which kills over 26,000, to be sold openly. These politicians are not concerned in the health of the public but only about the profits of the multinationals that donate so generously to party funds, and these politicians do not represent the majority view of the citizens of the United Kingdom.

If you want to protect your children, legalise cannabis, and all drugs, consider this; under prohibition the minimum legal age to buy drugs is 50p."

Faith and patience, Rev. Paul Farnhill, Cannabis Assembly

http://cannabis-assembly.co.uk

 SACRED HERB, SACRED RIGHTS

by Rev. Paul Farnhill, Cannabis Assembly

The Girdle of Gaia

"The Tree of Life bears twelve manner of monthly fruit and the leaves are for the healing of the nations"- Revelation

Just as the twelve signs of the Zodiac - the Belt of Ishtar - are an arbitrary classification of the millions of stars in the galaxy into prominent configurations, so the diverse floral stars of the evolutionary process - the many psychoactive, medicinal and food plants are beyond number. Nevertheless, in human history there are a small number of constellations of sacred plants which, because of their great cultural significance, deserve to be treated as the fabled twelve-fold fruit of the Tree of Life.

Each constellation represents a collection of species sharing a particular molecular arrangement which is psychoactive in the human brain, and which also has a significant cultural history of religious use to induce visionary, mystical or shamanic trance states.
The purpose of this article is to acknowledge the stature and respect these sacred fruits deserve, and to indicate beyond them those other stars without number which further enrich the diversity of our conscious life. In compiling this list, it should be borne in mind that ancient uses of such plants were negotiated in a sacred and ritual manner and that some, despite their historical use are toxic. Others despite not being physically harmful have profound effects on the conscious mind, which, without proper guidance, could lead to social consequences detrimental to the respect in which these and all medicinal plants should be held. Eliade's failure to recognise the central role of hallucinogens in the shamanic path, both in Siberia and particularly in the Americas constitutes one of the most misleading episodes in modern anthropology.

Pivotal to this realization is also an overturning of James Frazer's sequence of civilized attainment from magic to religion and finally to science. The idea that magic is more primitive than religion and that religion is more primitive than science arises from a basic confusion between causal mechanics and the intrinsic uncertainty of conscious experience.
From a quantum-mechanical perspective the ancient roles of science and magic, look if anything complementary. Science explains what the probabilities are in a given situation and magic addresses the area of uncertainty - why one outcome rather than another actually is chosen by nature. Religion has been caught somewhere in the middle, falling from its primal roots in visionary trance in the formation of mass belief systems, and yet neither conforming to the rational developments of scientific reason. One could thus take the position that through a combination of scientific reason and shamanic vision, we will finally correct the folly of religion and regain the Tao of vision-and-reason which the gatherer-hunters with their vast knowledge of plants gave us as their sacred heritage of the Garden - the fruit of knowledge and immortality.

The Ancient Use of Sacred Plants
"By the Later Old Stone Age (the Upper Palaeolithic period, beginning about 45,000 to 38,000 years ago and ending around 10,000 years ago in Europe - perhaps earlier elsewhere) our species Homo sapiens had firmly established itself with an economy based on hunting, fishing and the gathering of plants". "Almost all hunter-gatherer societies have been shown to have a fairly clear-cut division of labour between the sexes. The men hunt whilst the women gather plants and collect or hunt small animals (e.g. shellfish, birds, eggs, etc.). Whilst animal proteins are highly prized, the bulk of the staple foodstuffs are usually the result of female labour. This division of labour may suggest that in prehistoric times women's role vis-a-vis plants was not limited to the culinary or even the medical spheres, but extended into the discovery of psychoactive plants (this has a distant echo in the female- dominated European witchcraft tradition, for which see Chapter 6 below). Gatherers have an extremely detailed knowledge of their land and its natural resources, and having considered the technical and intellectual achievements of hunter-gatherer communities past and present we should not be surprised that they were able to identify, collect and process a variety of psychoactive species".

"That there was ample time for such spiritual or recreational activity in the hunter-gatherer society is not in doubt: Some contemporary cultures practise a similar way of life and until recently it was presumed that nearly all their waking hours were spent in a relentless quest for food. In fact case-studies from various parts of the world show that sufficient food can be obtained in an average adult working day of 3-5 hours. The hunter hunted by starvation may be the exception rather than the rule. The leisure time of many hunter-gatherers seems to be abundant:
Extrapolating from ethnography to prehistory, one may say as much for the Neolithic [New Stone Age] as John Stuart Mill said of all labour-saving devices, that never was one invented that saved anyone a minute's labour. The Neolithic saw no particular improvement over the Palaeolithic in the amount of time required per capita for the production of subsistence; probably, with the advent of agriculture, people had to work harder.

Much the same conclusion is arrived at by an eminent prehistoric archaeologist:
There is abundant data which suggests not only that hunter-gatherers have adequate supplies of food but also that they enjoy quantities of leisure time, much more in fact than do modern industrial or farm workers, or even professors of archaeology.
From the basis of a comparatively stable economy and adequate leisure time Palaeolithic populations were able to develop technology, science and art to a surprisingly high degree. Prehistoric thought, albeit different in scale and content from our own, deserves our admiration".

In the Alchemy of Culture, Richard Rudgley gathers evidence from several researchers that Palaeolithic cultures, based on such detailed knowledge of local flora and fungi utilized the natural distributions of psychoactive species in their locale as an early feature of their cultural development. Rudgley notes the research of other authors including David Lewis-Williams and Thomas Dowdson who make a case that the abstract patterns that occur in parallel with the animals found in such pre-historic caves as Lascaux, which have long been ascribed to shamanic rites of hunting, are representations of the phosphenes that accompany meditative and trance states, accompanying shamanic practices, particularly those associated with psychoactive plants.
Somewhat later we indeed find more definitive suggestions of such 'phosphene art' in the form of the Neolithic Tomb of Gavrinis in Brittany, where carved megaliths from a neolithic tomb show striking abstract patterns of this nature. These are also nearby another find of pottery 'vase-supports' from Er Lannic, some of which show signs of being used as braziers, and are consistent with an early spread from the South of ritual burning possibly of opium.

Papaver somniferum:
The Poppy of the Holy Mother
The opium poppy, which is one of the most medically important plants known to man and which still plays a central role in the control of pain and suffering, particularly in terminal conditions, shows a very early pattern of use and cultivation. Although the exact origins of the poppy remain uncertain, it seems to have been domesticated in the west Mediterranean by the sixth millennium BC. Several finds of remains poppy seeds have come from Neolithic lake villages in Switzerland, and also in Germany and Italy point to widespread domestication in Neolithic times. These are complemented by full pods at burial sites at Albunol in Spain from around 4200 BC which are more indicative of medicinal use.

The use of poppies in Crete is attested to by Minoan statues and seals from the second millennium BC clearly indicating ritual use of opium resin in the cultures of the fertility Goddess, consistent with her role in gathering medicinal plants and using them as an integral part of her ritual worship. It is natural for the fertility Goddess to utilize and respect as spiritual those emanations of her own manifestation of physical fertility as an aspect of the very body of the Earth Goddess: 'Kritikos has shown that during the Late Minoan period opium was taken by participants in certain religious ceremonies to induce a state of ecstasy essential for the performance of the sacred rites. Might not opium have been used in the same way in Egypt? How appropriate it would be if the island of Aphrodite could be proved to have introduced Egypt to the drug which served that Goddess so well!’... It would be impossible to believe that advantage was not taken by the ancient Egyptians of the purely sensuous or erotic affects that opium also produces'.

From a similar period come Cypriot juglets from tel Amarna in the 18th dynasty of Egypt of Akhenaten. It has been suggested that these juglets were designed to iconically represent their contents as indicated above left making them so-called skeuomorphs. Chromatographic evidence confirms the presence of opiates in at least some of these juglets.
The role of opium in the ancient world is well attested. There are references to it in writings from Egypt, Assyria and Greece. Egyptian medical texts list among opium's many uses its sedative powers to alleviate the pain of wounds, abscesses and scalp complaints. For the Romans too it was something of a panacea, being used to treat elephantiasis, carbuncles, liver complaints, epilepsy and scorpion bites, according to Pliny. Opium is Greek for poppy juice. It is dedicated to Nyx goddess of the night, who is shown distributing it to youths in repose in a cameo. Almost every major writer of antiquity from Hippocrates, who recommended poppy wine, mentions it.

It has also been suggested that the poppy was an integral part of sacrificial rites from Sumer to Babylon. It has been noted that in at least some of the sacrificial Tombs of the early Kings Ur the sacrificed servants and courtiers appear to have died peacefully, suggesting they were given a potion to relax them, or even to bring on unconsciousness. Sumerian tablature of the second millennium BC mentions its efficacy in bringing sleep and an end to pain.

A key paragraph from Babel Tower (273) expresses this use in poetic terms: 'We are told by antiquaries ... that in ancient Babylon, in the chamber at the top of the ziggurat which was reserved for the activities of the god Baal, he came sometimes to sleep with the priestess, and sometimes to share a feast at a giant stone table, and sometimes, in difficult times, to demand a sacrifice. And there are many tales of what this sacrifice was - a red human heart, tastefully roasted, a whole human infant, the first-born, trussed and tossed into the flames of his altar fire. It is told that on his feast days a great cake was baked, and cut into small portions, one of which was blacked with the soot of the eternal Fire of his altar.

The people took their cakes blindfold, and he who chose the black square was the Chosen One, devoted to the god. And for a time this Devoted One was fed and fattened, granted his desires of the flesh, sweet cakes and wine, sweet bedfellows and smoky opiates. And when his time came, he was led smiling to the fire, and the god was pleased, and did not wilfully torture or persecute the people for the following year, but let their corn and vines grow rich and their children spring up plump and healthy.'
In Eurasia there is a legend that Buddha cut off his eyelids in order to prevent sleep overtaking him, and where they fell, there grew a herb which bore a nodding violet flower which was to give sleep and tortured dreams to all mankind.

Cannabis: Ganga, the Sacred River of the Sadhu
"A similar case can be made for the use of hemp (Cannabis sativa) as an intoxicant in prehistoric Europe. Hemp seeds have been found at a variety of Neolithic sites in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Romania. Like the opium poppy, hemp grows as a weed, and its proximity to prehistoric communities was a factor in its domestication".
One of our oldest cultivars, Cannabis has been a five-purpose plant: fibre, seed oil, for its seeds as food, for its psychoactive properties, and therapeutically as a medicine.

"In several parts of eastern Europe decorated pottery "polypoid bowls' have been found, dating from the early third millennium BC. The earliest of these bowls, often interpreted as braziers ' came from the Pontic Steppes. Examples found in the Carpathian Basin and then in Czechoslovakia and southern Germany are somewhat later, indicating that this type of pottery spread from east to west. Cannabis sativa, too, is generally thought to have originated on the steppes and subsequently to have spread into Europe. Could it be that these polypoid bowls, rather like the earlier 'vase-supports', were braziers for the ritual burning of an intoxicant? Two further finds of associated artefacts add weight to the possibility of a later Neolithic cannabis cult. A pit-grave burial of the later third millennium in Romania was discovered to include an item described as a 'pipe cup' which itself contained charred hemp seeds.

Another 'pipe cup' from the same period and belonging to the north Caucasian Early Bronze Age was found with hemp seed present. Although the seeds are not themselves psychoactive, they are the most heat-resistant part of the plant, and these two finds suggest that the intoxicating flowers and leaves had been burnt away".

"Contemporary with the rise of the polypoid bowls on the steppe was the development of a novel style of pottery ornamentation. While the bowl was still wet, cord was wrapped around it in order to impress it with a pattern. ... Sherratt has suggested that this cord decoration may have been a way of celebrating the contents of the bowls. In this case it was not by imitating the shape of the Cannabis sativa plant (as the Cypriote juglets imitated the opium poppy) that the contents of the vessels were announced, but by decoration applied by the use of hemp cord."

Both the fibre and intoxicating qualities of hemp were exploited by later cultures such as the Thracians. A Greek source informs us that they made their garments from its fibre" and it is known that their shamans (Kapnobatai) used cannabis to induce states of trance.
"As the polypoid bowls decorated with cord impressions began to be used further westward, they entered cultural areas with a tradition of alcohol use. It is possible that in such regions the two substances were used together to produce a new psychoactive effect. just as it can be shown that the use of opium was widespread in the early historical period in the east Mediterranean, there is also sufficient evidence that hemp was being used as an intoxicant by the Iron Age. Cannabis has been discovered in the grave chamber of the Hochdorf Hallstatt wagon-burial near Stuttgart in Germany (circa 500 BC), and also at Scythian sites on the steppes" (R 30).

In the eighth century BC Scythian groups from the east began to migrate westward with their flocks and herds. After a successful alliance with the Medes, which resulted in the sacking of the Assyrian city of Nineveh in 613 BC, both the Asiatic and the European Scythians began a series of conflicts with the Persian kings of the Achaemenian Dynasty.
Among the tribute-bearing delegations depicted on Achaemenian reliefs at the royal site of Persepolis is a people named saka tigraxauda, or 'pointed- hat Scythians', on account of their distinctive headgear. Another group that features in a number of trilingual inscriptions in Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian' is the saka haitinaiaixa or 'hao a-drinking Scythians' after Haoma.

In the fifth century BC Herodotus travelled widely in the area to the north of the Black Sea and includes the following account of Scythian intoxication in his Historics: "On a framework of tree sticks, meeting at the top, they stretch pieces of woollen cloth. Inside this tent they put a dish with hot stones on it. Then they take some hemp seed, creep into the tent, and throw the seed on the hot stones. At once it begins to smoke, giving off a vapour unsurpassed by any vapour bath one could find in Greece. The Scythians are so delighted they shout for joy."
Like other cultures, the Scythians gradually passed through the transition to alcohol use. It is however mentioned occasionally by the Greeks. Democritus around 400 BC noted its use occasionally with wine and myrrh to produce visionary states. The Assyrians were also during the first millennium BC known to use Hemp as incense.

Tradition in India maintains that the gods sent man the Hemp plant so that he might attain delight, courage, and have heightened sexual desires. When nectar or Amrita dropped down from heaven, Cannabis sprouted from it. Another story tells how when the gods, helped by demons churned the mile ocean to obtain Amrita one of the resulting divine nectars was Cannabis, able to give man anything from a good health and a long life to visions of the gods. It was consecrated to Shiva and was Indra's favourite drink. Cannabis bears the name Vijaya for the victory the gods had over the demons in retaining guardianship of Amrita. Ever since the plant has been held in India, to bestow supernatural powers on its users. As Bhang it was thought to deter evil, bring luck and cleanse man of sin.

Hemp fibre can be found from 4000 BC in China and 3000 BC from Turkestan, and a possible specimen from early Egypt. It is described as Ma-fen (Hemp-fruit) in China where a legendary emperor of 2000 BC said "If taken to excess, it will cause you to see devils. If taken over a long time it makes one communicate with spirits and lightens one's body". Chinese Emperor Shen-Nung in 2737 BC noted its bisexual nature and recommended for a variety of uses from malaria to absent-mindedness. A Taoist priest in 500 BC noted that Cannabis "was employed by necromancers, in combination with Ginseng to set forward time and reveal future events" (S&H 95). In later China, this use seems to have disappeared.

Hashish is also associated with the Old Man of the Mountain and his garden of paradise which was to convince kidnapped young men that if they obeyed his orders as assassins, they would gain such a reward. It was described as a physical realization of Muhammad's paradise promised to the followers of Islam: "In a beautiful valley between two mountains [Aloedin] formed a luxurious garden, with delicious fruit and every fragrant shrub ... with streams of milk and honey and beautiful damsels accomplished in the arts of singing and playing on all sorts of instruments, dancing, dalliance and amorous allurement". However historical accounts of the Islamic leader Hasan-i Sabah say he built the castle Aluh Amut 'the eagles teaching' on an eyrie and was a recluse learned in geometry, astronomy and magic. As an opponent of the caliph who did commit assassinations, he has been fancifully denigrated by his Sunni opponents (R101). It is thus very doubtful whether hashish should receive the stigma of the assassin.

Despite Islam's unambiguous stand against alcohol, the use of Hemp spread widely in the Islamic world, and into Africa, subsequently spreading throughout the globe through movements of both slaves and migrants.
Cannabis is also the sacred herb of the Rastafarians, setting an unusual biblical tradition of being cannabis-smoking followers of Yahweh. The Ethiopian tradition also runs through the Shulamite Queen of Sheba.
"The psychoactive effects of Cannabis and its preparations vary widely, depending on the preparation the user and the background. Perhaps the most frequent characteristic is a dreamy state. Long-forgotten events are often recalled and thoughts occur in unrelated sequences. Perception of time and occasionally space are altered. Visual and auditory hallucinations follow the use of large doses. Euphoria, excitement and inner happiness - often with hilarity and laughter are typical". Schultes comments: "it behoves us to consider the role of Cannabis in our past and learn what lessons it can teach us ... for it appears that it will be with us for a long time".

Visions of a Sacred Tree
By Chris Bennett

Several researchers have indicated that the use of cannabis by the native peoples of what is now known as North America pre-dates the arrival of Europeans in 1492. Early explorer Jacques Cartier, who was from a hemp growing district in France, reported hemp growing here and in use by the native Indians.
Solid historical evidence of Native American use of cannabis was provided when archaeologist Bill Fitzgerald discovered five hundred year old pipes in Morriston, Ontario. Resin scrapings showed that the pipes contained "traces of hemp and tobacco that is five times stronger than the cigarettes smoked today."
In light of this evidence, and the recent media coverage of cannabis cultivation by Mohawk warriors in and around Oka, Quebec, it is interesting to see that at least one of the supporters of the thirty or so Natives who are making a stand for their Sacred Sun Dancing site near Gustafson Lake in British Columbia can also be tied in with cannabis.
Warrior John Splitting-the-Sky Hill was seen on much of the media coverage involving the incident at Gustafson Lake. He is the fellow with a pony tail, glasses, and muscle shirt, who was pointing out where the RCMP intruders to the native camp were located. John Splitting-the-Sky Hill has been a strong hemp and marijuana advocate for about five years.
By chance I had the pleasure of meeting this modern-day visionary while I was manning a hemp booth at Clayaquot in the summer of 1993. Mr. Splitting-the-Sky Hill and his crew set up beside us.
I was surprised to find that this inspiring individual was thoroughly educated about cannabis. He explained that he had a friendship with Jack Herer and was closely associated with many other key people in the hemp movement. He was handing out copies of a newspaper that was calling for a sovereign Indian Nation, and this newspaper also contained references to hemp.
The speech from this Indian warrior reads like a modern-day Revolutionary Manifesto, and can be seen as a source of inspiration to anybody involved in the hemp and marijuana movement. Sadly, the media is trying to present Mr. Splitting-the-Sky Hill and those at Guftsason Lake as an apocalyptic fringe group, like the one that was recently massacred in Waco Texas.
Ironically, the whole apocalyptic concept of a "Holy Armageddon" is a basic tenet of North America's largest religious group, the Christians. There is however, at least one connection between the prophecies of the Christians and those of native shamans. This is the promise of a sacred tree, one that has a planetary significance at this time.
In the closing verses of the Book of Revelation, which appears at the end of the Bible, we read:
On either side of the river (of life) stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit each month and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Nations. Revelation 22

When you consider that cannabis can be used to save our forests, aid in the cleaning up of our environment, and also provide us with many medicinal benefits, and that it is being harvested every day of every month of the year here in BC, it is hard not to draw an analogy with the above Christian prophecy.

Black Elk's Great Vision
Besides being in tune with Christian visions of the apocalypse, it would seem from the following evidence that Splitting-the-Sky Hill's statements are also in sync with some startling Native Indian prophecies as well.
A Native Indian Apocalyptic prophecy made at the turn of the century contains many references to a sacred pipe and herbs of power. In "Black Elk Speaks Of His Great Vision" 3, Black Elk tells us that the Indian people will be brought back together after much suffering.
In his vision Black Elk is taken to a council of elders:
The oldest spoke again: "Your Grandfathers all over the world are having a council, and they have called you to teach you." His voice was kind, but I shook all over with fear now, for I knew that these were not old men but the Powers of the World.
One of the Grandfathers gives Black Elk a pipe and tells him
"With this pipe you shall walk upon the Earth, and whatever sickens there you will make well."
And now another Grandfather spoke, he of the place where you are always facing, whence comes the power to grow. "Younger Brother," he said, "with the powers of a nation I shall give you, and with it many you will save."
And I saw that he was holding in his right hand a bright red stick that was alive, and as I looked it sprouted at the top and sent forth branches, and on the branches many leaves came out and murmured, and in the leaves the birds began to sing.
And then for just a little while I thought I saw beneath it in the shade the circled villages of people, and every living thing with roots or legs or wings, and all were happy.
"It shall stand in the center of the Nations circle." said the Grandfather,"a cane to walk with and a people's heart; and by your powers you shall make it blossom."
A sacred man rolls on the ground before Black Elk, and in his wake appears a healthy Bison, which in turn is replaced by a sacred herb with four blossoms. Each of the herb's blossoms is of a different colour, representing the different races of humanity.
Black Elk interprets this as meaning that the Indian Nation would lose the bison but this herb would serve the Indians as another source of strength.
He explains that "All the people seemed better when the herb had grown and bloomed."
And later we are told suddenly the flowering tree was there again at the center of the nation's hoop where the four-rayed herb had blossomed.
Then as I stood there, two men were coming from the East, head first like flying arrows, and between them rose the day-break star. They came and gave a herb to me and said, "With this on earth you shall undertake anything and do it."
It was the day-break-star herb, the herb of understanding, and they told me to drop it to earth. I saw it falling far, and when it struck the earth it rooted and grew and flowered, four blossoms on one stem.
Black Elk tells us that
“I saw more than I can tell and I understand more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner.”
Although Black Elk never specifically names the herb in question, his vision connects the sacred herb with a sacred tree, and in light of John Splitting-the-Sky Hill's comments it seems reasonable to conclude that Black Elk was referring to cannabis.
Dear reader, the next time you are gathered in a sacred circle to pass the pipe, or share communion via a 'joint', pay reverence for the Good Medicine from the Great Spirit, that can be found in that sacred herb which you so enjoy smoking.

 

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SACRED HERB, SACRED RIGHTS

The Girdle of Gaia

Visions of a Sacred Tree