07 March, 2008

The Contact High that Came Down Through the Ages

From The Guardian:
In the philosophy journal Time and Mind, Benny Shanon states that key events of the Old Testament are actually records of visions by ancient Israelites high on hallucinogens.

So, Moses was high as a kite when he had his close encounters with yahweh. Trippin’ balls. Stoned out of his mind. No wonder he heard disembodied voices and saw funny light. I mean, who hasn’t, right?Anyway, my point here is: this is news? Just because the only people who like to get high in order to reach god nowadays are Rastafarians and the pseudo-mystical psychedelic Latin American shamans trying to separate aging hippies from their money, doesn’t mean that this wasn’t the modus operandi back in the day. All these old-school mystics and clerics used mind-altering substances: the oracle at Delphi, the Druids, etc. To suppose that the forebears of the Judeo-Christian tradition are any different simply because our modern-day popular moral code vilifies any and all type of substance abuse is self-serving delusion, at best.

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