New research sheds light on the history of cannabis use, including necromancy

A recent article published in the European Journal for Chemistry examines the historical uses of cannabis and its versatility. Entitled “From ancient Asian relics to the present: A review of historical and chemical aspects of cannabis,” researchers Gabriel Vitor de Lima Marques and Renata Barbosa de Oliveira from the Department of Pharmaceutical Products at Brazil’s Federal University of Minas Gerais submitted the paper in early April This year it was published and printed in the magazine at the end of September.

“From the Himalayan mountains to the South American coast, cannabis, a general term for plants in the genus Cannabis that have been in contact with humanity for thousands of years, demonstrates its versatility as a food such as hemp, for religious and hedonistic influences, and for other purposes.” over millennia, depending on the populations in question,” the researchers wrote in the paper’s abstract. “This article provides an overview of the context of cannabis use and its place in world history, from ancient Mesopotamian relics to traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines to the reasons for the isolation and structure elucidation of three phytocannabinoids and their spread from cannabis to the the whole world.”

Researchers described cannabis as one of the five main grains used by ancient people, along with rice, soy, barley and millet. It was often used as food, but also to make many other goods such as soap. The hemp stalks were used to make ropes for tools and ship sails, as well as clothing and paper.

Current archaeological evidence for the use of cannabis plants dates back to 8,000 BC. BC in ancient Mesopotamia (the current region includes Iran and Iraq) and 4,000 years BC. BC, where hemp rope material was found in what is now China and Kazakhstan. Researchers claim that hemp was widely used until the 19th century, where an estimated 80% of fabrics, candles, rope, and more were made from hemp.

It was also mentioned in the world’s oldest pharmacopoeia, the Pen Ts’ao Ching, originally compiled in the 1st century but dated to 2,700 BC. BC. As translated by researchers: “The Ma-fen (“fruit” of cannabis)” if taken in excess, the user can see demons.” Cannabis in combination with ginseng was also believed to “help necromancers gain powers of prescience and enlightenment of being gain”.

The use of cannabis for its entheogenic properties dates back to around 1,000 BC in India. BC. Hemp is described in the ancient Hindu religious texts, the Vedas, as one of the five sacred plants: “…it was believed to have originated from a drop of Amrita (“Holy Nectar”) that fell from heaven to earth and “It could bring joy and freedom to those who used it,” the researchers explained. At the time, bhang, ganja and charas were the most common cannabis variants.

Cannabis has often been used to celebrate events such as the Holi festival and Durga Puja. “It is understood that marijuana is as important and respected for these people as communion wine or the holy host is for Christians,” the researchers added. “For its other aspects, Ayurvedic medicine used cannabis as a practical panacea: as an analgesic, antispasmodic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, aphrodisiac and anaphrodisiac, appetite stimulant, treatment of diseases of the female tract, abortifacient, induction of labor, and many other uses.”

The benefits and widespread use of cannabis and other herbal medicines and knowledge in these cultures were demonized by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, and its properties were “hidden and suppressed” in European areas.

Between the 18th and 19th centuries, when Napoleon invaded Egypt, French army scientists studied hashish consumption among locals and later brought samples back to France to conduct research. In 1840, a certain researcher, Jacques-Joseph Moreau, “tested various preparations [of hashish] He challenged himself and his students to test its psychotomimetic properties on the grounds that he “saw in hashish, more specifically in its effects on mental faculties, a powerful and unique method for studying the origins of mental illness.” Making its way to France, hashish was also used by famous authors such as Alexandre Dumas, Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier and Victor Hugo.

Irish physician William Brooke O’Shaughnessy recorded his observations about cannabis “in the treatment of pain, convulsions, and vomiting resulting from infectious diseases such as rabies, tetanus, and cholera, diseases that were major public health problems in 19th-century Europe. “of great importance to Western medicine.” The properties of cannabis as a “sedative, analgesic, anticonvulsant and for the symptomatic treatment of infectious diseases” eventually led to its inclusion in the British Pharmacopoeia. “What was once the preserve almost exclusively of African and indigenous slaves is now being adopted by white Brazilian society for therapeutic purposes,” the researchers commented.

From the late 19th century to the present, researchers have continued to examine the scientific profile of cannabis and have uncovered many truths about cannabis. Although research was hampered by prohibition more than 80 years ago, today’s understanding of cannabis was possible because of its use by ancient people.

The paper’s researchers stated that the “hedonistic” use of cannabis and other narcotics in the middle and late 20th century was influenced by “cultural and even religious movements such as jazz, blues, the hippie movement, Rastafarian and the revival of the Literature of the Past “was sustained by the 19th century and rock and roll with famous artists such as Bob Marley, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles and The Doors, whose works influenced popular culture to this day.”

“Cannabis is perhaps one of the greatest controversies in humanity today,” the paper concludes. Despite the setbacks of Prohibition, modern research is well on its way to making up for lost time, with the plant continuing to be used both as a psychedelic substance for medicinal or recreational purposes and as a food and textile.