Post by Cambist on Jan 19, 2011 8:40:43 GMT -5
Moses Was High on Drugs, Israeli Researcher Says
Psychedelic cocktail May Explain Vision of the Burning Bush
By SIMON MCGREGOR-WOOD
JERUSALEM, March 5, 2008
Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny
Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.
Writing in the British Journal Time and Mind, he
claims Moses was probably on psychedelic drugs
when he received the Ten Commandments from God.
The assertions give a whole new meaning to Moses
being "high" on Mount Sinai.
According to Shanon, a professor at Hebrew
University, two naturally existing plants in the Sinai
Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as
ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known
for their mind-altering capabilities. The drugs are
usually combined in a drink called ayahuasca.
"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was
either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't
believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or
finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined
Moses and the people of Israel under the effects of
narcotics," he told Israel Radio in an interview
Tuesday.
The description in The Book of Exodus of thunder,
lightening and a blaring trumpet, according to
Shanon, are the classic imaginings of people under
the influence of drugs.
As for the vision of the burning bush, well obviously
that too was a drug-fueled hallucination, according
to Shanon.
"In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation," he
wrote, "the seeing of light is accompanied by
profound religious and spiritual feelings."
Shanon admits he took some of these drugs while in
the Amazon in 1991. "I experienced visions that had
spiritual-religious connotations," he said.
The initial reaction to this controversial theory from
Israel's religiously orthodox community and the
powerful rabbis who lead it was less than enthusiastic.
Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow, quoted by Reuters
speaking on Israel radio, said: "The Bible is trying to
convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for
the fate of the biblical Moses, but for the fate of
science."
Psychedelic cocktail May Explain Vision of the Burning Bush
By SIMON MCGREGOR-WOOD
JERUSALEM, March 5, 2008
Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny
Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.
Writing in the British Journal Time and Mind, he
claims Moses was probably on psychedelic drugs
when he received the Ten Commandments from God.
The assertions give a whole new meaning to Moses
being "high" on Mount Sinai.
According to Shanon, a professor at Hebrew
University, two naturally existing plants in the Sinai
Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as
ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known
for their mind-altering capabilities. The drugs are
usually combined in a drink called ayahuasca.
"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was
either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't
believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or
finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined
Moses and the people of Israel under the effects of
narcotics," he told Israel Radio in an interview
Tuesday.
The description in The Book of Exodus of thunder,
lightening and a blaring trumpet, according to
Shanon, are the classic imaginings of people under
the influence of drugs.
As for the vision of the burning bush, well obviously
that too was a drug-fueled hallucination, according
to Shanon.
"In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation," he
wrote, "the seeing of light is accompanied by
profound religious and spiritual feelings."
Shanon admits he took some of these drugs while in
the Amazon in 1991. "I experienced visions that had
spiritual-religious connotations," he said.
The initial reaction to this controversial theory from
Israel's religiously orthodox community and the
powerful rabbis who lead it was less than enthusiastic.
Orthodox rabbi Yuval Sherlow, quoted by Reuters
speaking on Israel radio, said: "The Bible is trying to
convey a very profound event. We have to fear not for
the fate of the biblical Moses, but for the fate of
science."