Random Historians Believe Moses May Have Been On Drugs (12 items)

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  (#8) How These Plants Affect The Human Body

  The chemicals present in ayahuasca can make a person "see, hear, smell, feel or taste things that aren’t really there or cause the person to experience things differently from how they are in reality."

  The ingredient dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is not orally active because there is a compound in the digestive tract that destroys it, called monoamine oxidase (MAO). Because the ayahuasca tea contains a MAO inhibitor, the hallucinogenic DMT can then enter the circulatory system and be absorbed into the brain.
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  (#5) Drugs Can Be Instruments To Develop Religious Understanding

  In the Amazon region, ayahuasca is used in religious ceremonies. Although ayahuasca - along with the plants used by the early Israelites - is a mind-altering substance, Shanon is adamant that using it can be an experience that brings a deeper understanding of God. 

  "The plants were universally regarded as sacred, even divine, and held to be the source of true knowledge and the very foundation of the cultures in question. Their consumption is a lifelong engagement."
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  (#10) Shanon's Research On The Use Of Psychoactive Plants In Religious History Doesn't Affect His Respect For Religion

  If anyone can claim to be an expert on ayahuasca, it's Dr. Benny Shanon. He has participated in around 160 ayahuasca ceremonies for the purpose of researching the effects on the body and mind. 

  While some might feel uncomfortable with the idea that key Biblical figures were under the influence of intoxicants, Dr. Shanon sees it very differently. When The Guardian posted articles that painted his research as disparaging to Moses and significant moments in the Bible, he wrote back to clear some things up.

  "I would like to assure you that I have the deepest respect for Moses, the Jewish tradition and religious faith in general. As stated in my book The Antipodes of the Mind, the most important effect the experiences with ayahuasca have had on me as a person was making me understand the dimension of the holy." 
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  (#1) The Effects Of The Plants May Explain A Few Very Important Biblical Moments

  Dr. Shanon claims that two of the major events that most people know Moses for in the Bible occurred while he was possibly under the influence of hallucinogenics. Those events are the receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and the encounter with the burning bush with which he had a conversation.

  He also experienced things throughout the Book of Exodus that include bright light and the sound of trumpets, visual and auditory sensations that can be experienced through drug use.
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  (#6) "Entheogens" Pop Up Throughout Religious History

  From Siberia to Mexico, drugs were used in ancient religious ceremonies to gain a better connection to the spiritual world.The term "entheogen" was coined by ethnobotanists in 1979, as a way to better describe the use of drugs for religious reasons. The definition of "entheogen" is "that which causes God to be within an individual." 

  Some of the oldest religious texts in the world are the ancient Hindu Vedas. They mention a drug called "soma," who's identity remains unknown. However, it is described as a plant (made into a drink) that would give those who consumed it otherworldly power as well as improved communication with the deities. 
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  (#9) There Is Little Concrete Proof That Hallucinogenic Mushrooms Were Used The Sinai Region

  The studies done by Dr. Benny Shanon focused on bushes with potentially psychedelic properties, but some people theorize that mushrooms also played a role in prehistoric culture and early spirituality. However, the evidence to prove the various mushroom claims is sparse- especially for the "Jesus was a mushroom" theory. 

  There have been reports of mushroom consumption in the Sahara desert region around 7,000 years ago, but nothing specific indicating their use in the Sinai region. 

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