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Moses Was Very, Very High: Paul Krassner On Drug Use In The Old Testament

Posted Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:31pm PDT by Paul Krassner in The ARTHUR Blog

Here’s a new theological question I’d like to hurl into cyberspace:

What exactly was Moses tripping on while hallucinating that he was parting the Red Sea?

After all, Benny Shanon, who teaches cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, theorizes in the journal of philosophy, Time And Mind, that Moses was simultaneously high on Mount Sinai and psychedelics when he heard God delivering the Ten Commandments.

"The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an altered state of awareness," he writes.

"In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation, the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings."

Concoctions based on the bark of the acacia tree, which is frequently mentioned in the Bible, contain the same molecules as those found in the vines of the powerful psychotropic plant from which the liquid ayahuasca is prepared.

Last week Professor Shanon--who has himself ingested ayahuasca during a religious ceremony in Brazil’s Amazon forest--suggested on Israeli public radio that Moses was also on drugs when he saw the Burning Bush.

My friend Steve Hager, editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, told me, "I’ve long believed the Burning Bush story was about cannabis, and that is what most Rastafarians believe. When the New Testament was constructed by the Roman Empire, all references to psychedelics and cannabis may have been removed, because those were probably considered secrets for an elite priest class. The only references that survive are from the Old Testament (Kanehbosem, burning bush), which was already published and not under their control."

Aided by this new perspective, then, let us step into the time machine and travel to ancient civilizations and witness certain aspects of religion as history instead of a fairy tale.

Here we see Jesus and his disciples in the midst of an Ecstasy party, embracing each other as they slow-dance to the music of Mistress Magdalene and the Merry Maidens. Oh, look, Judas is French-kissing Jesus.

Going further back in time, we find Joseph plucking the magic mushrooms out of a pile of his donkey’s manure, and then sharing them with the dove that somehow impregnated his wife, the one and only Virgin Mary.

Even further back, we come upon Moses, thoroughly stoned on the DMT that he has been snorting as he begins to set the original Ten Commandments in stone:

"Thou shalt not bogart that joint."

"Thou shalt not dose anyone with acid."

"Thou shalt not step on cocaine with baby powder."

"Thou shalt not watch TV while using mescaline."

"Thou shalt not steal from thy parents’ prescription medicines."

Moses stops to check his spelling and speak to God: "Some day, oh Lord, these commandments will be posted on every citizen’s door."

Paul Krassner's underground magazine The Realist attracted a large counterculture following in the '60s and '70s. He is a founding member of the Yippies. He is the author of One Hand Jerking: Reports From an Investigative Satirist, and publisher of the Disneyland Memorial Orgy poster, both available at paulkrassner.com. This is his second blog post for Arthur Magazine.

12 Comments

1. jerry.kimbrell -
Wow,

2. Yahoo! Music User -
What were you on when you wrote this pathetic ploy for attention. Next time try the decaf bro.

3. misyel a -
r u on drugs bro? coz dis one is nonsense!!!

4. chillypenguin17 -
what the heck...you must of been very bored to have wrote this. What kind of person writes this. you are mocking christians. if you dont believe in god and Jesus then just keep it to yourself. not blog it all on this site. how dare you. your the one thats high.

5. Yahoo! Music User -
Being a Christian, I am highly offended.

6. Tim H -
Great article. Anyone who is offended by this takes themselves too seriously. And probably needs to smoke a blunt.

7. DUDE -
Not a Christian. Not offended. Thou shalt not write such a moronic blog ever again!

8. El Rey -
Typical jewish propaganda. Have you heard that orthodox jews in Israel are now commonly hissing at all foreignors sympathetic to Palestinians that "we killed Jesus and we'll kill you!".

9. El Rey -
Go to the website Talmudexposed.com if you want to know why jews have made statements like this for the past 2000 years. They think we are inferior and nothing more than cattle.(goyim) This is not an angry response, just go to that site and read it for yourself. Talmudexposed.com

10. Yahoo! Music User -
yay krassners still at it! i loved "confessions of an unconfined raving nut"!

11. Yahoo! Music User -
I have been fairly certain that when moses was out starving in the desert and it rained down "manna" from the sky, that it was indeed the "bread of angels" that fed the Israelites as the bible states and that had to be mushrooms. Where they psysillicibin who knows but one thing is for sure they were on quite a trip!

12. Nyaxter -
John the Baptist wandered in the Judean desert and ate only what grew there, such as Syrian Rue (Peganum Harmala) which contains Harmaline, same psychoactive component as in Yage (Ayahuasca) which is also a neurotransmitter found in the pineal gland. When Harmaline was first extracted from Banisteriopsis Caapi (Yage) early in the twentieth century the German chemist who first described it called the compound "Telepathine". John the B ate the plant and came out of the desert crying "Prepare the Way!"
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