Marijuana In Ancient Iran

by The Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church

Ancient Iran was the source for the great Persian empire, Iran is located slightly to the northeast of the ancient kingdoms of Sumeria, Babylonia, and Assyria. According to Mircea Eliade, “Shamanistic ecstasy induced by hemp smoke was known in ancient Iran.” Professor Eliade has suggested that Zoroaster, the Persian prophet, said to have written the Zend-Avesta, was a user of hemp.

In the Zend-Avesta hemp occupies the first place in a list of 10,000 medicinal plants. One of the few surviving books of the Zend-Avesta, called the Venidad, “The Law Against Demons”, calls bhanga (marijuana) Zoroaster’s “good narcotic”, and tells of two mortals who were transported in soul to the heavens where, upon drinking from a cup of bhang, they had the highest mysteries revealed to them.

Professor Eliade has theorized that Zoroaster may have used hemp to bridge the metaphysical gap between heaven and earth.