By Sol
The Bible tells us that three months after their Exodus from Egypt, the wandering Israelites were led to Mount Sinai, where they received the Ten Commandments and other laws and rules for conduct. Among many other commands, they were given a very explicit set of instructions on how to build a particular religious implement of great importance.
This object was basically a "box", which was eventually to house the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments themselves were etched. It had many other functions, as its mere appearance could strike fear into the hearts of enemies and it was generally very helpful in battle. It was also the device from which Jehovah would speak to the Israelites, after they had left the vicinity of the Mount.
This was the Ark of the Covenant, the only physical object ever to have been revered in Judaism, and the only one from the Old Testament described as endowed with some type of very strong "magical" properties.
In a section of the Book of Exodus known as "the Rules of the Tabernacle", starting with chapter 25, a highly detailed set of specifications is given for the construction of the Ark and its surrounding tent and enclosure, in a terse language reminiscent of all construction manuals. Exact measurements and shapes are enumerated for every portion of the structure and its ground layout, as well as the materials each part is to be made of.
As this was supposed to be a "magical-religious" implement however, some rules are listed which we ordinarily would not expect to find in most "do-it-yourself" instruction booklets. For example, only certain people were allowed to come near the Ark, namely members of one family in the tribe of Levi (Deut. 10:8) This later came to mean only descendants of Aaron the brother of Moses himself, each called a "Cohen" - a priest, which is the origin of the "Cohen" surname.
And even these "special" people couldn't approach the Ark in their regular daily attire, but had to don specifically described vestments, which included a large breast plate of twelve stones. In addition, these priests also had to anoint themselves with special oil and burn a particular incense near the Ark, whose precise ingredients were also given.
Any deviation from these instructions was taken to mean instant death, as was demonstrated several times throughout the Old Testament. The best example is probably Aaron's own sons Abihu and Nadab, who had evidently burned an improper incense - they "offered strange fire before the Lord", and were devoured by a fire which came from the Ark (Lev. 10:1-2). After this the rules for handling the Ark were changed, and Aaron was permitted to come in its direct presence only once a year (Lev. 16).
The ingredients of the "proper" incense and anointing oil are described in Exodus chapter 30. A certain plant is mentioned among other herbs in verse 23, whose name had been translated as "Sweet Calamus" in the King James Version. More recent editions of the Bible in every-day language, such as the New American Standard or the New International Version, provide a more literal translation of the original Hebrew expression, as "the fragrant cane".
The name of this plant as it appears in Hebrew in that verse, is "kanneh-bosem". St. Jerome had translated it into Latin as "calamus" in the early version of the Bible known as the Vulgate (around 400 CE.) This term appears in the Old Testament five times - Exodus 30:23; Song of Solomon 4:14; Isaiah 43:24; Jeremiah 6:20; and Ezekiel 27:19.
The Hebrew term used in the four later instances is simply "kanneh". This word is usually translated as "reed", and from it the English word "cane" originates. All five "calamus" references have been considered to be the same species of plant. But in Exodus 30:23 this herb is specifically called "kanneh-bosem" in Hebrew. "Bosem" means "a sweet fragrance" or "perfume".
Obviously aware of this, the compilers of the King James Version added the descriptive "sweet" to the word "calamus" for the Exodus verse and not to the other mentions, although this adjective is absent from the Vulgate in all five.
Accordingly, most Biblical scholars and researchers of Biblical flora have concluded that this is a reference to the plant acorus calamus, or Sweet Cane. This herb was in common medicinal and ritual use throughout the ancient world. It has some psychotropic-hallucinogenic effect, which probably caused it to be banned as a food-additive in the 60's by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The Sweet Cane (or Flag) indeed grows in long and reed-like stems, and it could easily have been the plant referred to in the four later Biblical instances which only mention "kanneh". But the original Exodus verse specifically states "kanneh-bosem", and could be referring to another species of "spice".
The common identification of all five references to "kanneh" as Calamus goes back to the translation of the Bible from Hebrew into Greek, known as the "Septuagint" ("the Seventy"), in honor of the scholars who compiled it around the 2nd Century BCE in Northern Egypt. They simply removed the word "sweet" and called them all "calamus".
Yet at the very time and place this translation was made, several "Gnostic" and philosophical sects existed, who did not agree with the Septuagint translation, and passed down their own legacy to subsequent generations through other means. These people did not translate "kaneh-bosem" into calamus, but instead only TRANSLITERATED it, into "kanbus".
This was the Greek word for an entirely different species of plant. It became very-well known to us today under its Latin name "cannabis", a herb which has certainly occupied the USFDA a great deal more than the calamus.
During the Middle Ages the identification of "kanneh-bosem" was remarked upon by several Jewish sages, in the body of work of biblical interpretation known as the Gemara. As can be seen form this rabbi's reply to a question on an Orthodox site - most believe it to be the Sweet Cane. But an unreferenced "minority opinion" does exist which does hold that this is a reference to cannabis. (In that regard it should be noted that minority opinions carry a great amount of weight in some circles in Judaism.)
The identification of kanneh-bosem (other spellings exist, such as "kneh-bosm") with cannabis became known in recent time from the work of a Polish cultural anthropologist in the 1930's, Sula Benet . Benet's findings are said to have been confirmed by well-known anthropologist Weston La Barre in his 1980 essay on the Biblical references to cannabis.
There is a popular Internet claim that they have also been supported by unnamed researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (see for example in this forum discussion or this one.) This claim was popularized in an article by Chris Bennett in High Times several years ago, and was even addressed by The Guardian in 2003.
Bennett's articles on this subject opened many intriguing avenues for thought about the mystical-hallucinogenic origins and meanings of the early Jewish beliefs and rituals, and have greatly fueled the modern "Jesus was stoned" theories. All his claims have been widely debunked by various Fundamentalist ranters, some of whom, such as at the above link, appear to be pro-cannabis, yet for some reason vehemently object to any association of this substance with Jesus.
But it would seem that not all Religious Fundamentalists are like this, quite the contrary. There exists an orthodox sect who has taken the Biblical commandment from Exodus about using kanneh-bosem quite literally, and they hold this substance to be most sacred to this day. And what do you know, "strangely enough" this sect hails from the very same location that is held in many accounts to be the Secret Resting Place of the Ark of the Covenant - Ethiopia.
Yes, the old idea of the Egyptian Gnostics about this plant appears to have been prevalent not in Northern (Lower) Egypt, but further south, in what is called the "Thebaid tradition" from the old city of Thebes. This was just a short way down the Nile from Ethiopia, along the route the Ark is said to have taken. It was there that the "kanbus" approach had really taken root.
Leaving ancient history aside for the moment, a most noted heir to the old Mosaic-Aaron tradition in recent times is said to have been the Ethiopian Emperor Tafari Haile Selassie (1892-1975). In his childhood he was known as Ras Tafari, or simply "Lord" Tafari (the word "ras" means "head" or "chief" in most Arabic languages.)
Selassie's image as a powerful and benevolent leader who loved and united his people, was very successfully used by Jamaican preacher and freedom-fighter Marcus Garvey in the 1930's and 40's, to rally his fellow Jamaicans in support of liberal social reform.
Garvey's success led to the creation of a religious system known as Rastafarianism, a particular brand of the mixture of Christian and "pagan" beliefs found throughout the West Indies (such as the voodoo cult on Haiti.) Haile Selassie became a most revered figure in Rastafarianism, and though he himself had never accepted this role, but neither has he denied it too vehemently. He is believed to be a descendant of King Solomon, carrying on the ancient legacy of guarding the Ark of the Covenant.
The word "gan" in Hebrew means "garden" - which is much the same as an orchard or a grove, all extremely meaningful terms in Judaism and ancient mysticism in general. "Gan-Jah", meaning simply "the Garden of Jehovah", became a sacred substance for today's Rastafarians, carrying on the ancient Ethiopian legacy.
The original Keepers of the Sacred Ark were commanded in the Book of Exodus to come in its presence only when covered with the "special oil". The Rastafarian comes into the symbolic presence of the Ark when he communes with Jah through his ancient Ethiopian heritage, and in order not to get "burned by its fire" he immerses himself in the "spiritual oil" of Gan-Jah, made of the same "kanneh-bosem" ingredient.
The Kanbus tradition had nearly perished in Ethiopia itself through the ages, due to their difficult climate and the especially harsh conditions imposed there by slave-traders. The "Movement" went almost completely underground after the Italian invasion in World War II and the destruction this brought. But later it made its way back to Ethiopia from Jamaica, and is very much alive again there now.
This information was imparted to me a long time ago during a very strange meeting with a Rastaman in downtown Chicago. For many years I hadn't been able to substantiate it, but have in recent times seen enough Ethiopians to know that it's true. Those dudes are Rastas from the word go, no less than their Jamaican brethren.
Nowadays you can also find articles like this one by the "Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church", which would seem to corroborate all of the preceding.
Finally, since October seems to be an auspicious month for talking about the Templars, a serious researcher of this topic will not want to overlook this very amusing article, "The Knights Templar and Cannabis". Several interesting connections are noted in that regard, such as the Templar link with the Hashishin, explored in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail".
A good point is raised about what exactly the Templars may've been exporting to Europe from the Middle East, that contributed a great deal to their wealth. Perhaps they were the original "hash dealers" on the Continent, and this should definitely be interesting to conspiracy buffs who know that intelligence agencies operate many of today's most lucrative drug routes.
It should also be noted that hashish is widely mentioned in Alexander Dumas' novel, "The Count of Monte Cristo" - said to be based on many Templar and "Masonic" motifs. The "alchemical properties" of this substance are generally a very broad topic, which lies outside the scope of our present little inquiry.
But that original biblical reference continues to ring true for many, and in closing, I'd like to give a little example. The Israeli Legalize Marijuana party, of which I am proud to have been one of the founding members in 1994, originally called itself "Kanneh-Bosem", in memory of the Biblical incense from which the word cannabis came. People found this to be too obscure though, so they later changed it to "Green Leaf".
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