Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

Breitbart, drudgereport ^

[crusty old prospector]

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week. Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far 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 effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

"The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a classic phenomenon," he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to "see music."

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil's Amazon forest in 1991. "I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations," Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

[crusty old prospector]

Dude, pass some more of the crazy toadstools.

[caver]

IBTZ!

[NordP]

Weeeellll....he had a pretty steady hand to carve out all those 20...ah, 10 Commandments in stone, considering (according to this story) he was “stoned” himself.

[mountainlyons]

I wonder what this guy is on?

[poobear]

It’s nice to see other religions have their nut cases and fringe!

[the OlLine Rebel]

Why?

[Artemis Webb]

Oh chill out!

There’s no zot here.

[agere_contra]

What was he on when he parted the Red Sea?

[Always Right]

LOL, so all that smoke was not from a burning bush, but just Moses smoking weed. Too funny the levels that ‘researchers’ stoop to.

[the OlLine Rebel]

LOL - in Islam, “nutcases and fringe” are the norm. Come up with a story like this and he’d be “stoned”, or preferrably, decapitated.

[crusty old prospector]

He must have also given some to Pharaoh so as to help deceive him with his magic tricks, like the plagues.

[tx_eggman]

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

No surprise there ...

[Enosh]

"The Bible says people see sounds"

Chapter/verse, please.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Pharoah, and all his subjects. That’s a lot of weed.

[crusty old prospector]

Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology...

No surprise there.

[theDentist]

That’s right: The Easter is just around the corner... Passover a bit further on. But it’s never too early to denigrate religious observances.

[LetsRok]

Carved in stone? That is a fairy tale. Maybe later, but not at the time they were declared.

[bmwcyle]

Yes and Moses only thought he saw the water part and the tripping people really walked across on top of the water. /sarcasm

[NordP]

I KNEW I should have put "/sarc" after my post...thought I didn't need to. Teach me to think.

[RetiredArmy]

Sure. He was there. He saw it in person. He knows FOR SURE EXACTLY what was going on. Right. Just like all these so called experts on everything back in history. They ALL KNOW now what happened back then. They are THE EXPERTS, in their own mines that is. /sarcasm still on very heavy

[dljordan]

“Dude, pass some more of the crazy toadstools.”

He’s lucky Pharaoh’s SWAT team didn’t break into his tent and shoot his dog.

[MortMan]

I thought it was originally 15, 15 ( CRASH )...

10, 10 commandments...

[Paradox]

Uh oh, expect wild mobs of Jewish and Christian youths to riot in the streets, demanding the death of this researcher!

Oh, thats right, never mind.

[NordP]

Yeah, I was pulling up the scene with Mel Brooks in my head when originally typing that post.... ;-)

[italianquaker]

That wasnt Moses it was global warming

[L,TOWM]

They'll stone you when you are in your car,
They'll stone you when you don't get very far
They'll stone you when you're at the dinner table
They'll stone you whenever they're able

Well I would not feel so all alone
EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!

(cue off-key harmonica...)

[jimbergin]

“Carved in stone? That is a fairy tale. Maybe later, but not at the time they were declared.”

Why is it a fairy tale? Obviously you do not beleive that God gave them to Moses. Carving in a stone would not be too hard for God.

[caver]

Why not? It’s a pretty stupid article.

[crusty old prospector]

Caleb 3:45

And the people did partake of the forbidden toadstools, which caused them to turn on one another and see visions of sight and sound that resonated within their innermost being, calling out to them in unison - VOTE FOR OBAMA!!"

[caver]

“There’s no zot here.”

What makes you say that? You must know something the rest of us don’t know.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Just because the guy is new and he posts something about moonbats, doesn’t mean it’s some insidious, nefarious liberal posting.

[DBrow]

This is great! I just read that the Last Supper included amanita muscaria mushrooms, now this!

There is no evidence that acacia was used as a drug anywhere around the Mediterranean Sea. Some acacias contain dimethyltriptamine, but merely drinking a concoction of DMT is not psychoactive, they’d need to add in an MAOI like syrian rue.

There were psychoactives in use then, and they show up in literature and records, but to assume that Moses was high on an ayahuasca analog when he recieved the commandments is pretty outside.

[Isara]

Benny Shanon, “Who are you going to believe? Me or your own Mind?”

[Sudetenland]

Now I’m not saying I believe what this guy is saying, but in direct response to your question, wheat, the primary source of nutrition for all of the Middle East at that time is susceptible to a fungus called ergot which produces and alkaloid very closely related to lysergic acid. So if this was occurring, then mass hallucination is not beyond the realm of possibility.

[Red Badger]

God’s gonna get you for that, Benny!.........

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[Red Badger]

What was he on when he parted the Red Sea?

The shore....

[pillut48]

"...suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances."

Well, d'oh, that explains this bogus viewpoint!! Want some Scooby snacks with those 'substances', Shanon? ;-)

[LucyJo]

"As far 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 effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Well, looks like Shanon has it all figured out...except the part about how the "narcotics" caused the commandments of God to be written on the stone tablets.

[TSchmereL]

[wideawake]

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

In the Hebrew Scriptures acacia is not mentioned as an ingredient in concoctions.

It is referred to as a building material and as one of several other plants in an idealized landscape.

Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures are any rituals involving psychoactive substances discussed or described.

[Enosh]

Caleb is a book in your Bible?

[Utah Binger]

Now this explains everything. I think I'll get some really good mushrooms for my next soup batch. Now we know why JS was so mixed up about all of the versions of the first vision. He was eating toadstools over in the grove.

[MrB]

Just another leftist seeking to denegrate our Western Judeao-Christian value system.

Nothing to see here.

[L,TOWM]

Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology

Is'nt that what that dips#!+ Casteneda had a degree in? Or was it some form of Anthropology?

So if I write up all the goofy crap that I saw when and heard when I was on L and 'shrooms and Peyote, and then say that this is what must have been Jean d'Arc's problem and that the Normans that ran France got everybody messed up on Bella donna just like their Viking ancestors, can I get a degree in incognito psychology, too?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Moses supposes his toes-es are roses.

[pillut48]

[No.6]

“it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or”

or this researcher can make up whatever he likes, the more inflammatory the better to get media attention, and believe that instead. I suppose the Pharoah and all his court were also tripping like mad when the plagues came or the rods turned into snakes and started eating each other, etc. etc. Yep, one giant party there in ancient Egypt. :p

[the OlLine Rebel]

Passover is always the week of Easter - before.

That’s why we get the deMille flick “Ten Commandments” on network TV on Palm Sunday, instead of something dealing with the way-controversial Christian subject matter.

[Enosh]

WooHoo! I knew religious figure + drugs would yield JS.

:)