Nicole Reardon

If I had a dollar for every time I heard a young church-goer comment, “I don’t need drugs, I’m high on God,” I would be a wealthy woman. It seems in the Western world today we have created a divide between religion and drugs. However, you may not be aware that many religions around the world have used drugs in their rituals to seek out God and/or enlightenment.

Unpack the issues

• Further Reading
• Discussion Points

There is a perception that drugs are a crux for people who have rejected God or a faith of any kind. For many people this statement may ring true, but the view that there is a line between all religion and drugs is manufactured.

Drugs have been used in religious practices for thousands of years. In Ancient Greece, many of the mystery religions used entheogenic drugs in their cult practices. For instance, the concoction known as ‘kykeon,' drunk during the initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone, contained ergot, a fungus that has psychoactive properties. The ceremonial drink consequently caused the participants of the ceremony to experience intense visions.

Many of the native and shamanistic religions of Asia and the Americas also use drugs to connect with the divine as part of their religious rituals. These are generally shamanistic practices used in healing rituals. Salvia divinorum, also known as ‘diviners sage’ and psilocybin mushrooms or ‘magic mushrooms’ are used in Mexico by Mazatec shamans, who use it to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing sessions.

Amazonian Indians similarly use ‘ayahuasca,’ a vine native to the Amazonian rainforest, to create psychoactive infusions used in their religious rituals.

A religion we are perhaps more culturally aware of, which uses cannabis in its ritual practices, is Hinduism. Many Hindu beliefs and practices grew out of the use of ‘Soma,’ both a ritual drink containing cannabis and a divinity, which is the focus of the Rigveda.

Cannabis is still commonly used amongst various Hindu sects in India. Cannabis is associated with the Hindu god ‘Shiva’ who was meant to have taken rest under the shade of a Cannabis plant on a hot day. As a sign of gratitude Shiva gave the plant to mankind. The ritual drink, known as ‘bhang,' which contains cannabis, milk, flowers and spices, is drunk in honour of Shiva.

In recent years, a number of religious sects in the United States, which originated from South America, have fallen under the US authorities’ unscrupulous gaze for their use of drugs in religious ritual.

In 1999, customs agents intercepted a shipment of ayahuasca extract, which was bound for the Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, a religious group which blends Christian beliefs and South American traditions. The group uses the drug within a four-hour ritual, intended to connect with God. The customs agents later raided the home of the group's president, seizing 30 gallons of tea containing the extract, triggering the religious group to file a lawsuit which raged until 2005.

The US Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration say ayahuasca is illegal because it contains dimethyltryptamine, which is banned by the Controlled Substances Act. Uniao do Vegetal members argue that their use of ayahuasca is protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which prohibits the government from imposing a "substantial burden" on the free exercise of religion unless it is "the least restrictive means of furthering [a] compelling governmental interest".

In November the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit concluded that the Federal Government had failed to meet that test, and it upheld a preliminary injunction barring the government from interfering with the church's rituals.

Clearly that great divide between religion and drugs is possible to cross. Religious followers crossed it in ancient times and, as Uniao do Vegetal have shown, it’s possible to cross it now. So, while many governments and religions may outlaw the use of drugs, it seems some faiths find enlightenment in entheogens. 

Unpack the issues...

Further Reading

• 'Do drugs have religious import?' essay
• Article on ayahuasca law case

Discussion Points

• Do you think drugs can provoke real religious experiences?
• Do you think it is moral to use drugs to promote enlightenment in a Christian context?

References:

Mckenna, D., Callaway,J., Grob, C. "The Scientific Investigation of Ayahuasca: A review of past and current research," The Heffer Review of Psychedelic Research, vol. I, 1998. 67-77.
Smith, H., "Do drugs have religious import?," Journal of Philosophy, vol. LXI, No. 18, September 17, 1964.

Websites:

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/022206supcourt.cfm

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