Cannabis in the Holy Anointing Oil?
"Exodus 30:23"
?Kaneh Bosem?
Exodus 30:23 Take thou also unto thee
principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon
half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus
two hundred and fifty shekels, 24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after
the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25 And thou shalt make
it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the
apothecary : it shall be an holy anointing oil.
The original Hebrew for calamus, is Kaneh-bosem or Qaneh (Kaw-naw) Bosem.
Some translations have this as “fragrant cane” or “aromatic cane.”
Some researchers have argued that this is actually Sweet Cane or Sugar
Cane, although the term sweet does not occur in the original manuscripts.
In the Hebrew terms such as Elohim (Pronounced El- Oh- Heem ) is
rendered plural. So in the Hebrew Kaneh-bosem is also plural.
The singular then is rendered Kaneh-bos.
Kaneh-Bos sounds remarkably close to the modern day word Cannabis.
Could it be that cannabis was the plant given by God to be used in the Holy
Anointing Oil?
Cannabis has certainly been cultivated since the beginning of recorded
history. Its uses for rope, sails and rigging into ancient times are
well documented.
Imagine the amount of cannabis rope it would have taken to construct the
Temple of Solomon. What other way was there to construct ropes at that time,
which could lift the weights of not only the Temple of Solomon, but in fact,
the Pyramids themselves.
Cannabis was thought to be an Indo-European word specifically of
Scythian Origin. The Scythians were largely responsible for the spread
of cannabis into Europe. The Scythe, was an invention of the Scythians, used
for the harvest of cannabis. This has come to us in the legends of the
“Grim Reaper”
Herodotus, an early Greek ethnographer, in the 5th Century BC wrote of the
Scythians and their use of cannabis.
The Scythians as they were known by the Greeks, were known, by the Semites as
the Ashkenaz. Among the earliest references to Ashkenaz people is
found in Genesis 10:3 where Ashkenaz was listed as the son of Gomer, the
great Grandson of Noah. The Sythians lived around and traded with the
Semites at least as early as 600 BC.
Zoroaster the prophet of the Ancient Magi, whose kings followed the Star of
Bethlehem based on the ancient prophesies, used a drink called
Haoma which has been documented to contain cannabis.
As early as 1925 experts have argued that, both the Assyrians and the
Babylonians, used Cannabis in their temple incense, Circa 500 BC.
In 1993, the Albany New York Times Union reported, that the first
physical evidence that Marijuana was used as a medicine in the ancient
Mideast, was found. The Israeli scientists found residue of marijuana
along with the skeleton of a girl who had died 1600 years before.
In this press release, researchers from the Hebrew University,
stated that references to marijuana as a medicine are seen as far back as
1,600 BC in Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek, and Roman Writings.
If you actually buy the Calamus translation for the Holy Oil, then
you assume that God specified in Exodus 30:23 a drug commonly known as
Ecstasy. Calamus contains an ingredient called asarone. This is a
hallucinogen which is metabolized in the liver as trimethoxyamphetamine or
ecstasy. The Middle Eastern version of this plant is far more toxic than its
North American Cousin. This is deadly to flies and other insects. The Exodus
30:23 reference refers to sweet Calamus. If you look at this in the Strong’s
concordance where they spell this as qaneh rather than kaneh, they pronounce
this as Kaw-Naw, a reed, calamus, and cane are listed as possible
translations. The term sweet used in Exodus 30:23 in Hebrew is Bosem.
According to the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary, Bosem is perfume;
scent. The Concordance: the Hebrew is Bosem #1314, fragrance, by impl.
spicery; also the balsam plant:----smell, spice, sweet (odour). In some
Bibles sweet calamus is translated as aromatic or fragrant Cane. It is where
the bosem is fused to the word kaneh or qaneh that the cannabis translation
becomes apparent. So then to pronounce this we have kaw-naw-bosem, and is
spelled in English qaneh-bosem or kaneh-bosem.
In 1936, Sara Benetowa, later Known as Sula Benet, an etymologist from
the Institute of Anthropological Sciences, in Warsaw wrote a treatise,
"Tracing One Word Through Different Languages." This was a study on the
word Cannabis, based on a study of the oldest Hebrew texts. Although the
word cannabis was thought to be of Scythian origin, Benet's research
showed it had an earlier root in the Semitic Languages such as Hebrew.
Benet demonstrated that the ancient Hebrew word for Cannabis is Kaneh
-Bosem. She also did another study called Early Diffusion and Folk Uses
of Hemp. There is a reprint of this in Cannabis and Culture
ISBN:90-279-7669-4. On page 44, she states, "The sacred character of
hemp in biblical times is evident from Exodus 30:23, where Moses was
instructed by God to anoint the meeting tent and all of its furnishings
with specially prepared oil, containing hemp." On page 41 Sula Benet
writes, : In the course of time, the two words kaneh and bosem were
fused into one , kanabos or kannabus know to us from the Mishna.
According to the Webster's New World Hebrew Dictionary, page 607 the
Hebrew for hemp is kanabos.
Sara Benetowa discovered that the Kaneh-Bosm or Cannabis is mentioned 5
times in the Old Testament. The first occurrence appears in the
Holy Anointing Oil as Calamus, (Exodus 30:23). Sara argued that
the translation of Calamus was a mistranslation which occurred
in the oldest Bible the “Septuagint” and the mistranslation was copied in
later versions.
But what is the effect to the baptism?
You may argue that the Anointing with the cannabis based oil has no
redeeming value. I would like to point out that all Orthodox Churches
practice the Chrism anointing. What started me into The Fire Baptism and the
Lost Sacraments is that not one Church uses the Holy Anointing Oil as
described in Exodus 30:23 even with the Calamus translation.
The Bible is
very clear that this was the only oil to be used.
This shall be a “holy anointing oil” unto me
throughout your generations. Whosoever compoundeth any like it,
or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from
his people. Exodus 30:31-33
Christ in the Greek, and the Messiah in Hebrew, means “the
anointed ” For Jesus to receive the title “Christ”, he must have
been anointed with the Holy Anointing Oil or Nazer Oil, as given to Moses in
Exodus 30:23.
The only scriptural reference to Jesus being anointed is in Bethany. But
this is a record of Jesus being anointed with a Spikenard Oil.
This would not convey the title Christ. The title “Christ” was only
given by someone who is anointed with the Holy Anointing Oil or Nazer
Oil, as described in Exodus 30:23.
Some early Gnostic Christians teachings held that Jesus was not made Christ
with an earthly oil, but in fact anointed by God in heaven.
For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed
the Apostles, and the Apostles anointed us. Gospel of Phillip
If Jesus was called “Christ” by receiving the Holy Anointing Oil, how
are we to be called Christians? One would assume that we
must also be anointed with the same, Holy Anointing Oil, or Nazar Oil,
as described in Exodus 30:23.
The Chrism or (anointing) is superior to baptism, for it is from the
word chrism that we are called Christians. Gospel of Phillip.
“Are you unwilling to be anointed with the Oil of God? Wherefore we are called
Christians on this account, because we are anointed with the oil of God.”
Theophilus of Antioch (181AD)
