High on Mount Sinai

Moses.jpg

While the academic sometimes goes to great extremes to “prove” the obvious, there is something endearing about professors bucking trends and putting forth new ideas — even if many of us knew the reality of the situation. Such is the case of Hebrew University professor Benny Shanon, when he put forth the idea that Moses was tripping on some serious drink when he declared the Torah while standing high on Mount Sinai. All we can ask academia is: What took you so long to realize that?

While journalists label the theory “provocative” after its publication surfaced in the philosophy journal Time and Mind, the realization that the father of three major world religious traditions was under the influence while reciting what would become the most quoted passages in history is not groundbreaking to those of us who’ve tasted similar fruit. In fact, it was Shanon’s own experiences with ayahuasca and a drink made from the bark of the acacia tree -- a hallucinogenic mixture based on a tree often mentioned in the Bible -- that led him to his conclusions.

It remains to be seen how Shanon’s theories will be greeted. He is honest in saying that there is no direct proof of his interpretation, but given the evidence, is it that far a stretch? The reality is that no one has direct proof that Moses even existed, much less that he was completely sober or “God inspired” off plant mixtures during his thundering evenings.

Peering back into the religious texts, there are generally two major characteristics that define our prophets: those serene and poised in meditation, and wild, raving lunatics. The West has been consistent in providing the latter. One contemplates the world, the other transforms it; one dreams existence into being, the other recreates through an unwillingness to conform. Both are deservedly heralded, but we have to recognize the root of their discontent. In fact, we need look no further than our own planet, at this moment, to get into the minds and hearts of our prophets. We are them deconstructing and rebuilding anew.

The dead are easy to misconstrue, for they no longer fend for themselves. What is alive on our planet now is entwined with the same consciousness as three thousand or so years past, which from an evolutionary standpoint is just the blink of an eye. If we access new and bold realities through plant and drink today, then it is of no shock that the man behind the Western religious soul might have dabbled freely. Remember, Moses was a pagan nomad, and such men see much on their journeys. Perhaps we just need more men willing to walk that path today, and not need the safety of history to realize their visions.

Creative Commons Image: "Moses" by Mickelodeon on Flickr.

Comments

documentation

ecolocal said: "None of these has been documented to occur in the middle east." Do you mean to say that the written word is the be all, end all of truth in the world? If something isn't "documented", does that automatically make it false? Plenty of things have been documented and proven to be false later on. Take the classic example of the fish off the coast of madagascar that was discovered to be NOT extinct. Before this discovery, the fish had been DOCUMENTED as extinct and at the time this was considered "truth". People need not throw declarations of truth around so carelessly. In my view, "truth" is simply a matter of personal acceptance. Each person has their own truth that may not coincide with another's truth, but that doesn't make it less true for that individual. And go easy with the attitude of contempt. It's hostile attitudes that got us into this current worldwide "bind". "Excuse me while I retch" - geeze! take it easy, ecolocal

an altered state of consciousness

I think this is a fascinating article. Whether its true or not that Moses chowed something, I think it's safe to say that the prophetic traditions of the Hebrews, Israelites, on and on up to Christ were filled with visionaries. Perhaps dmt was excreted in their brains naturally during their fasting and wandering in the deserts and on the mountains? Perhaps not. I'm tired of people who lump all of the Old Testament traditions and texts together and then blast them saying they are ALL patriarchal and fear based. The truth is that the spiritual traditions were evolving from Eden to Abraham to Moses to David, on and on. To label the history of Judaism as simply "dark," to me, is to read the Bible and history just as idylically as fundamentalist Christians who take it to all be the literal truth of God. Sheesh---there are tons of amazing bits of evolution in Judaism from start to Christ. No need to hate! Eco--is it possible to say all that you feel without sounding so angry and mean? I don't want to censor what you write or think that anyone shouldn't have a voice, but it's like....comon man. We need to love while we have these talks, right?

Adam Elenbaas

The mystical path...

I once heard a "guru" say to me that one should follow the mystical part of any religion: Kabbalah vs Judaism, Sufi vs Muslim, Gnostic vs Christianity, etc. Some of the wisest words I ever heard.

Kabbalah with it's divine union of the dark and the light, feminine and masculine is a far cry from Yaweh's vengeances.... Perhaps he is wrathful because he is missing his consort? But that is another post....

Puzzle pieces

i thought of this analogy a while back and i think it works pretty well... each religion or spiritual practice, and subsequently each person's view of them, is like one piece of a massive jigsaw puzzle. instead of arguing over who has the best piece or who has the "right" piece, we need to realize that EVERY piece is the right piece. EVERY piece is necessary to finish the puzzle and see the "big picture". it might not be a perfect or seemless analogy, but the point is that we must all work together to achieve any real progress. have you ever tried to finish a puzzle with just one piece? it can't be done. as for moses and whether or not he was trippin' out on mt. sinai, it's pretty much moot because none of us were there. unless someone visits ancient judea with a time machine, there is no person on earth who can say one way or the other. so just drop it. more than likely, moses didn't exist the way we think he did. his CHARACTER (along with many others) was probably plagiarized from egyptian and persian mythologies. or at the very least borrowed. it's all the same movie, they just keep re-releasing it for newer generations in a hip, revamped format. jesus = horus = mithra, etc. don't let the details, fascinating as they are, distract you from the bigger picture

Actually...

Actually, this theory makes pretty good sense. In Julian Jaynes' The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Mr. Jaynes hypothesized that humans of this time period were pretty much all hallucinating, as the speech center of their right brains would bark orders to the dominant left hemisphere. These voices were believed to be personal gods, or kings, that would direct them in novel situations. As this left/right duality was breaking down in the second century BC, all manner of auditory hallucination were attributed to a receding god. At any rate, it's probably not a good idea to imbue Moses or any biblical figure with the same type of consciousness as we have now.

Okay, but to what end.

That is to say, I’m with you - organized religion: bad. But to prove that scientifically to someone strung out on dogma hasn’t been shown to be effective. Rupert Sheldrake as well as recent advances in nonlinear dynamics notwithstanding, Darwin’s ideas still seem to be a fairly decent approximation of how we got here. This hasn’t convinced many christians.

You got that right.

As I understand it, survival of the fittest is just one piece of the pie. This, along with random mutations, the theory of dissipative structures, autopoiesis, as well as morphic resonance are all contributing factors. Rent anything good?

Hendrix fan, are you?

Me too. I started playing guitar at age 13. He was a huge influence, and not just musically. To this day, I still find myself playing Hendrixian licks, almost unconsciously. He leeked into my psyche, or something. I guess it makes sense that Jimi was friends with Eric Burdon. They probably met through Chas Chandler, no?

As an aside, my wife and I were watching this show a few months back - some cable channel on a Sunday afternoon or something - it was called 'Pop Music', or some such nonsense. It was from 1966 and it was basically like a 'Top of the Pops' kinda show. In any event, there were a bunch of one hit wonders, and The Animals. To say that The Animals were far and away the best band is a supreme understatement. They lip-synched to House of the Rising Sun and We Gotta Get Out of This Place (if I remember correctly). Obviously, this is seen through the lens of the last 40 some-odd years, where we know that The Animals were a hugely influencial band, but still. It must have been obvious to someone watching back then, as well.

hey CJ

Cj---you should check out Douglas Rushkoff's "Testament" graphic novel/comic book series. I did an interview with him a while back. They are super cool reimaginings of biblical myths with other religious deities, etc.

 

You might dig it?!

 

Adam Elenbaas

Man or Myth??

Moses was not a historical Hebrew character. This legend is found from the Mediterranean to India, with the character having different names and races, depending on the region; "Manou" is the Indian legislator. "Nemo the lawgiver," who brought down the tablets from the Mountain of God, comes from Babylon. "Mises" is found in Syria, where he was pulled out of a basket floating in a river. Mises also had tablets of stone upon which laws were written and a rod with which he did miracles, including parting waters and leading his army across the sea. In addition, "Manes the lawgiver" shows up in Egypt, and "Minos" was the Cretan reformer. Jacolliot traces the original Moses to the Indian Manou: "This name of Manou, or Manes . . . is not a substantive, applying to an individual man; its Sanscrit signification is the man, par excellence, the legislator. It is a title aspired to by all the leaders of men in antiquity." "Techqua Ikachi"

Moses and the Mountain

If Moses was actually a man who lived on this earth I do believe the mountain he climbed was his own consciousness because if you read the Bible correctly it is full of metaphors, astrological bits and pieces of info and the book is symbolically the story of the evolution of human consciousness...the 12 tribes of Israel are the 12 astrological signs which are considered to be fragments of consciousness which shatter at birth, and the end is a depiction of the psyche in wholeness or completion or balanced. The end depiction is revealed through references to astrological language and precious stones. (see Llewellyn George A to Z Horoscope Maker and Interpreter) to grab some insight into all this.

Isn't that a song

Hey CJ...what if higher consciousness is of the nature of rarified air? Maybe aspects of higher consciousness are for example your black humour and surrealist thinking. That would mean you live in environments of rarified air. Taoists liked mountains cause they like to live in higher thought and yes they like the misty valley which would be states of contemplative thought. They liked to go tell it on the mountain because they were speaking from higher truths....everything has an astrological root including your life and mine....peace and will you scatter more bliss balls...I am running out

Hippie Cat

CJ...I think the Hippie era were those who came into life to walk to the beat of their own drum. It cannot have hurt you to walk as a Hippie...I've read your posts! You are clearly intelligent, well read, a deeper thinker who appreciates the arts...thats true culture because to live with poetry is to search for meaning, not just words. You keep your pace in every discussion, thats rare! "The mermaids are coming to the desert" ....emotional matters are coming to places of silence and contemplation. You met a "crazy lady wino" you collided with a life in pain" she showed you something that took you on a journey....now you use black humour and surrealist thinking to express yourself...thats more than likely your comfort zone. Don't ever stop using your bliss balls....they are marvellously delicious!

40 day and nites

The number 40 is also found throughout the bible as a trial of time like a gestation period....corresponding to the 40 weeks of labor before a birth "Techqua Ikachi"

The Circle of Life Squared

40...I am born, I pass from the universal to the earth. with my first breath and cry I square the circle. The Circle has 36 decans, I am the missing 4 decans, the self is the 13th decan...to find the self, to know the self is to reunite the earth back to the universal. Every life born, holds this mystery.

it doesnt matter

I really don't think it matters whether Moses was tripping or not. I could understand why he might be. Certainly religious clerics would be stuck in infantilism to deny the possibility. However, I think drug users/biblical scholars are also obsessing, considering we'll probably never know (until time travel is discovered that is). All we have is the words of the Torah, which must be judged on their own merits. The fact that Moses might have been tripping doesn't make the words any more or less valid- they are what they are. There are other ways shamans have talked to gods on mountains; ritual fasting was sometimes the only thing necessary to have an "authentic vision quest". Bipolar type mania can also lead one to similar states of revelation without any drugs. Authentic ritual can also bring this on...which would involve the use of the most natural psychedelic magnetism.

Download the Complete Paper

You can get a PDF of Benny Shannon's paper, "Biblical Entheogens: a Speculative Hypothesis," here: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berg/tmdj/2008/00000001/00000001/a...