Cannabis History & Spirituality
The history and spiritual uses of cannabis.
- The first use of cannabis in the archeological record dates back to a hemp rope from 26,900 BCE (about 30,000 years old) found in Czechoslovakia.
- 8,000 BCE - Archaeologists have discovered traces of hemp in modern day China and Taiwan dating to 8,000 BCE - Used fishing nets, rope, clothes, and paper. It was proposed that cannabis may have been the first agricultural crop in human history by Carl Sagan 1977
- 2900 BCE - Emperor Fu Hsi is credited with not only bringing civilization to China but for using the cannabis plant. He makes written references to "Ma" the Chinese word for Cannabis as possessing both yin and yang
- 2,000 BCE – 800 BCE: The Hindu sacred text Atharvaveda (Science of Charms) references cannabis as “Sacred Grass”, one of the five sacred plants of India and still used today for making offerings to Lord Shiva
- 1446 BCE - The Bible : Exodus 30: 23-25 Moses is given specific instructions from god for how to prepare the Tabernacle for worship, including a recipe for holy anointing oil that includes cannabis (Calamus/Kaneh Bosm). The holy anointing oil was to be used to anoint the temple and the priests.
- 1616 - Jamestown Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas, colony law requires settlers to grow "Indian hemp" to make ropes, sails, and clothing
- 1700's - American farmers in several colonies are legally required to grow hemp
- 1745 -1775 - George Washington indicates through diary entries that he was growing hemp at Mount Vernon, for nearly 30 years. His interest in the use of Cannabis is found in his agricultural ledgers, particularly, of interest are several diary entries about growing Cannabis with a high Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content
- 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is drafted on hemp paper
- 1840 - Abraham Lincoln uses hemp seed oil as fuel for lamps in his household
- 1930's - The Rastafarian religion is developed in Jamaica when Haile Selassie I was crowned king of Ethiopia. The people of the Rastafarian religion believe Selassie to be Jah, and cannabis is used for religious ceremony.
- 1942 - The USDA begins the “Hemp for Victory” program – which leads to more than 150,000 acres of hemp being grown in support of the war effort. Briefly lifting the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937
- 1970 - The Controlled Substances Act classifies hemp as a Schedule I drug and therefor illegal. Regulations are imposed on the cultivation of industrial hemp as well as "marijuana" (THC Cannabis)
- 2004 - The 9th Circuit Court decision in Hemp Industries Association vs. DEA permanently protects sales of hemp foods and body care products in the U.S
- 2014 - President Obama signs the 2014 Farm Bill, which grants institutions the ability to begin hemp farming research
- 2018 - The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 more commonly know as the 2018 Farm Bill is signed by Pres. Trump and made law on Dec 20, 2018. This amendment removes the hemp plant, along with any of its seeds and derivatives from the Controlled Substances Act. It also legalizes hemp at a federal level and removes the requirement for institutional research. States can now establish a federally supported hemp program!
- 2019 - Northern Virginia Hemp Company L.L.C is created and licensed to grow/produce/distribute hemp a DBA is also filed and granted to additionally operate as "Virginia Hemp"
- 2023 - Virginia Hemp LLC is formed to function as the West Virginia online distribution wing for products grown, produced, and branded by Northern Virginia Hemp Company LLC while building a separate brand registered and doing business as "Virginia Hemp" Virginia Hemp is headquartered in Hurricane, West Virginia and is licensed for retail sale of hemp products and animal feed.
Exodus 30: 23-25 : 1446 BCE
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus/Kaneh Bosm (cannabis), 500 shekels of cassia–all according to the sanctuary shekel–and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.”