Cannabis and Ceremonial Magic
I have wanted to do a write up on this subject for a while now, but it seems that the subject has been written about overly by other "magicians" with very polarizing views either for or against. As for myself, I am on the fence and I see the benefit and detriments to using Cannabis as a component in ritual or ceremonial magic. The purpose of this write up will be to portray what I have found to be Pros and Cons of the plants' use and maybe throw in a quick opinion at the end of the article. To be clear, this is the intake of marijuana / cannabis for the inducement of an altered state before, during or after performing ritual / ceremonial magic.
Pros:
- Easily induced altered / relaxed / meditative state.
- Easily rendered "astral" visualization.
- Easily rendered spiritual awareness.
- Easily rendered emotion / feeling awareness.
- Easily rendered energy flow in both projection and intake.
- Scrying skills such as intuition seem to be heightened or made stronger.
- Focus tends to be positive and energy flow feels wholesome.
Cons:
- May be illegal in your area.
- Short term memory loss affecting ritual mechanics and the retention of ceremonial oratories (for example; specific invocations, evocations and etc.)
- May become a "crutch" to achieve altered state easily without proper breathing techniques and altered state inducement.
- May cause the magician to become lazy due to "couch lock".
- Marijuana is an herb of Saturn and depending on the nature of the rite the herb smoke may cause a conflict.
- May cause loss of focus on the intent of the rite.
IMHO:
I cannot come out completely for or against the use of marijuana in ritual. In my humble opinion, the herb has its place, purpose and time. It is quite an ironic plant to use in ceremonial magic, which calls on the magician to memorize motions, visualizations and great oratories in order to achieve the state which marijuana readily and easily produces. But, as if in a great cosmic jest, the use of the plant causes the magician to bungle and forget the ascribed motions, visualizations and oratories. So, rather than pooh-poohing or touting the herb as the best thing since the lotus wand, I will make a couple recommendations in the case that you wish to partake of the herb for ritual purposes:
a. If it is illegal in your area - don't get caught.
b. Marijuana would seem to be better for use as a divination or energy exercise aid, which call for more feeling than mechanics or oratory. The intake of marijuana would not be recommended before an initiation ceremony or an evocation / invocation.
c. If you find that you are using Marijuana for daily exercises for long periods of time and not practicing other types of altered state inducement such as self hypnosis or breathing exercises, then it may be time to slack off a bit.
d. Check your planetary correspondences! Make sure that an herb / incense of Saturn is not going to conflict with the energy you are looking to produce in your rite.
Peace and Light,
LiS
