Cannabis, Sacred and Profane

Members of several religious traditions use psychoactive substances including in modern occultism and the contemporary sacramental uses of peyote in the Native American Church, ayahuasca in Santo Daime, and cannabis in Rastafarianism. In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the interpretation of drug-induced altered states as significant moments of transcendence. is a detailed analysis of one of the most frequently-used, culturally-significant, and widely-discussed psychoactives in the West. Beginning with an overview of the debates about the religious interpretation of drug-induced mystical experience, the book goes on to provide a broad introduction to the pharmacology, history, and culture of cannabis use. Following a discussion of Orientalist perceptions of the use of the drug in Asian religions, it looks at the reception of cannabis in a number of faith traditions. Christopher Partridge also discusses the interpretation of cannabis as a ''technology of transcendence'' in psychiatry and philosophy, which has informed its reception in the West and its religious interpretation. Next he explores its use in esotericism and the counterculture. Enthographic material informs the discussion throughout the text.. Overall, the book provides an understanding of the significance and creation of contemporary cannabis culture. It shows - from the perspective of religious studies - how the experience of ''being high'' has been interpreted.>

Auteur

Christopher Partridge is Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University, UK. He is the author of several books, including High Culture: Drugs, Mysticism, and the Pursuit of Transcendence in the Modern World (2018) and Mortality and Music: Popular Music and the Awareness of Death (2015)

Résumé
Focussing on the ways in which cannabis has been demonized, sacralized and normalized, Christopher Partridge analyses the complex and often difficult relationship Western societies have had with the plant since the nineteenth century. After an introduction to cannabis and its uses, the book discusses how and why it was constructed as a profane influence and a marker of deviance. It then examines the emergence of medicinal cannabis, showing how this has contributed to its normalization and even its sacralization. Finally, there is a discussion of sacred cannabis, which looks at its use within modern occultism, Rastafari and several cannabis churches. Overall, the book provides a cultural history of cannabis in the modern world, which exposes the underlying reasons for the various and changing attitudes to this popular psychoactive substance.

Contenu
Introduction 1. Cannabis 2. Profane Cannabis 3. Medicinal Cannabis 4. Sacred Cannabis Bibliography Index