Cannabis and Spirituality

October 24, 2016
Gray (Returning to Sacred World) brings together a variety of voices in this serviceable beginner's guide to engaging spiritually with cannabis. Though there are disagreements among the contributors about the health concerns surrounding cannabis (particularly about mixing cannabis with other drugs) and open admissions that there is no single right way to use it, all the authors here persuasively agree that some use of cannabis can result in deeply spiritual experiences. The collection weaves some history and accounts of personal cannabis use into its practical advice. Helpful contributions cover recipes for cannabis-infused oil, instructions for rituals, and meditations for tapping expanded creativity while high. The authors represent a variety of traditions (including Rastafarianism, Hinduism, and Native American spirituality) but tend significantly toward ready appropriation of everything for Euro-American use. Gray heralds each author as an expert, though their bona fides are murky. Despite vague warnings about overindulgence and encouragement to know one's limits, the book is stridently pro-entheogen and does not go into great detail about negative experiences. Novices already committed to the idea of spiritually engaging with cannabis will find the work very useful and even more practiced users could benefit, but the brevity of the contributions makes them shallow.