(This blog sometimes runs non-political posts on the weekends.)
I spent a large chunk of this day in the bookstore, reading books that I had no intention of buying. Topping the stack was one of those "historical Jesus" works. This one -- written by a French archeologist -- contained a very persuasive and well-footnoted reconstruction of the glorious nativity. We're talkin' about the gory details.
See, when we visualize the Birth of Births, we usually think of a blue-robed woman lying in the hay, gasping and sweating and writhing in pain until a shaft of light shines out from between her splayed legs. But that's not how such things were done in ancient Gallilee.
Women gave birth while sitting in a very sturdy chair that had a hole cut in the seat. The midwife would crawl under the chair and do her work by candlelight, while female assistants would support/hold down the woman in labor.
That's how the Savior literally came down to earth. The image may seem counter-traditional, but the methodology does make sense.
Here's the part that fries my last brain cell:
Modern pain medications did not exist in those days (obviously), so women undergoing childbirth were given copious amounts of cannabis sativa. Hash. Or so says the archeologist who wrote this book.
Yes, Our Lady was 420-friendly.
Now, I very much doubt that the BVM smoked a big fatty. Being surprisingly ignorant about drug usage and related matters, I feel compelled to ask my more scholarly readers a few questions: Just how did they administer the stuff to her? Did she simply eat it? (I understand that the leaves have been used as a salad ingredient in Indonesia.)
And do you think that she -- or, er, y'know, anyone in her immediate family -- might have used the stuff outside of the childbirth scenario?
Was cannabis also administered to the dying in those days? When she went up to Heaven, did she get high?
How many extra centuries in Purgatory will I have to tough out just because I wrote this post?
9 comments:
What a fascinating question, Joseph.
My understanding is that pot is good for stalled labor, especially if it's because of the mom's emotional/nervous issues. Smoking it is the best way to control the dosage in such a case, but the idea of smoking in a dusty stable next to loose hay and stuff sounds like a bad idea. I suppose a skilled midwife could give a wine-based tincture of it, but the wine wouldn't help the contractions much. As for feeding it (ala brownies...?), many birthing mothers can't tolerate food in their stomachs. Then again, throwing up often gets stalled labor going again, which can help ease exhaustion and its associated pain.
Really, an interesting question. Slightly grosser question, what happened to the placenta?
.R.S.E.
Cannabis was used in incense by priests. But it's primary usage was in oils and ointments. The cannabinoids (THC being the most famous) are soluble in fat and will be absorbed through the skin.
"in the recipe for the Holy Oil found in Exodus 30:23, there is a Hebrew reference to a plant Kaneh bosem, which many scholars now see as a reference to cannabis. The title Christ translates as the annointed one."
No wonder he was all about peace and love.
The four ways I could see administering it....
1) Burning as incense
2) As an ointment or rub
3) Distilled down to oil, oil administered orally or on the labia.
4) Suppository.
I suspect #2 or 3 is the most likely
"Now, I very much doubt that the BVM smoked a big fatty."
If I remember from the 70's correctly, one didn't smoke hash in a big fatty. One smoked hash in a very small pipe. But of course I wouldn't have any first hand knowledge.
I would think that pregnant women back then may have had the hash steeped as a tea or some kind of tincture.
Mountain Sage
Why do you assume that she delivered Jesus the natural way? Had we but world enough and time..., I'm sure you're familiar and conversant with the age-old dogma about the doctrine of Original Sin, i.e., since the vagina was despised and mysterious, and considered a filthy organ, and since it was the sine qua non for conception and for ordinary birth, anyone born from it was endowed with Original Sin. Whence Baptism; whence the exception for Mary's own Immaculate Conception (hey, just like MacDuff!); whence the exception of the Virgin Birth of Jesus. (Later, Andrew Marvell would pun about his coy mistress's "quaint honor.")
Is that to say your question and assumptions are based on false premises, counter to RCC doctrine? Certes, m'lord.
Equally presumptuous is the application of modern and Western notions about women, birthing, and pain. How much pain a contemporary woman feels might vary inversely with her high-fructose corn syrup intake history; her love of ice cream and pork; her god-awful diet. (Incidentally, 1980s data showed that California Hispanic women's babies had the highest rate of infant survival, the lowest rate of infant mortality, and highest birth weights.) Also, her expectations of pain and suffering; her loathing and disgust (as Germaine Greer calls modern woman's sensibilities); her physical strength; and of course her age. Related somewhat: healthy women whose nutrition is good ordinarily have a 3-day period during the new moon without any of the famous discomfort or complications. You read Tom Robbins's "Still-Life with Woodpecker," didn't you? Anyway, the notorious pain and suffering of a first birth isn't universal. The whole manger mythology reeks of misogyny with its cattle and calfing symbolism.
Agnes
How many extra centuries in Purgatory will I have to tough out just because I wrote this post?
Cannon, if you do not change your wicked (wicked) ways I will personally request that you be denied the luxury of the half way house of Purgatory and that you be sent directly to the Hell you belong in, forever.
JC
Okay, bob. I must admit: THAT was funny.
I understand that the leaves have been used as a salad ingredient in Indonesia.
Ohhhhh....well that could 'splain a lot about a certain candidate!
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