The hidden history of cannabis in medieval and renaissance alchemy and magic. When most people consider the history of cannabis, their mind does not take them much further than the hippie era of the 1960s, or maybe the reefer madness of the Jazz Age. However, cannabis is thought to be one of our oldest, if not the oldest, agricultural crops, and has shared a intimate history with humanity. Most histories of this plant skim over the medieval and renaissance era, or alternatively make fanciful and non factual unsubstantiated claims about its role in magic and witchcraft. This book corrects the misconceptions, and with detailed and accurate research reveals the forgotten and important role it has played in medieval and renaissance alchemy and magic, documenting the source references that detail this until now hidden history of cannabis. As cannabis is legalized for both medicinal and recreational purposes around the globe, interest in this plant and its origins grows daily, and this book fills in an important need in understanding humanity's long term relationship with it and other psychoactive substances. Find out about the important role cannabis played in helping to develop modern medicines through alchemical works. Although little known, cannabis played a very important role in alchemy, and appears in the works of such figures as Zosimos, Avicenna, Paracelsus, Cardano and Rabelais.

Cannabis also played a pivotal role in medieval and renaissance magic and recipes with instructions for its use appear in a number of influential and important grimoires such as the Picatrix, Sepher Raxiel: Liber Salomonis, and The Book of Oberon. Could cannabis be the Holy Grail? with detailed historical references, the author explores the allegations the Templars were influenced by the hashish ingesting Assassins of medieval Islam, and that myths of the Grail are derived from the Persian traditions around the sacred beverage known as haoma, which was a preparation of cannabis,opium and other drugs. Many of the works discussed, have never been translated into English, or published in centuries. The unparalleled research in this volume makes it a potential perennial classic on the subjects of both medieval and renaissance history of cannabis, as well as the role of plants in the magical and occult traditions.