Was YHVH a Drug Induced Vision?

[Recusant]

I did a search for this subject here, but couldn't find anything on it, which surprises me.  It's kind of hard to come up with the right search terms for something like this, so my apologies if it's already been posted...

Benny Shanon, professor of psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writes about his hypothesis that Moses was partaking of entheogenic (read "sacramental hallucinogen") drugs when he "met" YHVH.  OK, professor Shanon has been conducting an in-depth investigation by taking ayahuasca himself "over 160 times," so he might not be the best source.   

You can read about it here, or if you would like to go to the source, you can read a PDF of the original article.

The abstract of the original Time and Mind article I link to above:

A speculative hypothesis is presented according to which the ancient Israelite religion was associated with the use of entheogens (mind-altering plants used in sacramental contexts). The hypothesis is based on a new look at texts of the Old Testament pertaining to the life of Moses. The ideas entertained here were primarily based on the fact that in the arid areas of the Sinai peninsula and Southern Israel there grow two plants containing the same psychoactive molecules found in the plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew Ayahuasca is prepared. The two plants are species of Acacia tree and the bush Peganum harmala. The hypothesis is corroborated by comparative experiential-phenomenological observations, linguistic considerations, exegesis of old Jewish texts and other ancient Mideastern traditions, anthropological lore, and ethnobotanical data.

There will never be conclusive (or perhaps any) proof for this idea, but I dig it man.

[Renegnicat]

Well, what can I say? It's an interesting proposition.

[BruceMegan]

It's ignorant to think that drugs haven't played and are still playing important parts in main-stream relgion. There are certain rituals in Islam that involves drugs, can't think of them right now