bunnyjadwiga (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2008-12-05 11:54 am
bunnyjadwiga) wrote2008-12-05 11:54 am
*snaps a hempcloth towel at The Atlantic*
Apparently, a blogger for The Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan, has picked up on a couple of illustrations of cannabis plants from some medieval manuscripts:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/three-millenn-1.html
and injected them into the marijuana debate.
*rolls eyes* I wouldn't mind that-- decriminalizing industrial hemp would be a wonderful thing-- but both Sullivan and The Got Medieval author appear to not get that there may be difference between modern marijuana hemp and, well, medieval industrial hemp.
http://gotmedieval.blogspot.com/2008/12/hemp-and-hops-together-at-last.html
I'll quote/edit my comment to Got Medieval here:
I've spent a good deal of time looking for information about the medicinal use of hemp in pre-1650 Europe, because of course everyone giggles madly when hemp is mentioned.
Hemp as a industrial crop is widely described, and you can even find pre-1650 accounts of how to process it for fiber-- Gervase Markham, for instance.
I've had extreme difficulty documenting the use of hemp-smoke as an inhalant. The closest I've come so far is a note from Hildegarde of Bingen that consuming too much hemp (she appears to be talking about either hempseed or hemp leaf, cooked) may or may not be bad for people who have a 'vacant' head or mind... Pottage of hempseed, presumably with the hemp oil pressed out of it-- hemp oil was used for cooking and lubrication-- was mentioned by Maria Dembinska as being provided to guards in the Royal castle at Wawel (Food and Drink in Medieval Poland). There's a recipe for hemp pottage in Platina's On Right Pleasure and Good Health too.
The use of hashish in Arab countries and the controversy over it is well described in The Herb: Hashish versus Medieval Muslim Society by Franz Rosenthal which is the best source I've found on medieval period use of hemp-based intoxicants; hashish, specifically, does seem to appear from time to time in medieval medicaments, but obviously that's not the same as mere local hemp.
I've never been a hempsmoker myself; the smoke for some reason makes my throat close up, though the smoke of other plants that are supposed to smell like burning hemp-- tansy, oregano, etc. doesn't have the same effect-- but I understand that modern marijuana varietals are... more than somewhat different from even their Arabic forebears, let alone industrial hemp of the Middle Ages. Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire addresses the varietal manipulation of cannabis as one of his examples of complex interactions between plants and humans.
Anyway, if you want more detail, take a look at my article: "Hemp and Nettle:
Two Food/Fiber/Medical plants in use in Eastern Europe."
http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/SCA/hempnettle.html
and bug me to update it with new stats. :)
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/three-millenn-1.html
and injected them into the marijuana debate.
*rolls eyes* I wouldn't mind that-- decriminalizing industrial hemp would be a wonderful thing-- but both Sullivan and The Got Medieval author appear to not get that there may be difference between modern marijuana hemp and, well, medieval industrial hemp.
http://gotmedieval.blogspot.com/2008/12/hemp-and-hops-together-at-last.html
I'll quote/edit my comment to Got Medieval here:
I've spent a good deal of time looking for information about the medicinal use of hemp in pre-1650 Europe, because of course everyone giggles madly when hemp is mentioned.
Hemp as a industrial crop is widely described, and you can even find pre-1650 accounts of how to process it for fiber-- Gervase Markham, for instance.
I've had extreme difficulty documenting the use of hemp-smoke as an inhalant. The closest I've come so far is a note from Hildegarde of Bingen that consuming too much hemp (she appears to be talking about either hempseed or hemp leaf, cooked) may or may not be bad for people who have a 'vacant' head or mind... Pottage of hempseed, presumably with the hemp oil pressed out of it-- hemp oil was used for cooking and lubrication-- was mentioned by Maria Dembinska as being provided to guards in the Royal castle at Wawel (Food and Drink in Medieval Poland). There's a recipe for hemp pottage in Platina's On Right Pleasure and Good Health too.
The use of hashish in Arab countries and the controversy over it is well described in The Herb: Hashish versus Medieval Muslim Society by Franz Rosenthal which is the best source I've found on medieval period use of hemp-based intoxicants; hashish, specifically, does seem to appear from time to time in medieval medicaments, but obviously that's not the same as mere local hemp.
I've never been a hempsmoker myself; the smoke for some reason makes my throat close up, though the smoke of other plants that are supposed to smell like burning hemp-- tansy, oregano, etc. doesn't have the same effect-- but I understand that modern marijuana varietals are... more than somewhat different from even their Arabic forebears, let alone industrial hemp of the Middle Ages. Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire addresses the varietal manipulation of cannabis as one of his examples of complex interactions between plants and humans.
Anyway, if you want more detail, take a look at my article: "Hemp and Nettle:
Two Food/Fiber/Medical plants in use in Eastern Europe."
http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/SCA/hempnettle.html
and bug me to update it with new stats. :)
no subject
http://www.atlantichealinghemp.com/
I have *incredibly* dry skin, and their 'Healing Hemp Cream' is the only product I've found so far that actually moistourises my skin and keeps it that way.
No, I'm not a "paid political advertiser", just someone who's finally found (after 60 years or so) something that works for me personally.