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Psychedelic Cocktail May Explain Vision of the Burning Bush, Professor Says


moses and leary

Moses and the Israelites were on drugs, says Benny Shanon, an Israeli professor of cognitive philosophy.


Writing in the British Journal Time and Mind, he claims Moses was probably on psychedelic drugs when he received the Ten Commandments from God.


The assertions give a whole new meaning to Moses being "high" on Mount Sinai.


According to Shanon, a professor at Hebrew University, two naturally existing plants in the Sinai Peninsula have the same psychoactive components as ones found in the Amazon jungle and are well-known for their mind-altering capabilities. The drugs are usually combined in a drink called ayahuasca.


"As far as Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effects of narcotics," he told Israel Radio