Moses and Hendrix

Benny Shanon, a professor in Jerusalem, has published a study claiming that Moses was using hallucinogens when he set the Ten Commandments in stone on Mt Sinai.  According to the Guardian:

 

Writing in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy, he says concoctions based on the bark of the acacia tree, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, contain the same molecules as those found in plants from which the powerful Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca is prepared.

"The thunder, lightning and blaring of a trumpet which the Book of Exodus says emanated from Mount Sinai could just have been the imaginings of a people in an altered state of awareness," writes Shanon. "In advanced forms of ayahuasca inebriation, the seeing of light is accompanied by profound religious and spiritual feelings."

Speaking about his article on Israeli public radio, he added: "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 effect of narcotics."

If true, this theory is a hitherto unknown connection between Moses and Jimi Hendrix, who also used to compose his great works whilst under the influence of mind-altering substances.   

 - 'Moses was stoned when he set Ten Commandments, researcher claims', Guardian, 5 March 2008