Hemp.

From: Mark Odegard
Message: 3025
Date: 2000-08-09

This is from a rather old book, my New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, 1968, from the chapter by a certain G. Alexinsky, "Slavonic Mythology", p. 287. This was the first hardcover book I ever bought just for my own self, and not because it was a required textbook.
 
Apparently, the Russians are being spoken of, in the present tense, but I think the 19th century is more like it.
 
--start quote--
In certain regions in the month of August the peasants arrive in the fields at dawn with jars filled with hemp oil. Turning towards the east they say: 'Moist Mother Earth, subdue every evil and unclean being so that he may not cast a spell on us nor do us any harm.' While they pronounce this prayer they pour the oil on the ground. Then they turn towards the west and say: 'Moist Mother Earth, engulf the unclean power in thy boiling pits, in thy burning fires.' Turning to the south they pronounce these words: 'Moist Mother Earth, calm the Winds coming from the South and all bad weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds.' And finally turning towards the north they say: 'Moist Mother Earth, calm the North Winds and the clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold.' After each invocation oil is poured out and finally the jar which contained it is thrown to the ground.
--end quote--
 
Hemp oil? Why? You'd think Moist Mother Earth would prefer milk or beer.
 
I know an edible oil can be efficiently processed from hemp seed. I don't know if hemp seed oil has a narcotic effect, at least for those cultivars containing THC, but I don't think so.
 
EIEC mentions that hemp seed impressions are found on pottery at scattered sites all through N. Europe, mentioning especially some Linear Ware pottery found in Moldova. This article, 'Hemp', p. 266-7, also says this:
As cannabis can also be infused, i.e., served as a component in a drink, it has also been suggested that the spread of cord-(hemp?) decorated pottery from the steppe westwards may also have been part of the same complex.
Ahem. Is the cord used to decorate corded-ware funeral deposits part of a cultic set involving the drinking of THC tea?
 
Mark.