Moses was high as a kite

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)

Moses was high when he saw that bush. Or so speculates Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem:

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far 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," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the "burning bush," suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

The paper is available online for free, so you can judge for yourself.

Shannon compares the rituals observed by the Israelites to hallucinogenic rituals in some Amazonian cultures. The active ingredients in these rituals is a brew called Ayahuasca which contains plant alkaloids -- compounds that do cause halluncinations under the right circumstances.

Chemically, the main active constituents of the brew are the alkaloids N,N Dimethyltryptamine or DMT, harmine, and harmaline. The first is a potent hallucinogen, but it is inactive when taken orally. The deactivation of DMT is itself blocked by the other constituents, all beta-carbolines which are monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. The beta-carbolines protect the DMT from deamination by the MAO and thus render it orally active.

The consumption of each constituent of the Ayahuasca potion alone does not result in hallucinatory effects. For this, the two indicated plants (or their functional equivalents) are needed. Specifically, DMT, the substance inducing the hallucinations, is found in the chacruna, whereas the other compounds are found in the Ayahuasca vine. It is often said that the first constituent gives light, whereas the second gives forceful energy, but for the hallucinogenic effects the combination of the two is necessary. At times, alternative constituent plants are used, but the basic principle is always maintained: one plant contains DMT whereas the second contains the MAO inhibitors.

Timothy Leary would be so proud.