If weed isn't a "real" psychedelic how do you explain arabesque/hindu art?

[JCRG]

Have seen the complex patterns and explosions of colours portrayed in them gorgeous Hindu temples, Buddhist Monasteries and Moroccan mosques?

As far as I'm concerned, there is no historical use of serotoninergic psychedelics in said regions, only cannabis.

So how come that these people can conceive art that is so exquisitely psychedelic in nature?

Can the heavy use of cannabis explain such thing?
Please share your theories!

 

[moneyboy]

Dmt

 

[JCRG]

Dmt

I don't think ayahuasca was popular with the Arabs back then.

 

[moneyboy]

well ... maybe they had motherfucking good dope (weeds) back then :D

there is a coherence with the drug culture, maybe they had mushrooms or some kind of weird shit excrements from extincted psychoactive alien monkeys, that could be dried and then smoked.

 

[Ismene]

I think it's a fallacy to think "Oh we see something vaguely like it on LSD so that must mean they were taking drugs too". I think it was just the kind of art people came up with.

 

[JCRG]

I think it's a fallacy to think "Oh we see something vaguely like it on LSD so that must mean they were taking drugs too". I think it was just the kind of art people came up with.

Thing is, it isn't "vaguely", but strikingly similar.

 

[moneyboy]

Thing is, it isn't "vaguely", but strikingly similar.

true, that's why I'm sceptical about the coincidence. they did some kind of stuff, I'm pretty sure :D

 

[《Plasticity》]

Let me ask you a question, do YOU see fractals like the artwork above on cannabis? I know I sure don't and although I've had visuals from high doses of cannabis they're nowhere near as structured and able to make out to resemble what's shown above, that's some DMT level shit, or even more likely mushrooms.

Hindus praised "soma", and although nothing is too concrete many think that both amanita and psilocybin were part of that mixture. Something tells me the reason cows are so sacred to them is from the shrooms that grow out of their shit. I agree with Ismene on this one, those pictures don't have any correlation as the the psychedelic effects of cannabis.

The term "psychedelic" is interpreted by each individual differently, or at least that's how it seems. When I think of psychedelics, I think serotonergic psychedelics... not dissociatives, not cannabis, not delerients. But that's just my classification, some will disagree. I personally think a substance can have psychedelic properties without being a "psychedelic".

Btw 2 of those pictures are just displays of a god, and one of them is just a colorful temple. You can find all sorts of temples that look "trippy" all over the world. That's poor proof of cannabis being a "true psychedelic". As for the carpet, come on... once again you'll find patterned tapestries in even renaissance day paintings.

 

[moneyboy]

this is true. the term psychedelic isn't defined as term for certain substances only...

 

[Bagseed]

well, when I started using cannabis, I experienced strong CEVs every time I smoked it. Now, some years later, the visual effects are not as pronounced anymore, but still there.

 

[JCRG]

Let me ask you a question, do YOU see fractals like the artwork above on cannabis? I know I sure don't and although I've had visuals from high doses of cannabis they're nowhere near as structured and able to make out to resemble what's shown above, that's some DMT level shit, or even more likely mushrooms.

Hindus praised "soma", and although nothing is too concrete many think that both amanita and psilocybin were part of that mixture. Something tells me the reason cows are so sacred to them is from the shrooms that grow out of their shit. I agree with Ismene on this one, those pictures don't have any correlation as the the psychedelic effects of cannabis.

The term "psychedelic" is interpreted by each individual differently, or at least that's how it seems. When I think of psychedelics, I think serotonergic psychedelics... not dissociatives, not cannabis, not delerients. But that's just my classification, some will disagree. I personally think a substance can have psychedelic properties without being a "psychedelic".

Btw 2 of those pictures are just displays of a god, and one of them is just a colorful temple. You can find all sorts of temples that look "trippy" all over the world. That's poor proof of cannabis being a "true psychedelic". As for the carpet, come on... once again you'll find patterned tapestries in even renaissance day paintings.

I have indeed seen patterns like these on really high doses of cannabis, specially edibles.
I was reluctant to say such thing in fear of being called a bullshitter.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Cannabis has psychedelic properties, it's just that those properties are very very slight (for most users). The most common one I can think of is perceived distortion of time, I have almost never hallucinated visually with cannabis and the one time I did it wasn't "fractal patterns" and the like, as another poster already mentioned.

But maybe cannabis did influence the above artwork, seems like a possibility I guess. But even if it did I'm not sure that it's a reason for parking cannabis in the psychedelic category, which for most people means "psychedelic hallucinogens".

 

[The Chronic]

SYRIAN rue and/or psilocybin mushrooms, which grow all over the world

Also some people have mystical visions without the aid of any plants, even sober artists could come up with it, and even mathematicians could come up with formulas for such geometrical patterns

 

[furryfreek]

Maybe I'm just being pedantic but I don't don't think weed could really be classified as a psychedelic under any circumstances. True, it can be hallucinogenic at times but to my mind, hallucinations are just a (relatively insignificant and not even necessary) part of the psychedelic experience. I have "tripped" off of weed (well vaporised BHO, to be precise) a couple of times with surprisingly impressive CEVs (nothing compared to a proper shroom trip or anything but impressive considering this was during a time when I smoked so much I could rarely get properly stoned, let alone hallucinate) but there was none of the psychedelic headspace associated shrooms and acid and such; I was just really fucking baked. There were no deep thoughts, introspection or anything like that; just CEVs in the form of noisy patterns, some time dilation (particularly during times of anxiety), severely dulled/slowed cognition, extreme couchlock, serious munchies, random outbursts of giggles and brief but intense waves of anxiety. I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't consider those experiences as psychedelic. To me these felt like borderline overdoses, and I'm still pretty sure they were now. I also know of a couple of people who full on OD'd from edibles, and what they suffered would best be described as paranoid, delusional thoughts and actions.

So my take on the situation is that for the typical person to trip off of weed, they must either have a very low tolerance or borderline overdose themselves but be very careful not to overshoot the mark, or they could spend the next few hours in hell. Even then, tripping isn't a sure thing, I've gone too far with weed and almost done so on several other occasions (including other BHO experiences) and never experienced visuals besides those two times. What's more, as others have pointed out, the visuals aren't particularly "psychedelic", geometric, fractal or anything; they're just noisy abstract patterns and not the sort of thing that could directly inspire art IMO.

 

[Doldrugs]

I think it's a fallacy to think "Oh we see something vaguely like it on LSD so that must mean they were taking drugs too". I think it was just the kind of art people came up with.

While I do think weed is psychedelic, especially when eaten, I agree with this completely. I've never gotten fractals on weed but I know other people have. Regardless, could this art have been influenced by cannabis or other psychedelics? Maybe. Does art like this necessitate drug use? No.

 

[psy997]

While I do think weed is psychedelic, especially when eaten, I agree with this completely. I've never gotten fractals on weed but I know other people have. Regardless, could this art have been influenced by cannabis or other psychedelics? Maybe. Does art like this necessitate drug use? No.

This, this, this.

IMO it's close-minded to lock yourself into a mindset that these cultures could have only come up with the imagery on psychedelics.

 

[SONN]

they weren't allowed to portray unholy stuff so they ended up making beautiful geometric designs instead. Having gone to school for graphic design I can assure you there are some people that come up with brilliant designs who have never taken psyches and are total squares, just throwing that out there lol

 

[Doldrugs]

they weren't allowed to portray unholy stuff so they ended up making beautiful geometric designs instead. Having gone to school for graphic design I can assure you there are some people that come up with brilliant designs who have never taken psyches and are total squares, just throwing that out there lol

That's only true for Muslims, though.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Cannabis is a psychedelic. Especially when eaten as they have done in those cultures for centuries.

 

[MrBlondyable]

I think that marijuana is definitely a "real", yet mild, psychedelic. When I was 16 I did a dab out of a bong in my car in a park, and I was very clearly seeing things in my vision that weren't there, such as retro video game scenes and moving patterns across my vision. I had been smoking weed regularly for many months before this, but I had never been anywhere near as high as I was after that dab, and I haven't since. I don't necessarily think that all of this art was inspired by marijuana induced hallucinations, but cannabis definitely CAN cause intense psychedelic effects, including hallucinations.