The Mystical Symbolism of the Blunt Cipher

By Ash Agony - September 7, 2009

 

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” - Genesis 1:29

 

The vulgarity and banality which permeate our paradoxically modern yet Puritanical society’s conception of the blunt cipher has done little but exhibit our society’s spiritual poverty. This same spiritual poverty reveals itself to anyone who observes the wealth of uninspiring religious rituals and pseudo-mystical experiences which are socially approved. From televangelists performing “faith healing” to snake handling to self-induced glossolalia to the good old Catholic Eucharist, our society has a penchant for approving of the most ignorant and spiritually deranged forms of religious ritual and spiritual experience while seeing the truly transcendent experience as weird at best and criminal at worst.

The blunt cipher is one of the last truly transcendent rituals we have left in our Mammon-worshiping, hyper-capitalist society. The sacred nature of the cannabis plant has come down to us from antiquity. The plant has been a friend and ally of homo sapiens since the beginning of agriculture and probably even before that. The blunt cipher is merely the same ancient cannabis consumption ritual translated into a more modern historical context. The blunt cipher ritual itself, though modern and seemingly secularized, is also packed with symbolism and metaphor. The name “cipher” is derived from the circle formed by the ritual’s participants. This circle formed by all involved represents infinite and the unity of all mankind as one body. The blunt (or joint) is then passed around the circle for all to partake in, which further represents fraternity and the unity of mankind. At this point of the ceremony, the herb is symbolic of all the resources of the Earth, and the cipher delivers the ethical message of how we should share the treasures of our planet with all our human brothers and sisters. On a more individual level, the marijuana is used as incense for our bodies, our temple, the true “house of God”. Also, quite obviously, another purpose of the herb is to alter and raise our state of consciousness in order to aid us in meditation and the contemplation of “Nature”, “Truth”, or “God” (or whatever you want to call the transcendent). The burning of the marijuana can also be seen as a bloodless, peaceful sacrifice to the transcendent. Unlike animal sacrifice, there is no violence and no suffering involved in the immolation of the buds of the cannabis plant. And as cannabinoids tickle and caress the brain receptors of the participants, they laugh, cry, meditate, and reason with each other and form strong social bonds through the performance of this ritual. This circle symbolizing human unity helps to miraculously transform itself from merely symbol and image to reality and actuality. In all, this is truly “God’s work” being done.

Whether this mystical interpretation of the blunt cipher appeals to you or not, one cannot deny the strong social bonds formed amongst all those involved in this ritual and its striking similarities with the Last Supper. The alleged Savior gathered with his comrades (probably in a cipher formation too), passed around bread and wine, discussed “God” with them, and bonded with them. This is nothing less than the blunt cipher in a differently social and historical context. One would be hard-pressed to find a difference if the bread and wine were merely replaced with a spliff. And whether one is religious or secular, one can appreciate and devoutly perform this ritual without any fear of having to believe anything supernatural or paranormal or otherwise preposterous. So the next time you find yourself chilling with loved ones smoking a jay in a circle, take a minute to reflect on the sacredness and antiquity of the ritual you’re performing. Because it is a truly inspiring, mystical, and spiritually fulfilling ritual once examined and treated correctly.