Shiva, Bhang, and the Night of Remembering

Every year, Maha Shivaratri arrives quietly. No fireworks. No spectacle. Just a long night, a dark moon, and an invitation to sit with what remains when everything unnecessary falls away.

In the ShaiviteShaivite tradition, Shiva is not a god in the sky. Shiva is consciousness at rest. Awareness before identity. Stillness beneath movement. Maha Shivaratri is said to be the night when that stillness is easiest to touch, not because something descends from above, but because the mind naturally settles when light, activity, and distraction recede. This is where cannabis enters the story, not as a modern rebellion, but as an ancient companion.

In the Vedic and post Vedic world, cannabis was known as bhang and vijaya, meaning victory. Victory over suffering. Victory over fear. Victory over the restless mind. Ayurvedic texts describe vijaya as a plant that “releases anxiety and brings joy when used appropriately,” and warn equally that it must be approached with respect, preparation, and intention.

The Atharva Veda speaks of sacred plants as gifts placed on Earth to relieve distress and help humans return to balance. While cannabis is not named in modern botanical terms, later Ayurvedic and tantric traditions consistently identify bhang among these sacred herbs. This is not controversial within Indian spiritual culture. It is lived tradition.

Shiva himself is inseparable from this plant. For thousands of years, Shaivite ascetics, Naga sadhus, and wandering yogis have consumed bhang, especially on Maha Shivaratri, as an offering to Shiva and as a means of entering meditation. Shiva is often called the Lord of Bhang in folk Shaivism, not as a symbol of excess, but as a reminder that liberation sometimes comes through loosening, not tightening.

Shiva is depicted ash covered, intoxicated, seated in stillness. The ash represents what remains after identity burns away. The intoxication represents freedom from fixation. This is not escapism. It is the opposite. It is intimacy with what is real.

Traditionally, bhang is taken as a drink, not smoked. This matters. Taken orally, it moves slowly through the body, inviting patience rather than stimulation. It does not pull the attention outward. It draws awareness inward. When combined with fasting, chanting, breath, and night vigil, it becomes a support for meditation, not a distraction from it.

Modern language gives us another lens, not to replace tradition, but to confirm it. Cannabinoids interact with the endocannabinoid system, which regulates stress, emotional processing, and nervous system balance. Research shows that THC reduces activity in the brain’s default mode network, the same network associated with rumination and compulsive self narrative. Meditation quiets this network too.

Different language. Same observation.

When breathwork is added, especially slow rhythmic breathing, the nervous system shifts further toward parasympathetic dominance. The body feels safe enough to let go. Thoughts soften. Sensations come forward. Emotion moves. Sometimes the mind quiets completely, and what remains is simply awareness, watching itself - This is Shiva!

On Maha Shivaratri, people do not gather to get high. They gather to stay awake through the night, to chant, to breathe, to sit, and to remember. Bhang, when used consciously, does not create the experience. It removes some of the resistance to it.

What people often report is not visions or stories, but something quieter. A feeling of being held. A sense that effort drops away. An insight that does not need words. A recognition rather than a revelation.

The tradition never promised spectacle. It promised truth.

That is why this practice exists. Not to escape the world, but to meet it without the constant noise of the mind standing in the way.

On the night of Maha Shivaratri, when the moon is dark and the world slows down, the invitation is simple. Sit. Breathe. Offer what you carry. Let Shiva do what Shiva has always done.

Not add anything.

But take away what was never needed in the first place.

Tony.