In the windswept grasslands of Central Asia, where the horizon stretches unbroken and the stars burn cold at night, the Scythians forged a culture of gold, horses, and smoke. These nomadic horselords—fierce, tattooed, and fearless—dominated the Eurasian steppes from the 9th century BCE to the 4th century CE. But beneath their warrior reputation lay a profound spiritual tradition, one that centered on a plant we now call cannabis. For the Scythians, it wasn’t just a drug—it was a sacred key to the spirit world, used in rituals that blended death, purification, and prophecy. Let’s ride into the smoke-filled tents of the Scythian shamans and uncover one of history’s most fascinating psychoactive traditions.
The Smoke That Carried Souls: Herodotus’ Eyewitness Account
Our window into Scythian cannabis rituals comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, writing in Histories (Book IV, circa 440 BCE). He describes a post-funeral purification rite with chilling precision:
“They make a booth by fixing in the ground three sticks inclined towards one another, and stretching around them woolen felts… In the center they place a dish with red-hot stones. Then they take cannabis seeds, creep into the booth, and throw the seeds onto the stones. The seeds smoke and give off such vapors that no Greek vapor-bath could surpass it. The Scythians, transported with the vapor, shout aloud.”
This wasn’t a casual smoke session. It was a structured ritual, performed after burying a king or kinsman. The shouting—likely ecstatic cries or shamanic chants—suggests trance states, where participants believed they could communicate with the dead or cleanse themselves of grief.
Frozen Proof: The Pazyryk Burials
For centuries, Herodotus’ account was dismissed as exaggeration—until archaeology proved him right. In 1947, Soviet excavators unearthed the Pazyryk kurgans (burial mounds) in Siberia’s Altai Mountains, preserved by permafrost. Among the treasures—embroidered textiles, tattooed mummies, and sacrificed horses—were two game-changing finds:
- A leather pouch containing 789 grams of charred cannabis seeds, dated to ~500 BCE.
- A miniature bronze brazier and six wooden sticks—a portable vaporizer kit, complete with felt tent fragments.
Chemical analysis confirmed the seeds were high in THC, not just hemp fiber. The setup matched Herodotus exactly: stones in the brazier, cannabis thrown on top, felt walls trapping the vapor. This wasn’t agricultural hemp—it was ritual-grade cannabis, cultivated for its psychoactive punch.
The Shaman’s Toolkit: From Seed to Spirit Flight
Scythian shamans—often women or gender-fluid figures—were the ritual specialists. They didn’t just burn cannabis; they orchestrated the experience. Here’s how the ceremony likely unfolded:
- Preparation: After a funeral, mourners erected a small felt yurt. Red-hot river stones were placed in a copper or bronze dish at the center.
- Ignition: Handfuls of cannabis seeds (and possibly flowers) were tossed onto the stones. The lack of flame prevented combustion—producing a clean, potent vapor rich in THC and CBD.
- Inhalation: Participants crawled inside, sealing the entrance. The enclosed space created a hotbox effect, amplifying the psychoactive vapors.
- Trance: The combination of heat, hypoxia, and cannabinoids induced altered states. Shamans may have used rhythmic drumming, chanting, or self-flagellation (evidenced by whip marks on mummies) to deepen the journey.
This wasn’t recreation. The ritual had three spiritual purposes:
- Purification: Cleansing the living of death’s pollution.
- Communion: Allowing the dead to “ride the smoke” to the afterlife.
- Divination: Shamans entered trance to receive messages from ancestors or predict the tribe’s future.
Cannabis in Scythian Myth and Daily Life
Cannabis wasn’t limited to funerals. Scythian art—gold plaques from the Siberian Collection of Peter the Great—depicts warriors smoking from small pipes or inhaling from braziers during councils. Amazon-like female warriors, buried with cannabis kits, suggest women held shamanic roles equal to men.
The plant also tied into cosmology. Scythian mythology described a three-tiered universe: the upper world (sky gods), middle world (humans), and lower world (ancestors). Cannabis smoke, rising upward, was a literal bridge—carrying prayers, souls, and visions across realms.
The Lost Legacy—and Its Echoes
By the 1st century CE, Scythian culture faded under pressure from Sarmatians and Huns. But their cannabis rituals didn’t vanish. They influenced:
- Zoroastrian fire temples, where haoma (a possible cannabis infusion) was used in Persia.
- Thracian Dionysian cults, blending Scythian vapor rites with wine.
- Modern Siberian shamanism, where cannabis-like plants still induce trance.
Today, the Scythians remind us that cannabis spirituality predates modern religion by millennia. Their vapor tents were the original “church of the high”—a sacred space where smoke, sound, and spirit converged.
Curious to explore cannabis with the same reverence? Ganja Gallery (GG) in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge curates premium, lab-tested flower and concentrates inspired by ancient traditions. Honor the shamans—inhale with intention.