Magu: the hemp goddess who healed ancient Asia

Hemp has long been a medicinal and spiritual practices from various cultures throughout history. One of the religions that valued cannabis was Taoism in ancient China. The Chinese even had a guardian for the herb: Magu.

Considered in ancient East Asia to be the equivalent of the divine ambrosia of the Greek gods, hemp has long been called the «elixir of life». The association of the goddess Magu with cannabis lies primarily in its use as a medicinal plant.

The majority of mythological stories about Magu revolve around how she helped the poor and sick, either as a goddess or as the priestess of an unnamed healing deity. In ancient Korean literature, Magu plays a more distinctly divine role, but the essence of her personality remains relatively the same.

Magu's story

In China, Japan and Korea, Magu (or Ma Gu MaKu, Mako) is represented as a beautiful young woman in her twenties. Her youth and beauty are symbols of the health and healing of the universe she is supposed to protect.

Magu is the guardian of vitality throughout East Asia, not only in the mortal world but also in the cycles of the earth. Magu is regularly credited with warding off winter in favor of flora and fauna. In Korea, Magu's role is elevated from that of a goddess to that of a creator god, and her abilities are extended to the creation of the world and mankind.

There are several conflicting versions of her earthly life. The most consistent is that Magu lived a poor life in the war-torn 5th and 6th centuries AD, working as a seamstress. One day, Magu received a peach from one of her customers. But instead of taking the peach home, she gave the sweet fruit to an old woman and decided to make her a bowl of porridge.

On her return, her father, furious that she had given away the peach, locks her up. When Magu is finally freed, she goes in search of the old woman she had intended to cook for, but finds only the stone of the peach the woman was in.

Legend has it that Magu planted this peach pit, which grew into an incredible tree bearing healing fruit, which she used to cure the sick and infirm of her village. This is how Magu came to be immortalized as a goddess possessing the elixir of life.

The goddess who healed with cannabis

Although this tale is just one of many relating Magu's existence, it does reveal the main strengths of his cult: namely, caring for the sick and the poor, and cultivating the natural world.

Here, Chinese authors depicted its «elixir of life» in the form of peaches, as evidenced by Magu symbols in ancient Chinese art, but Cannabis has also been closely linked to its healing abilities, albeit on a spiritual rather than physical level.

Records of Taoist practices mention that eating hemp seeds protects against demonic possession and increases «second sight», while burning the seeds was performed as part of purification rituals. Often, it was Magu who was invoked during these periods, associated with Mount Tai on which hemp grew in abundance at the time, as if the gods were handing over the plant directly to the priests and priestesses of the Taoist religion.

The implications of Cannabis use in ancient Asia may not yet be definitive, but it's clear that the plant has long played an important role in East Asian history. Hemp was used to decorate ancient Taiwanese pottery as well as on the Shinto sticks of the first Japanese priests. A recent study also suggests that Cannabis was domesticated 12,000 years ago in China.

This incorporation of the plant into these other activities reveals the great value that hemp has clearly had in Asian cultures since time immemorial.

At a time when herbal magic was commonplace and gods were believed to roam the natural world, the association with hemp's «powers» and the goddess of healing align effortlessly. Only a highly esteemed goddess would be entrusted with the care of such a powerful and transcendent herb.