While you may only be familiar with how hemp is used in today’s day and age, it actually has a storied history that’s well worth paying attention to.
When we look at the past, it’s easier to see how hemp can be used for the better in the future. For instance, the 2018 United States farm bill was a big step in the right direction as it legalized the cultivation of hemp throughout the United States.
For the sake of this article, we’re going to focus on the long history of hemp, including how it was used many (many) years ago.
- Hemp Clothing
Today, it’s easy to make clothing with the right technology and access to high-quality products such as varying types of cotton. However, this wasn’t always the case - and that’s why hemp was used far and wide for clothing.
Over the years, archaeologists have found hemp clothing at historical sites across the globe. One such example found in modern-day Iraq is believed to be more than 10,000 years old.
So, while hemp clothing isn’t popular today, this wasn’t always the case.
- Hemp Paper
Just the same as clothes, paper wasn’t easy to come by thousands of years ago. To combat this, hemp was used to produce it in small quantities.
While unsubstantiated, it’s believed that Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese court official, invented paper by crushing hemp and combining the result with tree bark.
Today, paper is made from trees, but that wasn’t always the case. Hemp was the go-to material for many years.
- Food
Most people don’t think about hemp being food, but when you look back at history this wasn’t always the case.
Take for instance hemp seeds. These can be consumed raw, cooked for easier digestion, and even pressed into an oil. Adding to this, many people have used the flowers from hemp to make tea.
Thanks to the ease of growth and nutritional benefits, hemp was a staple in many people’s diets from year’s past.
- Pain Relief
Get this: there is written evidence that hemp was used as a pain reliever thousands of years ago. By using it to mix teas and oils, people from ancient China relied on the concoctions to treat a variety of ailments.
Remember, this is well before the days of modern medicine. Hemp was one of the only options, and many historians agree that it was widely used.
- Hemp and Religion
It should come as no surprise that hemp has been part of religious ceremonies for thousands of years.
For example, there are religions that believe the effect of hemp allows them to better connect with their spiritual side.
You’re not going to find too many people today who are using hemp for religious purposes, but it’s interesting to consider how this was mainstream years ago.
What Are Your Thoughts on the Future?
Now that you have a better idea of how hemp was used in the past, it’s time to turn your attention toward the future.
Do you see hemp growing in popularity, once again, over the years to come? Could you even see it being used in one or more of the ways detailed above?
With the cultivation of hemp on the rise in the United States - as well as many other parts of the world - it’ll be interesting to see the impact that it has over the next several years. Don’t be surprised if people find new and exciting ways to use hemp in their life.
