Eternal Blue Sky

Hemp has been a key component in the ancient shamanistic rituals of the sparsely populated nation of Mongolia—but it remains illegal. One native entrepreneur has been given the opportunity to make a change for the better.

TEXT & IMAGES MAREN KRINGS

Night has fallen on the Mongolian taiga near the Russian border, thousands of miles from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. We wait around the bonfi re for the ceremonial drum to dry out after a sudden rain storm has soaked it. The spirits will not come until the drum regains its proper sound. The touchier (translator) sits to the left of the shaman, ready to translate the language of the spirits.

When the drum fi nally dries, the shaman puts on the ceremonial coat and mask, shielding his vision of the mundane world. Vodka, nicotine, and the beating drum are preparing him to receive the spirits. However, one thing is missing from this traditional ritual: cannabis.

Mongolia is home to native wild hemp, and its people have a history of using it for shamanic rituals dating back to the 13th century, when Genghis Khan started practicing Tengerism, a form of shamanism unique to the region. When disasters strike today, many Mongolians still consult a shaman to restore balance between the physical and the spiritual world.

Mongolia’s long and complex history has created a deeply rooted cultural crisis, which is enhanced by the increasing global ecological crisis. Both are having serious impacts on the lives of Mongolia’s nomads—not the least of which is the government’s outlawing of cannabis.

Though it is now illegal in Mongolia, and has therefore been replaced by alcohol and cigarettes, it was once key to the ceremony I now witness. But thanks to the work of one forward-thinking Mongolian entrepreneur, the plant could help solve the problems of a country beset by the ill eff ects of climate change.

Anar Artur, founder of Hemp Mongolia, hopes to use the plant to help his nation transition from a nomadic lifestyle to urban bliss, while tackling the air pollution crisis of Ulaanbaatar, the world’s dirtiest city. Hemp Mongolia is the fi rst—and only—hemp company in the country, researching and testing the plant, with plans to use its CBD as a treatment for respiratory diseases and its hemp as a building material for better insulation to reduce coal emissions.

Artur believes the search for identity as manifested in the rise of New Age Shamanism will reconnect the nation with the good spirits. Reestablishing harmony between humanity and the environment might lead the country back to an “eternal blue sky” (mönkh khökh tengeri), which, after all, gives Mongolia its name.

LEFT: Inside a traditional ger, Anar and Kama play on an Xbox. RIGHT: Anar Artur checks the plants often to see if the crossed variety is resilient enough to survive the steppe climate. Mongolian wild cannabis has the potential to be used as a building material and cure for respiratory diseases caused by severe air pollution.

Northwestern Mongolia su ers doubly from global warming—since weather patterns have changed so much, nomads' traditional knowledge and ability to predict the weather are failing.

Hemp Mongolia employees live according to tradition in felted gers—yet its mission is to revolutionize and modernize the country’s industries, making them greener by including hemp as an industrial crop.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Maren Krings is a German documentary photographer focusing on the social and environmental impacts of the climate crisis. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, she has published work in Stern, The Outdoor Journal, SUSTON, Happinez, Outdoor, Runner’s World, and other international media. For the last four years, Krings has documented the worldwide rediscovery of industrial hemp, photographing more than 200 projects, interviewing more than 80 industry experts, and traveling to 26 countries. Her book, H Is for Hemp, which investigates the plant’s potential to mitigate the ecological crisis, is currently available in a limited edition printed entirely on Hahnemühle Hemp paper at marenkrings.com.

During the Naadam Festival, The Culture Department of the National University installs a cultural village to inform not just international tourists but also young Mongolians who have become alienated from traditional costumes and cultural practices.

Sensi’s 4/20 Playlist

Tune in. Turn it up. Drop into our selection that celebrates the herb that goes handin-hand with great music.

TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

As the voice of the Beat Generation, poet Ginsburg, once put it: “Marijuana is a useful catalyst for specifi c optical and aural aesthetic perceptions. I apprehended the structure of certain pieces of jazz and classical music in a new manner under the infl uence of marijuana, and these apprehensions have remained valid in years of normal consciousness.” With that in mind, we give you our annual 4/20 playlist, guaranteed to both up the vibe of the day and celebrate musicians who appreciate the plant.

Snoop Dog

Gin and Juice The modern poster child for cannabis as a recreational pleasure, a medicinal alternative, a symbol of counterculture, an F-you to racism, and an entrepreneurial goldmine, Snoop has never been apologetic about being himself and enjoying his smoke. His biggest song gives the fi nger to society unwilling to accept him and elevates partying to a social statement.

Essential Lyric: “Rollin’ down the street, smokin’ indo / Sippin’ on gin and juice, laid back”

The Beatles

Got to Get You Into My Life

The Fab Four is most associated with hallucinogenics—often credited with the cosmic shift of experimentation that gave us Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which changed pop music forever—but marijuana fi rst loosened them up. By all appearances a love song, this often overlooked gem from Revolver is, according to Paul McCartney, a paean to the the green leaf.

Essential Lyric: “I didn’t know what I would nd there / Another road where maybe I / Could see another kind of mind there”

Bob Dylan

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Sure everybody must get stoned but don’t fall for the obvious here. Yes, Dylan was talking about the favorite herb of the counterculture but the Nobel-prize winning poet was also calling on the Biblical sense of getting stoned: his haters tossing rocks at him. There’s also

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: TIM DUNCAN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, ELI WATSON VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, DWIGHT MCCANN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS biting criticism about the civil rights struggles of the day and the Vietnam War in this song.

Essential Lyric: “They’ll stone you and then say you are brave / They’ll stone you when you are set down in your grave”

Peter Tosh Legalize It

This is a mandatory track on this mix. The Bush Doctor was way ahead of his time both in seeing the spiritual and medicinal values of marijuana and in calling for an end to the racist power system that made it illegal.

Essential Lyric: “Doctors smoke it / Nurses smoke it / Judges smoke it / Even lawyer, too”

Black Sabbath

Sweet Leaf Marijuana and metal together symbolize a powerful rejection of societal norms and the original Prince of Darkness and crew made that evident in this banger that always seems to boost testosterone and call for the volume to go up to 11.

Essential Lyric: “You introduced me to my mind / And left me wanting you and your kind”

Sublime

Smoke Two Joints It would be a crime to leave this anthem off this playlist. Sublime, who recently launched their own cannabis brand, unapologetically loved the life of punk rockers and partying. While that left lead singer Bradley Nowell tragically dead from an overdose in 1996, the music that he left behind continues to inspire a willingness to reject norms and seek individualism in a world where it’s nearly impossible to escape consumerism and sameness.

Essential Lyric: “’I work good and I work ne, / But rst take care of head’”

Willie Nelson

Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die The frontman of the cannabis movement for decades, Willie actually released this tune on April 20, 2012 (the year when Colorado became the fi rst state to legalize recreational cannabis), to make his un-subtle point about where he stands. For extra emphasis, Snoop Dogg provides backup vocals.

Essential Lyric: “Roll me up and smoke me when I die / And if anyone don’t like it, just look ‘em in the eye”

Manu Chao

Clandestino Singing in English, Spanish, French, and Catalan, Manu Chao is household name in Europe and should be far better known here in the states. A proponent of global love and an unabashed cannabis advocate, he has been in semi-retirement for the past decade but his music still makes you want to get up and move.

Essential Lyric: “Mexicano, clandestino / Marihuana, ilegal”

Rihanna

Same Ol’ Mistakes The pop sensation is front-and-center when it comes to her love of cannabis—just scroll her Instagram feed. And her support of the plant goes a long way in breaking stereotypes about weed. This is not stoner music—it’s get up, move your booty, and feel good music. This cover of a Tame Impala tune unites hipsters and hip shakers.

Essential Lyric: “Not thinking in black and white / Thinking it’s worth the ght”

Childish Gambino

Redbone The multi-talented Donald Glover, producer of TV series Atlanta and musically known as Childish Gambino, has made it clear that Black people smoke weed to deal with the trauma and PTSD of simply being Black and living in this country. He also admits that cannabis helps him work. His rap clicks all the boxes when it comes to scaring your parents and pushes boundaries in exploiting the ugliness of racism in this country. And, damn, does this slow groove of a song sound good when you are in the mood.

Essential Lyric: “If you need it, you better believe in something”

Kacey Musgraves

Slow Burn Country singer and songwriter Musgraves proved she’s not afraid to shock anyone when she performed naked under a jacket on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live. She has also been forward about singing the praises of cannabis to audiences that might not be as open to it. Like most complex tunes, this song plays with the sensual and destructive double entendres of a slow burn.

Essential Lyric: “I’m alright with a slow burn / Takin’ my time, let the world turn” LISTEN UP Be sure to check out an expanded version of this playlist on the Sensi Spotify channel.

California's MediThrive paints its walls the national colors of Ukraine to show support.

Green Goes Blue and Gold

Dispensaries step up to support Ukrainians ravaged by war.

CALL TO ACTION If you want to help those a ected by the war in Ukraine, you can support the businesses mentioned here and donate to World Kitchen (wck. org), Hope for Ukraine (hopeforukraine.net), and Sun ower of Peace (sun owerofpeace.com). TEXT DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine has displaced more than 6.5 million people and continues to devastate a nation determined to fi ght for its sovereignty. Ukrainians have fought bravely on the ground against a far superior force, but this modern war is also being waged across the globe on social media and in the power of a global economy uniting against it. The cannabis industry has even joined in the effort to bring aid to Ukrainians and protest the immorality of Putin’s war.

San Francisco-based dispensary MediThirve (medithrive.com), which is owned by Ukrainian-Americans, painted its outside walls blue and gold (Ukraine’s national colors) and donated 100 percent sales on March 6 and 10 percent of sales thereafter for the week, to Sunfl ower of Peace, which is providing medical and humanitarian aid to the beleaguered nation. “I hope to do more as time goes on and be more hands on in the next eff ort,” says CEO Misha Breyburg. “Anything and everything helps. This is a time in the world where a social post or a fi nancial donation is of the utmost importance. Every voice that speaks up with disgust about the war in Ukraine contributes to something bigger. It’s akin to that old idiom that a butterfl y fl apping its wings creates a tsunami.”

MediThrive is not alone in its eff orts. Homeland Growers Company (hvgcompany. com) normally donates 100 percent of its profi ts to aid veterans, but is dedicating that money to help Ukrainians through World Kitchen this month. California cannabis manufacturer Lime (limecannabis.co), with 30 percent of its workforce from countries aff ected by the war, donated a portion of its March sales to nonprofi t Hope for Ukraine.

“In my 50 years, I’ve never seen people so ubiquitously on the same page as they are to help Ukrainians against the Russian invasion,” says Breyburg. “There are so many issues that divide us and, in the past 20 years, it feels as if we’ve been stuck in polarizing positions on those issues. We’re on the same page with Ukraine, and I hope that’s an opportunity to build bridges.”