Why is Lord Shiva associated with cannabis? Where did all this come from?

According to the Atharva Veda, the fourth book of the Vedas, cannabis is considered one of the five kingdoms of herbs that relieve anxiety. Thus, being a sacred plant, it is used as a religious and spiritual element

Lets find, the relationship between Lord Shiva and cannabis.

First Story - Samudra Manthan

During the Samudra Manthan, the gods (deities) and Rakshas (demons) churned the ocean together to obtain Amrita (the nectar of immortality). However, one of the byproducts of this churning was a Vish (poison) named halahla, known as the deadliest poison in the universe, which was able to kill both the gods and the demon. To protect everyone,Lord Shiva opened his mouth and drank the whole poison. During this, his wife Mata Parvati prevented the poison from coming down by holding her throat. Because Lord Shiva's body contained the whole creation. If the poison had come down, the whole world would have been destroyed. Because of which his throat turned blue. For this reason, Lord Shiva also has a name Neelkanth. His condition deteriorated by drinking poison. Later cannabis was offered to Lord Shiva to calm his effects and to make him feel fresh. After this, he had an association with cannabis. Therefore, Lord Shiva made cannabis his favorite food and became the God of cannabis.

Some legends also claim that Lord Shiva went through the Gosaikund lake area to Mount Kailash, the Samudra Manthan episode. Shiva's head was covered with "Bilva Patra". So you see that everything was being done to calm Shiva.

Second Story

According to sources, Lord Shiva once had an argument with his family and went to a forest. There he went to sleep near the cannabis plants. when he woke up he was hungry and because of nothing, he consumed some cannabis leaves, which made him feel a lot of pleasure and freshness.

Therefore, Lord Shiva made cannabis his favorite food and became the god of cannabis.

Hence, Every year on Mahashivaratri, devotees celebrate the festival by consuming bhang, chillum (cannabis). People believe that this brings them closer to Lord Shiva.