Did Tobacco Affect the End of the Monarchy and Rise of Capitalism?

Do terrestrial plants spur societal evolution?

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I recently watched a video by Tony Robbins where he counsels entrepreneurs to “look for patterns” in their endeavors to launch a product or service.

I’ve been doing that for a long time – mainly with respect to discovering hidden aspects of reality.

Last summer I wrote “Does Reality Operate on Cyclical Timelines?” My inquiry on ChatGPT yielded five societies that saw reality in this way:

Ancient Indian Civilization; Ancient Mayan Civilization; Ancient Egyptian Civilization; Ancient Chinese Civilizations and Mesoamerican Civilizations

With respect to the latter, I thought I had discovered a particularly interesting cyclical pattern when I became interested in the career of Sir Walter Raleigh.

An Unknown Influencer

During my research I came across the work of Muriel Rukeyser - The Traces of Thomas Hariot who was a fascinating associate of Raleigh.

Thomas Hariot was an English mathematician, astronomer, and explorer who was part of the Roanoke Colony expedition in 1585. During his time in what is now North Carolina, he made several important observations and discoveries.

He went to Virginia at the behest of Raleigh.

His work was later published in "A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia" in 1588, which became an important source of information about the Roanoke Colony and the native inhabitants of the region. Hariot's observations were groundbreaking for their time, combining scientific observation with anthropological documentation.

But here is what got my attention. Hariot was instrumental in introducing tobacco to European society and documenting its properties. During his time in Roanoke, he was one of the first Europeans to extensively observe and record the use of tobacco by Native Americans.

My interest was piqued when I realized that back in the Elizabethan era tobacco was purported to have many of the properties we now attributed to marijuana. This is what took me even further in my research as it seemed that this “magical plant” coincided with many changes in European society. I didn’t know it at the time but my tobacco/marijuana comparison was used by Bob Newhard in his comedy routines, and the author John Barth in the “Sot Weed Factor.”

(I did this research in the 1970’s for my first novel and screenplay (The Lie – Raleigh’s famous iconoclastic poem) – the story of Raleigh and tobacco as marijuana – what if he was high when he put down the cape for the Queen),

The Powers Attributed to Tobacco

Hariot noted that the indigenous people used tobacco for both medicinal and recreational purposes. In his writings, he described how Native Americans used tobacco for: medicinal treatments, relieving fatigue, treating respiratory conditions, alleviating pain, reducing hunger, and treating various ailments through smoking and topical applications.

Hariot also noted tobacco’s psychoactive effects: inducing a sense of euphoria; providing mental stimulation; reducing stress and anxiety; and creating a sense of communal bonding during ceremonial uses.

Hariot observed that the Native Americans would smoke tobacco through pipes during religious ceremonies and social gatherings. He was particularly fascinated by the plant's apparent ability to suppress appetite and provide energy, which was remarkable to European observers at the time.

When he returned to England, Hariot became a key figure in introducing tobacco to European society, which greatly increased Raleigh’s own power and fortune. His detailed accounts led to its widespread adoption across Europe. His scientific approach to documenting tobacco's properties was groundbreaking for the late 16th century, bridging indigenous knowledge with European scientific understanding.

In addition, the relationship between Sir Walter Raleigh and Thomas Hariot was a close and mutually beneficial one, marked by a blend of exploration, intellectual collaboration, and patronage.

Raleigh as an Entrepreneur, Capitalist and Seeker of Wisdom

Raleigh, a prominent courtier, explorer, and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, acted as a patron to Hariot, an accomplished mathematician, astronomer, and scientist. Hariot likely met Raleigh in the 1580s, when Raleigh was planning colonial ventures in the New World.

Raleigh recognized Hariot's talents and employed him as a tutor and adviser. Hariot, in turn, taught Raleigh advanced mathematics and navigational techniques that would be crucial for Raleigh's exploration ambitions.

Raleigh was in many ways the first Capitalist. He made a fortune from tobacco, in part by promoting the legend of its mental effects. It was smoked at the Globe Theatre during Shakespearean productions and in local pubs called tabagies.

Hariot and Raleigh were both part of a broader circle of intellectuals and scientists, often referred to as the "School of Night." This informal group included figures like Christopher Marlowe and the Earl of Northumberland. The group was rumored to explore unorthodox ideas in science, philosophy, and religion, and Hariot, in particular, was known for his advanced work in mathematics and astronomy.

Surely Hariot shared the Algonquin creation story: A Sky Woman fell to earth when it was all ocean.

What intrigued me about all of this was that that period, like our own, was one where social norms were changing dramatically – as for example the rise of entrepreneurs like Raleigh who attained nearly the wealth of monarchs.

Consciousness Shifted During and After Elizabethan Times

In fact, it was the beginning of the end of monarchal power and the beginning of stirrings of democracy, which would later bear fruit in the U.S. “colonies” and France. Feudalism and Spanish imperialism were fading out and colonization by large entities like the East India Company would begin to flourish in England and eventually here in America.

It is interesting that the transformation of Europe to capitalism with the help of a medicinal plant reoccurs with our transformation from capitalism to something new (woke?) with the help of cannabis.

Despite Raleigh's eventual execution in 1618, Hariot continued his scientific work, making significant contributions to fields like optics, algebra, and astronomy. He is sometimes called "the English Galileo" for his telescopic observations, which he made independently around the same time as Galileo.

Was Raleigh Just Seeking Gold and Treasure?

Many people know about Raleigh’s two ill-fated expeditions to Guyana in search of El Dorado, the “Lost City of Gold”. And I am sure his motivation was largely to recoup some of the fortune he had lost after the death of his main patron, Queen Elizabeth.

But in my research, I remained intrigued by Raleigh and Hariot, and Hariot’s interest in the indigenous people of America and learning about their beliefs on their terms.

I wondered if something else might not have induced someone with intellect and courage of Raleigh to return to South America. What else might El Dorado have represented?

In 1584 a Spanish seaman, Don Sarmiento de Gamboa was captured by an English fleet under Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh and Hariot were intrigued by his stories of El Dorado and it surely motivated Raleigh on his later quests. The English fleet under Raleigh were privateer – again independent operators who made a fortune on tobacco and the legends about it at the time.

Sarmiento had a very interesting story. In 1572 he was commissioned by Francisco de Toledo, the fifth Viceroy of Peru, to write a history of the Incas. Toledo hoped such a history would justify Spanish colonization by revealing the violent history of the Incas. Sarmiento collected oral accounts firsthand from Inca informants and produced a history (commonly titled The History of the Incas).

Sarmiento's The History of the Incas contains extremely detailed descriptions of Inca history and mythology. The royal sponsorship of the work guaranteed Sarmiento direct access to the highest Spanish officials in Cuzco. It also allowed him to summon influential natives, as well as those who had witnessed the fall of the Inca Empire, so that they could relate their stories. Sarmiento travelled widely and interviewed numerous local leaders and lords, members of the royal Incan families, and the few remaining Spanish conquistadors who still resided in Cuzco.

I wondered how Sarmiento’s work on the Incas might have influenced Raleigh’s later missions to South America. Hariot had described in his work how the indigenous people with whom he lived didn’t know whether the English were “men or Gods.” The technology of the English, mainly weaponry, enthralled the natives whose ancestry was believed to have been educated and inspired by the “Sky Gods.”

Given Raleigh and Hariot’s obvious interest in esoteric ideas in their famous circle, it occurred to me that something more precious than gold might have enticed Raleigh to return to Guyana.

(It is interesting to note that accounts of the Anunnaki, the legendary “Sky Gods” of Sumeria, who are sometimes credited with teaching humans in the middle east agriculture, mathematics and science, claimed that they came to Earth to mine gold.).

It turns out that Sir Walter Raleigh was the first European to describe Mount Roraima, a table-top mountain in South America, during his 1595 expedition to Guyana. Mount Roraima looks very much like Devil’s Tower – from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Do you get my drift.

I believe that with the studies of Hariot and the information from Sarmiento Raleigh may have actually been seeking scientific proof of extra-terrestrial contact and the truth about our human origins.

I also think that this sort of cyclical recurrence points to the influences of forces far beyond our scale of perception, perhaps also working through the biochemistry of terrestrial plants and organisms.

What if it were true?