Magu Magic! Salon highlights Hemp Goddess and cannabis’s Asian roots

Christina Wong and Chef Wendy Zeng together with Chinese art expert Rachel Du and Asian Cannabis Roundtable founder Ophelia Chong hosted an event titled Magu Magic! Salon on June 14th. Mogu Magu’s salon was held around the indoor bar next to the rooftop pool at The Aster in West Hollywood and featured a tasteful combination of sponsors spread around the room. Across the pool, an even more tasty and delicious smelling odor wafted inside. It wasn’t burning cannabis – it was the smell of delicious meats like duck and shrimp being grilled up by the chef. The menu was curated by Chef Wendy Zeng and smelled and tasted right in line with the aire of the event.

Mogu Magu celebrated the new and the retro

The theme of the night? Newtro. Not neutral, because there’s no point in being neutral in these polarizing times. Newtro. New x retro. (Re)legalization movements are sweeping the Eastern world, and like it or not, AAPIs have a large role to play in educating those on the other side of the other pond. What is retro for all East and Central Asian countries, is an acceptance of cannabis for medicinal use. What is relatively new is the Western influence of cannabis stigmatization which stems from the Opium War. Suffice to say that there is a lot of baggage to unpack that I’ll save for a more academic article. What is brand new and cutting edge is this cannabis culture we are all a part of. It includes the almost forgotten, now retro history of cannabis in Asia – but it also includes the new vanguard of people that will bring the cannabis renaissance back to Asia. Hell, renaissance might not even be the best word so to bastardize some Maoist words: Let a hundred flowers bloom… and let me smoke them all. Or make it into an alcohol based tincture – whatever the untranslated TCM recipe says to do. Between performances by yozmit and a greeting and presentation by the hosts, the salon played host to bustling discussions at every corner. I saw old friends meet, met some familiar faces from the LA cannabis scene, and really soaked up the importance of the event. A physical gathering is just that – but the intention with which it was put together always shines through. The Mogu Magu Salon brought attention to the disconnect between East Asia’s current cannabis policies with their rich history of cannabis use. The hivemind’s knowledge of this contradiction hung lightly like the invisible cloud over the event. Even as I enjoyed high mountain tea from Taiwan’s Alishan perfectly brewed by Toasty Town – my mind was taken back to my last hike up that very mountain, and was simultaneously struck by the facts that I could still be arrested for smoking weed there and that cannabis likely grew feral in those very mountains thousand of years ago.

Who is the Magu, anyhu?

Magu – the Hemp Maiden or Hemp Goddess is a Daoist deity, known as the goddess of Mount Tai. Mount Tai is one of the holy mountains in China and historical records and the continued tales of Magu point to that area as a location of ancient Chinese cannabis domesticates. The latest research coming out of the PRC hints that pockets of Chinese cannabis domesticates – aka Chinese landraces – might still exist in the far Southwestern regions, Northwestern regions, and Northeastern regions of China. I guess you could say that I view Magu as the guardian of the oldest cannabis genetics – a cause that I feel incredibly drawn to. As a chronicler of the culture, I sometimes feel I spend too much time highlighting the new, and will dedicate more time to rigorously researching the past. It’s good to know that there’s at least one room of real live people that’d find both interesting. Shout out to all the brands that provided support to this event. I saw Tina from Moon Made Farms, got to check out a Stundenglass up close and personal for the first time, even got to lay eyes on the first cannabis education resource translated into over a dozen languages to address the cannabis miseducation problem. Ay Papi brought their delicious hash rosin and I’d harken that as the pinnacle of dat new new of the evening. All the art shown of Magu herself was representative of the retro days of well-over-a-thousand-years-ago when hemp was a revered symbol and societal requirement. What was Newtro? Everything else – The mixing of all of that in one room for so many hours. Whether it was the modern cannabis goddess cutouts strategically placed around the room, the conversations, the set and setting, or something undescribable, here’s to moving the needle. If you’re in need of some Magu Magic (or Mogu [mushroom] magic) or inspiration in your life, subscribe at Mogumagu.co so you don’t miss the next event. Destigmatization happens one mind at a time. Let’s keep it going