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I am pretty new to Hinduism and doing my best to learn on my own. This can be hard without the help of an enlightened Guru, especially when most of the time I end up turning to the internet for help. For instance, I was trying to learn about Maha Shivaratri as it is coming up soon but I came across an interesting article. The article was posted on About.com in regards to Shivaratri. The article can be found here: http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordshiva/p/shiva.htm The article states that: "Since Shiva is regarded as a mighty destructive power, to numb his negative potentials he is fed with opium and is also termed as 'Bhole Shankar', one who is oblivious of the world." I have never heard this before. Is this true? Does Shiva need to take mind-altering substances in order to maintain his temper? Also, I read that some people take mind altering substances on Shivaratri. Is this true? I would welcome any comments or additional information on this subject. Thanks. OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!