Humans have long had a complex relationship with alcohol - it’s thought that we were able to metabolise it long before we actually had a name for it, or were even fully human.
Our relationship with booze sits at the heart of folklore.
As a species we’ve shared flagons of ale, chalices of mead and horns of wine with each other for as long as we’ve existed and usually when the hooch starts flowing, so do the stories.
The reason we call it a “toast” is from 17th Century England, when we would once put a piece of herb-infused bread into our cups of wine to sweeten it and to take away the bitter taste.
The act of raising a toast at weddings and celebrations is an ancient one too - it was thought that the sound made when we tap our glasses together has a magickal resonance that wards off the devil.
In Spain, it’s tradition to make eye contact while toasting, as not doing so risks 7 years of bad sex with your partner... although drinking too much probably also does the same!
The Ancient Greeks also toasted at celebrations, not with alcohol though but with water. This was to symbolise a safe journey down the river Styx to the afterlife. Even now, it’s considered bad luck to toast with water in case you allow death to arrive at the dinner table.
We still use alcohol today with associations of death and life - we drink at weddings to toast a life together, and we drink at funerals to help send the deceased person into the afterlife.
In maritime traditions too, we still smash a bottle of champagne against the bow of a ship before it’s maiden voyage as a way of toasting its launch and wishing it a safe journey.
In times gone by, we have even used blood magick with alcohol. In the 17th Century, young men would prick their finger and mix drops of their own blood with their wine when toasting the woman they loved, as a mark of a sort of sacrifice and a symbol of their undying love.
Within the Catholic faith, they still do the act of transubstantiation, whereby the wine is believed to actually become the blood of Christ, again symbolising sacrifice.
Even as far back as Ancient Egypt, all of the gods were big drinkers, and the act of worshipping those gods involved elaborate drinking rituals. The Egyptian god Osiris is credited as teaching humans how to brew alcohol, and upon death, offerings of fine alcoholic drinks were given as a mark of respect to him.
Absinthe - also known as “the green fairy” due to its hallucinogenic properties - is made from the wild herb wormwood, which has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb used to treat a wide variety of issues, from pain and swelling, to the literal treatment for intestinal worms, hence the name. The Ancient Egyptians also used a drink made using wormwood to treat all kinds of ailments. There are written records on ancient papyrus of this drink. It’s name? “Absinthia”.
Absinthe as we know it today is a slightly different beverage, but still has this link with numbing and pain killing as well as a creative association, being used by major artists and musicians over the centuries. Its name of “the green fairy” was often advertised as a beautiful green fairy, wings and all, which would arise within the drinker, imbuing them with magickal powers. This name was given by the bohemian French culture of the early 19th Century, when it was highly fashionable (and in some cases, necessary) to drink a few glasses before creating any sort of masterpiece.
Alcohol has very deep connections to spirituality and divinity.
It’s thought that the reason we call strong liquor “spirits” is due to the New Testament of the Bible describing the “holy spirit” coming into you as feeling like you’re drunk, and being drunk fills us with an altered "spirit".
Even the word spirit itself originally meant "breath" or "life", which is why we have the words “expiration", as in when we die our spirit leaves our body, and "respiration", as in to be filled with the spirit of god or life, otherwise known as breathing. We even use "inspiration", which literally means being filled with the spirit of god or life in order to awaken our creativity.
It’s thought that as this breath and life are invisible things, then the word also became associated with other invisible things, such as ghosts and spirits.
The word for alcohol also has its origins in folklore. It is thought to have originated from ancient Arabic culture, and is possibly a mutation of the word “Al-Ghul”, which is a human flesh-eating demon, who made its victims feel intoxicated. It may also come from the word “Al-Khul”, which is adapted from the word “Khol”, a type of cosmetic used to darken the area around the eyes, similar to modern eyeliner, used by men and women in the ancient Arabic world. This was created from a very fine powder which contained lead and so caused poisoning, with some symptoms of which being likened to being drunk.
It’s thought that the word was translated into Latin and used to describe anything which was distilled, purified or made fine.
So there you go - whether it’s a tipple with dinner, a clinking of glasses at a wedding or a full on bender, our relationship and history with alcohol is complex and deep.
While many people struggle with their relationship with the “spirit”, our traditions, folklore and spirituality itself wouldn’t be what it is without it.
Please drink responsibly.
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