The Green Fairy

Dr Ordinaire, we may have him to thank for Absinthe. 

So fancy ... Those French .. But it's just Dr Ordinary to the rest of us. 

Ironic that the man of such a name brought us such a non ordinary potion.

Potion.. Because it's no ordinary... I can't stop using that word now...drink.

So are we all mad here?
Does this rather beautiful gem of a beverage actually cause hallucinations? 
Does Van Gogh have the Green Fairy to blame for his personal body modification?

I haven't read that far yet... but lets start with what is actually in Absinthe

Henri-Louis Pernod opened the first Absinthe distillery in 1805

He used 

• Aniseed
• Fennel
• Hyssop
• Lemonbalm
• Angelica
• Star Anise
• Dittany
• Juniper
• Nutmeg
• Veronica
• Wormwood
• Water
• Alcohol

The Classic Method of  Drinking Absinthe

With a shot glass containing Absinthe, a slotted spoon is placed over top.

This spoon holds a sugar (cubed generally now)

Cool water is then poured over the spoon 

As the water hits the Absinthe, oils emerge and mix in and the drink changes from a clear emerald to an opaque milky white.

There are other ways to prepare Absinthe but this one looks cool, has been done since the 1800's and does not involve fire. I dislike when drinking and fire mix... it scares me. 

So now that we have the basics covered.. what does this little green goblin actually do?..sorry, fairy..

 

Firstly NO Absinthe does not cause Hallucinations. Sorry.

Secondly NO Absinthe is not the reason Van Gogh cut off his ear.  

It is described as a "Waking Drunk"

Basically that means instead of the normal Dumbass.. You are more alert and yes in an altered state..but you will not see little green fairies..

Sounds pretty good... inhibitions lowered...synapses firing faster..

So fear not!

Though you may still act like an ass.

You may vomit..cuz you probably drank too much.

You may over spend because the drink is pretty and the spoon thing is cool..oh but not in a bar. 

You will have to find another place to drink Absinthe

Bars are not allowed to sell Absinthe

But the LCBO does!

I WANT IT!

It has cat eyes!!

Dammit I should have asked for this for Christmas.

It's $64.95

That's only $21.65 for 3 people..

I just thought of something..

'Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way'

I think Miss Poppins has some explaining to do.

Moving on.... 

So why was Absinthe banned if it does not actually cause hallucinations?

                                                         

  Why must they steal our fun?



In 1905, a disturbed Swiss man, drunk on absinthe, murdered his entire family.

No...Absinthe did not speak to him and say..hey buddy, whatcha doin?? Wanna go kill your family? No? How dare you speak to me that way, kill them at once! This is Absinthe speaking, you can not ignore me!
Insanity, crazy ass freak of a murderous moron, broken man with a bad temper .. those are what could have caused the killing to occur.

But Absinth is the logical target.
People were killing people left and right as they walked out of the bars after drinking this evil potion.
Wait... that didn't happen. 
Why didn't that happen?
BECAUSE IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.

Absinthe Is Death

 I have to admit...I kinda like that poster, lets see what else they have...

Dr Valentin Magnan, the chief physician at the asylum of Sainte-Anne in Paris. Magnan wrote :

"In absinthism, the hallucinating delirium is most active, most terrifying, sometimes provoking reactions of an extremely violent and dangerous nature. Another more grave syndrome accompanies this: all of a sudden the absinthist cries out, pales, loses consciousness and falls; the features contract, the jaws clench, the pupils dilate, the eyes roll up, the limbs stiffen, a jet of urine escapes, gas and waste material are brusquely expulsed. In just a few seconds the face becomes contorted, the limbs twitch, the eyes are strongly convulsed, the jaws gnash and the tongue projected between the teeth is badly gnawed; a bloody saliva covers the lip, the face grows red, becaomes purplish, swollen, the eyes are bulging, tearful, the respiration is loud, then the movements cease, the whole body relaxes, the sphincter releases, the evacuations soil the sick man. Suddenly he lifts his head and casts his eyes around him with a look of bewilderment. Coming to himself after awhile, he doesn't remember one thing that has happened."

That is horrific!!
But.. this is based on animal testing where he basically gave the animals a super toxic dosage of pure Wormwood. Asshat.


 A big problem during this timeline was the ignorance of alcoholism - or the greed of other industries ...one of the two.
There were problems with alcoholism - not Absintism - ALCOHOLISM
But Wine was healthy.
Maybe they are right with Wine being more natural then Absinthe.

There were issues... much like today, companies cheap out and use chemicals to produce a variant of the original.
Chemicals were used to produce the emerald colour and then to create the milky colour.
So in that case..things may have gone bad for a few.



Absinthe basically was put through a Witch Hunt - Alcohol version.


People still believe it is the drink of deviants - lack of knowledge, or they can't be bothered to learn something different then they currently believe.

So I was looking up Absinthism

MedicineNet
Absinthism: The disorder associated with the habitual abuse of absinthe. The symptoms included hallucinations, sleeplessness, tremors, and convulsions.

Dictionary.Com
Absinthism: A diseased condition resulting from excessive drinking of absinthe

Merrium Webster
Absinthism: A diseased condition resulting from habitual excessive use of absinthe that contains oils of wormwood 

Interesting ...

Oh.. Van Gogh...He was depressed, broke, strange, and probably a few other things... that is why he cut off his ear. 




Or I could be wrong..