Mind Bending Meads

In a previous post I casually tossed in a reference to a Mayan mead as an example of a Metheglin, in this instance made with Balche tree bark.

This might have been somewhat of an understatement, as Balche bridges the divide between alcohol and religious ceremony.

It is a well documented fact that the Maya, at least at the time of the Spanish conquest, were not only doing a variety of drugs but were consuming alcoholic beverages as well. Drunkenness was connected with the wide-spread practice of divination, a ritual act designed to allow direct communication with certain supernatural forces such that an individual could foretell the future or understand due causes far events not otherwise understood. A drunken state was supposed to give one the insight to interpret the reasons for illness, misfortune, adverse weather, and so forth. Does that not sound familiar? I have a couple of friends that get positively brilliant after a few rum and cokes.

The Maya, like most of the other Mesoamerican cultures, produced fermented alcoholic beverages from corn or agave cactus, the precursor to modem tequila. Another drink, specially flavored for ritual purposes, was a rather nasty brew called balche made from fermented honey and the bark of the balche tree. I have tried this delightful cocktail and rate it right up there with really bad cough medicine. From Dig It

I find religion intriguing, and choose to embrace a pantheon of gods, rather than a solitary bearded bloke sitting on a throne. Equally my suspicion is that a fair few religions have been inspired by Druid sitting in dark caves eating lots of magic mushrooms (or equivalent).

And although it’s been some years, I suspect dried mushrooms still taste like something the cat threw up. So the addition of a sweet mead may well be the best chaser to that spiritual trip. And Medb (according to some) appears as the goddess of intoxication, hemp, fly agaric, liberty caps and a few other mind bending substances.

Shee-eire continues on the subject of Fly-Agaric:

This is probably the most well known fungi because of it's association with the fairy folk and was a very important fungi to the Druids of the Celtic tribes. It was referred to as the 'Flesh of the gods', or 'Food of the Gods' because they believed that they were in direct communication with the Earth and the Universe when they consumed this Fungi.

Although all the Celtic people consumed Liberty-caps, the Fly-Agaric was usually only taken by the Druids and other magic users. It was considered too powerful for those not trained in the higher levels of the mind. This Fungus contains some very powerful psychotropic compounds.

The most common way that this mushroom was consumed was in the form of a beverage. Some of these drinks were alcoholic in nature. It was also eaten, smoked or absorbed through the skin in ointments, in the steam of the sweat-lodges or even in the waters of a bath.

And a more precise set of advice

Eating of the Fly-Agaric Mushroom : The most common way that this mushroom was eaten was when it had been dried. The Druid or Druids fasted for at least 3 days, drinking only water although sometimes small amounts of purifying herbs may also be taken and meditating before consumption of the fungi.

This was done for a number of reasons, not only to purify the mind but also it purified the body because the body acts in a strange way to this fungi. When consumed the body removes the Mind-Expanding substances before the poison. So the Psychedelic is in the body before it starts to react to the poison. This reaction is violent stomach emptying as the body rejects what's left of the mushroom before it absorbs any more of the poison.

The Druids were well prepared for this sickness as it was part of taking the fungi. After the poison is rejected the Psychedelic starts to act, this is when the second reason for body purity was needed as the first urine expelled after consumption is nearly all Psychedelic and this was either consumed at the time to give full effect of the fungi or stored for a later ritual. It may also have been used in some of their Beverages or Potions. This may sound a bit sick to some but with the 3 day fast and only water going in, only water was coming out.

So three days of fasting, followed by an excess of Mead and Mushooms, followed by vomiting, followed by the tribe drinking the urine of the Druid / Siberian Shamen (different reference)

One hopes that Medb appreciates the journeys people make to visit her realm.