WHY INTOXICANTS ?sx .sx Man's search for immortality .sx . by Wesley M. Clark .sx AS FAR BACK as primitive man , one discovers him directly dependent on the whims and moods of nature .sx Her laws dared not be flaunted by him .sx Her contrasts , the warm-breathing summer , with a plentiful supply of everything needful , relentless winter , when everything seemed dead without a shaft of sunlight for weeks at a time- dire want .sx All the suffering awakened and sharpened in him his perceptive faculties .sx Primitive man noted the mood between the lustrous sun in the cerulean vault of the daytime , and the changing faces of the moon that gleamed coldly during the fear-inspiring night .sx He wondered at the mysterious stars that seemed at times to travel across the vision of the black face of the night .sx Occasionally , these shimmering stars plunged downward toward the earth at tremendous speed .sx Then there were times when the sky would change from tranquillity to sudden anger .sx Great ominous clouds galloped across the heavenly firmament , writhing and with diabolical unpredictability , seemingly resembling unleashed monsters , spitting fire , roaring angrily , and emptying deluges of water to the earth .sx Why ?sx Man asked himself .sx Who ?sx What does all this ?sx When a member of man's family died , the body , which only an hour before had been warm , talked and breathed , suddenly was inert and cold .sx Its appearance had not changed outwardly , yet it was not the same .sx There was no longer the rhythmic breathing .sx With the last gasp , life departed .sx Breath , then , was life .sx But where had breath gone ?sx And he could smell the aroma of the flowers , the pungent exhalations from the trees , the earth .sx The thought occurred to him , all this is like my breath- my breath which vanishes when I die .sx And when I die , where do I go ?sx These phenomena which man experienced eventually evolved into a conception of one or more spiritual beings of invisible forces or powers within the many objects about him .sx It was the Breath that separated from the live body and departed elsewhere , leaving behind the inanimate , which gave first rise to the conception of spirits .sx Everywhere man was this conception existed .sx Among the Primal Aryans , it was called Gust , Breath or Whiff .sx The Greeks termed it Atman , breath , air ; or , Pneuma , air .sx The Romans , whether of ancient pagan days or modern Christian times , used the term Spiritus for breath ; while Geist , Ghost , Gast , or Gaest , was the way the German and his Teutonic forebears summed it up .sx The conception has been incorporated almost in its original form in the Old Testament which states :sx " In creating man , God breathed into him the Breath of life , the Spirit , the Soul .sx " Primitive man's logic was naive .sx Upon developing the concept of a world of spirits , he immediately entered upon the system of spirit worship , which in its most elemental form , was a worship of the dead .sx The dead continued to live as spirits ; in the wind , the flowers , the trees , the thunder , the volcano , an animal .sx But it did not matter so much where they lived , as that man felt the spirits needed food , both liquid and solid , just the same as when they still dwelt in their mortal bodies .sx Therefore , man deduced it was his duty- a sacred obligation for him to supply spirits with food , drink , clothing , weapons , slaves- everything he was used to using while he was alive .sx This was motivated through fear or love .sx In the Occident as in the Orient , in Africa , Australia or America , wherever primitive man or primitive man's history may be researched , the custom became firmly established .sx Nor has it disappeared today .sx Among certain Christianised people , the ritual of setting aside daily food and drink for the departed is strictly adhered to ; or dishes and beverage are taken on the anniversary of the dead to their place of burial .sx The libation in honour of the deceased is found as a part of the most modern customs , as when some drops are poured out before a drink is taken :sx the toast .sx From this simplest-of-all worship of the dead , there gradually grew a worship of spirits in general .sx This conviction of the superhuman and following it , the need of appeasement either because of fear or love , found its visible expression in offerings , sacrifices to the spirits or deities .sx And what could be found more pleasing to them than food and drink ?sx These two items became an integral part of worship .sx Primitive man's first thought at the birth of his first conception of the supernatural survival of his ancestors' spirits , to whom he consecrated sacrifices , food , and drink , evolved without a break for hundreds of centuries .sx With the Jews , until the Mosaic period , even until the destruction of Jerusalem , when bloody sacrifices were ended ; with the Christians of the Roman Empire , until the reign of THEODOSIUS ( 392 A.D. ) , when bloody sacrifices were abolished , and only the unbloody one- the offertorium at Mass- bread and wine has gone on unchecked .sx The fact stands out , boldly and indisputable , that deeply rooted in the human consciousness there grew a feeling of dependence upon a power which was able to discern his fate for better or worse .sx That feeling filled him with awe , dread , confidence and veneration .sx Along with , and as strong as the consciousness of his dependence upon the spirits- deities- man was influenced by the reflection that it was wise to propitiate ; in fact to get into communication indirectly , or directly if possible with those supernatural powers or beings .sx This he attempted and succeeded in doing by the exercise of the various forms of worship :sx libations , fastings , sacrifices , prayers , singing or [SIC] hymns , dancing .sx Prayer , psychic abandonment and the many kinds of devotional exercises induced in primitive man , accompanied , as it did in all his descendants , the condition known as spiritual elevation and exhaltation , followed by the more advanced stages of inspiration and ecstasy .sx It was only in these later spiritual phases , that the human mind was able to step across the threshold of material thought into the sphere of the immaterial or supernatural world .sx In these phases only , could man leave his objective consciousness entirely behind him .sx There only , he was able to feel the Breath , the Spirit of the god , to resemble in his whole being the spiritual entity to [SIC] the god , to be filled with it .sx In that condition , he was inspired .sx This fundamental idea immediately found its way into man's speech , which henceforth became filled with words and idioms expressing it .sx In theology one is cognisant of the inspired prophets , the inspiration of the scriptures .sx There are in ordinary speech the expressions :sx the inspired artist , orator , writer , musician- and on a more profane level , there is the inspiration of the fermented juice .sx Side by side with inspiration and its meaning , in fact identical to it in many usages , came the word " enthusiasm .sx " To the ancient Greeks who passed it on to the contemporary world , the word meant :sx " in God , " " being in God , " " united with " .sx ( en- in , theos- God) .sx In common usage , however , enthusiasm has come to mean , " the intense , rapturous feeling felt by individuals or masses , especially as exhibited in ardent zeal or [SIC] a person , principle , or cause .sx " Back in the nebulosity of time , there developed in man a religious inspiration and religious ecstasy produced in their elemental form by mental and immaterial or psychic agents .sx Later , however , it became necessary , because of some crisis or urgent need that arose in the life of the individual or tribe , to propitiate one of these deities , to induce quickly by physical means this same intense feeling .sx Out of nature's vast store , it was a simple matter to select just those things which would do this , and there is found use by man at whatever stage of his history , of two classes of material , namely :sx .sx Narcotics :sx i.e. narcotic roots , leaves , herbs , which were either eaten , smoked or chewed ; and incense .sx .sx Intoxicants :sx i.e. natural juices or narcotic , or toxic plants , or fruits unfermented and fermented- the prepared beverages .sx To this list was added , through man's own ingenuity , other means of obtaining the same end :sx e.g. ceremonial dances , singing , and incantations .sx While these methods should rightly be classed as intermediaries between physical and mental stimulation , i.e. in the realm of religious auto-suggestion , yet , used in conjunction with one or more of the purely physical and mental agents , they came to play , through its entirety from the most primitive to the most modern , a tremendously important part in the process of worship .sx Ample illustrations of this are to be seen in the twentieth century .sx For example :sx The singing and music in churches , the clashing of the tambourines of the Salvation Army as they put the devil on the run , the incantations and frenzy attending them of the revival meetings .sx It would be impossible to express logical doubt as to whether early man distinguished between narcotics and intoxicants .sx They both produced the singular effect desired .sx But during the awakening of human consciousness and the first presentiment of something beyond his material being , the psychic intoxication differed from the physical intoxication only in its means and not in principle .sx This presentiment was coincident with the discovery of mysterious forces in certain of the products of nature , and which possessed the power of translating him into a condition of bliss , of enthusiasm , and ecstasy .sx Man has always followed complicated patterns of worship , each with his own formula for putting him in contact with the world of his deities .sx The various patterns of worship , upon analysis , prove to be merely variations of the same original pattern :sx spirit worship and worship of the dead .sx The means by which man entered into relationship with the deities was always the same ; and of these means , the physical , and especially the spirituous and intoxicating beverages , prepared by each people in its own way , has always been an integral and chief part of every religious worship .sx Man , in whatever clime , had some plant from which he obtained a product that caused a pleasurable mental state , and which he elevated to the rank of god .sx Intoxicating beverages and religious worship came up through the ages blending with the human , essential elements of the material world in which man lived , and the spiritual world toward which he strived .sx With the spread of education and attendant complexities of the processes of logic , which events led to placing of more and more reliance on the purely spiritual- psychic stimulation- there has grown a tendency for man to look with disfavour upon the more physical stimulants , i.e. intoxicants .sx Man has come by his natural taste for , or his tendency towards stimulants and intoxicants by the Law of Inheritance .sx Early man , on the high plateaus of central Asia east of the Caspian Sea and northwest of Hindustan , were pastoral people- the Aryans .sx From this mother race , two distinct branches originated .sx One , the Indo-Europeans , gave rise to most of the European races .sx The Kelts , who settled in Gaul and Britain , Ireland , Wales , Scotland ; the Germanic races , German , English , Scandinavian , Dutch , Flemish , Icelandic ; the Slavs , Russian , Polish , Slavonian , Bohemian ; the Greeks ; the Latins , from whom stem the Italian , French , Spanish , Portuguese , and Roumanian .sx The other branch remained in Asia and became the Medes , Persians , and Hindoos .sx The mother tongue of the Indo-European languages is Sanskrit , and in this language are written the four Vedas , the holy writings of the Brahmans , the oldest literary works of these people , circa 10,000 years .sx The language of the Ancient Persia is the so-called Zend , and the Zend-Avesta contains the sacred writings of this branch of the Sanskrit tongue .sx The oldest Vedic Book ( hymn Veda ) , the " Bible of the " , states clearly about Soma .sx " Soma , the Creator and Father of the gods ; god Soma declares the birth of the gods ; this god poured forth the gods ; King of gods and men , and he confers immortality on gods and men .sx " Soma a plant , and Soma , an intoxicating beverage , as father of the gods , pre-existed before , and above all gods , king of material and immaterial universe- immortality .sx