why intoxicants ? man &apos;s search for immortality &amp;hellip; by Wesley M Clark . as far back as primitive man , one discovers him directly dependent on the whims and moods of nature . her laws dared not be flaunted by him . 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 . all the suffering awakened and sharpened in him his perceptive faculties . 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 . he wondered at the mysterious stars that seemed at times to travel across the vision of the black face of the night . occasionally , these shimmering stars plunged downward toward the earth at tremendous speed . then there were times when the sky would change from tranquillity to sudden anger . 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 . why ? man asked himself . who ? what does all this ? when a member of man &apos;s family died , the body , which only an hour before had been warm , talked and breathed , suddenly was inert and cold . its appearance had not changed outwardly , yet it was not the same . there was no longer the rhythmic breathing . with the last gasp , life departed . breath , then , was life . but where had breath gone ? and he could smell the aroma of the flowers , the pungent exhalations from the trees , the earth . the thought occurred to him , all this is like my breath - my breath which vanishes when I die . and when I die , where do I go ? 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 . 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 . everywhere man was this conception existed . among the primal Aryans , it was called gust , breath or whiff . the Greeks termed it atman , breath , air ; or , pneuma , air . 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 . the conception has been incorporated almost in its original form in the old testament which states : in creating man , God breathed into him the breath of life , the spirit , the soul . primitive man &apos;s logic was naive . 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 . the dead continued to live as spirits ; in the wind , the flowers , the trees , the thunder , the volcano , an animal . 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 . 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 . this was motivated through fear or love . in the occident as in the orient , in Africa , Australia or America , wherever primitive man or primitive man &apos;s history may be researched , the custom became firmly established . nor has it disappeared today . 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 . 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 : the toast . from this simplest-of-all worship of the dead , there gradually grew a worship of spirits in general . 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 . and what could be found more pleasing to them than food and drink ? these two items became an integral part of worship . primitive man &apos;s first thought at the birth of his first conception of the supernatural survival of his ancestors &apos; spirits , to whom he consecrated sacrifices , food , and drink , evolved without a break for hundreds of centuries . 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 . 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 . that feeling filled him with awe , dread , confidence and veneration . 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 . this he attempted and succeeded in doing by the exercise of the various forms of worship : libations , fastings , sacrifices , prayers , singing or hymns , dancing . 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 . 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 . in these phases only , could man leave his objective consciousness entirely behind him . there only , he was able to feel the breath , the spirit of the god , to resemble in his whole being the spiritual entity to the god , to be filled with it . in that condition , he was inspired . this fundamental idea immediately found its way into man &apos;s speech , which henceforth became filled with words and idioms expressing it . in theology one is cognisant of the inspired prophets , the inspiration of the scriptures . there are in ordinary speech the expressions : the inspired artist , orator , writer , musician - and on a more profane level , there is the inspiration of the fermented juice . side by side with inspiration and its meaning , in fact identical to it in many usages , came the word enthusiasm . to the ancient Greeks who passed it on to the contemporary world , the word meant : in God , being in God , united with God . ( en - in , theos - God ) . 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 a person , principle , or cause . 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 . 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 . out of nature &apos;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 : 1 . narcotics : i.e narcotic roots , leaves , herbs , which were either eaten , smoked or chewed ; and incense . 2 . intoxicants : i.e natural juices or narcotic , or toxic plants , or fruits unfermented and fermented - the prepared beverages . to this list was added , through man &apos;s own ingenuity , other means of obtaining the same end : e.g ceremonial dances , singing , and incantations . 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 . ample illustrations of this are to be seen in the twentieth century . for example : 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 . it would be impossible to express logical doubt as to whether early man distinguished between narcotics and intoxicants . they both produced the singular effect desired . 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 . 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 . man has always followed complicated patterns of worship , each with his own formula for putting him in contact with the world of his deities . the various patterns of worship , upon analysis , prove to be merely variations of the same original pattern : spirit worship and worship of the dead . 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 . man has come by his natural taste for , or his tendency towards stimulants and intoxicants by the law of inheritance . early man , on the high plateaus of central Asia east of the Caspian Sea and northwest of Hindustan , were pastoral people - the Aryans . from this mother race , two distinct branches originated . one , the Indo-Europeans , gave rise to most of the European races . 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 . the other branch remained in Asia and became the Medes , Persians , and Hindoos . 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 . 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 . the oldest Vedic book ( hymn Veda ) , the Bible of the Hindoos , states clearly about Soma . 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 . 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 . 