A man is known by the company he keeps and the drinks that he shares with him. However, a man who consumes absinthe will probably have his own cheerful self for company if he is too much into this wormwood infused drink. The term wormwood is derived from the Anglosaxon “wermode”, which means “mind preserver”. Looks like those hard-drinking brutes had a sense of humor because wormwood oil is highly poisonous.
The chemical “thujone” in wormwood gives its oils the same psychoactive properties as cannabis. And therefore consuming Absinthe causes hallucinations. So, if you’re lucky you dream up a super poem or an idea for a painting when under the influence of wormwood, if you’re unlucky you chop off your ear like Van Gogh. If neither of these happen, at the very least you will be rid of intestinal worms.
Wormwood is so bitter and unpleasant to taste that it appears a number of times in the Bible as a metaphor for unpleasantness. The ancients ascribed a number of properties to wormwood. The ancient Egyptians considered it to be a panacea of sorts and consumed it to treat everything from ulcers to indigestion.
Absinthe apart, wormwood is also an ingredient in Vermouth and used to ruin pleasant tasting mead. Mead, BTW, is wine made from honey.
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