Star Wormwood

If  wormwood is a star,  absinthe is certainly a constellation; a constellation of herbs and flavors, of history, tradition, and application.

The history of wormwood dates back thousands of years. It appeared in ancient Egyptian and Syrian texts. According the Old Testament, wormwood sprang from the ground to mark the serpent’s path of exile from the Garden of Eden. The Greeks drank wine or spirits infused with wormwood to cure ailments such as rheumatism, anemia and menstrual pains. In Roman times, victors of chariot races drank absinthe leaves soaked in wine as a reminder that glory has a bitter side as well. The name wormwood dates back to Middle English “"wormwode" or "wermode", referencing its use in folk medicine to dispel worms internally and vermin externally. In Shakespeare’s time wormwood was used to wean infants from the breast. It truly is the bitterest herb of all.

When [Juliet] did taste the wormwood on the nipple 

Of my [breast] and felt it bitter, pretty fool, 
To see [her] tetchy and fall out with the [breast]!

Absinthe is likely derived from the Greek word apsinthion for “undrinkable” or “bitter” in reference to the herb wormwood.  But other studies associate absinthe, or wormwood, with the Persian root for “spand” or “aspand”, meaning to spend or to make offering. In this light, wormwood has been used in protective amulets. It has been burned to intensify psychic powers, strewn about to cleanse infested areas and as protection against plague. The wormwood plants that grew in the serpent’s path were not caused by the serpent, but blocked the serpent’s return to Eden.  In the 1970’s archeologists in China excavated a tomb dating back to 168 B.C.  The tombs were meticulously crafted, filled with charcoal and incased in 100 centimeters of white clay, creating an airtight structure impervious to insects, mold, water and plant life. Among the thousands of precious objects preserved were texts on the use of wormwood to cure malaria. The formulas have been lost, but wormwood is currently used against malaria today. 

Perhaps the most bizarre reference to wormwood can be found in the Revelations of St. John. The last book of the New Testament, the Revelations or Apocalypse of St. John was extremely controversial. Interpretations of the seven seals, angels and trumpet blasts  that marked the end of the world varied so widely that several early Christian sects fought to exclude this book from the bible.  In the Apocalypse, the third trumpet blast heralded  “a great star from heaven, burning as if it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter. — Book of Revelation 8:10-11

Three months after Chernobyl, the New York Times published an article by Serge Schermann titled Chernobyl Fallout: Apocalyptic Tale.  Schermann claimed a 'prominent Russian writer' said that Chernobyl means wormwood. This sparked a deluge of response connecting Chernobyl to the third stage of the Apocalypse.  The nuclear melt down would have created an explosion able to illuminate the night sky “as if it were a lamp” and to fatally contaminated the surrounding waters.  The actual translation of Chernobyl (chornyi, black + [byl]inka a blade of grass, a herb) most likely refers to Mugwort, a close cousin of absinthe. Mugwort, or artemisium vulgaris, has been equally revered through time for medicinal and psychic powers. Both herbs can be found growing in the abandoned town of Chernobyl today.

Modern associations of absinthe may be traced to the 1700’s cure-all of English herbalist Nichols Culpepper who noted “the herb is good for something, because God made nothing in vain”. More likely wormwood’s historic treatment of ailments kept it on the larder shelf and included it in many distillates and infusions. The first reportable evidence of absinthe as distilled liquor combining wormwood, fennel and anise among other herbs, points to French Dr Pierre Ordinaire or the Swiss Henriod Sisters in the late 1700’s. At this point absinthe was still “medicinal” in use. But that point was to change. In the 1840’s French soldiers were rationed absinthe against fever and parasites. The bitter taste was likened to paregoric but the after affects were pleasantly far from medicinal. They returned with a new taste for absinthe, which widened the market. Within a few decades the French bout of phylloxera hit, devastating vines and jeopardizing harvests. France, a nation in love with spirits, was in search of a new  aperitif. The “absinthe hour” was about to begin. 

Article and reviews by Rebecca Dietz