GETTING HIGH WITH THE ANCIENTS

From drinking parties to medicinal cures and religious rituals

- Murray Dahm

Ancient societies from Mesopotamia to Mesoamerica, Greece to Egypt, Rome to China cultivated drugs for rituals and personal use. Many of these substances, such as various alcoholic beverages, cannabis and opium remain in use for many of the same purposes. Others, such as wormwood, blue lilies and saffron are much less common today. In some cases, how these substances were grown, cultivated and processed has remained largely unchanged; in others, however, the uses and processes may surprise us. Some ancient drugs remain mysterious or even extinct, as you’ll discover here.

SAFFRON