Wine has never been so popular. It used to be only for ritual and the rich but now it is available to all. Folklore says that wine was discovered by a Persian princess who had lost favour with the King. In an attempt to kill herself, she ate some grapes spoiled in their jar. Instead of poisoning herself, she got giddy and silly! When she awoke, her troubles didn’t seem so bad and so continued eating spoiled grapes & eventually got back in favour with the king as her mood was so much better!! Wine wasn’t invented…but discovered by sheer luck! Actual wine-making has been found to go back 6000 years and every culture seems to have had it in their history. It was offered to the gods and goddesses by every culture as the goddesses ‘lived’ amongst the grapes, offering the fermented delights to humans. In Egypt, it was used in temple rituals with the priests growing grapes and producing the wine, and only the higher classes could afford to drink it. The Romans introduced wine to Britain in the 2nd century. Up until then, only mead and ale was drunk. After the Romans conquered Britain, it became part of life and of ritual. Wine is still used in the Catholic Church as part of their ritual, red wine representing the blood of Christ. It is also part of ritual in Wicca too, the wine being part of the bounty of the Earth in which red wine represents the sun and white wine the moon. Enjoy this special commodity. Personally, I think there is nothing better than a nice glass of Rioja at the end of a hard working day…scientifically proven too!!
Turning wine into a magickal bottle of wine…
When next at your gathering and you are having a bottle of wine, try this little piece of magick…
Take your bottle of wine and hold in your hands. Close your eyes and combine with the energy of the wine. Thank all those from the earth and sun to farmer and retailer who enabled this bottle to now be in your hands. Pour sunshine, laughter, health and happiness into the bottle and ask that it bring happiness and joy to all who partake of it. Put the bottle down and open it. Let it breathe and allow the element of Air to flow into the wine to increase flavour and aroma. When your guests have arrived, pour the wine for all who want it, and know they will be taking a little health and happiness away with them (and not just because of the alcohol!!) and know that this isn’t just red wine, it is magickal happiness wine!!
The magick of the Toast:
It is tradition to make a toast at special occasions with wine or spirit in hand. This is a simple wish or spell made to a person or persons from another, amplified with words and confirmed in unison if there are a large amount of people such as a wedding, and then made into ritual by consumption of sacred wine, a gift from the Gods, which has been transformed from grape to magickal liquid and seen for millenia as a powerful conductor of life-energy. When gathered with friends, dedicate your bottle of wine, then make a toast to amplify that dedication and toast to all. Clink glasses to amplify the wish by power of sound, and drink the first sip of magickal liquor. Let the wine flow over your tongue, tingle your taste buds and linger on the tongue before swallowing. Sense the grapes and the earth from where it has grown and feel the life-giving sun flow through you. Take in the energy of the wine slowly & enjoy. The wish has now been activated…so mote it be!
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