One this day in 1877, Edgar Cayce, America’s All-Seeing Seer, the Unconscious Clairvoyant, the Sleeping Prophet, the Father of Holistic Medicine and the New Age Movement, was born in Christian County, Kentucky. Edgar would put himself into a self-induced trance then respond to whatever questions one might ask, and they asked a lot of questions, particularly about human health. So, what did Edgar say about drinking? He was generally for it, with a few caveats. He felt that the bodies of modern humans weren’t fermenting enough alcohol on their own, in our stomachs, so taking a drink was often necessary to keep the body in balance. He suggested one should only drink aged beer, which was much better for you than that filthy unaged stuff. As for wine, he said it should be “taken as a food, not as a drink. An ounce and a half to two ounces of red wine in the afternoon, after the body has worn itself out; that is, two, three, four o’clock in the afternoon — or cocktail time. Take it as a food, with brown bread.” As for hard liquor and brandy, he advised, “Those that carry too much of fusil oil, harmful. Those that are purified, as in wines or liquors of a high percentage of the spiritus frumenti, very good in moderation. For, there is a lack, as indicated, of the proper amount of fermentation for better assimilation. As the activities increase the flow of circulation for the body.” So what is this “spiritus frumenti” stuff? Why, it’s just a fancy, holistic, new-agey way of saying “alcohol.” Finally, when asked what a concerned soul should do about a spouse who allegedly drank too much, he advised they should “pray like the devil” but otherwise mind their own business and leave the drinker alone. Hoozah!
