From Pain to Joy (Part 3)

A very long time ago, when we were still fully nomadic and quite wild, we discovered, probably accidentally, the basic chemistry of Nature.

We noticed that some fruits we gathered tasted different and had more "trippy" effects on us. Over time, we realized that by fermenting herbs or other plants from the forest, we could create drinks or elixirs with similar effects to those overripe fruits that had been left in the sun too long, but now intentionally and on purpose.

This is how we likely discovered the first form of alcohol.

Some historians believe alcohol was a crucial factor in our shift from being nomadic to settling down, and even in the invention of agriculture. We probably discovered beer before bread. And it is most likely due to alcohol and other curiosities that we began selecting, innovating with, and cultivating crops in a more organized and methodical manner—not for food.

Essentially, we wanted to experience a better, more efficient, or more frequent way of getting "high" or intoxicated. So, we used our skills, wisdom, and land to make this happen more easily, efficiently, and simply for ourselves.

Alcohol is ancient.

For some cultures, it is even referred to as "The Water of Life." In others, strong alcoholic drinks are called "spirits." The term "alcohol" itself is believed to come from "al kuhl," which means "body-eating spirit."

The etymology and mythology surrounding alcohol also offer fascinating insights into our shared history. The Latin word "spiritus," meaning both "spirit" and "breath," suggests a deep connection between life and the essence of alcohol in our collective psyche.

The entire concept of alchemy, essence extraction, druids' secrets, and early chemical experimentation on plants was largely driven by our knowledge of distillation or fermentation and our desire to understand it better.

This is the true beginning of science.

We became deeply curious. We started observing Nature more carefully and experimenting with it on a much broader scale. To be good alchemists or scientists, we had no choice but to learn how to measure quantities with greater precision, adjust environmental conditions more easily, and manipulate various substances or chemical reactions more safely.

At some point, we might have started to believe that each plant has a "spirit," unique soul, or essence within it, and that we could even extract it in a purer, more concentrated form for our personal use or pleasure.

This might also mark the early emergence of what we now call ‘spirituality.’

We began to perceive Nature as something distinct from ourselves, recognizing that we could intentionally influence our relationship with her. By altering the conditions of our interactions, we discovered that we could become active participants and transformers of both our inner and shared realities.

Through various processes—sometimes simple, sometimes complex—like changing pressure, temperature, and light exposure, we modified the chemical composition of plants. This is how we created alcohol, yeast, sugars and many other biochemically transformed products. We experimented with countless herbs over millennia, testing them in various conditions, transforming them in infinite ways, and seeking to use them meaningfully in our personal life.

For a very long time, we ate, drank, smoked, and used various "dangerous" substances in many creative and reckless ways. This is also part of our shared ancient history and a significant chapter in our collective evolution.

This free and unbounded exploration with Nature and our bodies may have played a significant role in our exponential rise in individual and social intelligence. Our brains may have evolved and become more complex thanks to our curiosity and willingness to "get high" on whatever we could find in the forest.

We learned about the authentic potential, creativity, and various properties of Nature. Over time, this became deeply integrated in our spirituality. Nature offered us diverse experiences, and through curiosity and methodical experimentation, we learned how to harness and use her wisdom in innovative ways. It was both at the same time, the science and spirituality.

Nature inspired us to become more curious about our bodies, minds, our inner selves, and our shared experiences. She ultimately made us smarter and more evolved as a species.

The way rotten fruits made us "high" or drunk potentially opened our awareness to altered states of consciousness and greater levels of self-awareness. This may have inspired us to connect with each other in new ways, form communities, and engage with our surroundings in ways we had not yet explored.

It may have been the "seed" in our evolutionary path that led us to create entire civilizations and become as "smart" as we are today.

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For many cultures, alcohol has never been just a drink.

It carries profound symbolic meaning and ancestral legacy, often woven into the rituals and traditions of entire civilizations. In Christianity, for example, wine becomes the blood of Christ—a sacred element connecting the divine and the earthly. In Japan, sake is offered to the kami, or spirits, during Shinto ceremonies, as a gesture of respect and harmony with the spiritual world.

Across cultures, alcohol is not merely consumed; it is revered, celebrated, and deeply integrated into the fabric of collective life.

Ancient myths often personify these connections. Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy, represents the paradoxical nature of alcohol—its ability to both liberate and destabilize, to inspire joy yet incite chaos. Such myths reveal how early societies grappled with the mysterious powers of fermentation and intoxication, viewing them as both gifts and challenges from the gods.

Beyond its spiritual and symbolic roles, alcohol has long been intertwined with the evolution of human economies and societies.

Early civilizations built thriving industries around brewing and distilling, from the fertile plains of Mesopotamia, where beer was first mass-produced, to the global rum trade that fueled colonial expansion. Alcohol wasn’t just sustenance or indulgence—it was currency, innovation, and a driver of commerce. Its trade routes connected empires, shaped alliances, and left an indelible mark on human history.

Even in its medicinal and mystical applications, alcohol has acted as a bridge between the physical and the metaphysical for centuries.

Ancient healers and shamans often used fermented drinks to treat ailments or guide initiates into altered states of consciousness. In these moments, alcohol became a tool of transformation—a key unlocking both the mysteries of the human body and the unseen worlds beyond it. These practices remind us that substances like alcohol are never just chemical—they are deeply relational, shaping how we experience life, connect with others, and perceive the infinite layers of reality.

And perhaps most fascinating of all is how alcohol has always played a pivotal role in social dynamics.

From the festive halls of medieval feasts to the bustling taverns of the Enlightenment, alcohol has been a facilitator of connection, dialogue, and even revolution. The communal act of sharing a drink has often transcended language, status, and culture, serving as a universal gesture of camaraderie and trust.

Yet, like all powerful tools, it carries a dual edge—a delicate balance of joy and caution, liberation and responsibility.

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The concept of "medicine" also comes from very ancient times.

We were learning from Nature, realizing that some plants can heal or serve as antidotes for our issues or other troubles. Even much later, this is how and why we invented gin—an alcohol made from the distillation of the juniper plant. It was initially created because it was an effective medicine for cleansing fevers and tropical diseases.

There are many synthetic, purely chemical or mechanically engineered drugs out there, but few realize that most of these drugs are based on the wisdom, knowledge, and experiences of burned witches, crazy druids, and wild "scientists" or alchemists from our forgotten past.

Most of the medicine we use today stems from Nature, and the mistakes and discoveries our ancestors made in working with it.

If you reclaim and relearn the knowledge of which plants are useful for which purposes and why, you might discover how to heal yourself with just your food and a personal garden. You could replace your pharmacy with a field of wildflowers and begin to use Nature in ways you haven't yet imagined. By authentically reconnecting with the wisdom, power, and “soul” of simple plants, you can co-create many mind-blowing things.

Nature can teach you magic, but you must be the student—curious, willing, and always ready to learn from her mystery.

I have no idea how we ended up attaching "intellectual property" labels and "industrial secret" protocols to the wisdom of our ancestors and Nature herself, but apparently, it makes sense to some.

However, we’ve also banned, censured, and shamed anyone who tried to reconnect with the wisdom of Nature or heal themselves with the simple gifts she provides. We’ve made alternative, preventive, and easily accessible medicine dangerous, illegal, ridiculous, and irrelevant in public opinion. This makes absolutely no logical or rational sense.

We’ve set ourselves on a path to forget what we already knew in the past, even banning or censoring ourselves from properly remembering it today. This is far worse than burning ancient libraries and museums. It's the destruction and genocide of ancestral-level intelligence and evolutionary wisdom in our shared human consciousness.

This harm reaches the very core of our collective soul, and we all deeply suffer because of it today.

This is a serious issue, and it’s surprising that we don’t discuss it more openly. We are losing our own intellectual capacity, survival skills, and evolutionary advantages as a species at an exponential rate. Some communities may even become less intelligent for real, with a very minimal effort.

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Ok, let's update to the present day and make this relevant to people's lives.

Obviously, I can't talk about alcohol without touching on the serious alcoholism issues in our community.

Today, we’ve moved beyond using essential oils to heal headaches or conducting personal experiments with alcohol as a means of reconnecting spiritually with the deeper essence of plants or exploring altered states of awareness consciously.

As a culture, we are a society of functional alcoholics, and we accept it as normal.

This is how we relax, do business, celebrate, grieve, and numb ourselves from life's chaos. It's how we make sure we don’t lose our sanity, avoid exploding on our boss for no reason, and sometimes, it's even the best way to allow us to be our true, authentic selves or more simply connect with others—free from restrictions, inhibitions, guilt, shame, or unnecessary fears.

When I studied engineering, our university was considered Molson’s second-largest client in Montreal, after Centre Bell.

We had trucks delivering tons of beer to school every month. Our cafeteria transformed into a pub every Friday, and most student committees had fridges full of beer. You could get very drunk, very cheaply, almost anywhere or anytime on campus. Students in chemical engineering were even making their own alcohol as part of their 'para-academic' activities, blending their scientific knowledge with hands-on experimentation.

Surveys claimed that 70% of students in our university were functional alcoholics, given the quantities and frequency of their drinking. This is the legacy of multiple generations of engineers in our country.

They were undeniably smart, even successful geniuses and masterminds, but they might have been heavily dependent on alcohol to thrive or to feel truly fulfilled in life.

Most professional conferences, business trips, alumni reunions, and fundraising campaigns revolved around large quantities of unlimited alcohol. By the way, this is often covered by company expenses and factored into the 'overhead cost' of your bill, so, in the end, you're the one who pays for our alcoholism when you purchase products and services from us.

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The normalization of alcohol and even alcoholism in our culture is indeed astonishing.

Alcohol is deeply ingrained in societal rituals, socializing, and even in the workplace, often glamorized in advertisements, movies, and music. This widespread acceptance can obscure the negative impact alcohol dependency has on individuals and communities.

Many cultures may treat excessive drinking as a harmless or even celebratory activity, rather than acknowledging its potential for addiction and its toll on health, inner well-being, relationships, and productivity.

The normalization of alcohol can also influence people’s perceptions, making them less likely to seek help or even recognize the problem. This cultural acceptance often leads to people thriving or seeking happiness through alcohol, masking deeper issues.

In such an environment, it’s critical to cultivate awareness and dialogue around alcohol’s true impact on our systemic well-being. Understanding it not just as a recreational substance, but also as something that can profoundly affect spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of our entire community.

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An engineer who drinks a beer or two after work with colleagues to relax is one form of alcoholism, and it’s usually not a big problem if they haven’t yet found more meaningful ways to connect, relax their nervous system or socialize with others.

But someone who has lost everything because of alcohol and can’t survive without it is a completely different matter. Someone who becomes violent, unsafe, and abusive when drinking presents a very serious mental, emotional, and social problem.

When alcohol is used to numb deep inner suffering to the point where someone can harm others without remorse or cannot even manage their own life, it becomes a serious issue that demands deep reflection and appropriate social intervention or support.

Alcohol abuse often masks underlying emotional pain, trauma, or unresolved mental health issues, which may prevent the individual from effectively processing and healing. The impact of alcohol dependency goes far beyond personal consequences, spilling over into families, workplaces, and communities.

At this stage, the individual is not just engaging in risky behavior, but may be in a cycle of self-destruction that affects both their own well-being and those around them. When alcohol is used as a coping mechanism for deep suffering, it can cause long-term emotional, psychological, and even physical damage.

It's crucial for society to address these issues in a compassionate and supportive manner, with access to mental health services, quality addiction treatment, and community support systems that can provide guidance for authentic healing. Addressing the root causes of alcohol abuse—be it trauma, loneliness, or mental health disorders—is key to breaking the cycle and offering individuals the opportunity to live healthier, more connected lives.

Public campaigns, educational programs, and accessible therapy or intervention options can play significant roles in reducing the normalization of alcohol as a solution for pain, and in shifting the cultural narrative toward healthier coping strategies.

But it should never be based on shame, guilt, judgment, or fear.

Our public communications about such complex and potentially deeply re-traumatizing issues for entire communities should always be driven by genuine empathy, compassion, and unconditional love.

When addressing addiction and its social implications, it’s vital to foster an environment of support and healing, rather than one of condemnation. Compassionate dialogues, free from the weight of negative emotions like shame, allow individuals to seek help without fear of being stigmatized or unnecessary judged.

Only then can we create spaces for true recovery and systemic regeneration, both for the individual and the collective.

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In cultures like Canada, where there's a tremendous amount of repressed social anger, high rates of depression or mental illnesses, severe “spiritual” disconnect, and a poor understanding of how to deal with it coherently, alcohol becomes truly dangerous.

You need very strong emotional maturity and healthy consciousness before introducing any toxins into your body. Substances interact differently with different emotions, and alcohol is usually tied to anger, aggression, and inner power.

If you don’t have mastery over your anger, you may unpredictably become violent when drunk. For others, it might lead to different reactions—maybe happiness, sadness, sexual arousal or even a mix of contradictory emotions.

At the end of the day, there’s no inherently bad addiction or severely dangerous drug. It all depends on you. The more emotionally masterful, mentally flexible, spiritually free, and conscious you are, the more fun you can have experimenting with whatever you choose.

The clarity of your "why," your intentions, and your strategy will ensure your experiences have meaningful value for your own personal evolution, or simply for the curious exploration of your wild soul.

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Many people who use alcohol "casually" today may need serious professional help to address underlying addictions or emotional health issues.

If they are alcoholics, they most likely have deep, unresolved personal challenges of a mental or emotional nature. These individuals need genuine support, compassion, listening, and deep heart healing in a truly nurturing community of other humans.

We should not blame, shame, or judge them. Instead, we should come together to create an environment of safety, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding. We can co-create a community that supports them in such a way that they no longer feel the need to drink but instead experience the beauty and simple joy of life through authentic connection with others.

Our role is to help them break free from their addictions by providing love, tenderness, and care—simply by being human.

Addicts are usually individuals suffering from deep inner pain. They are not weak; on the contrary, they are usually very strong, but their pain is overwhelming.

Today, we live in a world where, sometimes, it feels easier to have a heartfelt conversation with a stranger in a bar than it is with our own family, partners, or friends. It can often be cheaper, more accessible, and even more productive to seek advice from a bartender than to wait for six months to see a student therapist for an affordable rate.

Some people manage to heal their souls, resolve intense conflicts, and get over heartbreaks through deep, unmasked conversations over a bottle of vodka with a good friend. For some, this isn’t alcoholism—it’s an intentional, exceptional healing strategy for specific life challenges. In such cases, alcohol may simply be a tool, used mindfully, with purpose and authentic pleasure.

Alcohol is a gift from Nature and our ancestors.

If we learn to honor it with respect, acknowledging its magical properties, we can become conscious, responsible co-creators of our shared experiences with alcohol. But to do so, we must be perfectly attuned to our body, mind, and emotions whenever we choose to introduce any intoxicating substance into ourselves.

There is absolutely nothing inherently forbidden, morally wrong, or ultimately dangerous in this world. It all comes down to healthy moderation, the natural diverse coherence of experiences, the authentic intention of the soul, and the awareness of what our reality truly is and why it unfolds in this way.

Anything can be a wonderful medicine or a merciless self-destructive poison. You are the alchemist, the scientist, and the master of discovering your own unique boundaries between expansion and regression in your personal consciousness.

In reality, the relational dynamic with substances and Nature mirrors the one we have with other human beings. It all comes down to respect, discernment, inner power, pleasure, innocent curiosity, and unconditional love for all that exists—no matter what.

What is your personal relationship with Nature?

How well do you truly know her and her innate powers? How much time do you spend with her, and how do you engage? How aware are you of the presence of her eternal and multidimensional Life within you, in every cell of your body?

How coherent and meaningful is your partnership with her? How do you honor her wisdom and magic in your daily life or personal experience? How do you use her intelligence to your advantage? How do you care for her?

How do you truly love her?

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Nature holds an infinite reservoir of wisdom, magic, and incredible healing powers, offering us almost unlimited opportunities to collaborate, create, grow, and transform whatever we want in all the possible and even impossible ways we desire to experience.

The depth of our connection to her reflects the depth of our connection to ourselves.

The depth of our knowledge and personal relationship with Nature reflects our authentic mastery over our own bodies and deep inner consciousness.

Nature is like a love partner.

You can try to use her mindlessly to satisfy your own selfish needs or numb your soul (and she might get revenge one day), or you can partner with her consciously, respectfully, coherently and meaningfully to co-create your wildest dreams with a lot of love, pleasure, real fun and very straightforward joy.