Apparently the writers at How Stuff Works think that poets are biologically different from normal people. Of course this leads one to wonder how accurate their “reporting” actually is.
And Oscar Wilde? Well, no doubt the poet did see tulips on his legs as he walked out into the morning light after a night of drinking absinthe at a local bar. Poets are like that. The rest of us wouldn’t see a tulip after drinking absinthe any more than we would after a gin and tonic.
Another tipoff is that their article uses an image from wikipedia, which also reports that it is impossible for absinthe to cause hallucinations. Though the medical community might not agree with that estimation. Apparently thujone, the chemical in wormwood is still pretty mysterious.
Thujone is structurally similar to tetrahydrocannabinol, the active constituent of marijuana. If thujone-containing absinthe is consumed, the effects might include mild hallucinations.
The How Stuff Works article also fails to mention that commercial absinthe today has about 10 parts per million of thujone, while absinthe back in Wilde’s day had about 260 parts per million (Science News Online).
One Comment
“Apparently the thujone, the chemical in wormwood is still pretty mysterious”
Yes, especially when combined with other herbs like anise, fennel and so forth. The absinthe effect is well documented, and you should keep an open mind about all these modern day “historians” “chemists” and “experts” who have conveniently discovered that 100 year old bottles have only up to 6mg / litre thujone. These same “historians” - “chemists” and “experts” are also involved in manufacturing and selling absinthe.
You may - or may not - get a firestorm of posts from …let’s call them “interested parties” as happened on my blog.
If you drink real absinthe with high levels of thujone you’ll get a sense of clarity which is quite extraordinary - that’s my experience. Very tasty too.