Karin Leeuwenhoek is a theologian, vinologist and communications scholar. She has ninety Italian olive trees, but mostly loves wine - and philosophising about it. See also her wine blog vinoblogy.co.uk She writes a column in each edition of Winelife Magazine.
Roes
intoxication is a human right. Immersing in music, love, nature, sensory experiences, but certainly also the intoxication of stimulants - such as alcohol, or whatever else fits into your life - intoxication is the way to rise above everyday life. Or to sink deeper into it; it depends on how you look at it. It increases the quality and intensity of life.
Intoxication is a universal human need, which can be beneficial if approached with the right intention. We have - I think - the right to explore and change our own consciousness, as long as we do not harm others by doing so. Indeed, I think you are missing something very essential, something almost 'indispensable', if you do not explore your own consciousness.
What I mean by that is that consciousness-altering experiences help man forget and let go of his own limited self for a while now and then. Jewish religious philosopher Walter Schubart even says that intoxication, including that of wine, has a power that breaks the self. He argues that intoxication unites and widens, while sobriety separates and narrows. According to him, the hallmark of a mystical state is always a kind of 'intoxication', a merging of consciousness into the unknowable.
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