Oasis for the Soul: all traditions honored

Walking a spiritual path is a process of self-liberation, and that is a process that frightens established authority. I think one of the reasons our society fears altered states of awareness is because those realizations may inspire or engender a loss of control.

Long before the bearded patriarchal male gods, there was the goddess- feminine spirit of birth and fertility, the earth mother. In all ancient societies, beer was a gift to women from a goddess, never a male god, and women remained bonded in complex spiritual relationships with feminine deities who blessed the brew vessels, and the rise in consciousness that the brew supported.

The following recipe is adapted from the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal of 1876.
Wild sarsaparilla was used extensively in “root” beers of that time, and is very delicious and highly medicinal herb. www.concentricrings.org This blend was also known as “New Orleans Mead”.

Wild Sarsaparilla Ale

8 ounces fresh sarsaparilla root- Aralia nudicaulis/ a member of the ginseng family
8 ounces fresh licorice root
8 ounces fresh cassia root
8 ounces fresh gingerroot
2 ounces cloves
3 ounces coriander seed
12 pints corn sugar syrup
4 pints honey
8 gallons water
yeast

Take the roots, seeds and cloves - contuse them ( bruise with a mallet).
Boil for 15 min. in 8 gallons of water, let stand until cold.
Strain though cheese cloth
Add corn sugar syrup and honey, stir until dissolved, heat liquid again if necessary.
Cool to 70 degrees F and pour into fermenter.
Add yeast
Ferment until complete, about I week.
Prime bottles, fill and cap
Ready to drink in 7 to 10 days