The Last Supper is a magical ceremony with tremendous power and for many inspiration. The tradition of brotherhood indicates that if two or more persons mixed their blood (in a cup) and then drink it, they remain brothers eternally.

The Greeks certainly taught western civilization their fair share on how to live and think and way beyond this simple notion. In the 5th century BC, at a time when Athenian elites participated in banquets of fellowship and philosophy called symposia, ‘libations.’ These were the most sacred rituals at these extravagant banquets, performed in honor of Dionysus, the god who ‘turned the grape into a flowing draft and proffered it to mortals’ and this was done so they could experience ecstasy.

A red wine and mystery of fermentation is what intrigued us, a glass of a red substance, religious beliefs profited, and its profound importance is one the important religious links with our past. But what about the parallels between Christ and Dionysus are striking. Both were the sons of a supreme deity and a mortal woman. Both were supposed to have been born in late December, just after the winter solstice. Both returned from the dead at the dawning of the earth’s springtime regeneration. And both inspired wine rituals. These stories influenced early Christians and communion still remains as one of the most sacred rituals in the church.

Wine is consumed in every corner of almost everyplace with disposable cartons carrying gallons of wine everywhere. Served at baseball games, the wine high of the ball game, replacing working class beer.

But there is much more to wine and when we research the history, it’s then we begin to understand the significance of wine as a connector. ‘We find references to wine in our most ancient work of literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, but no one says where it came from. Nor do the ancient Egyptians offer us an origin story for wine, though we know they used it to symbolize blood, and we know that 26 casks of it – each labelled according to vintner, vineyard and vintage – were buried with King Tut. The Bible credits Noah, a famed drunk, with planting the first vineyard, but it doesn’t say what inspired him to ferment grapes.

That task falls to a legend about Jamshid, the great king in Persian mythology, who is said to have stored grapes in jars so he could eat them deep into winter. When the colder months came, King Jamshid went to retrieve his treats, and was disappointed to find broken skins and bubbling juices instead. Suspecting sorcery, he declared it poison, and forbade his court from so much as sipping the hissing mixture. One night, a sick concubine stumbled across the strange liquid and drank it down, thinking it medicine. She passed out shortly thereafter, but awoke the next morning, completely cured.’

Then there was Rudolf Steiner, who believed that there was a hidden world, beyond the one we apprehend with our senses. He said that we could access this world by awakening our dormant spiritual faculties.

Then there was a friend who dropped by to taste with us, a Japanese wine professional who we’ve known for almost ten years. This time he carried some new ideas, some which we hadn’t heard about before and thought we would share them. He believes in the energy of the wine, grapes and terroir and not something new to us.

But more than that, he believes that by performing certain rituals, you can cleanse the wine, re-vitalize it, take away the bitterness that obstructs the wine’s channels, so-called opening the wine’s energy. By taking a few simple steps but first here are some tools; a permanent marker and his special half corks covered with his own secret topping (soil from a sacred Japanese temple) on top of 4 pieces of cut cork. Perhaps soil from Izumo-taisha, a Grand Shrine, one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. In fact no records provide the date of establishment.

So we take the permanent marker we color over anything on the label that is not directly related to the wine. For example the bottles alcohol, ml, etc. You take the capsule off by pulling it off and not using any knife or sharp point. You remove the importers back strip label or any other label by peeling it off. Then he uses a symbol (he writes in one swift movement) to help re-focus the wine. Please don’t lose me at this stage.Then in the four corners of the label he writes a symbol, a customized symbol and looks similar to a manji. I suppose this relates to Shintoism and Shamanism, the relationship with, or gaining control over the spirits.

The first thing you probably think of is ridiculous and maybe so, but if you believe in ghosts, then the curved roofs you always see on pagodas start to make good sense. Why do they build them that way? One of the main reasons is ghosts. Did you know that spirits can only travel in straight lines and some the curves help keep them away.

There are also spirit screens at a temples entrance, that are tied to the belief that evil spirits cannot move around corners, hence the spirit screen blocks them from entering through the gate they shield. This is a shadow wall (spirit screen) placed at the front of all Chinese temples to stop ghosts or evil spirits from entering.

The idea is that evil spirits cannot turn corners hence the zig-zag bridges of Chinese gardens, and so the wall screens the main entrance. See my previous post: http://mesubim.com/?s=shimenawa

In this way, bio-dynamics is similar to many other rituals and religious beliefs that get passed down through different pathways. Some of those traditions involve important practices for the health of an individual, or a society. And in some cases, stories have been built around them, in order to deepen the practice in one’s memory, and increase the likelihood it will be passed on.

The elegant 2010 was still closed and not very approachable with a unfamiliar style for 2010 as the fruit seemed restrained.

(92 Points)