the NachtKabarett

All Writing & Content © Nick Kushner Unless Noted Otherwise.
In cooperation with Markus Lion of Absinthe.de

As early as 1998 when he first delved fully into painting, Marilyn Manson has been one of the world's most notorious connoisseurs of the legendary spirit, absinthe. First referenced heavily as being integral to the creation process of 2000's Holy Wood (In The Shadow of the Valley of Death), it was 2003's Golden Age of Grotesque as Manson's homage to art, expressionism, late Nineteenth Century Parisian decadence and Weimar era "Degenerate" Art where Manson could scarcely be seen without a milky glass of the green spirit as his accessory.

Beginning in mid-2005, Manson has been quoted in the press about his desires to produce his own line of absinthe and it was circa this time period in which he and Markus Lion, owner of Absinthe.de, casually began talks about this prospect. Two years later, Mansinthe is finally released, a high quality spirit distilled from grand wormwood, anise, fennel and other fine herbs. With other demagogue celebrity lines of absinthe sold by Absinthe.de such as H.R. Giger and the late Jhonn Balance (of the seminal and highly influential group Coil; see COIL & THE OCCULT), Manson is in good company with the lineage of his brand.

The legacy of the insidious alcoholic drink needs little introduction other than the obligatory note of its centuries old influence upon countless artists and poets, that its lucid effects were an inspiration behind the ecstatic visions painted by the Impressionists. It's active ingredient, the herb wormwood, is the cause of its long-term ban in many countries such as the US and France, which is what produces its unique ethereal sensations.

"Absinthe was first mentioned in the 18th century in a Swiss newspaper as a 'cure all diseases medicine'" says Mansinthe producer, Markus Lion, owner of Absinthe.de. Though the spirit itself is roughly two centuries old, controversy and ecstasy surrounding wormwood is as old as the beginning or recorded history. It was the name of the star which fell from the heavens in the apocalyptic Book of Revelation, which poisoned the waters by making them bitter as punishment for the sinful nature of man. Additionally the herb's name appears almost a dozen times throughout the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

The Latin name for wormwood is Artemisia Absinthium, the prefix is derived from the Greek Goddess of wilderness and the hunt, Artemis. As Manson has previously quoted, wormwood was held to have sprung up from the tracks of the Serpent as it was banished from the Garden of Eden. The Greeks used the herb for treatment against parasites such as fleas and worms which is where it's modern-day name, wormwood, originates from. Certain translations hold that the Russian name for wormwood is 'chernobyl'. As such it has been believed by many that the Biblical verse in Revelation that pertains to wormwood as a star falling from the heavens to destroy mankind to be a prophesy for the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Chernobyl is in actuality the name for the similar herb mugwort, or Artermisia Vulgaris. Though it is also known as 'common wormwood', 'vulagaris' in Latin meaning 'common'. Absinthe however contains the aforementioned Artemisia Absinthium, or grand wormwood. Absinthe must contain grand wormwood, anise and fennel. If it doesn't contain the 'holy trinity' it's not Absinthe.

Wormwood also appears as the name of a character in C.S. Lewis' 1942 novel 'The Screwtape Letters'. Written in epistle style in which Screwtape, a "senior devil" in the hierarchy of Hell, gives a series of instructional letters to his infernal nephew and disciple named Wormwood on how to best corrupt a wayward soul which he is trying to lead astray from God, further towards Satan. Lewis, most famous for his Chronicles of Narnia series, is a Christian author, with 'The Screwtape Letters' acting as something of a reverse-psychology approach against the many forms of avarice and temptation which man faces on Earth.

Absinthe is not merely a recreation for Manson but has frequently been seen as an integral medium within his art. What originally began as an inebriated witching hour painting session, as intoxication set in, according to Manson, he mistakenly dipped his brush not into his cup of water but into his glass of absinthe with surprisingly pleasant results upon applying it to his painting. As the green liqueur made an interestingly hued watercolor stain, Manson has used it in several of his paintings.

Many examples of these painting were posted to his Journal on MarilynManson.com between 2002-2003. (Click here for entire Journal archived on The NACHTKABARETT). Many of those posts which did not contain such were written in stream-of-conscious, Dada-esque free form manner, presumably also absinthe inspired.

Above, still frames from the 1992 remake of Dracula, starring Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder; a relatively recent pop culture cameo of absinthe. A film which has also been inspirational with the surreal and gothic Victorian aesthetic evoked by Manson since The Golden Age of Grotesque era. For more on Manson and evocations from Dracula see The CELLULOID section of The NACHTKABARETT.