Museum of Alcohol

An online museum all about drinking culture

https://museumofalcohol.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/the-gods-of-alcohol/

The Gods of Alcohol

Dionysus (Bacchus), Greek God
Dionysus, Romanised as Bacchus, was the god of grape harvest, winemaking and wine,
of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. He was later considered a patron of
the arts. Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Semele. He was one of the most important
gods of everyday life and became associated with the idea that under the influence of
wine one could feel possessed by a greater power. On one hand he brings together joy
and ecstasy, on the other chaos and misery, reflecting both sides of wines nature. He
was a god who stood for the untamed nature of life. He wandered the world actively
encouraging his cult. Maenads, women who had been driven mad, flush with wine and
known for their cries of ‘oi’, accompanied him. The maenads achieved a state of
‘ecstasis’, which is where our word ecstasy comes from, and were famously outrageous.
Festivals called Dionysia were held in his honour in the spring, when leaves started to
reappear on the vine, Greek theatre was institutionalised here.

Liber, Roman God

Liber (the free one), also known as Liber Pater (the free father) was a
god of viticulture and wine, fertility and freedom. He was a patron
deity of Rome’s plebians, his festival of Liberalia, (17th March)
became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming
of age. Young men celebrated their coming of age by cutting off and
dedicating their first beards to their household’s guardian deities, and
if citizens, wore their first toga virilis, the “manly” toga. Liber also
personified male procreative power, his temples held the image of the
phallus. His cult and functions were increasingly associated with
Bacchus and his Greek equivalent Dionysus, whose mythologies he
came to share.
Silenus
In Ancient Greek mythology, Silenus is the God of beer and a drinking
companion. He is usually associated with his buddy, Dionysus. He is often
featured as a bald and fat man, with a big beer belly. He is normally drunk and it is
said that he had to be carried either by donkeys or satyrs (in Greek mythology,
satyrs are wood-dwelling creatures with the head and body of a man and the ears,
horns, and legs of a goat). He was also the god of drunkenness who rode in the
train of Dionysos seated on the back of a donkey. He was depicted as a jovial old
man, hairy and balding with a pot-belly and snub-nose, and the ears and tail of an
ass. The old satyr was the foster-father of the god Dionysos. The divine child was
delivered into his care after his birth from the thigh of Zeus, and raised by
Seilenos and the Nysiadesin a cave on the mythical mountain of Nysa. Silenus
was a companion and tutor to the wine god Dionysus. He was the old rustic god of
the dance of the wine-press, his name being derived from the words seiô, “to
move to and fro,” andlênos, “the wine-trough.” He was also the god of
drunkenness who rode in the train of Dionysus seated on the back of a
donkey.
Mbaba Mwana Waresa, Zulu Goddess, South Africa
Mbaba Mwana Waresa is a fertility goddess of the Zulu religion. She is a
goddess of the rainbow, agriculture, rain and beer. She is one of the most
beloved Goddesses of Southern Africa, largely because she is credited with
the invention of beer. she could not find a suitable husband in heaven, so
she came to look on earth. She came across a herdsman named Thandiwe,
whose song moved her so much that she chose him to be her companion.
Ninkasi, Sumerian
Ninkasi is the Sumerian goddess of
brewing and beer and head brewer to
the gods themselves. Her name means
“the lady who fills the mouth” and her
birth was formed of sparkling-fresh
water. The sumerian written language
and the associated clay tablets are among the earliest human writings.
Among these is a poem with the English title, “A hymn to Ninkasi”. The
poem is, in effect, a recipe for the making of beer. Early brewers were
primarily women, mostly because it was deemed a woman’s job.
Ogoun, Yorùbá religion
In the Yoruba religion, Ogoun is an orisha (deity) and loa (spirit) who
presides over iron, hunting, politics and war. He is the patron of smiths,
and is usually displayed with a number of attributes: a machete, rum
and tobacco. Ogoun comes to mount people in various aspects of his
character, and the people who venerate him are quite familiar with each of them. His possessions can
sometimes be violent. Those mounted by him are
known to wash their hands in flaming rum without
suffering from it later. They dress up in green and
black, wave a sabre or machete, chew a cigar and
demand rum in an old phrase “Gren mwe fret” (my
testicles are cold). Often, this rum is first poured on the
ground, then lit and, finally, the fumes generated by
this are then allowed to pervade the peristyle. The
sword, or much more commonly the machete, is his
weapon and he often does strange feats of poking
himself with it, or even sticking the handle in the
ground, then mounting the blade without piercing his
skin.
 Radegast, Slavic God
Radegast, is an old god of Slavic
mythology, his name can be etymologised
as meaning something like “Dear guest”.
He was proclaimed as the Slavic god of
hospitality and as such entered the
hypothetical, reconstructed Slavic
pantheon of modern days.
Radegast in the Czech mytholog is the
God of hospitality and mutuality.
According to the legend, he is credited for
the creation of beer.
Raugutiene and Raugupatis, Baltic God and
Goddess
In Ancient Baltic and Slavic mythology, Raugupatis is
known as the God of fermentation. Raugutiene is
Raugupatis partner and she is known as the Goddess of
beer.

Soma, Hindu
Soma, an ancient Hindu god, is many things; the
afterworld, the moon, inspiration and the god of poets and
a bull. Not only does he enjoy drugs, he is a particular
drug: the soma plant, known more commonly as ephedra
vulgaris. For millennia, Hindu warriors have drunk a
concoction derived from the soma plant. This drink was
said to give them a sense of euphoria and ecstasy and
helped warriors get over the fear or anxiety of an
upcoming battle. As a drug, the god Soma represented a
link between the world of the gods and this world. Soma is the name of a fictional drug in Aldous Huxley’s
1932 novel, Brave New World.
Sucellus, Celtic
In ancient Celtic religion, Sucellus or Sucellos was the god of
agriculture, forests and alcoholic drinks of the Gauls, also part of the
Lusitanian mythology. He is usually portrayed as a middle-aged bearded
man, with a long-handled hammer, or perhaps a beer barrel suspended
from a pole.
 Tezcatzontecati, Aztec
In Aztec mythology, Tezcatzontecati is the god of pulque,
of drunkenness and fertility.

Yasigi, African
This African
goddess of beer
was depicted as the ultimate party girl, a female deity depicted with
ample breasts, a beer ladle and penchant for lustful dance.

Yasigi was the African goddess of beer,

dancing, and masks. It was noted
pointedly that she had large
Breastesses. She was apparently born
with an evil twin, Yurugu who wanted
nothing but to destroy her - so she was
taken in by family friends, the Nommo twins. She became quite the party girl and celebrity while in hiding.
She probably developed a taste for all of the wild nights out because, thanks to Yurugu, she never knew
when it’d be her last.
Yi-ti, Chinese
This Chinese god is said to have created the first rice wine. Not much is known about Yi-ti but it is said that
he brewed the concoction for an emperor and may of used grapes as well as rice.
If you know of anyone we’ve missed or there are any mistakes, please don’t breathe fire and
brimstone upon us, just leave a comment below…
http://www.thebeermaiden.com/post/51402455263/beer-gods

A Liquor deity is a deity who represents alcoholic beverages, and the products (barley, etc.) and
processes (fermentation, distillation etc.) used in the making of them:
• Abundantia, Roman Goddess of Abundance (see also: Habonde).
• Acan, Mayan God of Alcohol.
• Accla, Incan female keepers of the sacred fires (who also brewed beer).
• Acratopotes, one of Dionysus’ companions and a drinker of unmixed wine.
• Aegir, Norse god of ale and mead making/brewing.
• Aizen Myō-ō, Shinto God of Tavern Keepers.
• Albina, Arcadian, British & Irish White Barley Goddess.
• Amaethon, Welsh God of Agriculture.
• Amphictyonis/Amphictyonis, Greek goddess of wine and friendship.
• Aristaeus, Greco-Roman god of rustic, rural arts, including making wine, beer, mead and
kumis.
• Arnemetia, Celtic River Goddess (Her name is connected with nemeton, “sacred grove,”
which means it’s the best place to find brewing water).
• Ashnan, Mesopotamian/Sumerian Goddess of Grain (and, thus, beer).
• Ba-Maguje, Hausa Spirit of Drunkenness.
• Bes, Proto-Egyptian God, Protector of the Home (also very fond of drinking beer, thus a
patron of beer brewers).
• Bhairava/Bharani, Indian/Hindu God of Soma (also associated with sacred beer).
• Biersal/Bierasal/Bieresal, Germanic Kobold of the Beer Cellar.
• Byggvir: Norse God of Barley (and, thus, beer).
• Ceraon, who watched over the mixing of wine with water.
• Saint Brigid, patroness saint of brewing.
• Dea Latis, Celtic goddess of beer.
• Dionysus/Bacchus, Greco-Roman god of wine (Aristaeus' paternal uncle).
• Inari, Shinto god(dess) of Sake.
• Jim Lahey, god of liquor
• Liber Pater, Roman god of wine.
• Methe, Greek personification of drinking and drunkenness.
• Nephthys, Egyptian goddess of beer.
• Ninkasi, Sumerian goddess of beer.
• Nokhubulwane, Zulu goddess of the rainbow, agriculture, rain and beer.
• Oenotropae, Greek goddesses, "the women who change (anything into) wine" (grand-
daughters of Apollo and great-grand-daughters of Dionysus/Bacchus).
• Ogoun, Yoruba/West African/Voodoo god of rum.
• Ometochtli Aztec gods of excess.
• Osiris, Egyptian god of beer and wine.
• Radegast, Slavic god of drinking and hospitality.
• Raugutiene and Raugupatis, Baltic God and Goddess of fermentation and beer.
• Siduri, wise Mesopotamian female divinity of beer and wine in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• Silenus, Greek god of wine, Wine pressing & the Wine press, and of drunkenness
(companion and tutor to Dionysus/Bacchus).
• Siris (goddess), Mesopotamian goddess of beer.
• Soma, Hindu god of alcoholic beverages.
• Sucellus/Sucellos, Celtic god of agriculture, forests and of the alcoholic drinks of the Gauls.
• Tenenet, Egyptian goddess of childbirth and beer.
• Teshub, Hurrian/Hittite wine god.
• Tezcatzontecati, Aztec god of pulque, of drunkenness and fertility (one of the Ometochtli).
• Yasigi, African goddess of beer (depicted as the ultimate party girl).
• Yi-ti, Chinese god, (said to have created the first rice and grape wines).
See also
• Beer goddess
• Religion and alcohol

External links
• Gods of Alcohol
• Nectar of the Gods
• Gods and Goddesses of Beer
• Top 10 wine gods and goddesses
• List of Goddesses