Absinthe, The Green Fairy released after 95 years

Last time we got introduced to the Green Fairy and this week I have a confession. I didn’t make the wings for one of the new brands of Absinthe that were release after 95 years of prohibition. I made the wings for 2 of the brands of absinthe for their launch. I’m going to claim mom brain on this one. When I found photos from both projects I remembered them both. Yet 17 years on and I barely remembered that I did either of them. Also, I want another shot at this green fairy thing. There’s more here than meets the eye.

The Green Fairy first appeared as medicine, not mischief. In the mountains of Switzerland, Dr. Pierre Ordinaire created what he thought was just another medicinal elixir. However, his humble recipe for absinthe would go on to shape more than a century of art, literature, and legislation.

The story of how a Swiss medicine became the toast of Paris begins with French soldiers in Algeria. They were given absinthe to prevent malaria – the bitter Artemisia absinthium, named for the goddess Artemis, was known for its healing properties. It is called wormwood for a reason. It has properties that purge one of worms or parasites. Like the goddess herself, Artemis for whom this plant is named, absinthe embodied both healing and danger, blessing and curse, depending on who was wielding it and why. Those soldiers brought their taste for the green spirit home, and Paris would never be the same.

In the glittering cafes of 19th century Paris, the Green Fairy danced with artists and writers who sought her inspiration. Baudelaire wrote of her charms, Degas painted her devotees, and Oscar Wilde claimed she showed him things as they really were – “the most horrible thing in the world.” She wasn’t just a drink anymore; she had become a muse.

But success breeds enemies. As absinthe’s popularity grew, so did the forces aligned against her. The French wine industry, watching their profits drain into green glasses across Paris, didn’t try to compete fairly. Oh no, instead, they helped paint the Green Fairy as the villain, a corruptor, a danger to society. By 1912, she was banned, driven underground by the same pattern of fear-mongering and profit protection we’ve seen repeated throughout history and are seeing in real time daily.

When I created wings for the 2007-2008 launch events of Lucid and Mata Hari absinthes, I was too busy in my workshop, with a toddler underfoot, to fully appreciate that I was part of history. The Green Fairy’s return from exile. The organizers wanted something not too obnoxious. They were crowded events after all. Simple – different styles of green wings to complement their body-painted models at Lucid. I don’t remember much about the Mata Hari project unfortunately. But those wings, were part of something bigger: the end of nearly a century of prohibition based on lies and greed rather than public safety.

Today, we can legally enjoy real absinthe again, properly made with grand wormwood and free from the dangerous additives that gave it such a bad reputation during its prohibition. The ritual remains the same – water dripped slowly over sugar cubes, transforming the clear liquid below into that signature cloudy green. The Green Fairy still dances, still inspires, still carries the name of an ancient goddess in her botanical heart.

But her story reveals something far more profound than the history of a banned spirit. Hidden in this tale of absinthe’s prohibition lies an issue seldom contemplated. No not just prohibition, but the legitimacy of authority itself. It’s bothered me for quite some time. How do you get something out of nothing? I mean, specifically, if you aren’t allowed to do a thing on your own, how do you justify giving another person permission to do it on your behalf? Collectively, people decide that they are collectively allowed to do a thing that no single individual has the right to do.

Join us next time as we explore this fundamental question that, once asked, cannot be unasked: Can you give away or assign to a third party, person, or entity, a right which you yourself do not have? The answer might change everything you thought you knew about rights, authority, and the invisible chains we’ve learned not to see.