Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Yes you read the title right. There are so many ways that sex will be affected when a person has had too much to drink, but we are not going into that. We’re talking about the myths and traditions that people practice before and after drinking. Every culture has different traditions when it comes to drinking. Some even go back to ancient religious rites. In Western and Asian countries, people usually say “cheers” before drinking. It’s an act of toasting to good health or anything that they can celebrate. “Cheers” simply means “have a good cheer,” as drinking is usually an act of celebration that makes people happy. This tradition originated from the ancient Greeks and Romans, who offered respect to their gods during ceremonial banquets by pouring wine on the ground. Cups would be lifted up as they proclaimed respect to the gods. Now, about that seven years of bad sex. In France, when you toast to your friends, eye contact should be maintained when you clink your glasses. You should do this individually with every person at your table. To add to the ritual, you must not cross anyone’s arm when you clink glasses and you shouldn’t break eye contact while saying “cheers.” It may sound time-consuming, but if you don’t follow this, you’ll be cursed with seven years of bad sex. Of course, anyone who knows about this tradition will have their eyes WIDE OPEN! No one wants bad sex! That’s one of the things you don’t even wish on your worst enemy. (Well, there are exceptions, of course.) We don’t know whether this is true or not, but in this case, better safe than sorry. Even if you don’t get any now… you never know! In the Philippines, we are a superstitious lot. We believe that we will have a visitor if cutlery falls to the floor (gender of said visitor depends on type of flatware: male for fork, female for spoon); that sweeping the floor or cutting fingernails at night is bad luck; that someone is kissing your picture when your nose is itchy; that siblings getting married in the same year causes tragic events for everyone involved (it’s even the subject of a local movie). One of the well-known drinking superstitions in the Philippines is the practice of offering a shot (poured on the ground) of a newly opened bottle of booze to the spirits or the devil. The phrase uttered during this ritual is “Para sa demonyo. (For the demons.)” While Greeks and Romans offer spirits to the gods, we pour shots on the ground so that the evil spirits will be happy with their share of your loot. They will leave you alone (since you were polite enough to offer them the first shot) and you will have a safe and happy drinking session. In Russia, it was also believed that if you “clink” glasses, the sound would scare demons so that they wouldn’t enter your mouth and turn you into a bad drunk. No one wants to have a bad drunk around, right? Right. Alcohol has a complicated history. On one hand, it is the water of life, the truth serum, liquid courage. On the other hand, it is the lunatic soup and the devil’s piss. Our complex relationship with alcohol is embodied in the push and pull between indulgence and penance in our drinking rituals and superstitions. There are also some practical reasons for some superstitions. Originally, when toasting, wine or beer would flow from one glass to another. This showed that the wine did not have poison. So the “clinking” of glasses had an underlying purpose. (People really trusted each other back then, huh?) It was also thought that evil spirits could enter the body through open wounds, so they should be bound in rags soaked in alcohol. Then the spirit would get drunk and forget to enter the wound. The stronger the drink, the drunker the spirit! This ensured that the wound was sterilized to prevent infection. There is another section of superstitions that encourages drinking and overall fun. Toasting with water is considered bad luck. It’s also considered bad luck to put a glass with alcohol back on the table (so it corresponds as good luck when you drink bottoms up). The latecomer must drink a shot or a glass of drink (alcohol, of course). If anyone leaves the drinking session, they need to drink a last glass (one for the road/one for the ditch). When you open a bottle, you must drink until it is finished. Or else, you know, bad luck will plague you. We, the drinking folk, love to have a good time. And these little rituals inject extra fun and excitement into one of mankind’s merriest traditions.