De Vino

Onians informs us that in classical Rome it was believed that wine was the very sap of life; indeed, in the words of Petronius, "Vita vinum est" - Life is wine. Onians also observes that wine was believed to go to the head, literally, where the genius or daimon resides. Therefore, wine was not only the source of physical longevity, it was also the nourishment of the soul. The Romans had a curious custom of smearing wine on the temples, a practice Ficino recommends in The Planets. He also advises drinking wine twice a day and taking each day equal portions of wine and light, a mysterious prescription the meaning of which might be apparent when we have considered the Apollonian elements of the soul.

-Thomas Moore, The Planets Within: Marsilio Ficino's Astrological Psychology