Did Vikings Use Hallucinogenic Drugs: The Evidence and the Myths
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Magic mushrooms, berserkers, mysterious rituals! Did these things mean anything to the Vikings?
Inhaling smoke to see trippy stuff didn't start with 420 or the swinging sixties. People have been using burnt plants to hallucinate for thousands of years!
But what about the Vikings? What sort of drugs were they using? Did Berserkers really eat mushrooms? Did priestesses and seers use magic and cannabis seeds to speak with Odin, Thor and Loki? And what evidence do we actually have that Vikings were tripping balls before battle like in Vinland Saga?
Join me as we look at hallucinogenic history from the Minoans and Greeks to the Norsemen, to see what they were using, how they might have used it, and why.
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Now I'm picturing Vikings hanging out by a fire, getting high and reciting poetry like a bunch of dark age hippies. :)
I've done something similar. It sounds more whimsical than what actually happened lol some friends and me drinking beer and smoking pot around a bonfire. I'll save you the time dear.
Well what do people do now around a campfire? Get drunk/high tell stories, play music, and talk about deep stuff. Why would it have been any different 1000 or even 3000 years ago? That's just what people do. 😉
You've heard of murder-hornets, but have you heard of the murder-hippies?
@@jockjammer3443 it's something all humans share. We all did it in ancient times in all places.
Speaking as a person with a degree in medical anthropology, I can confidently say that humans love doing funny things to their brains. 😄
Starting from childhood when your realize spinning makes your loopy lol. Just takes off from there
How did you get into that area? started as a med student? I want to see my options If I can do a similar thing.
I am asking because I am halfway through med school and I am interested in the subject.
Just finished a seminar on altered states of consciousness and I concur. Humans love messing up their brains
Oh man medical anthropology. That's fascinating.
Could you possibly recommend anything to read on the topic that's appropriate for a layperson? Two masters and I've a background in the Classics, the socio-historical side rather than the literature side (of course literature tells us about ancient history and society...but, anyway). And one of my favorite topics is ancient magic and religion. Ancient magicians, as well as the roles of these early practicioners as proto-doctors, is always been interesting. (Night's Black Agents by Daniel Ogden is good on this topic, in case anyone's interested.)
@@mathematics117 Not just humans.
In some native cultures, including mine, we use peyote and sweat lodges for vision ceremonies. I had mine when I was 15
As an 80s and 90s kid in the US we had D.A.R.E. which told us not to do drugs most of us had never heard of until they told us about them.
Yeah, all those D.A.R.E. videos were the reason I thought drugs would be a fun thing to try😂
There's a lovely You're Wrong About episode on DARE and how it was a complete failure of a program
Makes me think of that South Park episode 😂
D. A. R. E., Drugs Are Really Expensive
I was always told the berserkers used liberty cap as their drug of choice, they obviously knew the fly agaric would give a bad trip ... Your theory of PTSD and henbane is more realistic - as it should be! You are the historian here ;)
Yeah, I've seen how quickly Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan veterans can change (and by how much) when they're hit by one of their triggers. Berserkers being career soldiers with PTSD makes so, so, so, so much sense.
I haven’t heard much about berserkers before but this approach struck me as much more humane than any heroic/madman/whatever version could ever be.
I have tried to have this theory confirmed, but found no credible evidence for it.
According to Ethnobothanist Dennis McKenna, he has found no hard evidence at all for the use of psilocybin mushroom use anywhere in the old world (thereby sort of debunking the "stoned ape theory" put forward by his brother Terence)
The only proven shamanistic use of fly agaric was by east siberian reindeer herders. (As described by R. Gordon Wasson)
There is a lot of mythologizing and wishful thinking when it comes to psychedelics and hallucinogens. Yes, it would be awesome to know that the Vikings used liberty caps as an intoxicant.
But there is no evidence they or anyone else in europe did.
Trippy old lady who gets high by the fire. Ok, got my retirement plans ready!
This man is so many things, scholar, craftsman, and apparently life coach because that sounds amazing.
Excellent idea! How do I sign up? *takes notes for the future*
Herodotus is 110% bulls**t
Had me on the floor 😂
He sucks so much there is even merch who says he does!
Came here to make this comment, very pleased someone else agrees...
If it's reasonable to think she might be taking hemp seeds into the next life in order to grow hemp for the fibre, maybe she was taking hemp seeds into the next life in order to grow them for ritual purposes.
Wait, you mean there aren't giant ants in the desert that poop gold?
My life is a lie...
We'll go on a sacred quest to find them, but we'll really find... ourselves.
Did you know the original Pilsner beers were brewed with dried henbane stalks, leaves and flowers? Also have you checked out the Experiences under the Henbane section on Erowid, because it's a fascinating collection of anecdotes about people trying to get high off of henbane and succeeding in some ways (it's surprisingly hit or miss with the seeds, compared to brewed drink with leaves added, be it an herbal tea or something more boozy). It's a pretty easy plant to germinate, but keeping it alive to get big enough to harvest a decent amount of leaf material takes some time; Due to freak weather situations, I've yet to grow plants quite big enough to harvest more than pretty flowers from, which I do not consume. I'll keep trying; I rather like them. But yeah don't consume the roots. Just don't. The rest of the plant can be cooked or brewed into non poisonousness.
Is it wrong, that I might be considering getting a völva staff and finding a way to have it snuck into my coffin, just to mess with future historians? "This is odd... These staffs seem to fall out of use for about a millenium, but then start showing up again in the 21st century. And they seem to have been much more widespread in the 21st century."
I wonder if the teenage Vikings who knew people who used henbane would have tried to sneak some, while the user was too busy tripping balls/convening with the gods. Not that I've ever heard modern teenagers do something similar with modern intoxicants, nope....
"This is your brain" - image of an egg "This is your brain on drugs" - video of egg cracked into a hot pan and frying. Somehow, that one stuck with me. Thanks for another fun one, Jimmy. Take care.
Always made me hungry for my brain with a side of bacon, personally.
Being experienced, psychedelics are absolutely a lovely way to hang out with the gods 😂
Can confirm! lol
As a kid in the 90s in Canada the anti drug slogan I remember is "Don't put it in your mouth." The advert use to scary me and well still kind a does.
My mom repeated that to me a lot, in the late 80s early 90s. But mostly because with Dad selling scrap, recovering lead, burning the casings off copper wires, caps from things like oil and anti-freeze... I guess she was concerned that my love of sticking things like my marker caps in my mouth, might lead to me picking up something in the yard or the basement and deciding to try it. Which, ewww, no.
Kind of weird that you have to include that alcohol is a drug too. But you are correct and are right to add it.
The Animorphs graphic made me grin like a loon :D ("he's only human when he wants to be") I love the thought that the use of hallucinatory plants may have contributed to the mythology they (Viking culture) created.
PTSD, and other effects of historical battle are very fascinating to me!
It's so easy to imagine that this started with shell-shock and modern warfare. But why would it? Most historical battlefields maybe weren’t the hellhole we imagine WWI to habe been. But for some people or some times when it went from: The two shield-walls, a few javelins, some close up scary fighting. Some of your friends getting seriously hurt but mostly making it, and then you or the enemy running off. The event you expected, that you knew how to handle and talk about. Into something else, something people wouldn't speak of or spin into verse, that must have have had the same effect on people then as now.
Interpreting Berserkers as experienced warriors who sometimes did incredible acts of bravery, but also were haunted and shaped by their horrible experiences makes a lot of sense. And it is interesting how the sagas portray berserkers as a frightening thing, not only in battle, but also in civilian life. But we somehow imagine them as some sort of super-heroes, transforming themselves into victoria-cross/medal-of-honour level "good crazy" on command, and ask ourselves, how could they do that? Did they take drugs?
I've heard a theory that Berserkers were a sort of warrior-shaman (I know the word shaman has its problems but bear with me) and that rather than getting high and fighting physical enemies, which like you've said is not good idea because drugs and strenuous physical activity are a terrible mix, they'd get high and fight metaphysical enemies. This would explain the animal transformations; they are taking on animal-form in the spirit-realm. After the metaphysical enemies have been defeated they can then proceed with defeating the common meat-bag variety.
My grandparents used to have a refrigerator magnet that said "Say nope to dope". In hind sight, it seemed kind of random, but whatever.
LOVE the Volva cartoon, by the way! Totally the sort of seer I would've been!
James
Me, living in the California desert: "Damn those mountains look familiar..."
I remember a theory I heard years ago about the Oracle at Delphi also being that, since it's around a cave system, that it could be volcanic gases, CO2, and/or CO venting out through the cave that could have contributed to the visions. There's nothing quite like toeing the line of death and drugs to make the gods speak to you haha
We had some of the artefacts from the Peel Castle 'Pagan Lady' on display in Jorvik a few years ago, including what appeared to be a small pestle and mortar. Maybe she was doing the same thing? (She was also found with what is believed to be a metal staff). But as a more important question; what type of whale is depicted on the wall behind you?
I forgot about the Peel lady! I think there's a find of hemp seeds from Coppergate as well, but I could be lying.
It's a big beautiful Fin Whale, or Balaenoptera Physalus!
I wonder how things might have turned out if they had used psilosybin
If I may Jimmy. You forgot another application possibility of Henbane... topical...
Henbane has a historical use as an analgesic, a medicine that provides relief from pain and it's side effects do match a lot of the described characteristics of berserkers such as the agitation, the flushed and swollen face, and it's use in pain relief would also explain the pain tolerance characteristic of berserkers.
It was ingested in witches brews and probably smoked as you've mentioned but if you ground it up into a paste or extracted the oil from the plant you could possibly create some sort of salve, ointment, or cream that would produce the effects of a violent and unnaturally resilient warrior.
This could also account for the "bare chested" image they're famous for. Now I am not an archaeologist but my field of study is nursing and plenty of patients who have histories of drug use have a not uncommon reaction where they are compulsively undressing. When they're under the influence or in periods of withdrawal they start feeling incredibly warm so they start stripping off their clothes to cool off and breathing fast and hard to evaporate off all that heat. Breathing incredibly fast also blows off CO2 so they start becoming alkalotic which further contributes to their agitation.
stinking henbane would be a great drag name
Wild cannabis is a whole different experience and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a very interesting and enlightening experience, as always, only if it's not illegal where you live
I'm glad you're not sensationalizing things and focusing too much on the possibilities of the more glamorous berserkers being high, pointing out how that would be kind of silly, and demystifying and deromanticizing the berserkers- the role of hallucinogenics in oracles and diviners is much more interesting to talk about, anyways. (As is the actual possible psychology behind the berserkers)
Oh, and- 10:00 Gotta go with Tobias. Related to him too much when I was a kid
Liberty cap mushrooms are awesome! I know there's no evidence for it, but they grow everywhere, surely some group at some point in European history knew of their properties! I don't even bother drinking now, grinding up dry mushrooms and putting them into capsules is more fun and has fewer consequences! A fun, non-addictive drug that doesn't damage your physical health and is less likely to make someone jump out of a window than alcohol? Good stuff!
What about psylocebyn mushrooms?
thc isn't a hallucinogen though! and the more practical substance for bezerk use would be mushrooms - psylocibin ones not amanita. low dose shrooms can enhance energy and bring about a clarity useful for battle. as for hemp, they probs we're smoking it too, but it was nowhere near as potent as the strains we have today.
Wasn't it a theory that the oracle of Delphi inhaled volcanic fumes/Carbonmonoxide in order to get visions? Also as someone who studied Cultural Anthropology I'd love to know if you think that the Völva were truly priests or more like shamans? (There are some studies that indicate a close relationship between the use of hallucigens and shamanistic practices in several cultures, but I'm not so well read about the wikings and their kind of religious practioners.)
Berserker prolly just got right pissed before battle.
A plant that gives you visions and kills odorous poultry. Impressive.
Oooh I think it was Kaz Rowe who found some evidence that Delphi might actually have been gasses from within the earth... coming up through faults in the rock 😊
"Let's start with a little brief history."
Heh. Hehe. "Brief" lolololol
The Oracle at Delphi was a priestess of Apollo, he who killed the dragon Python and cast his body into a pit. So "talk to the gods is a generous way to describe huffing the corps of a rotting dragon.
Reality is for people who can’t face drugs.
Great Video, ❤
I really enjoyed this video! I do remember way back when there was an advertisement on TV re: using drugs. They showed an egg and said, “this is your brain”. The egg was dropped and splatted into a greasy frying pan. They voice over then said, “this is your brain on drugs” and left you staring at the bubbling, splattered egg.
My year 8 history teacher told me the vikings used methamphetamine before raids. And I was like "oh ok". Then when I was like 25 that memory floated to the surface and I said to myself WAIT WTF!? Where did they get it from? Did they do chemistry?
It sounds very plausible, which in the context of cultural things about the Viking Era is about as a good as it gets.
First off... I have always suspected that the Norse were doing drugs. It explains a lot.
Also, I've always thought that the lyrics to Sosban Fach sound like the coded phrases resistance fighters listened to on the radio in WWII movies.
Like before watching, as always
In the erea of Delphi they found some of drug indeed but I cant recal where J read it.
Forget about star signs; your favourite Animorph defines who you are as a person
(Mine's Cassie)
video suggestion; let viewers send in their reenactment / living history kit and you review it for style points, accuracy , etc. All for fun of course. Nothing serious.
As a 40 year vet of constant training and tournaments in fencing plus plenty of after parties... 😇 Tripping your butt off before? Sure! During? No. Have tried it. Your reflexes slow, your accuracy is crap, it’s too easy to just cry or giggle. And, taking hallucinogens you never know for sure what you’ll get, but if a sporting version of battle is terrible with drugs, in a real battle it’ll get you killed quick.
These ideas always come from couch potatoes, not super fit people who actually do the thing. Shrieking and roaring is part of just being worked up in an intense situation.
Hmmm...animorphs...does Professor Lupin count?
YES.
No no, I have done fly agaric. It didn't give me stomach cramps and it won't if cooked well! The effects vary but for me yes it did have berserker energy
Alas, if cooked the hallucinogenic properties are denatured! So it's just another mushy!
@@TheWelshViking Its the only drug I've ever done that actually tastes good. It tastes amazing
@@visionplant Nutty mushroomy taste
"Donduit!" Made my day❤
Would love to see that women in religion video😁
No use of funny mushrooms in ancient scandinavia??
No evidence so far!
Amanita is still used by both the sami and modern carpathians as a delierant, it can be done safely. Secondly, I don't see any real reason to either count or discount Psilocybes, they would have been about endemically and used by cultures that they raided. You're right regarding the presence of seeds though, typically you see mushrooms reflected in art where they are used in these kinds of ways so equally possibly not.
As a second to this, do you know if any of the tests they do on hair samples are akin to modern drug testing?
I think the poor old berserkers need an iced VoVo!! Australia biscuits!! Yum. Pinky finger up, boys!! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iced_VoVo
Don't do drugs for the hell of it, medicine is useful and in many cases vital! But yeah... trading getting the shits for a trip and other potential side effects seems like a really bad deal.
ironically I'm watching this while high
_Thalassocratic hegemon_
I use the words good sometimes :D
My anti-drug slogan that comes to mind...
"Up with hope, and down with dope, but ain't a catchphrase about taking Henney to the throat."
From a rap song called 'Hennessy and Cheetos'...
I'm better with slogans to promote condom usage...
ie. If you can't wrap your rocket keep it in your pocket, or sex is cleaner with a wrapped up weiner, or don't be silly protect your willy, no glove no love, don't be a fool protect your tool, etc. I could go on for days but I'm drawing a blank on anti drug slogans... (except for the one anti dope but pro alcohol rap lyric.)
pfft, keep your Animorphs - Manimal is where it's at! ^o^
As an old lady I assure you, all my plants are for fiber and my tasty liquor is medical. Now run along Sonny, Granny needs her medicine.
You are the most awesome person 😲
So we’re not talking about a magical future seeing vulva? No just me who understands it every time as vulva? Okay cool 😂
"We're gonna have to up our game, pal," I whisper helpfully into my pants. There's no reply. Yet.
I mean they are pretty magical :P
I believe it's volva but I kind of like your version!
*Walks in* Ah. Um. *Walks out*
Yes! Took me forever to figure out that he wasn't saying vulva. 😄
Didn't expect this week's history lesson to make me sad about berserkers with PTSD, but then again I never know what to expect.
archaeology student here: Delphi is built on top of a natural source of ethylene. simply put, the oracle was huffing glue
That's a proven fact
But the question is did the Vikings use drug's for WAR.
I've heard that before as well
PTSD paired with spontaneous analgesia, AKA battlefield bravery, ,a condition were people feel no pain for sometime after suffering an injury, would make a Berserker formidable enough without the need for any drugs. Having experienced spontaneous analgesia on more than one occasion I can say it would be bl**dy useful in a battle.
That's a really good point! I walked through a glass door & didn't even notice I'd cut my leg deep enough for stitches- it hurt later, but at the time I was on an adrenalin high & giggling cos it was so ridiculous that it didn't hurt. I don't think it's even that unusual, hey? Brains can do some seriously weird shit all by themselves.
@@beth7935 I would say that it is not unusual, i sometimes find that i have some scratches and cuts which I do not know where I have had suffered. Our brains have to do plenty of stuff and taking care of any minor injury would be detrimental to survival.
I think my favourite anti-drugs slogan was South Dakota's 'Meth: We're On It'. It just...
It just.
Well, having been to South Dakota, they certainly are
Jimmy: “Henbane makes you see things.”
*camera goes out of focus and starts zooming in*
Jimmy: “So was she taking henbane?”
Me: “dunno, but I think your camera might be.”
😜
As for favourite Animorphs - not sure, don’t really remember what the characters were like; umm, think when I was reading them as a kid, maybe Jake or Tobias. As was good too I think.
Also, cute fox postcard on your wall. 🦊
I have tried taking henbane for shamanistic/pagan ritual purposes, and in low amounts it has the potential to make you quite aggressive and reckless without causing significant impairment beyond minor far-sightedness/blurred vision. It can also raise blood temperature and greatly reduces sweating which could come in handy when fighting in blistering cold.
Overall, I would recommend it as a potential performance enhancer in battle only, but I do not recommend fighting a battle anyway, lol. Peace.
Thought from an old broad: the old broad with the staff might have wanted cannabis seeds for her old joints.
As Detritus says: "Slab: Jus' say 'AarrghaarrghpleeassennononoUGH'"
I love your seeking truth about Vikings and your thinking about PTSD as a real issue/ good stuff ❗️
Love your description of Viking warriors and specifically berserkers, so often people find interest in the romanticized Viking image and honestly I would like to see a truer representation of these professional soldiers. It would be so much more interesting, exploring a more human story of those Vikings.
Great Video btw, enjoyed it very much
Henbane sounds like a magic sword you use to slay chickens.
Shit you’re right
That’s what I thought too! Death to hens! 🤣 just kidding, I like hens.
That is hysterical! and you are absolutely right.
I was thinking about it being used for slaying mean girls. But I am an old bog witch who no longer tolerates mean folk.
Winners don't do drugs?
But I wanted to establish my own Danelaw, here, in México, on drugs.
Jimmy: *Goes on major Downer about very likely PTSD in veteran Vikings* ....ANYWHO HOW BOUT THEM DRUGS EH??
The stories of old ladies buried with hemp seed amuses me, mostly because I grew up in an area where a lot of old ladies spent their golden years feeding birds in their gardens with birdseed. A lot of these old ladies accidentally grow these lovely plants with pretty, palm-shaped leaves. The plants get tall and full very quickly, and, for some reason, local police occasionally get very curious about which garden center sold them non-industrial, female hemp plants.
Maybe the volva were growing rope. Maybe they were growing their own weed. Maybe they were feeding birds. Ornithomancy is a thing.
Interesting theory.
Animorphs?! The one that turned into a falcon!
Also - magic mushrooms? They get you moderately happy in a forest so I hear...
I don't remember the specifics of the book where they turned into Peregrine falcons, though I do know they did it for (non-drug) speed reasons. lol If you mean Tobias though he was the one who got stuck as a Red Tailed Hawk. I'm a big nerd and he was probably my favorite. Well, him or Ax but I'm not sure if he counts since he was an Andalite and not a human....😅
The next three videos I watched after this all had ads for Volvo and every time the emblem popped up I got an extra giggle. Thank you!
70s era anti drug meme - “This is your brain on drugs” video clip of egg frying.
That's the one I grew up with. "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs." And the splatter of the egg as it hit the pan. That stuck with me.
Sunny-side up? Mmmmmm lovely.
The trouble with that is, I love a fried egg! And they're even better when you're stoned.
That one lasted into the late 80's at least, because I can remember it too.
Not the Seventies. Those PSAs didn't start until 1987, and there were updated variants in 1997 (aka the heroin-specific one where the gal trashes the kitchen with the frying pan) and 2016 (where the "any questions?" bit is followed by a slew of kids asking questions and advice to be prepared with answers). There was also a pro-legalize-cannabis version in 2018 but that didn't get as widely shown.
Also about a kajillion parodies, of course.
Thank you for yet again dispelling myths about these people. Your highlighting of the Berserkers probably just being professional soldiers hit home. I have met a few people from my time in the military that feel they are only at home while deployed, and feel that they have nothing to live for at "home". Great videos and wonderful educational content! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!
Jimmy: Don't use drugs.
Me, tablet dispenser in hand, about to take my first round of medication: Um...
Me hitting the weed pen in the car on my lunch break watching UA-cam: 👁👄👁
Phrase of the week reminds me of the Groucho Marx quote: Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read
My high school had these anti-drug posters kicking about that had ‘if you don’t know what it is, just take half” printed on them😂
What a delightfully questionable advice 😂
It makes sense, as we know so many other cultures used various substances for religious or coming of age stuff.
Also, another theory I have heard for the Delphi Oracle was actually gasses seeping in through cracks in the earth in her caves. Not sure if it has been debunked, but I always thought it was a cool idea.
@historian's revolt:. Funnily enough I had heard about it being volcanic gasses seeping into the oracle's chamber and was going to make a comment but you have beaten me to it! Well done mate, cheers!
I can't speak for ancient Scandinavians, but I do know that we've got incontrovertible evidence of me smoking a bowl whilst watching this. It seemed appropriate at the time.
Hey Jimmy, we have a very similar phrase here in Germany. We just say "dunkel wie in einer Kuh" (dark like in a cow) or "Kuhnacht" (cow night). The explanation I heard is that the whole thing is not about a cow, but about a Kau/ Koje (which is a old Germanic word for a prison).
Thats interesting, in modern norway a koje is a hunting cabin
@@tolveor well that can make sense... If it originally comes from an even older word meaning a small room... As in modern German "Koje" is also a (shelf like) bunkbed/ berth on a ship... Those often look like tiny chambers or boxes one crawls into as well... So this 'family' of words are all describing small rooms
@@annasstorybox7906 I can't really remember what i wrote or what you responded to, but to expand on that: Køye means the same thing in norwegian basically. You also have koje in swedish/norwegian which means a small cabin (in the woods specifically)
So now I feel the need to ask: How much hen bane do you need to plead with 'Pissinia', goddess of sudden inconvenient showers of rain.
Burn seeds one at a time until the rain goes away on its own
If you get impatient it's because the gods will it to be so--in which case burn two
Gently high in a forest with sleipnir stories sounds delightful! Haha
There was someone who explained the idea of Loki giving birth to an eight-legged horse as "people having too much time on their hands on long northern winter nights" and that fits into this narrative perfectly. :D
Lol, coming from the famous Humboldt county, I always love a good historical drug discussion! The bit at the end about like. Viking lads getting a liddol high and telling fun stories really reminds me of some of the folks I went to high school with, getting just a liddol high and having funny arguments about memes or like whether lava is wet. Anyways, I don't like having them myself, but the history of drugs is just. Really fascinating. Also, for silly anti-drug phrases, you missed D.A.R.E.! I got handed so many random dare erasers in like 6th grade on bad field trips. And that was a very fun phrase of the week, I'll definitely be saying that in the future!
"Yo kid, come here. Wanna see some gods?"
The Welsh phrase of the week better be "I'm tripping balls" or I'm unsubscribing.
Yeah, it was a let down. :(
Ouch :(
@@TheWelshViking they don't realize how cool cows tummies are
But how would someone know how dark the inside of a cow's stomach is unless they put their heads inside it when they were tripping balls. There. Solved it.
Anybody who thinks berserkers took amanita before a battle has clearly never taken amanita. Amanita, as you said can cause stomach cramps, especially if fresh, less so if dried, but it also makes you lethargic and uncoordinated. Vomiting, sleepy and clumsy is really not how you want to go into battle if you want to have a chance of surviving that battle.
Uh, don't ask how I know amanita makes you lethargic and uncoordinated.
Lol yeah, *definitely* a great pre-athletic try-not-to-die activity kind of drug...that theory cracks me up. Also, I come from Humboldt county, and thus spend a lot of time around moderately stoned people, and the idea of a berserker even using cannabis before fighting seems silly to me. Like, yeah I suppose it doesn't make you as lethargic, but what's he gonna do, complain about the munchies mid-fight? Jimmy's likely right with his sad traumatised berserker theory (which tracks, y'know, with him being the Viking historian and all)
A well researched "maybe" is always better than a sensational but fake "conclusion". So I'm happy to see you conclude "maybe" :)
is bacon a drug ????
Yes!
110%
Still gonna do that one though
Start your day right with drugs (bacon and caffeine) and end it right with drugs too (bacon and booze)
More fascinating information that I didn't know I needed. Once again, you entertain, enlighten and engage. Bravo, Jimmy.
Canadian advert from the early 90s... Drugs, drugs, drugs. Which are good which are bad. Drugs, drugs, drugs. Ask your Mom or ask your Dad. It's hillarious........don't put it in your mouth
good news about the scythians, we have archaeological evidence of hemp seeds for drug purposes. my favourite are the little personal hemp-burning kits some people have been buried with :)
AMAZING
Eh, I've gotten pretty high on cannabis and it's never made me see stuff. It's not a hallucinogenic drug really. It just... changes the flavor and mood of your perceptions. Not altogether different from being drunk, really.
.....*exhales bong rip*As a human....i have had both good and bad experiences on the drugs. But if you dial it in....it can be very beneficial to ones own health. So...hanging with the fellas around fire getting stoned....is maybe just something some of us do...as humans: there are those that do and those that dont...niether better, just different.......wheres that hackey sack....? Lol
I need a volva staff for reasons o.o
Völva.
Hemp would also have been used as a oil for health. The archeology/genetics from the pollen seems to suggest in northern (Norse) areas the variety of hemp was one of the fiber related low THC varieties. The oil and meal from the seeds might have still had pain killing properties. So if the woman this was found on was older.... then likely taking for arthritis.
Question for you.... I know Celts and the theory that wode was a way of pain killing and sitmulant for those who used it. I've seen some interpretations that wode would have been used by Vikings too.... but haven't stumbled across nor looked for that info related to Norse.
I know this is Irish and probably has no bearing, but is there any evidence suggesting similarities between Viking beserkers changing form and Cú Chulainn going all Super Saiyan in The Táin?