The Sacred Flame
The Sacred Flame Podcast is about the pre-Christian traditions of Northern Europe hosted by Mathias Nordvig and Amina Otto. It's available on Buzzsprout and most podcasting platforms. The Sacred Flame Podcast comes out twice a month with information and perspectives on Northern European traditions, mythology, history, and philosophy.
Mathias Nordvig has a PhD in Old Norse mythology and teaches Scandinavian studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Amina Otto has an MA in Old Norse and Gaelic studies and is doing a PhD in Norse-Gaelic Viking culture at Glasgow University.
The Sacred Flame
Vikings on Mushrooms: A Note on Ritual Use of Psychotropics
In this episode I’ll take you on a trip through the historical components behind the idea that Vikings did mushrooms before battle. We will explore the context for why that claim emerged in the 1600s, when the Danish scholar Thomas Bartholin first put it out there, and why it’s the kind story that’s thoroughly a myth in the sense of something that's entirely made up. After that, I’ll offer some comments on the idea that psychotropic agents are helpful for the purpose of reaching a higher self, communing with spirit, ritual, whatever you’d like to call that connection we humans can make with the world around us.