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.

In this episode I take a dive into the life of the creator of parts of the Nordic story-world, Snorri Sturluson. We'll look at his life, his intentions, his interests, and some of the things he did that changed the Nordic story-world forever. I consider Snorri the last elder of the Nordic story-world. He was the last elder for good and for bad. He was one of the last few who carried so much knowledge of the Nordic story-world in his head and could work with it creatively. He also belonged to that last generation of Icelanders who kept the flame alive. But as much as we can thank him for writing down some of the Nordic story-world, so that we would have it today, he was also of that generation of Icelanders who had lost their way and stopped caring about the future of their children as much as their own wealth and fame. He belonged to that generation of Icelanders who left tradition behind to join the Norwegian kingdom and a new world order. The result was devastating to Icelandic culture, the new generations, and the Nordic story-world. It was a loss of intergenerational care, intergenerational storytelling, and continuity. It was a cultural Ragnarok for Iceland. Today, we're faced with a similar cultural Ragnarok as the bonds between generations are failing. We are also faced with a climate catastrophe Ragnarok for those same reasons.