The Viking & Samurai Mind-Altering Secrets

Jeffrey and Alaric discuss the spiritual connections between warfare and religion in samurai and Viking cultures. Despite having no contact with each other, these societies independently arrived at similar practices. Alaric researched magical practices and found that both samurai and Viking warriors sought to enter a state of religious meditation or prayer for combat. Comparing it to modern sports science and MMA fighters, they realize similar practices still exist today in the form of meditation and mindfulness at fight camps. A key point of their discussion is the Viking samurai connection and how this experience might not have strictly been to prevent PTSD, as some historians have suggested. Alaric highlights that henbane, a poisonous plant, might have been used by Vikings during their rituals, though no one is willing to test it today due to its toxic nature.