What was in Panoramix (Getafix) magic potion? (From The Adventures of Asterix)
The other day I was reading that the Vikings who were Berserkers (the guys who fought practically naked with a big axe and entered into an insane trance where they didn’t feel pain or even recognize allies) probably ate magic mushrooms such as Amanita Muscaria (the red one with white dots) that helped them get into that trance, this mushroom contains psychoactive effects when eaten raw, but it seems to have a grade of toxicity, if you eat about 15 of those, they can kill you.
It’s likely though that they weren’t eating shrooms since it can cause numbness and dizziness. Perhaps it was a different plant such as henbane that is also psychoactive and is also toxic in high doses, or they were just drinking alcohol before wars or fights. I also found they could’ve been using cannabis, but it doesn’t sound very likely.
So, who knows really what they were eating or drinking. Or if they didn’t really consume anything before fights.
Amanita Muscaria.
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From information about trips with magic mushrooms (the most common ones that people use to trip contain psilocybin, a different one from the ones Vikings could’ve eaten). It seems that there are different effects during the trip, people report to feel anxious, then to feel heavy and forceless, but also to have moments when they feel very energetic and feel like they want to do physical stuff. And at the end, nausea, and stomach unpleasantness. The thing in common seems to be that pain goes away completely during the trip, and people can really be in the moment without worries, also to have thoughts or ideas they didn’t have before.
With psychoactive stuff, it seems that the context will also affect how one feels, what comes to mind or not, and so the effect can change a bit depending on the situation.
Perhaps within the context of a battle to the death, the Vikings could use mushrooms in their advantage and get the energetic and relief effects? Or perhaps even use cannabis this way? A mixture of different drugs? We will never know for sure. But it’s highly likely they used something.
Now, for Panoramix (Getafix) magic potion (of course that just for fiction and fun purposes). In the comics and movies the potion contained leaves, fruits, even fish and oil, and a bunch of other stuff, but there was a secret ingredient that Panoramix kept hidden in his sickle, and he only needed to use a few liquid drops in a big cauldron. They didn’t have coffee by then, so it couldn’t be coffee. In that area of France (northwest) there are psilocybin mushrooms, aside from that, it’s unlikely they had access to cannabis or other psychoactive stuff.
So, perhaps Panoramix made a magic mushroom tea and put that in the magic potion, and that was what made everyone so strong. I can’t imagine what other ingredient he could’ve used, and in a fictional context, this makes sense (at least that the writer was probably inspired by this knowledge).
Psilocybe cubensis.
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Just to conclude this strange post, it’s likely the Vikings and so many other people consumed (at that time) magic mushrooms for rituals or for religious purposes, but who knows, maybe they did consume them before fighting. And it’s funny and interesting to think the secret ingredient for the magic potion in Asterix was magic mushrooms.
Psylocibin has started to be used (with great success it seems) to treat depression and strong addictions, but has some contraindications, for example, anyone with any predisposition or signs to have a mental disorder shouldn’t try them at all, they could make appear or worsen a mental disorder.
Some people seem to be really nervous or worried about people consuming magic mushrooms nowadays. I say that, well, we’ve been consuming this stuff for thousands of years and a lot of inspiration for all kinds of art comes from there (such as mandalas), it can be seen in paintings, in in architecture, in Persian rugs, in clothes, etc. perhaps even other important ideas and inventions came from people who were expert in different subjects and consumed psychoactive drugs. It could have given them a different perspective that ended in a useful idea (some people who studied a subject for years have said they had a better understanding of the subject after consuming magic shrooms, perhaps this happens because of the new perspective one can have after consuming them).
They are very powerful little things considering they can have many other uses besides recreational use, and considering their historical use, such as religious ceremonies, they should continue to be consumed and tested to fight things such as depression and addictions. Use with caution, but do use them I’d say.
*Disclaimer: I didn't take the pictures from this post, I took them from Google images. I have no way to take those pics.
