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Soma (Sanskrit), or Haoma (Avestan) (from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-) was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the later Vedic and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, which contains many hymns praising its energizing or intoxicating qualities. In the Avesta, Haoma has an entire Yasht dedicated to it.

It is described as prepared by pressing juice from the stalks of a certain mountain plant, which has been variously hypothesized to be a psychedelic mushroom, cannabis, or ephedra. In both Vedic and Zoroastrian tradition, the drink is identified with the plant, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity.

Etymology

Both Soma and Haoma are derived from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-. The name of the Scythian tribe Hauma-varga is related to the word, and probably connected with the ritual. The word is also preserved in Persian hom. The word is derived from an Indo-Iranian root *sav- (Sanskrit sav-) "to press", i.e. *sav-ma- is the drink prepared by pressing the stalks of a plant (cf. es-presso). The root is probably Proto-Indo-European (*sewh-), and also appears in son (from *suhnu-, "pressed out" i.e. "newly born").

Vedic Soma

In the Vedas, Soma is portrayed as sacred and as a god (deva). The god, the drink and the plant probably referred to the same entity, or at least the differentiation was ambiguous. In this aspect, Soma is similar to the Greek ambrosia (cognate to amrita); it is what the gods drink, and what made them deities. Indra and Agni are portrayed as consuming Soma in copious quantities. The consumption of Soma by human beings, was probably under the belief that it bestowed them them divine qualities.

In the Rigveda

The Rigveda (8.48.3, tr. Griffith) states,

a ápāma sómam amŕtā abhūmâganma jyótir ávidāma devân

c kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya

We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered.

Now what may foeman's malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man's deception?

The Ninth Mandala of the Rigveda is known as the Soma Mandala. It consists entirely of hymns addressed to Soma Pavamana ("purified Soma"). The drink Soma was kept and distributed by the Gandharvas. The Rig Veda associates the Sushoma, Arjika and other regions with Soma (e.g. 8.7.29; 8.64.10-11). Probably the most important Soma region described in the Rig Veda is Sharyanavat (e.g. RV 10.35.2; 9.113.1-2). In the Rig Veda, Soma is also associated with Samudra (see Frawley 2001 for references to Rig-vedic verses).

The plant is described as growing in the mountains (giristha, cf. Orestes), with long stalks, and of yellow or tawny (hari) colour. The drink is prepared by priests pounding the stalks with stones, an occupation that creates tapas (literally "heat", later referring to "spiritual excitement" in particular). The juice so gathered is mixed with other ingredients (including milk and honey) before it is drunk.

Growing far away, in the mountains, Soma had to be purchased from travelling traders. This is connected with the Indo-Aryan migration model, i.e. the plant supposedly grew in the homeland of the Indo-Iranians, probably the Hindukush, but later migration to the Punjab removed them from the area of its occurrence, and it had to be imported. Later, knowledge of the plant was lost altogether, and Indian ritual reflects this, in expiatory prayers apologizing to the gods for the use of a substitute plant (e.g. rhubarb) because Soma had become unavailable.

In Ayurveda

The famous ayurvedic scholar Susruta wrote that the best Soma is found in the upper Indus and Kashmir region (Susruta Samhita: 537-538, SS.CS. 29.28-31).

In Hinduism

In Hindu art, the god Soma was depicted as a bull or bird, and sometimes as an embryo, but rarely as an adult human. In Hinduism, the god Soma evolved into a lunar deity, and became associated with the underworld. The moon is the cup from which the gods drink Soma, and so Soma became identified with the moon god Chandra. A waxing moon meant Soma was recreating himself, ready to be drunk again. Alternatively, Soma's twenty-seven wives were daughters of Daksha, who felt he paid too much attention to just one of his wives, Rohini. He cursed him to wither and die, but the wives intervened and the death became periodic and temporary, and is symbolized by the waxing and waning of the moon.

Zoroastrian Haoma

In the Avesta

The Haoma of proto-Indo-Iranian origin was re-incorporated into Zoroastrianism during, or shortly after, the time of Zarathustra (Zoroaster) (c. 1000 BCE). Evidence of its previous great importance of the ritual may be glimpsed from the Avesta (particularly in the Hōm Yast, Yasna 9.11), and Avestan language *hauma also survived as middle Persian hōm. The plant Haoma yielded the essential ingredient for the ritual drink, parahaoma.

In the Hōm yašt of the Avesta, the Yazata (divine) Haoma appears to Zoroaster "at the time of pressing" (havani ratu) in the form of a beautiful man. Yasna 9.1 and 9.2 exhort him to gather and press Haoma plants. Haoma's epitheta include "the Golden-Green One" (zairi-, Sanskrit hari-), "righteous" (ašavan-), "furthering righteousness" (aša-vazah-), and "of good wisdom" (hu.xratu-, Sanskrit sukratu-).

In Yasna 9.22, Haoma grants "speed and strength to warriors, excellent and righteous sons to those giving birth, spiritual power and knowledge to those who apply themselves to the study of the nasks". As the religion's chief cult divinity he came to be perceived as its divine priest. In Yasna 9.26, Ahura Mazda is said to have invested him with the sacred girdle, and in Yasna 10.89, to have installed Haoma as the "swiftly sacrificing zaotar" (Sanskrit hotar) for himself and the Amesha Spenta. Haoma services were celebrated until the 1960s in a strongly conservative village near Yazd.

In European scholarship

James Darmesteter speculating on an explanation provided by a Parsi priest:

Haoma comprises the power of life of all the vegetable kingdom ... the zarathustri scriptures say that Haoma is of two kinds, the White Haoma and the Painless Tree ... could it be that Haoma is the Tree of Life? the giver of immortality?

Mircea Eliade speculated on a Zoroastrian origin for the Holy Grail myth:

In a work published in 1939, the Parsi scholar Sir Jehangir Coyajee has also remarked upon the analogy between the Grail and the Iranian Glory, xvarenah, and the similari­ties between the legends of Arthur and those of the fabulous King Kay Khorsaw. Let us add that in the cycle of compositions posterior to Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Grail is won in India by Lohengrin, Parzival (Percival)'s son, accompanied by all the knights.

Candidates for the Soma/Haoma plant

There has been much speculation as to the original Soma/Haoma plant. It was generally assumed to be hallucinogenic, based on the verse of RV 8.48 cited above. But note that this is the only evidence of hallucinogenic properties, in a book full of hymns to Soma. The typical description of Soma is associated with excitation and tapas. Soma is associated with the warrior-god Indra, and Haoma appears to have been drunk before battle. For these reasons, there are energizing plants as well as hallucinogenic plants among the candidates that have been suggested. In fact, several texts like the Atharva Veda extol the medicinal properties of Soma and he is regarded as the king of medicinal herbs (and also of the Brahmana class).

Mushrooms

There is no direct indication in the Rigveda or Avesta that Soma/Haoma is a mushroom. Some commentators have proposed several mushrooms as candidates, most frequently (originally by R. Gordon Wasson in the 1960s) Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric or Toadstool).

The mushroom theory is supported by later Tibetan Buddhist legends connected with urine-drinking, and it is indeed possible that in Tibet, the shamanistic practice of eating psychedelic mushrooms, and subsequently drinking the urine of the one who has taken the mushroom, still containing much of the agent substance, has been connected with Vedic terminology surrounding Soma, but this would of course not imply that the plants used in Tibet were identical to the original Indo-Iranian plant.

Terrence McKenna in his book "The Food Of Gods" takes issue with the Amanita muscaria theory and suggests the psilocybin-containing Stropharia cubensis mushroom as a Soma/Haoma candidate. McKenna argues that effects of the Amanita muscaria mushrooms contradict the description of the properties described in the Rigveda. Amanita muscaria mushrooms have properties that are arguably more deliriant than hallucinogenic. Psilocybin, the active psychoactive component in Stropharia cubensis, on the other hand, has a strong hallucinogenic nature.

Cannabis

Cannabis was also suggested, also based on Tibetan evidence. The Tibetan word for Cannabis is So.Ma.Ra.Dza., apparently a borrowing from the Sanskrit soma-raja "king Soma" or possibly "soma rasa" / "soma juice" which could be the same as "bhang". The choice of Cannabis as a candidate is further supported by the traditional Zulu use of this drug for energizing warriors. Other candidates include Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue, suggested by David Flattery and Martin Schwartz in the 1980s), and species of Stropharia.

Ephedra

The most likely candidate of the non-hallucinogenic, stimulant hypothesis is a species of the genus Ephedra. Ephedrine, the agent substance in this plant, has a chemical structure similar to amphetamines, and it results in high blood-pressure, and according to anecdotal reports, it has a stimulating effect more potent than that of caffeine.

Ephedra plants are shrubs, measuring between 0.2 and 4 meters, with numerous green or yellowish stems. There are about 30 species, mainly Eurasian. The species growing in mountainous regions have the highest ephedrine content (up to 3% in the case of Ephedra equisetina). The marrow in the stems is brown-coloured in some species, reminiscent of Sanskrit babhru ("greyish-brown"), used exclusively in the Vedas to describe the extract.

The different species of Ephedra are not well known, and their taxonomy is in a state of confusion. Assuming a Pontic-Caspian home of Indo-Iranian religions (see Kurgan), the only likely candidate is Ephedra distachya, still used in Iranian folk medicine.

The native name for Ephedra in most Indo-Iranian languages of Central Asia is derived from *sauma- (e.g. Nepali somalata, Pashto oman/unan, Baluchi hum/huma/uma).

Archaeological evidence

Excavations of an early 2nd millennium BC BMAC site in the Kara Kum desert, Turkmenistan (Gonur South) revealed ceramic bowls in the context of a temple or shrine. The vessels were analysed by Professor Mayer-Melikyan and yielded traces of both Ephedra and Cannabis. In an adjacent room, ceramic pot-stands were found which appear to have been used in conjunction with strainers designed to separate the juices from the twigs, stems and leaves of the plants. A shrine at a later site (Togoluk 1, mid-second millennium) revealed a similar pottery strainer, but without traces of hallucinogenics.

The late second millennium site Togoluk 21 yielded vessels containing traces of Ephedra again,in conjunction with pollen of poppies. These finds support the theory that the Indo-Iranian Sauma drink was a composite psychoactive substance comprising of Ephedra and variously Cannabis or Opium, and probably other ingredients, and that the Sauma/Haoma plant was Ephedra. Other analyses of the residues from the Gonur and Togolok-21 vessels by Professor C.C. Bakels and other botanists, however, found traces only of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum).

Firsthand account by Swami Rama

In his autobiographical book Living with the Himalayan Masters, which chronicles his life as an ascetic nomad in India in the early 1900s, Swami Rama recalls contacting a well-known Indian herbologist and Vedic scholar named Vaidya Bhairavdutt, who is described as "the only living authority on soma" for information about the mysterious herb mentioned in the Rig Veda. Upon an invitation, Bhairavdutt comes to visit the swami, bringing about a pound of the herb with him. He informs the swami that the soma plant is a "creeper which grows above 11,000 feet" and that "there are only two or three places where it grows at that altitude." Bhairavdutt goes on to explain that though the plant's effects can be likened to that of psychedelic mushrooms, it is definitely not of the mushroom family, but rather of the succulent family. It is unclear from the passage whether Bhairavdutt stops short of explicitly telling the swami what the herb is or whether the swami coyly avoids spelling out the name of the herb in the book.

Regardless, Swami Rama admits to being ignorant of whether or not Bhairavdutt's soma is the same plant described in Vedic scripture. Bhairavdutt convinces the swami to join him in partaking the soma, which Bhairavdutt brews by mixing the soma-rasa (soma juice) with ashtha varga (a mixture of eight herbs). The taste, says Swami Rama, is "a little bit bitter and sour." Soon after drinking the concoction, Bhairavdutt becomes inebriated, strips himself naked, and dances wildly, claiming he is Shiva. His behavior becomes so unsettling that several students who had come to visit the swami earlier that morning attempt to restrain the apparently slightly-built Bhairavdutt, but are unable to do so as he becomes "so strong that five people hold him down." Meanwhile, Swami Rama develops a crippling headache in reaction to the soma, and collapses in a corner clenching his head. The whole incident proves so disturbing to the swami that he concludes that the benefits one gains from using psychedelics are significantly outweighed by the damage it causes.

References

• Jay, Mike: Blue Tide: The Search for Soma (Autonomedia 1999)
• Frawley David: The Rig Veda and the History of India, 2001.(Aditya Prakashan), ISBN 81-7742-039-9
• Parpola, Asko, The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: Textual-linguistic and archaeological evidence, in: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 353–381.
• Nyberg, Harri, The problem of the Aryans and the Soma: The botanical evidence, in: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia ed. G. Erdosy, de Gruyter (1995), 382–406.
• Soma article from The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances by Richard Rudgley Little, Brown and Company (1998) (huxley.net)
• Haoma article from Encyclopædia Iranica (iranica.com)
• PBS Secrets of the Dead. Day of the Zulu (pbs.org). Retrieved Feb. 5, 2005.
• Susruta Samhita. Transl. Kunjalal Bhishagratna, Varanasi: Chowkhama Sanksrit Series. 1981.
• Bakels, C.C. 2003. “The contents of ceramic vessels in the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Turkmenistan.” Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. Vol. 9. Issue 1c (May 5) http://users.primushost.com/~india/ejvs/ejvs0901/ejvs0901c.txt
• Swami Rama. Living with the Himalayan Masters. The Himalayan Institute Press. 1978.

See also

• Indra
• Soma Mandala
• Sumble
• Ambrosia
• Ephedrine
• Dionysian Mysteries
• Soma (Brave New World), the fictitious drug described by Aldous Huxley

External links

• Evidence of Amanita Muscaria as Soma/Amrita
• the Hom Yast (English translation) (avesta.org)
• Try Soma products

• Entheogens
• Herbal and fungal hallucinogens
• Rig Veda
• Rigvedic deities
• Hindu gods
• Hindu history
• Iranian culture
• Lunar gods
• Materials involved in Hinduism
• Yazatas
• Zoroastrianism